PULSAR by kazuo256

made by kazuo256 for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

The PULSAR planet is humankind's last hope for survival.

Hundreds of years after exhausting the resources of their home planet, humanity travels across the cosmos towards what appears to be their last hope.

Planets orbiting the star PSR B1257+L13 emit a mysterious pulsating light that brightens the way for the last colonies to find refuge on these planets' rocky surfaces.

As they approach, the people of Sunset are amazed. The amount of energy emitted by these pulses might be just enough to sustain all their ships and colonies!

Will humans know how to maintain this exceptional nature? Or will they repeat the mistakes of the past?

Patch 1.0.2

Added

Fullscreen toggle with F11 and F

Changed

Window is no longer resizable

Fixed

Fix factories being destroyed mysteriously by extra energy
Fix buttons being clickable during transitions
Fix rotators not going dark when out of energy
Fix transmitters not going dark when there is no energy in them

Patch 1.0.1

Added

Score counter
Missing reference in credits

Changed

Hide high score if there is none
Turn rotator into an actually useful building

Fixed

Fix transmitters not going dark when there is no energy in them
Fix settlement 2 appearing with dislocated sprite
Write settlement 2's in-game description

IF THE LD-HOSTED DOWNLOADS FAIL TO UNZIP TRY THE ALTERNATE LINKS BELOW INSTEAD

Source Code	https://gitlab.com/uspgamedev/pulsar
Link	https://usp.game.dev.br/downloads/projects/pulsar/pulsar-win.zip
Link	https://usp.game.dev.br/downloads/projects/pulsar/pulsar-osx.zip
Link	https://usp.game.dev.br/downloads/projects/pulsar/pulsar-linux.zip
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/pulsar

Ratings

Overall	512^th	3.591⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Fun	614^th	3.352⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	449^th	3.477⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Theme	353^th	3.898⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	444^th	3.818⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Audio	394^th	3.465⭐	45🧑‍⚖️
Humor	821^th	2.382⭐	40🧑‍⚖️
Mood	407^th	3.628⭐	45🧑‍⚖️
Given		50🗳️	65🗨️

Feedback

Hadik

04. Oct 2022 · 00:54 UTC

I want the draw as good as you. . Chmm, the most addictive game so far, very fun game. Nicely fit into the theme. Oh gosh, we have here some very original game, I love it. Overall your game is good, good job.

settings

04. Oct 2022 · 02:25 UTC

Loved the mood and atmosphere! Presentation is fantastic, and I really liked the concept. I tried several times and couldn't save the 1st settlement though :( long live USP Game Dev

Nobongo

05. Oct 2022 · 02:41 UTC

The gameplay was pretty fun once I got the hang of it. I never really found out how to best use the rotator, but that didn't detract from the overall game. Good work :)

Pennycook

05. Oct 2022 · 02:53 UTC

This feels really polished; well done! The art and UI work together really nicely, and although the pulse every 10 seconds took a little getting used to it's a very clever mechanic and an interesting take on the theme.

I wish that the tutorial had included more examples of how things connected to one another, or maybe just prevented me from buying things in the wrong order until I'd powered up my first settlement. On my first go I tried a breadth-first approach and instantly built a power plant and two factories, which didn't work out so well. :laughing: It took me a few restarts before I figured out how to connect things, and if I'm honest I'm still not 100% sure how the rotators work.

Also, thank you for providing a Linux build. :heart:

Dssdiego

05. Oct 2022 · 02:54 UTC

Very difficult and yet very rewarding! The sound of my buildings being destroyed were amazing and terrifying at the same time! Nicely designed! Congratulations!

Fuse in a Bowl

05. Oct 2022 · 03:01 UTC

It's great, really liked the clear and simple art style. The audio feedback for about to lose a city is intense! It's great from a gameplay perspective, I really don't want to know what happens at the end.

I started getting blue cities and I didn't know what to do with them, maybe some explanation would have been good there.

Great job, had a good time with this one :)

nataku92

05. Oct 2022 · 03:38 UTC

I like it! Got a score of 53 after a few tries, though I feel like I didn't quite understand all the mechanics (e.g. how to effectively use the rotator, or how a settlement 2 works). Ended up just going with a strategy of prebuilding transmitters to everywhere I could. Definitely could see a full-blown game based on the concept!

ThatzNiko

05. Oct 2022 · 18:18 UTC

It feels really polished, well done

Stratcat66

05. Oct 2022 · 18:31 UTC

The game itself looks very polished and there seems to be a solid concept of how the game should work. The atmosphere is really good.
In the end I didn't quite understand all concepts, for example the rotator or fire. Here the tutorial could be a bit more specific (and it has problems when scaling the window...)

After understanding a few of the concepts I managed to get a score of 24.
Right now it seems to be a good strategy to look for spots on the Map, where I can build a power plant next to a factory?

I think this game is a good base and can be expanded to a more complex experience. But even now, it is fun to play. Good Job!

Dawnreaver

05. Oct 2022 · 21:20 UTC

I love love love the graphics! Amazing UI design! So jealous you managed to make a tutorial for your game in the time. Well done! This oozes with character <3

LDJam user 277851

06. Oct 2022 · 01:37 UTC

Very fun, I've played it many times.
I noticed that if a settlement is too far away from a power source, there wasn't enough time to transport the energy there.
But it's still very fun, the art and music are well done

bloodyaugust

06. Oct 2022 · 02:03 UTC

I think there's a really good puzzle/base builder in here, seriously. The mood of the art and SFX, the main menu, everything came together incredibly well to give a sense of foreboding. I appreciated all the attention to detail in the sprite work, and just how well mixed the SFX were. That said, the tutorial wasn't really that helpful in understanding the mechanics of the game. I _think_ I got to where I understood how the rotators worked, but I still felt like there was something I was missing. With some more work on the UI and a more in-depth explanation of how power transmission and rotators work, I can see this being really enjoyable.

