Life On Mars by anstabo

[raw]
made by anstabo for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

Screenshot_11.jpg

Play a stranded Martian rover trying to survive its inevitable power loss.

*WASD/ZQSD: movement *

Space: Jump

Shift: Boost

Right-Click: Scan

Look for upgrades and batteries to stay alive on the red planet. Keep away from cold shadows; they will deplete your energy reserves.

Please prefer downloading the game instead of playing the webGl version, it is a totally better experience!

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Ratings

Overall 41th 4.247⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Fun 138th 3.951⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 206th 3.802⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Theme 190th 4.105⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 10th 4.728⭐ 83🧑‍⚖️
Mood 20th 4.488⭐ 82🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 21🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 257810
05. Apr 2022 · 02:37 UTC
This is great, nice job. I struggled a bit on some of the terrain but yeeting myself into the sky w/ the boost was fun.
BigDylann
05. Apr 2022 · 02:37 UTC
This looks and feels fantastic *When it is able to run*. Mabey think about optimization and other upgrades to the rover that are unique and fun. Great tough with the music.
🎤 anstabo
05. Apr 2022 · 02:41 UTC
@bigdylann did you try downloading and playing the windows build? It is HIGHLY recommended to download the game.
ohsnapitzsean
05. Apr 2022 · 02:42 UTC
I love the atmosphere of this game. Such a great idea for the theme!
Zettelkasten
05. Apr 2022 · 02:42 UTC
Fun little game! I LOVED the intro, and the atmosphere. The music playing really gave these "lost alone in space" vibes, similar to WALL-E.

Sadly, for us the mouse speed was super fast so it was very difficult to look around. Perhaps something was wrong there?
Apart from that cool concept, nice graphics, overall very satisfying to play.
DoctorBilbo
05. Apr 2022 · 02:42 UTC
Overall great game! I enjoyed the graphics and the gameplay. Getting around the terrain was rough and it felt that I could handle the Rover better without wheels rather than getting them.
JoshH
05. Apr 2022 · 02:43 UTC
Love the mood in this game. There is something about driving around in a barren wasteland and listening to cheerful oldies that hits a sweet spot for me :D
Fromage
05. Apr 2022 · 02:45 UTC
Really good! I love the natural tutorializing you did here, and the graphics are real nice! I think it may not have been intended for the wheels to make it a lot harder to climb rocks though (I got them and then went back down for a battery then couldn't get back up).
Nella
05. Apr 2022 · 02:50 UTC
Loved the game. Great choice of music for the game. The main menu screen, the terrain, and the gameplay was awesome. The only thing I would have changed would be the movement for the rover. I found it difficult to navigate in a certain direction using the mouse. For example, if I wanted to turn left and right I had to look in that direction, but sometimes I just wanted to look around without having the rover move that way. I think having just wasd movement would have sufficed. Overall, amazing game though.
chingle
05. Apr 2022 · 02:51 UTC
Great game! I'm into astronomy and being able to explore Mars via a rover is very fun and exciting for me!
Escarpoulpe
05. Apr 2022 · 02:54 UTC
OMG i love this game, the atmosphere, the graphics and the music...wow
🎤 anstabo
05. Apr 2022 · 02:54 UTC
@zettelkasten Try to download the windows build if you're experiencing input issues.

@nella The original rover movement was keyboard based but it was way too clunky, we figured mouse movement was the most intuitive solution. You need to stop the rover to look around which will also reduce the energy drain of the battery.
Walnut
05. Apr 2022 · 02:56 UTC
extremly awesome game <3 very chill music, beautiful graphics, unique movement (in a good way). Very awesome.
tudydev
05. Apr 2022 · 04:26 UTC
I love it. The music, the vibe, the artwork. Only thing I would change would be the menu buttons.
LDJam user 257946
05. Apr 2022 · 04:41 UTC
The art is absolutely fabulous. I can not believe you guys created a game that looks this good in such a short period of time. The way the hills look, the sky, all of it....just incredible!

This is certainly one of the BEST looking games I have played so far, and I have played quite a few games! Exceptional work!

Also, the music slaps!
Vhalenn
05. Apr 2022 · 11:47 UTC
The game is really fun and clean ! Congrats !
glitchman
05. Apr 2022 · 23:25 UTC
* The graphics are incredible! :stars:
* The HUD is great. It adds a lot of immersion!
* Sometimes it's too hard to control the rover. But, maybe, that's the point :thinking:
Russ Moonbase
05. Apr 2022 · 23:59 UTC
Fantastic graphics, great music, easy to understand gameplay, great UI design. The shadow mechanic is very cool and create quite the challenge for me. When I first started the game I thought to myself "Oh the screenshots show a rover but I'm just a box?" then after a few seconds I figured it out. Very cool idea to upgrade the rover.

