Fleeting by Shess

[raw]
made by Shess for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

"Has it always been like this? Every action takes insane amounts of energy, the battles are never fair, and the struggle just doesn't end. You are descending, and you are lost".

fleeting<em>scr</em>003.png

Story: the battle is already lost, and this is where we start. You are in shambles, an easy target for the predators to hunt down and tear apart, and there is not much you can do about it other than flee.

You are not completely defenseless, but fighting just doesn't seem worth it. Avoidance works best, and it's not a sign of weakness. This is just how you keep yourself alive until you get to safety and recuperate. Whatever happens, don't stop.

fleeting<em>scr</em>004.png


  • Escape the battlefield that almost crushed you.
  • Avoid engaging with the enemy at all costs.
  • Delve deeper into the nebulous abyss.
  • Persevere until you no longer can.
  • Play in browser

fleeting<em>scr</em>005.png

Controls: keyboard and mouse. [W][A][S][D] or [ARROW KEYS] to move, [SPACE] to go faster, [Q] to push minor obstacles away, [E] to protect yourself from one attack. Left-click to stun enemies or destroy debris for power-ups, right-click to spawn a decoy.

Press and hold [R] to restart if you get stuck, although you probably won't.

Watch your energy levels and try not to drain them too fast. At least they can be restored, as opposed to your health. But it's alright. You will fail eventually, yes, but until then... please do your best.


Code: Yanrishatum. Game design, story: Shess. Art: Ponytrator and Theodote. Sfx: Theodote. Music: Elvendan.

Ratings

Overall 124th 4.105⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 370th 3.737⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 615th 3.474⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1094th 3.5⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 143th 4.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 47th 4.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 40th 4.474⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

FireSlash
27. Apr 2021 · 07:06 UTC
I was not expecting this.

For starters, the atmosphere was really spot on. The audio works well with the consistent visuals, and the cloud shader does a great job rounding things out.

Gameplay wise, at first I thought the play area was quite small, as I'd go north, hit an invisible wall, then go south, hit another one, etc. On my second run I chose to go left and then it made a lot more sense.
Once that was sorted out... things actually worked really well. The AI is dumb as bricks but this actually works amazingly well, since resources are limited it creates a ton of tension dragging tens of ships behind you trying to eek out as much distance as you can without burning a decoy or losing your shields. I was subconsciously tensing up while playing; it really does nail the mood!

The ending felt a bit abrupt, but I'll give it a pass for the comfy CGs.
I'd also like to see some tooltips over the ability icons, but now I'm just nitpicking.

Really fantastic work!
Maniulo
29. Apr 2021 · 21:55 UTC
Awesome game, one of the favourites so far! Very atmospheric, top-notch music, art and (though minimalistic) story. I guess controlling the ship is a bit clunky, but still fun.
YouK
15. May 2021 · 12:15 UTC
Wonderful work. The art, music and story, everything is very touching. But the tank control feels clunky sometimes.
StLunatick
15. May 2021 · 12:26 UTC
This is really good. Too bad it does not have enough reviews yet. I realy like the atmosphere and music. Its spot on.
Videt
15. May 2021 · 13:15 UTC
It's a really nice game for a 72-hour game jam! Tho I didn't really understand what I had to do to complete the game. But the mechanics, art and music are really well done!
kavehes
15. May 2021 · 14:03 UTC
Amazing game !
I was worried at first when I saw all the abilities plus the keyboard and mouse scheme but it ended up working quite well.
The wave of enemies became too big to overcome around the time I was thinking I had seen it all so it ended at the best time for me.
One improvement would be to add the key on the abilities in case the player forget them :)
Good job !
filgru
15. May 2021 · 15:49 UTC
Wow! What a cool atmosphere in this one! I love the music! Art style is soo nice:) I would maybe tweak those invisible boundaries, so we could actually see where we at. I was also thinking about adding some sort of mini map, to show where we at or where have we already been. The controls are nice, but sometimes I felt like the acceleration of the ship is little bit to slow. Overall, I had a nice time playing it. Congrats! Amazing work!
jondalnas
15. May 2021 · 16:52 UTC
What a beautiful game, with great music and atmosphere. The shooting felt satisfying and tight, but without being too OP. The tutorial could have been a little longer on screen, but that's just nitpicking at this point. I hope you get enough ratings, because this game was one of, if not the best game I've played this jam
Knatt
15. May 2021 · 18:27 UTC
Fun game! the controls are very satisfying once you get a handle on sliding around.
NoNumbersGames
15. May 2021 · 19:15 UTC
Beautiful art, eerie music and heavy narrative create a wonderful atmosphere.

Had a bit of trouble figuring out to go left - even if arrow pointed there at first, it felt counter intuitive to go left to progress - honestly any other direction would have probably been okay - down would have been closest to the theme, right would have made sense since most games progress through right, up would have been fine. I guess it might just be my flawed expectations. And actually I did not even mind getting lost as the mood was so immersive. Unfortunately, that immersion took a hit when I encountered an invisible wall preventing me from going deeper.

Anyway, after that sidetrack actually started playing. Gameplay was quite satisfying - most abilities were useful, enemies were dangerous, escaping and stocking up was rewarding. Maybe the pace could have been a bit slower and controls a bit smoother to match the heavy mood. Ending was bit unexpected and abrupt (probably due to not having time to read the small status updates in the corner), but with nice outro narrative and artwork.

In any case, it was enjoyable and very immersive experience. Though if you want to have enough ratings for scoring you should play, rate and comment on other games - you have full team, so it will be enough if few people do that just for a few more games.
ardorugus
17. May 2021 · 03:10 UTC
Didn't work for me in web, but PC nice. Suspenseful micro (bacteria-space-like) world with Terminator vibe in narrative and music. The actual game seems to has no final goal (for now), but the mood is engaging and controls are not very hard to master, once you plunge deeper. The eternal battle on the verge of diminishing over and over again. Even some Planescape I feel here. Keep up!
NvrSkipGameDay
17. May 2021 · 04:13 UTC
This was a cool as hell game! I *loved* the ambiance, theme and atmosphere. Through the music I could almost feel what the protagonist was going through. I beat it on my second try, once I'd gotten the hang of it it was super fun and intense. Would absolutely play a commercial version as well, really loved the whole concept, awesome entry.

Edit: Just wanted to add that enemies being able to shoot each other was brilliant as well :D
Mololo
17. May 2021 · 05:33 UTC
I like the graphics and the powerups. A first I had a bit of trouble trying to find out what do I have to do. The music is great and it creates a nice mood.

Overall a good game, good job.
WiredOverload
17. May 2021 · 06:13 UTC
Honestly probably my favorite game this jam. The music, UI, and layered effects made the mood pretty fantastic which goes pretty great with the overall story told in the text in the bottom right. The gameplay worked pretty well, the player learns to move just enough to not get hit from behind while still steering in something close to a straight line, which adds enough depth for a game jam. The tank controls mean that if the player ever bumps into anything, it's pretty slow and annoying to to rotate and get up to speed again, which happened more than I would have expected since stunned ships keep their velocity. I did get stuck in a large pile of ships at one point for 30 seconds, but I didn't take damage as the outside ships kept all the inner ones stunned, but you could probably find yourself in an impossible position. I also found that I could skip the middle bit with the ships by simply going in-between the "asteroids", so I wish that weren't as easy to do. Overall though, this game kept up a great mood and the gameplay really didn't let it down, making this a really fun game to play.