Also, this doesn't play well on trackpads. I discovered that Q and E could also rotate buildings, but couldn't pan the camera. Mousing the edge of the screen or supporting arrow keys for this purpose would be great.

Overall, really fantastic entry! :tada:

tatawanda

06. Oct 2022 · 06:14 UTC

It's a nice entry! I had trouble understanding how everything work, I think the description were not enough, but that's a really nice UI. I think all I wanted to say was already say by other people in the commentary so I'll just finish by saying, good job :D

Faust_Mi

06. Oct 2022 · 07:11 UTC

Loved the art, mood and atmosphere! Presentation is fantastic! I really liked this Game. Good job!

Fattori

06. Oct 2022 · 07:43 UTC

I'm amazed by the amount of work was put into this game, love it.

OtterFaeLure

06. Oct 2022 · 09:06 UTC

This game looks and sounds gorgeous.
It's also of a genre that I adore.
However, I couldn't figure it out. I had to restart the tutorial a few times and noticed that you can get placed in such a way as to not enable you to get the city connected and a factory running.

Making the tutorial be a fixed map so that the person can, for sure, get a power plant and operational factory could be really helpful.

This game is amazing though! Just needs some polish that is nearly impossible to manage in a game jam.

Super well done! :D

LikuRio

06. Oct 2022 · 11:23 UTC

Atmosphere is very good

Malai

06. Oct 2022 · 14:24 UTC

Was able to get to 30, took a while to understand the rotator.
Sound was very good, and the tension of permanently trying to connect the new settlements was tense.
Your mac build worked fyi

real_flamingicecubegames

06. Oct 2022 · 16:07 UTC

Definitely the most polished game i've played so far in this jam. I'm a huge fan of just about everything here. I think that the game could have used a better tutorial however. I really want to see this expanded.

JoeDev

06. Oct 2022 · 20:38 UTC

Amazing achievement for a jam game! Impressive how many people managed to collaborate in a small space of time! Game was great, loved the art and would play more for sure!

Serxiolas

06. Oct 2022 · 21:23 UTC

Good atmosphere! A nice management game!

LDJam user 268934

06. Oct 2022 · 22:31 UTC

Briljant color pallet ! Works super well

mhorth

06. Oct 2022 · 23:07 UTC

So let's pretend my difficulty in understanding the game was totally not my own fault :laughing: I restarted 7 times before I finally started to understand how things work and what I was supposed to do. The gameplay and amount of content you were able to build over the weekend is astounding, I just feel like the barrier to entry was too high. I read the tutorial (twice), read the infographic here on your ldjam page, and still had no idea why things weren't working.

The biggest thing I stumbled on was that I was looking at the small yellow arrows on the ground of the transmitters, and it wasn't until attempt #8 that I finally got that they only send power in the direction of the BIG arrows. The rotators took a small amount of time to figure out after that, and then I was finally off to the races and had a good time with it. That could be completely my own fault and lack of knowledge since I don't play many games of this type.

Link270

07. Oct 2022 · 05:56 UTC

Pretty cool little game. I think there needs to be a bit more detail and feedback is all. I wanted to have more information while I was playing the game on what everything was and what they were doing. The power also seemed to move very slow and I lost a lot of settlements because the power just couldn't get there in time. Really nice job though!

Tanner Shelton

07. Oct 2022 · 05:56 UTC

I enjoyed the experience and the art and especially the mood. I was having a hard time understanding directions and whatnot. I couldn't figure out the rotation portion and which way power was flowing. I restarted a couple of times and rewatched the tutorials but something wasn't clicking. But I really liked the concept!

AegisFate

07. Oct 2022 · 15:44 UTC

Really polished game.Love the art and atmosphere

R2D48

08. Oct 2022 · 05:45 UTC

Great graphic arts, oppressing music, interesting game mechanic. Well done.

steinuil

08. Oct 2022 · 11:48 UTC

Very cool game, I had half an idea to make a management game at the beginning so it's nice to see what somebody else did with the concept! The art is really well made and the sound is really effective in setting the mood. It feels a bit too hard with the random settlement spawns positions so close to each other and so few energy sources and it didn't look like there was a "splitter" transmitter, but maybe it's just that I'm bad at it.

AlexSolonnikovP4

09. Oct 2022 · 08:22 UTC

Cool game and very similar to me, reminiscent of the game Factorio. well done guys for making the effort.

Zakroutil

09. Oct 2022 · 09:30 UTC

Awesome game, I could play this for hours! It's very addictive and well polished!

Almax

09. Oct 2022 · 12:32 UTC

Great use of the theme and polished implementation. Some visual examples of how to use/connect each building type would be really helpful during the tutorial. I never worked out what the rotator did since energy seemed to connect between different angled transmitters.

Yoni

10. Oct 2022 · 13:43 UTC

I had difficulty understanding what's going on in this game :( and my touchpad doesn't have a wheel :innocent:

Kregap

10. Oct 2022 · 13:43 UTC

I think I understood the energy transfer rules in general, but somehow I couldn't make it work... I think. That being said I like the concept, execution is neat and cohesive. Nice! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

ksimaster

13. Oct 2022 · 17:57 UTC

Construction! Factories, lava spills... That's cool! It looks great! Be sure to release it!