I spent a long time looking a the wheels haha. The bounciness and turn on the wheels looked great.


The controls were a little hard to turn around. I thing that was the one difficulty I had.

Overall a great job.
Taek
06. Apr 2022 · 02:31 UTC
everything about this game is so good but i am so bad at it :D
Proxy-Games
06. Apr 2022 · 04:01 UTC
I loving this game. It has such a strong and charming atmosphere to it due to the graphical style and the use of older songs. The gameplay is simple, with just having to control the vehicle to collect upgrades, but it is so much fun, and the battery power management adds a layer of depth to it. The graphical effect when in shade does a great job at properly illustrating just how bad that is for the battery power and helps the player remember to avoid shade after the first interaction. I did sometimes have issues with almost getting stuck due to getting caught on a corner while the rover is facing it, which caused frustration, but that's the only thing I could hold against.

You guys did a great job. Congrats!
Andreia
06. Apr 2022 · 06:03 UTC
I loved the mood so much. It was relaxing, and I found the gameplay nice and interesting. I felt transported into this situation, and the music gave it such a movie vibe. The art was fenomenal too. Really great work here. Congrats!
benjamin
06. Apr 2022 · 08:36 UTC
This is gorgeous ! I'm happy you added a real and challenging gameplay to this and not only focus on your fabulous arts. Don't know what happen when you run out of energy but I really had to struggle for that !
LDJam user 269161
06. Apr 2022 · 10:23 UTC
Very beatiful graphics and cool soundtrack!
Doot
06. Apr 2022 · 20:54 UTC
Wooow this is very good!

It looks absolutely stunning, and I loved the music choices!
Some controls feel a bit weird at first but it makes it always so cool to get the next reward!

As someone who started playing Crumble on my switch just yesterday, I absolutely loved this one:

![Untitled.png](///raw/23d/c2/z/4d336.png)
🎤 anstabo
06. Apr 2022 · 21:30 UTC
@doot Crumble life form detected on Mars!
chrissx2
06. Apr 2022 · 22:46 UTC
This is one amazing game. Can't believe you guys manage to create those visual in such a short time. It's soo well polished. All those little animations, UI elements, sounds. Everything fits together soo well. Nothing feels like it was added in a last minute. I love the progression, how you get new tools over time. The orange ambiet works soo well. I can't believe this worked well with DoF and other effects in WebGL. Really impressive work!
Rawb
07. Apr 2022 · 00:36 UTC
This game has a great vibe and the music choice fits it perfectly. Really great game
Agrimes
07. Apr 2022 · 01:32 UTC
You even polished the sand! Impressive stuff!
antoniolm
07. Apr 2022 · 08:49 UTC
Great graphics, and overall theme!
BloooBird
07. Apr 2022 · 11:27 UTC
The mood from this game is just amazing, i'm at a loss for words
TomBuston
07. Apr 2022 · 14:51 UTC
Great mood, great graphics as said above. I liked how each upgrade felt unique and impacting. The feeling of progression is so satisfying here.
I had some issues with the controls, especially after unlocking the wheels, I often struggled to go where I wanted.
The shader when we are in the shadow is nice but a bit strong sometimes, it was hard to see how to go further when in the shadows.
The UI is beautiful and elegant.
Animation is great, the music choice is really nice, that's a really great job. Well done!
Emulization
07. Apr 2022 · 20:01 UTC
what an experience u guys should focus more and publish this
JoeShanahan
07. Apr 2022 · 20:07 UTC
Amazing game feel here! Moving around feels really good, and as other have said, each upgrade feels like it really changes the way you play. Although I feel maybe the motion blur might be a *bit* much...

Can't tell you how much I smiled once music I recognised from Fallout 3 started playing :smile:
merdeboi
07. Apr 2022 · 21:25 UTC
Very polished game, enjoyed the progression. The scan effect was great, the sand deformation dimples were a nice touch. Really great journey. It also played great on WebGL.
Phillip Scott
08. Apr 2022 · 12:57 UTC
Nice graphics! Music set a good mood, rover was really hard to control which was a little frustrating
LDJam user 280624
08. Apr 2022 · 13:03 UTC
Awesome graphics and atmosphere! I very existe game like this one
01FE7E
08. Apr 2022 · 15:03 UTC
The music selection is perfect, really enhances the mood. I think you should respawn with all upgrades though.
Chocolat-Endive
09. Apr 2022 · 17:05 UTC
That was really fun! You made an awesome job on the 3d lvl desing + physics and horrible-but-fun controls. I would love to play this little rover on a larger map and without having to look at the battery level because I had so much fun trying to climb everywhere.

