Signal Sweep by Archaeognathus

You are a robot vacuum cleaner on a mission - keeping the space carpets clean, but a sudden malfunction damaged the electronics. Help guide the signal beams to the receivers while doing your duty to the space stations.

How to play: Move with either the arrow keys or WASD and reload the level with R if you get stuck. Interact with objects by bumping into them or by driving over trash to pick it up. The teleporter to the next level unlocks if all the trash in the station is picked up and all receivers get a signal.
Programmed in Python 3.13 with pygame-ce 2.5.7 and pytmx. Levels were created with Tiled 1.10, and it should be possible to edit them by editing the .tmx files in the assets folder. Sprites and other graphical assets created in Aseprite. Unfortunately, I once again did not manage to add any music or sound effects.
Edit on 25.04.: added Linux version
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/signal-sweep |
Ratings
| Overall | 582th | 3.354⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 282th | 3.604⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 589th | 3.104⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 654th | 3.208⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 606th | 3.313⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 517th | 2.523⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 802th | 2.652⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 27🗳️ | 26🗨️ |

Would love for this game to have some music, sound effects, and other game juice, but I understand that time is limited, especially for a solo developer such as yourself. Overall really enjoyed this, and I hope other people find it and enjoy it too
Adding sound effects and undo would improve this game a lot.
Overall, this is a very good puzzler, I had fun! :)
@juyr I'm glad that you like it :) I was a bit afraid the trash part would just be an added annoyance, as I struggled to tie them together. The level size kept escalating a bit too fast, that's true. It was just easier to make larger designs than to make intricate ones.
@shimiki Thanks :) Yeah, I had to fight with the feedback. I'm unfortunately so bad with sound design and implementation that I focused on the two monitors showing the progression of the two puzzle parts. One day I will try to make a game with proper sound!
@itisthelaw Thank you, I'm happy you liked the difficulty level :) I had no playtesters this time, as I only managed to create the levels in the last few hours, after spending most of my time creating the basic mechanisms and removing bugs (there are plenty left, though). An undo button is a good idea, I did not think about this at all :O
To take this to the next level, I’d recommend focusing on 'Quality of Life' features, specifically an undo button. Repeating the same steps after a mistake can pull the player out of the experience. Also, even some basic ambient sound or 'beeps' for the robot would go a long way. Overall, a clean and functional entry. Well done!
@zhangzhimu Thank you very much. I'm happy you liked the bananas. Next time I even try to create a sound effect for them ;)
@imnotvegan I have to admit that the concept of the vacuum robot came from my lack of artistic skills. I started of with an orange circle as a place holder for the character and just had a solid dark blue floor. That looked somewhat like a goldfish in space, but the circle gave me an idea for the robot!
Unfortunately, the thought of an undo button never crossed my mind... Thank you for your feedback :)
I really like the game! The last level was quite challenging and having to restart the whole level after a single mistake made it brutal. As others have said, an undo button would be nice. Music, sound effects, and a way to go fullscreen or resize the window would all go a long way in making it feel more polished. Great work!
My only note is that the dirt can be hard to see on the noisier patterned floors. Thanks for the great game!
Cool touches with the random dirt objects , and the combination of having to clean up as well as fix the signal. I got confused initially thinking the wires were somehow interfering with the signal and the signal itself was dirty ( not the ship! )

I do have a slight issue with the controls, they seem a little unresponsive when it comes to stopping movement; so many times I overshot my target. But it's still a well made puzzler!
And yes, it IS frustrating to start over, because the game is hard (good level of hardness))
Also, check this bug: 
I think a few mechanics could be improved on - the trash collecting doesn't add all that much right now, other than that sometimes you can mistakenly lock off a piece of trash and have to reset the whole level. The little corners with random stuff in them all to hide a piece of trash just distract from the puzzle. On that note, an undo button is sorely needed! The levels tend to be a bit cluttered with boxes, and it's extremely easy to softlock yourself. Redoing the whole level whenever this happens can be tedious. The addition of an undo feature and tidying up the levels a bit would really help the experience.
On a audio note - while I totally get not have time for it during a solo jam, in my opinion music and SFX should be your top priority if you choose to continue development. SFX are crucial for the feel of a game, and music ties the whole thing together.
Great work!
I wonder whether the bug that sometimes lets beams continue to spread even when their source is cut off could be turned into a feature.