Watcher Patrol 4 by BlueCalx

made by BlueCalx for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

Name: Blobby Seldon
ID: 6FDI78YUISY8J
Assessment: Watch Patrol
MissionID: WPT4BBS
Mission description: attempt first contact with TrES-4b's newborn civilization.
Success criteria: Landing.

Good luck Watcher!

Appendix A: New recruits instructions.
Unlike in space, your ship's solar-powered core charge rate will not be able to sustain all the modules with energy while diving under a thickening atmosphere.
The deeper in the atmosphere the less battery recharge you get (less sunlight), down to no recharge at all just above the ground. Below a certain altitude it is suggested to start using only what you immediately need and save battery for the last meters before landing!
Additional information on the modules in the ship menu's help section and Appendix B.

Appendix B: Help section.

Mission referees:
Made by BlueCalx, Toffanim and Tino

Simulation program:
All audio and visual assets crafted during the Jam.

Link	https://schnibble.itch.io/watcherpatrol4
Link	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I-vfwruFWatBosRpykyY3x7SKn9DXfLk/view?usp=sharing
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/watcher-patrol-4

Ratings

Overall	1250^th	3.32⭐	27🧑‍⚖️
Fun	1545^th	2.88⭐	27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	362^th	3.72⭐	27🧑‍⚖️
Theme	1219^th	3.4⭐	27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	1195^th	3.417⭐	26🧑‍⚖️
Audio	801^th	3.333⭐	26🧑‍⚖️
Humor	1092^th	2.452⭐	23🧑‍⚖️
Mood	1213^th	3.271⭐	26🧑‍⚖️
Given		30🗳️	19🗨️

Feedback

Gaming Night

27. Apr 2021 · 11:05 UTC

Hello ! Nice entry there, I really loved the wheel gameplay :)

ElleryFrost

27. Apr 2021 · 11:22 UTC

It's a funny intro, but it's not very clear to me what to do in the game. Interesting and original controls. Gorgeous graphics and atmospheric music!

Omaewander

27. Apr 2021 · 11:43 UTC

A beautiful game without vulgarity, control is interesting

angrySandwich

28. Apr 2021 · 03:14 UTC

Amazing creativity on that mechanic! Don`t know if I ever played a game like that!!! Really enjoyed it!
It just gets a little to impossibleeeee there in the las 60 meters EHAHEHAEHAHEAHEHAEA
But I definitely enjoyed the game! Great work!!!!

Elmos Minion

28. Apr 2021 · 03:19 UTC

This game is really, really, cool and fun! The different modules as well as variety of enemies and environments makes gameplay really varied and fun. Some improvements might be to make the controls easier to use, and to also add a short interactive tutorial to help the player learn what the different modules do, and how the power system works.

Copito

28. Apr 2021 · 09:32 UTC

this game is unique and super fun although I felt like it was a bit too difficult for me at least, it took a long time to find the right widget to activate compared to how quickly I was taking damage. Some kind of homing missile or something a bit more automatic to deal with the more aggressive enemies would have been nice, since trying to turn the ship and activate a gun was too slow while being shot up by a UFO

🎤 BlueCalx

28. Apr 2021 · 09:54 UTC

Thanks for your feedbacks :)
Indeed our game might be a bit too difficult, especially towards the end.
We like when it gets spicy, but it might have overshadowed the initial taste.
We're delighted that you guys had some fun playing it though.

Sanemsky

28. Apr 2021 · 10:06 UTC

Great job guys. Find it a bit hard too, to control the machine at least, but I'm not a gamer, that could be the reason. Nevertheless it was fun to play :)

Doot

28. Apr 2021 · 10:07 UTC

Nice game!
The controls are really interesting and fun. Great idea!

I didn't understand a lot of things though. Why did I die sometimes and not other? Are the weapons I am using actually doing anything? I feel like more visual and audio feedback would be great!

Thanks for the game!

Neowise06

28. Apr 2021 · 10:07 UTC

Love the intro, but I didn't quite understand the controls, but the intro, PERFECT

Geo3D

28. Apr 2021 · 13:33 UTC

This has interesting game mechanics and that's in a good way.
It is a bit difficult to play but after some practice I can see it becoming fluid to control the ship.
Fun game and looks great!

Local Minimum

28. Apr 2021 · 17:39 UTC

I really liked the audio in this game. It kind of reminded me a bit about Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. I found the cheezy strat for the upper part of the decent to roll the craft on the side, activate downwards facing shield and cannon and just let it fall. The controls feels like they really would have needed a controller to be intuitive. Well made game though.

Eugenik

28. Apr 2021 · 21:10 UTC

That's a AA game for a jam! Well done!.

smiley405

29. Apr 2021 · 10:18 UTC

A fun to play game for the Jam. Control does take a while to get used to, Other than that pretty cool game!

PSV Games Studio

29. Apr 2021 · 11:04 UTC

The game is fun and very creative! The environments and enemies provide the player with a unique experience!
But in my opinion, the controls are a little bit difficult and could be a little easier!

Chunkish Campino

29. Apr 2021 · 11:43 UTC

It's interesting, but tends to become too hard :D

Klon160

29. Apr 2021 · 11:43 UTC

The game has an interesting mechanic, but I agree with the other comments that the controlls are a bit difficult to use. And you did a great job with the graphics.

Robotex

29. Apr 2021 · 19:01 UTC

Very interesting idea

PeachTreeOath

29. Apr 2021 · 21:22 UTC

Is that............Donald Duck I'm fighting? lol, interesting sound effect.

Great job figuring out how to make a single player Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime without........making a single player LiaDS. I've tried to think of a way in the past and couldn't come up with anything, so the wheel mechanic is quite elegant.

After an approach where I just have everything on full blast and hurtling downwards (which failed), I wound up with the same strategy as @local-minimum so I sorta bypassed a lot of the intended strategy. I did play around with the controls for a while though and I appreciated how the mechanics worked together. Somehow bringing in FTL mechanics where you can upgrade your battery systems to wield stronger tools would be a good path for a future version.

josephdevelops

30. Apr 2021 · 04:59 UTC

Super interesting game. I love pixel art. I love space. Trying to land a probe was super interesting. Hopefully it's not that rough when we are trying to land on Mars.

My Twitch VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1004793106?t=02h19m46s

Curtis Pelissier

30. Apr 2021 · 08:24 UTC

Hello! I tried your game yesterday during my stream ^^

It really was a hard game for me. I tried some strategies to finish the game and none of them worked.
I think you must level the difficulty like a linear curve. Here, it's too hard, too fast.
Though, I like the mechanics and it reminds me FTL because of the management of the different parts of the ship. It's weird ^^

Great job on this game :thumbsup:

EDIT: here is the link to the video https://youtu.be/mYqBFQerlCI?t=1986