Overall, that's a pretty solid Jam game you made here. Great job!
MPK90
10. Apr 2022 · 11:33 UTC
Really cool game! Great music and I love the Mars setting!
hakushika
11. Apr 2022 · 13:56 UTC
Great game.
The graphics are really cool.
:)
voxar
11. Apr 2022 · 17:13 UTC
Oh wow! Well done! That's a lot or game for a weekend of work! Very cool with the upgrades, love that you start out as just a cube!

I fell into a crevice just after already been struggling for a bit too long to be in a mood to start over from the beginning but I enjoyed it a bunch up until then! Perhaps keeping the collected upgrades on restart or having checkpoints on the pickups would be something. Full scores from me nonetheless!

We had a quite similar idea but stuck to 2 dimensions. Someone in our comments was kind to link us here :)
nsadie
11. Apr 2022 · 19:23 UTC
Wow, amazing! The graphics and mood is really top notch. So many great little details! The gameplay was also very enjoyable and I really enjoyed exploring Mars!
Chacharl
12. Apr 2022 · 11:56 UTC
Damn this one looks so great, nice job !
The sound design and the mood are also really good !

I struggled a bit with the character controller : the game make me want to explore and try to find ways to reach different areas but it's kinda hard to manage to move correctly without turning the robot upside down.

Otherwise the game is very polished and daaaamn those lovely shaders are beautiful !
jordantanner
12. Apr 2022 · 19:56 UTC
Absolutely lovely game. Music selection was great and really set the mood. A lonely reminder from planet Earth. The play area was well designed and the character controller worked fairly well. I did find myself upside down a lot, I think it would be a bit easier if the rover wouldn't get turned over quite so easily. The scan mechanic was really fun, as was the boost. Superb entry, guys. You should be very proud!
Yorsh
13. Apr 2022 · 19:37 UTC
Game looks really amazing, love the cold effect when going into the shadows. It's really fun to start as a box and find stuff on the way.

The very much copyrighted music tho idk. Don't get me wrong I love the tracks chosen, they work very well with the mood but I would say pretty much every game would get much better if they used a Queen song or something.
4ahizon
14. Apr 2022 · 18:45 UTC
It's is a beautiful game. There was another game that I played that had similar constraints as your game in LD. Which was a Mars rover with limited power supply. But your has more complexity and it is a 3D beautiful world. Audio was great and complements with the art style.
wdebowicz
15. Apr 2022 · 21:09 UTC
I really like the mood of the game, and the fallout's soundtracks suits it well!
The hardest part for me was the controls, and how the mouse speed was scaling when playing with full screen.
Good job!
BTW 11 Ludum Dares ago, I made my own space rover entry :-) https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/space-rover
Yeti Kid
16. Apr 2022 · 18:58 UTC
Really gorgeous game and the music really fits with the amazing graphics!Found myself stuck on my roof quite a bit haha! You have to plan around the shade and so many great visuals in this! Well done!
Strega
17. Apr 2022 · 20:36 UTC
Really beautiful visuals and mood! The scanning vfx was really effective. Pretty relaxing, but I really struggled with the camera sensitivity.
gbgames
21. Apr 2022 · 04:20 UTC
Gorgeous graphics! I don't play a lot of modern games, but I was very amazed by the visuals and don't recall ever seeing anything like this before. The way the screen changed when you were in shadow and slowly recovered when you got back into sunlight was a nice touch.

I struggled with the very sensitive mouse controls (web version, I don't have Windows), and I struggled when I first got the wheels because I fell off of the platform that would have taken me into the wider open area and had a hard time jumping back up without falling on my side.

Falling into craters was scary.

I enjoyed the tunes. It gave it a campy kind of feel somehow.

Well done!
UkuleleFury
21. Apr 2022 · 18:35 UTC
Wow, this is an amazing game! That's a ton of level design for 72 hours! Gorgeous intro, and 3D models. Right at the very end I finally figured out that if you hold forward while in the air, you tip forward! That. Is important to know. Very impressive game!
🎤 anstabo
21. Apr 2022 · 19:09 UTC
Thanks everyone for playing our game and leaving feedbacks!