STAR STRUGGLE by 730

[raw]
made by 730 for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

You find yourself stranded in unknown territory with a malfunctioning ship!
Beat hordes of alien ships while you try to survive in a VERY unstable spaceship.

You're in control of a physics-based ship with a physics-based weapon in an otherwise traditional shoot 'em up, making what should be a simple task very complicated!
You can lock your weapon to stop it from moving, but doing so will cause the ship to heat up (as well as shooting), and if the ship heats up too much, it will explode!
So if you want to survive, you better learn how to handle the ship to the best of your abilities.


Controls:
Arrow keys - Move
Z - Shoot
X - Lock cannon in place
Esc - Pause
Alt+Enter - Fullscreen

gif.gif

Ratings

Overall 576th 3.643⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 825th 3.357⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 714th 3.333⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 386th 3.905⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 190th 4.286⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 198th 3.881⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 833th 3.342⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

Naymsayk
05. Oct 2021 · 01:10 UTC
I've not played a lot of godot engine stuff. This has been my favourite thing I've played from the jam so far. What I really liked about it was that the loose cannon didn't feel random it's doing it's own thing because of the actions I took. Which is neat. Feels fair. Was still very difficult though. I didn't do amazingly well but I will try again. Gonna sleep first though.
Gurt
05. Oct 2021 · 01:53 UTC
Amazing presentation and extremely well made! The game is fun, but insanely hard
Cakestorm
05. Oct 2021 · 14:55 UTC
Wonderful game, I loved it! The main mechanic was very well implemented, it definitely felt unstable but not unfair, since I still had control over the spinning. The waves of enemies were good too, there were enough that it didn't feel repetitive, and the fact it went on infinitely was great fun as well. Having a high score system was nice also, it kept me playing just to see if I could beat last time's score. The music and graphics worked really well together, and I loved the arcade aesthetic of the game, it felt great. It's a little thing, but I liked how huge the player's bullets were as well, it made hitting enemies much more forgiving and fun. That's probably the best way to describe this game: fun. I had a blast playing this, I'd love to see what you could do with it in future! Awesome work! Oh, and my final highscore was 18200 - good score or bad score?
🎤 730
05. Oct 2021 · 15:25 UTC
@cakestorm to be quite honest, I haven't played the game for score much myself, but the highest I've seen was an astounding 122500 over 402 seconds, so...
Glad you liked it so much!
Megastrons
05. Oct 2021 · 18:37 UTC
I found the game's proposal interesting, the loss of control of the ship worked well with the theme. But I thought the game was more difficult than it should have been, maybe a tutorial or a higher difficulty progression would help the player better understand how to play.
BadPiggy
08. Oct 2021 · 11:11 UTC
This is a neat concept which is nice but feels a little too unforgiving. I feel like the overheat meter should just increase when you shoot bullets and not when you're locked as well. A little more control over the ship would have been nice as well though. Still, nice idea and a decent entry.
Apple Dash
09. Oct 2021 · 22:42 UTC
Oh god, this is so terrible to play, I absolutely love it. The game truly feels uncontrollable and chaotic, but that it could be mastered, and it's not just random for the sake of it. And the audiovisual stuff is also very well done. Great entry!
ZacharyPinkham
12. Oct 2021 · 00:10 UTC
Really interesting game! It's been polished to a shine, but I will say, it's VERY hard, to the point where I feel like some baby levels should be in there to help adjust to the controls. That being said, it's clearly well-thought out and not difficult for the sake of being difficult. Awesome work!
megalukes
15. Oct 2021 · 23:06 UTC
Amazing jam entry and very well-balanced. I really liked you idea and the game's atmosphere was great. I loved the music too. Cheers from a Godot user as well! Congrats!
pedrocoden
15. Oct 2021 · 23:35 UTC
amazing game!
lovetocode999
15. Oct 2021 · 23:37 UTC
Very nice! This is very well polished for a game jam game, and it plays very well! I love how you implemented the physics of the gun and the ship, although it is quite difficult. Overall this is an amazing entry, good job!
victoriaogino
16. Oct 2021 · 02:23 UTC
Super cool game! It's supper hard, but fun to play and I love the classic arcade aesthetic. Great job!

P.S. We also made our game in Godot! I haven't come across any other games yet that used it too :)
matthewrobo
20. Oct 2021 · 01:20 UTC
![1634692622-StarStruggle_juKdbeCEAk.png](///raw/165/32/z/48444.png)

Okay. That was interesting. I actually kind of liked it, in the way that you hate something because it's kicking your ass but it's still kinda sick despite.

It takes the #1 lesson in shmups (no inertia) and turns it into its main thing. You've basically strapped a gun and a jetpack onto a pendulum and turned it into Hellsinker-lite.

Enemies appearing from more angles could make this _really_ unique, where you have to use the aim to your advantage.
🎤 730
20. Oct 2021 · 22:26 UTC
@matthewrobo Hellsinker-lite would be really something now wouldn't it. Thanks for playing. Enemies appearing from places other than above is a good idea considering your shooting direction isn't restricted to up, don't think I'm gonna expand on this game though sadly. Fell short on the amount/variety of waves and that would've been a cool addition.
Sam Gorman
21. Oct 2021 · 19:39 UTC
Liked the concept and the art and music (very retro!) Did find it a little frustrating to play, although I know that was the point. Only three hits was a bit punishing, and the heat gauge filled up very quickly. With a bit of balancing, though, and a few more wave types, this could be an excellent arcade shooter! Great job!