Slingshot Probe by quadtree

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

You control a surveying probe exploring an uncharted system. Try to delay the inevitable dying of your battery by collecting trace gasses from planets with blue atmospheres, but don't waste all your fuel! Planets and the sun exert gravity, so try to coast and orbit them to save fuel.

Controls:

  • F2 - Show this help
  • R - Return to title
  • WASD/Arrow Keys - Thrust

Ratings

Overall 289th 3.478⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 268th 3.435⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 197th 3.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 288th 3.674⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 385th 3.239⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 164th 3.545⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 398th 2.4⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 182th 3.522⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

nusan
04. Apr 2022 · 12:02 UTC
Cool entry! I like the idea a lot and it's fun to try to put yourself into orbit. It's pretty hard because there is no way to refuel so any mistake is a real loss. I feel the direction controls where a bit hard to grasp as to do the same action you need to change which arrow to press while orbiting, maybe a relative mode would be better. Also a button to restart the level without going trough the main menu (and having to switch to the mouse) would be good. Anyway, it's a great entry and you managed to put a lot of content!
Porcus_Pie
04. Apr 2022 · 12:03 UTC
I will admit I first came into this not expecting much, the menu was squished on my screen so I had a not great first impression. Something about it just kept me playing however, it was really mesmerizing just trying to align everything, with the music in the background really setting the mood. The addition of several modes also helped to increase this replay value. Some visual indication of you thrusting would have been good, I couldn't tell first quite how my movements were affecting the ship, and the drones were so hard to see and keep track of. Overall, despite the visuals, this was a really surprising game for me! I got a lot of enjoyment from it and it set a really nice mood, I'll probably come back to it when I'm bored at work next.
Wizard
15. Apr 2022 · 09:55 UTC
Interesting concept. The physics felt really nailed down and well executed. Good game.
Dingledorf
15. Apr 2022 · 23:50 UTC
Nice work! This is very similar in (initial) concept to the game my team tried to make, and I'm really impressed with how cleanly you were able to pull off the orbital mechanics concept. It's very impressive that you were able to fit in multiple gamemodes. I also like the audio -- the music does a good job of setting the mood. On the first playthrough I was a little confused since there was initially nothing on the screen other than the ship and the minimap (and therefore I had no idea what the minimap was showing me), but that confusion quickly went away when I eventually passed a planet. Well done!
Lychee
15. Apr 2022 · 23:51 UTC
Fun game, I liked the thruster mechanic though it took me some time to get used to. Maybe some indicator of a boost besides that trajectory line might help for visual feedback?
sacredbacon
15. Apr 2022 · 23:53 UTC
Brilliant concept. I like the idea of trying to orbit the planets to collect fuel. Made for a very fun physics game. Sounded great too, and the 3d models look awesome. Great job!
LDJam user 249705
16. Apr 2022 · 00:42 UTC
Very interesting. Really like the physics.
Conduit
16. Apr 2022 · 01:50 UTC
Love the physics in this one! Audio was neat and the graphics were effective! Well done <3
Maxwell3000
16. Apr 2022 · 04:58 UTC
Neat concept , I liked the addition of the different game modes. It helped to spice up the original gameplay.
Zitao YE
17. Apr 2022 · 09:42 UTC
Cool concept and the physical design!
kjscott
17. Apr 2022 · 11:12 UTC
Using WASD controls to change the thrust vectors was a little difficult and led to quite a bit of imprecise movements. Having a heading, which you can change at a very small cost of fuel, then using the main engine to move and/or having side thrusters might have given a more fluid type of control for this genre of game. Overall it was a nice little physics game.
LMB
20. Apr 2022 · 00:19 UTC
Nice game, well polished, with all parts (physics, graphics, audio) working well together. I also like how you added extra game modes by using only small variations on top of the base game. Lots of gameplay-bang for the game-design-buck!