Expanding Horizons by TermiGht
My goal for this jam was: How much junk can you put behind the curtain and call it theatre play? So yeah i tried to make an incremental game about colonizing a fictional star system. You start with a base planet and have to build factories to make resources and relays to increase the signal strength. After reaching specific signal strength the player unlocks more planets to colonize and then build more factories, relays etc. For example the moon of the first planet needs 10 relays. But be aware the planets are moving constantly so you don't always reach the planets. After reaching a planet with signal you will get an alert anyway.
* Recommended to play it on the itch.io page because the LD page does not show it in full view (i set it according to the LD descriptions but still did not work) *
Controls
- Camera movement: WASD
- Camera zoom: Scrollwheel
- Left click on planets to interact with them
- Right click on planets to focus and follow them
- Escape to stop focus on the planet
What's in the game
- Incremental mechanics
- Signal system (crappy as hell)
- Tech Tree with upgrades
- Game speed can be changed to 1x, 10x, 100x to progress faster
- No ending
- Ultra Mega Bad UI
Gameplay loop
- You build more factories
- You build more relays
- If planet is in relay range then click on it, discover it and you can then continute from the 1.
Tips & useful info
- If you upgrade the relays to a specific point where you can discover new planets it does not mean they will be always in the signal range. If you want constant connection then build Orbital Data Center on the discovered planet
- Use the 10x and 100x time speed then you can just jump from planet to planet
- Prepare your finger for clicking (i forgot to add buy multiple button so you can only buy only 1 per click)
Softwares used
- Unity Engine
- Blender
- FL Studio
- sfxr
- Gimp
| Link | https://github.com/PalDani/Ludum-Dare-59 |
| Itch | https://arunolabs.itch.io/expanding-horizons |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/expanding-horizons |
Ratings
| Overall | 148th | 3.469⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 159th | 3.266⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 150th | 3.391⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 122th | 3.828⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 142th | 3.515⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 121th | 3.379⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 78th | 3.758⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 41🗳️ | 41🗨️ |
@msipp27 & @trav thx i fixed the link accidentally put in the game edit link :)
Here is what I'm talking about:
-to discover a new planet I needed to wait for the perfect timing when signal of already discovered planet touched new one. And you can not just set 100x speed and buy so many relays to cover all map because they become so expensive after a while, even at 100x speed.
-you need to buy relays on different satellites to reach planets more efficient. Ignorings satellites and buying improvements only for the planets is not the best way to expand horizons
And few words about disadvantages:
i feel like tech tree is pointless in this game because you can fully close it in like 30 seconds on 100x speed and it won't give you any noticeable benefits. -7% factory cost is too small for this game
That was very good one and you should be proud of what you made in 48 hours!
Yes the tech tree was just something I came up with and wanted to make it because it seemed interesting however I ran out of time to balance the game. Just jam things. :)
All in all a charming entry which fits the theme well :)
Left you a rating :smile:
I progressed through the skill tree pretty quickly and unlocked the first 3 planets without much trouble. However, the transition to planet Eramia takes way too long - I couldn't wait for it to complete. Maybe the balance needs some tweaking for the later stages to keep players engaged.
That said, the theme implementation is absolutely spot-on - 100% fits "Signal"! Great work overall!
Nice music aswell.
I so whish I could unlock all the planets, but the decision to lock making factories when you discover Thuetania prevented me from doing so.
My first playthough, I rushed to discover new planets as fast as possible (thinking I could use them to set up new factories) so I discovered Thuetania with only ~50 factories.
I didn't know if it was a bug, so I restarted, and this time got 600 factories before discovering Thuetania. Still, even with full tech tree, 600 is not quite enough to make the game playable. (Even afer getting food and coming back, still not enough relays to reach Xenides, etc)
That being said - I adore this concept (the orbital mechanics is a great touch to the incremental gameplay). I'd love to see what creating probes / stellar satellites would add to this.
A super polished compo entry, the music is fantastic and fits perfectly, and I never got tied of watching the beautiful orbits and data-center signal lines. Gorgeous entry - great work!
Regardless I found it enjoyable!!
