Jupiter II by Wheffle
:largeorangediamond: Postmortem Write-up for anyone interested
A short game about diving under the ice of an alien world for the sake of discovery. You are the first human explorer to delve beneath the surface of an icy alien world through a tunnel previously drilled out by an automated system. Do some science and try not to die.
- Descend into the ice and explore. The only direction for you to go is down.
- Keep your suit's power topped-off by gathering batteries the minehead has conveniently left for you.
- If you run out of power, you die.
- Scan objects of interest to find out more about them, like whether they are dangerous.
Controls
- A + D or Left Arrow + Right Arrow : Move left and right.
- Mouse : Aim light and scan beam.
- Left Mouse Button : Hold to analyze objects of interest with your scanning beam (it takes a few seconds to fully scan a target).
- Escape : pause and unpause the game at any time.
Tips
Once you beat the game, a "hard mode" with a super secret alternate ending becomes available. If you are lazy, you can cheat by pressing the backslash key on the title screen to unlock this instantly.
Known Issues
- Some users have reported that they had audio issues with the web version on their browser. If you don't hear music and/or the sound effects are corrupted, you might want to try it with another browser or use the Windows executable version (I feel the music is important for the experience!).
Tools Used
All assets were made from scratch, as per Ludum Dare Compo rules.
- Godot Engine 3.3
- Pyxel Edit (art)
- Bosca Ceoil (music)
- Bfxr (sound effects)
- Audacity (audio editing)
Bugfixes
Any fixes listed here I believe are fair, but feel free to call me out. Regardless, the 1.0.0 original Sunday deadline version is available for download from the source repository here (Windows executable).
- 1.0.1 : Fixed an issue where the player could get permanently stuck in the wall after being pushed by a giant eel.
Post-Jam Version
:largeorangediamond: Windows Download: Jupiter II Post-Jam Version
:largeorangediamond: HTML5 (Web): Jupiter II Post-Jam Version
This version includes some non-game-breaking bugfixes, tweaks, and a handful of additional features that I would have included given more time.
- Diver is now attached to a cable for immersion (no longer a suicide mission)
- Some physics issues fixed, creatures no longer get stuck in walls
- Better feedback for scan beam
- Scan counter during game and simple scoreboard on title screen
- Some creatures can now eat other creatures
- Many balance and audio/visual tweaks
- Changed hard mode to endless mode
Screenshots
Ratings
| Overall | 74th | 4.028⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 87th | 3.954⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 202th | 3.685⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 15th | 4.454⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 202th | 3.833⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 167th | 3.676⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 24th | 4.269⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 41🗳️ | 90🗨️ |
- nice progression speed
- the scanner is a nice addition to the game type; giving me two jobs rather than just that of decending
- the music and sounds were a good match for the game
- graphics are all clean and work well together
Improvements:
- I assume the movement sound is supposed to be little water jets; if so, the sound is a bit harsh and bassy for that; it should be more of a hum and goes a little to close to being a buzz
- a neat dynamic would to be carrying 'specimen container' that fills up as you analize stuff; the more you analyze the heavier you are until it gets to 100% then you send it to the surface with an inflatable automatically which slows you back down again; making the research have a tradeoff to progression
- a scoreboard would be nice so that you can compare current run with previous runs
Bugs:
- one of the amphibians/eels shoved me into the wall to where I couldn't move and my oxygen tank emptied out.
Your post and another commenter mentioned music but I didn't hear any on the itch.io web build - I only heard some (slightly harsh) tones when my partner gave me the next bit of information, so I'm not sure what happened there.
Nicely done!
The pacing changes are a good twist. Especially at 1k because the section right before that is a bit slower on normal mode. I really enjoyed the scanning mechanic in general. It gave it enough of a skill requirement that kept you engaged with what was going on.
How did you create the cave? I figured you were just choosing random points and connecting them but there were some parts that looked really good, like when rocks jut out and such (like in your 2nd screenshot).
Very cool experience overall. Again, the first couple minutes especially are an amazing combination of sights, sounds, and gameplay!
