Unstable Reactor by Gale-swift
Info
Jam game completed by two game devs who work in the industry. (Runs on Unity). Inspired by Homeworld and Diner Dash. (Hello r/brandnewsentence!)
Your ship barely escaped its last battle. Unfortunately your reactor has become UNSTABLE and can only charge one system at a time. Your goal is to charge your warp core fully and get out.
Time's ticking though, as the enemy has tracked you down and is warping in to finish the job!
Balance charging each system to defend yourself, while also trying to warp out
Instructions
- You can only charge one system at a time.
- Once a system is fully charged, you must click it again to activate.
- If you aren't actively charging a system, it will start draining after some time (except the reactor)
- Each system has different charge and drain rates. The warp core does not drain.
- Click the help button in the top right of the game for more info about each system
- Enemies will come at you with fighters, bombers and frigates.
Systems:

Media

The vods for development are here: https://www.twitch.tv/galeswift
Thanks:
Special thanks to DarwinStreams for providing us with the wormhole, and moral support! https://twitter.com/darwinstreams?lang=en
Music: Volatile Reaction by Kevin MacLeod
| Link | https://krm197.itch.io/ludum-dare-49-unstable |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/unstable-reactor-2 |
Ratings
| Overall | 589th | 3.638⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 677th | 3.483⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 703th | 3.345⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1081th | 3.161⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 155th | 4.362⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 481th | 3.519⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 1177th | 2.065⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 339th | 3.796⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 8🗳️ | 15🗨️ |
I managed to beat it on my first try, but did fall below 50% health once or twice, so I'd say the difficulty is just right for a jam game, good job!
I wish the radar was more visual, as in an actual radar, and less a text box with some numbers, but I understand that this is time consuming and not a high priority in a jam. I just feel like with the graphics being as awesome as they are, it would have added that little bit extra.
The idea is interesting, graphics and audio are good. But when I played for the first time I was overwhelmed with options and got killed immediately. Some kind of advice about what should be the first priority when starting would be nice so you don't die immediately.
I think the VFX need a little more punch to really sell the epic space battle feeling, it would also help to see what's being targeted and dying if the vfx were a bit bigger and flashier.
Overall, impressive submission, awesome work!
Gameplay was pretty fun, though my biggest complaint was that a lot of actions didn't seem to have much response. Ex: the shield didn't make it very clear when it blocked something. On the other hand, the main cannon was _very_ clear when it worked (and the sound was very satisfying). On that note though, given the use of Kevin MacLeod's music, shouldn't audio have been opted-out of? It was a good selection and I know effort went into the voice lines, but doesn't seem fair to rate that category. Wish there was a better way than all-or-nothing. :confused:
Graphics-wise, the ship models/vfx were the strong point. Saw your post about using the Substance apps to make them (*surprise*, I used Substance too lol), they turned out well in my opinion. However, the UI could use a bit of work since, despite being plenty functional, the presentation just isn't quite as slick as the audio/ship models/vfx. Regardless, the fact that it had the voice lines and charging sounds to go along with it was definitely a nice touch.
Overall, a pretty solid game!