Space Cave by Timo Gass

[raw]
made by Timo Gass for Ludum Dare 48 (COMPO)

Space Cave is a cave exploring game. In space!

Screenshot 1.png

Goal:

Your goal is to fly as deep into the procedurally generated cave as possible. Avoid the enemies, or kill them all.

Screenshot 2.png

UI:

I've decided to make a simple, modern and readable UI. Not to many distracting Informations and easy to undestand.

Screenshot 3.png

Levels:

For the different levels there are 4 different layouts. The entry and exit of a level can be at totally random places.

Screenshot 4.png

Obstacles:

The path inbetween the levels gets filled with a variety of obstacles or some enemies.

Devlog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha856yPoeJs

Ratings

Overall 372th 3.56⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 408th 3.38⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 496th 3.12⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 318th 3.78⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 423th 3.48⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 344th 3.333⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 524th 2.237⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 292th 3.5⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

AdamsMcCall
26. Apr 2021 · 02:46 UTC
I got about 700m. It was fun ! I like the character controls. It seemed slow at first but you quickly get the hang of it. Dogfighting with the enemies felt nice as well. Sadly it gets repetitive, I got killed because I just started rushing through the floors lol
Nice sounds effects btw
🎤 Timo Gass
26. Apr 2021 · 17:23 UTC
@adamsmccall Thank you for your feedback!
Playtesting my game I reallized myself, that I sometimes just avoid fights and keep rushing through the levels.
Balancing in Game Jams somehow always turns out to be pain.. :'D
danvil
28. Apr 2021 · 07:23 UTC
I like the procedurally generated levels, but I found it hard to aim because the projectiles where moving so slowly.
eldogg
02. May 2021 · 12:30 UTC
Great 3D compo entry. The centralised UI is a great choice, keeps you focused. The Firing rate could be increased as it feels a little frustating and the SFX need maybe variation in the playback rate so the pitch changes and they seem less repetitive. But overall a fun little game. The lighting effects of the bullets are also well done. Cool devlog btw.
🎤 Timo Gass
02. May 2021 · 13:07 UTC
@danvill Thanks, yeah, I think sometimes they could behave a little better :/
Next time! :D

@eldogg Thanks a lot! That's a great Idead to add some variation. I'll try to remember it next time xD
Really, thank you!
Thijs Tak
02. May 2021 · 13:54 UTC
I liked the game. Combat was pretty fun. Dodging the enemy shots while fighting them was not that hard, but the second I tried to fly past them they turn into snipers every time. Anyway, good entry.
OrcPaladin
02. May 2021 · 14:07 UTC
Nice game, the most impressive is that it runs smoothly in browser
BytingGames
02. May 2021 · 14:13 UTC
Whaaat they keep following you?!? That realization was nice :D
Nice floaty gameplay, it took only a short time to get used to the controls. I liked having the choice to ignore them for a higher risk but faster descent. Or you can mix both: go do down 2 layers, kill all enemies, repeat.
The enemies could have been bigger so it's easier to hit them. If that would have been too easy more enemies could fix that.
The low poly style is well done. The cave looks cool.
I reached 290 meters and played like for 5 times.
Oh yeah the ui was very minimalistic and offered all information you need :thumbsup:
Good entry!
reheated
02. May 2021 · 14:15 UTC
It's a lot of fun and it looks and sounds great. I really like the combination of the lighting effects and the dirty glass texture. If I had to suggest something it would be to make the "damaged" effect more blatant, and maybe add more enemy types.
sacredbacon
02. May 2021 · 14:15 UTC
The movement is very solid and the environment was very fun to float around. Great world building, pretty limited variety, but you don't even really notice in-game thanks to the props. Seems like something is wrong with the lighting. I liked the enemies, audio was good too. Thanks for the game!
guimm12
02. May 2021 · 14:42 UTC
This was pretty fun, the moving and shooting feels good once you get the hang of it and landing trick shots on enemies was satisfying. I also liked the "healing by killing" mechanic, and the UI was on point. I stopped playing at 2000m because it got repetitive, some more variation on later stages would the nice, but this is a LD game so I can't complain. Overall great entry! (Quality devlog too)
MikoziQ
02. May 2021 · 14:55 UTC
Okay, got to 700m

Pros:

- Simple idea
- Good, a bit floaty controls (intended)
- Good that you can bounce out of surfaces and not crash
- Good that enemies follow you and not despawn, making it a bit harder
- Adding to the point above, it's nice that you can try 'skipping' a level, but it's a short reward only

Cons:

- Would love more variety in the levels
- A bit better ques whether you're hit or not would be nice. The red aura is subtle and sometimes hard to read when you're trying to fight back
- Lack of extra enemies (multiple-shot guy? dashing-guy?)
- Ligthing is off, seems like it's half-baked, half-realtime and the walls are not getting correct light from your character flashlights.

Overall a decent job for first Ludum Dare game!
RubixNoob13
02. May 2021 · 20:20 UTC
I thought this was a really good entry. I like the feel of the ship handling, even though it's a bit "floaty" it feels right for what I assume would be some type of hovering space ship. I do wish the fire rate was a bit faster on the guns, though, but it adds to the challenge. I only made it to around 144m because I kept dying, but I attempted about 15 times before I gave up :) Great job!
Boon
03. May 2021 · 06:56 UTC
Impressive 3D entry! The ships controls did feel pretty floaty to me but that works when you go down through a hole and twist around. I also felt the targets were a little small. But overall I enjoyed playing it! :)
chenyi jiang
03. May 2021 · 06:59 UTC
the game is so fun, I really like the moving experience and the graphic is very advanced.
OldDog
03. May 2021 · 07:04 UTC
not bad :smile:
Conduit
03. May 2021 · 19:21 UTC
I made it 69m (nice) on my first run and died immediately on my second :laughing: lol loved the graphics and lighting effects. A great spin on Descent and the 6D of freedom subgenre, which fit the theme perfectly. *Audio engineer side note* I heard that FL dance kit :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
jkyd
03. May 2021 · 19:26 UTC
Nice! I could definitely see myself getting hooked on a faster-paced version of this, keeping the floaty-nature but increasing the fire rate. I feel like adding some juice to the projectile impacts (both player and enemy) would give 'em some weight & boost the "feels-good" aspect of the game. Overall, solid entry!
Rolodophone
03. May 2021 · 19:29 UTC
Cool game! The combat required skill and I felt myself learning how to be better at the game over time, which is good. The smooth movement made it a challenge to navigate the ship and aim, which adds another aspect to the game. I also like the fact that you die after just 2 hits: it raises the tension.

Some improvements that could be made would be adding different types of enemy that behave differently. This would really make the game more interesting. Also, you could add different types of weapon. These would both make the game feel less samey.
Vederant
04. May 2021 · 01:19 UTC
A very cool game! Nice use of 3D space. The lighting can get a bit intense at times but overall a very enjoyable experience!
LDJam user 239490
04. May 2021 · 01:27 UTC
Cool game. It was always exciting to try to move down to the next floor and see what was down there. The movement felt really good. I found that I mostly didn't shoot and almost always tried to outrun enemies.
WonderingPixel
04. May 2021 · 17:32 UTC
Overall Great Concept fits the theme perfectly!
I liked the procedural caves too!

The only thing missing was the lack of responsiveness especially when you first move

I only reached 100 btw Ig I'm bad lol
Good Job Keep it UP!
GamesBySaul
07. May 2021 · 10:25 UTC
Cool idea for a game and fits the jam perfetly, the movement felt a bit too slippy for my liking but getting trick shots on the enemies was really fun, nice work!
madbookstudios
07. May 2021 · 18:46 UTC
Really interesting game, I enjoyed the floatyness of the controls and it felt cool descending and panning up to see the next layer of the levels.
I liked the combat, but sometime found it was difficult to see where the enemies were coming from, which resulted in a game-over multiple times.
Overall, an enjoyable entry - well done!
OadT
08. May 2021 · 12:03 UTC
It took me a second to grasp the controls because I didn't understand that I'm a spaceship at first, but after the inital confusion the controls felt pretty smooth. Combating the enemies is difficult but makes fun and you indeed get better at it. Though sometimes you are surprised that a missile did hit you. One thing I would suggest is to spawn enemies with some minimum distance to the entry of the level. Great entry!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:31 UTC
@thijs-tak Thank you. Yes, the balancing could be a bit better.
Someday I'll make a perfectly balanced game in a game jam!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:33 UTC
@orcpaladin Thanks. I think the browser version has some issues with the lights, but for demonstration it's good enough :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:35 UTC
@bytinggames Wow, thanks for basically sharing your whole testing experience xD
Yeah.. the balancing.
I think having the basic game earlier would've helped a lot, but I changed my whole plan after the first day :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:37 UTC
@reheated Thanks :) Glad to hear you like it!
I think there are a couple of things left to polish.. well time is key xD
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:39 UTC
@sacredbacon Yeah, my basic game idea was even more about exploration and harvesting in the cave.
Did you play it in the browser or the runtime? I think the WebGl version sadly has some issues with the lights :/
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:41 UTC
@guimm12 Wow, 2000m is really impressive :O

Thanks a lot.
Yeah, some difficulty scaling over the levels would've been nice, I know.

Glad you liked my devlog too :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:47 UTC
@mikoziq Thanks for the detailed feedback!

Yeah, I really understand your cons. I think one more day, or even half a day could've made a lot of difference.
Better fighting and more enemies would have been my next steps, too :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:49 UTC
@rubixnoob13 Yes, I hoped it would make you shoot more wisely and precise, but the shooting overall didn't feel as good as I wished it would.

Thanks for your feedback!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:51 UTC
@boon Yeah, I really wanted you to feel floaty xD
And I think the maneuvering turned out quite right :D

Yes, the fighting could need some more balancing :/
Thanks man!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:52 UTC
@chenyi-jiang @olddog Thanks guys :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 11:53 UTC
@conduit Perfecly timed death :D
Thanks man!

Yes, the soundtrack was a "let's build something in 15 minutes" :D
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 16:56 UTC
@jkyd Thanks a lot, yeah I think that could be pretty much the last 10 percent missing :D
Hope I'll be quicker next time to polish more
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 16:58 UTC
@rolodophone Yes, more enemies and overall some balance adjustments.
I reallized the floaty movement didn't work to good with the projectiles.

Hope I'll get to polish my next game a little bit more xD
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 16:59 UTC
@vederant Thanks man!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 16:59 UTC
@siberpunk01 Same! xD
When playtesting I starte shooting on the first two floors or so and than just run through xD
Balancing...
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 17:00 UTC
@wonderingpixel Thanks :)
Happy you like it.
I somehow really like to always add some kind of randomness!

I will!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 17:02 UTC
@gamesbysaul Hey, nice to see you here xD
Yeah, It was hard to find a good middle ground between floaty and precise..
Thanks man!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 17:03 UTC
@madbookstudios Yeah, the enemies really could be a little bit more "readable".
But happy you enjoyed it anyways :3
Thanks man!
🎤 Timo Gass
09. May 2021 · 17:04 UTC
@oadt Yes, some distance or a cooldown for enemies on new floors could really help to make the game a bit more "fair".
I hope to remember some of those things for the next jam :D