OhNova by Pixelhurricane

[raw]
made by Pixelhurricane for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

An overscoped game about dying in space! Ludum<em>Dare</em>50<em>-</em>OhNova<em>2022-04-03</em>19-45-45.png ezgif-2-5a055859f2.gif

Orange button to speed up

Purple Button to recharge shields

Use shields to prevent damage from debris!

Activating systems costs power, be careful not to use too much and run out

Try to survive as long as you can!

Ratings

Given 14🗳️ 0🗨️

Feedback

CrocodileTuesday
04. Apr 2022 · 19:54 UTC
Cool game! I'm a sucker for any game with diegetic buttons, so this one caught my eye right away. I had a lot of fun trying to figure everything out, and all the buttons and switches are super satisfying to play with. I definitely do wish that you had more time to figure things out before dying, but I totally get that balancing is hard in 48 hours. Keep up the good work!
Enkrypton
05. Apr 2022 · 02:51 UTC
The UI reminds me of Elite Dangerous. I really interactable cockpit when trying to control the systems of a space ship. I think this is a really cool concept, but having a little more clear instructions would make it easier to pick up.
ZevsEHG
05. Apr 2022 · 03:10 UTC
Cool game. At first I didn't understand how to play. but after several attempts I figured it out.
LDJam user 287424
05. Apr 2022 · 03:11 UTC
Great job! The cockpit is fun to interact with. It took me a couple lives just to find everything I could interact with. The duration is really short and felt pretty set. Not sure if I never got the hang of it and couldn't survive longer, or it's just not possible. Having all the warning messages the same red style meant I had no idea what emergency I should be addressing first. It would be cool if the problems had different levels of panic associated to them, and then they can get worse if you ignore them.

Awesome work! The cockpit interaction feels awesome. I would totally play a space trucker simulator with that interface!
poontangular
05. Apr 2022 · 03:24 UTC
I enjoyed this a lot, nice one!
Skvader_418
10. Apr 2022 · 00:18 UTC
I adore the idea, the controls are not explained at all for the most part, it felt really rewarding to figure it out all by myself, however there are many things left to be desired, the dials are the worst part by far, i want to know which dials are which and that there are labels that say what is -1 or 2 or something like that. You die pretty damn quickly and there is no room for error here, and you easiliy get confused, when you learn the HUD its not too confusing. However i would wish that the countdown doesnt start until you turn on the power and engine and everything else. Actually fixing an error felt so rewarding the the potential here is enormous. id say continue working on this, this is an intense and fun game when you know what to do
Edmanbosch
13. Apr 2022 · 04:50 UTC
The gameplay loop here is fairly rock solid both in concept and execution. Managing the different parts and resources of the ship was fun, even if I usually didn't last very long. Figuring out what all the controls do was pretty neat, although I still don't which knobs are for the engine and which are for the fuel. There were also a couple of buttons, knobs, and sliders I didn't see any use for at all, which might just be because I didn't get far enough.

Considering the kind of game this is, I think it could be tremendously improved with sound effects and ambience. It could really make things more intense, and could also help guide the player using audio cues. Plus it could make all the button pushing, slider sliding, and knob turning the gameplay is focused on way more satisfying.

Some small improvements I would suggest for the game over screen is to tell the player their exact cause of death (hull damage, supernova, and whatever other threats you might add) and to tell the player how long they survived.
oramun
15. Apr 2022 · 17:00 UTC
Liked the concept but struggled a bit with working out what all the controls did and what to do which definitely killed me a few times :P But really enjoyed it thanks.
BluishGreenPro
16. Apr 2022 · 01:45 UTC
Thanks for showing how it's supposed to be played; I was really confused / overwhelmed when I tried it :cry:
I think there's a lot of potential here if you're able to improve the labeling and ease people into the game a bit
ilya096
21. Apr 2022 · 19:14 UTC
that satisfaction when player finds out what gameplay mechanics are is highly rewarding for retrying attempts
🎤 Pixelhurricane
24. Apr 2022 · 13:44 UTC
@ilya096 thanks for sticking through it for multiple attempts! Having the player slowly gain enough understanding about the system to eventually be able to survive for longer runs was the original intent behind some of the design. I never got the tutorialization where I wanted it, so I'm glad to hear that you found that satisfying!