I also used simplex noise in the surface water shape, and for the flashlight flicker at low power... I kind of went ham with simplex noise. Godot has a built-in class that handles it and it's amazing.
Thanks for playing and for the feedback!
Then, out of nowhere, a big Mario 64 eel instakilled my character by shoving it into the wall and making it impossible to escape. Having to restart from the beginning broke the immersion and is simply too punishing in my opinion, considering you would have to wait several minutes just to have another shot at avoiding the eel.
I really want to see the bottom of your game, so I'll give it another try later today. The intro is excellent, so it will be awesome to dive back in. Hopefully next time will be smoother :sweat_smile:
I did fix the situation where they could literally shove you into the wall and get you trapped forever, so that (theoretically) shouldn't be happening anymore.
Thanks for the feedback, very appreciated.
✔️ I liked how scanning the enemies was both an objective/mechanic and used to teach you about the game at the same time. Smart move.
✔️ The art and overall visuals very also very nice. The small details like that 1 frame of animation when switching direction really adds a lot.
➖ Maybe have a bit more player feedback when you are actually scanning something.
The art and animation of for 48 hours is fantastic.
@devmerlin @kraemahz The levels and enemy placement are all procedural, which is a huge time-saver but also causes some nasty corner-cases when you aren't careful. Which is what looked like happened to you. Sorry about that, I should have taken measures to make sure enemies were spread out more, or perhaps used predefined seeds that were tested and vetted. Ah well, wouldn't be a game jam without someone getting an unintended double eel to the face I guess.
Also, thanks everyone for trying out the game! I'm making my way through the list to reciprocate! Y'all got some awesome stuff.
I made a copy of our stream from yesterday on youtube if you wish to see us play again: https://www.youtube.be/watch?v=KLwrzc7DkDo&t=12655s
Thanks for being part of the stream, yesterday was amazing! :smile:
Jupiter II is a very well crafted game, and an impressive achievement for a one person compo. The gameplay is simple but intuitive and captivating and fun. The player keep wondering what's next in the depth of this alien water world.
The game ramp up in difficulty nicely but doesn't become impossible, you achieved a nice balance.
Congratulations
Good job!
The scanning mechanic is one I love in pretty much any game that employs it: I loved learning about your world while also trying to stay alive. Top notch cliffhanger at the end there. I really hope you continue working on it. It's got such (I swear this is a massive compliment) a slick 90s adventure game vibe. I really would love it if you could upgrade your equipment and base and travel from trench to trench.
Anyway, great work!
I also appreciated the prompt to let players know scanning the same type twice was a waste of energy because it's actually a very important detail.
The game itself is done very well, has a nice mood and is fun to play.
I wouldn't mind a way to go deeper faster, or stop descending for a moment. And like you said in your post, the snake creatures are too dangerous and hard to scan. I died immediately.
What I wonder is: What's the plan to retrieve our intrepid explorer? I kind of felt like maybe she/he was being sent on a death sentence. If you continue with the game, maybe they send down a cable to pull you back at certain checkpoints, and then you can use the science you gathered to get upgrades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg0CQ6NPDn8
But what really sells it above all else is the music. The music just sets the mood so unbelievably well, giving that feeling of exploration and adventure... and with a tinge of melancholy. I just love it so much.
I also think it's great how the potential of each game mechanic is really utilized. The scanner serving as the research device, but then it becomes your only protection from the hostile fish... but then the scanner beam *also* has to be used for protection! Super awesome double use of the mechanics. I also saw that in the post-jam you made the fish interact with each other... that's just great.
Other comments:
- I felt bad about shining my light on the poor light-sensitive fish... at least, the ones that weren't gonna attack me. Not really a problem with the game, just thought it was worth mentioning.
- The way the scanner dialog interacts with the radio transmission dialog is not too bad, but it did kinda confuse me my first playthrough. I wonder if it would make sense to have two separate dialogs? Or even add a new dialog box for each scan that occurs concurrently?
- I did laugh at the hard mode ending. I admit I was hoping for something a bit more substantive though! :laughing: