Star ReaperZ by gurkenlabs
The Star ReaperZ have arrived, bent on destroying entire galaxies and harvesting their energy. In a last effort to save existence itself, the GDF (galaxy defence force) has mobilized their troops and is sending every single Defender and Agent to ward off the threat. Will the GDF be able save the day, or will the evil Star ReaperZ prevail?
In this action-centered arcade shoot 'em up, players must maneuver their ship through swarms of enemy ships and defend themselves from incoming fire. The enemies come in two forms: "Agents," which are small, unarmed space shuttles that fly in large numbers and try to crash into the player's ship; and "Defenders," which are larger, armed ships that fire energy blasts at the player.
When the player destroys a defending ship, it leaves behind a blob of energy. The player can then use the shift key to suck in all the energy on screen, harvesting it and gaining points. This adds an additional layer of strategy to the gameplay, as the player must decide when to focus on destroying enemies and when to focus on harvesting energy.
As you progress through the levels, difficulty increases with higher spawn rates and the addition of asteroids that block projectiles and destroy your ship on impact. To dodge shots and asteroids, you can boost or slow down your ship's speed at all times.
A level is won once you reach the galaxy core, a glowing energy sphere enabling life in the galaxy. Recklessly, the Star ReaperZ harvest galaxy cores and leave nothing but destruction and death behind. But hey, at least they're not stupid enough to destroy the planet they live on!
Controls
About us
We are gurkenlabs, two Bavarian brothers with a passion for developing and playing video games. This game, just like our previous entries, was made with love in LITIENGINE, our very own open-source Java 2D game engine. Check LITIENGINE out on Itch and GitHub :slight_smile:
Credits
For the first time in LDJAM, we have decided to opt out of the Graphics and Sound categories due to us not being able to spend the full weekend working on the game. Our gratitude goes to the following creators who have provided some of the used assets:
| Asset | Creator | |--------------|-----------|------------| |Earth Orbiter Font|Daniel Zadorozny| |Defending Spaceships|Jose Medina| |Asteroids|Luis Zuno| |Galaxy background|Nauris Amatnieks| |Input prompt icons|Kenney| |Explosion effects|BearFX| |Energy channeling effect|ppeldo| |Futuristic user interface elements vector set|macrovector| |futuristic-hud-interface-with-gradient-style|Freepik| |Ingame music|remaxim| |Menu music|matthewpl|
| Link | https://github.com/gurkenlabs/litiengine-ldjam52 |
| Link | https://gurkenlabs.itch.io/star-reaperz |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/star-reaperz |
Ratings
| Overall | 635th | 3.138⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 510th | 3.19⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 799th | 2.268⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 772th | 2.655⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 624th | 2.22⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 641th | 3.018⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 20🗳️ | 36🗨️ |
This has been resolved.
The game's core mechanics are simple, but the added layer of strategy offered by the energy harvesting system adds an extra level of depth to the gameplay. The player must decide when to focus on destroying enemies and when to focus on harvesting energy, and this adds an additional layer of complexity to the gameplay. The difficulty increases as the player progresses through the levels, with higher spawn rates and the addition of asteroids that block projectiles and destroy the player's ship on impact. To dodge shots and asteroids, players can boost or slow down their ship's speed at all times.
The game's visuals are simple but effective, with a sleek and futuristic aesthetic that fits the game's theme perfectly. The sound effects and music are also well-done, adding to the game's overall atmosphere. Overall, Reaper is a fun and challenging game that offers a unique and engaging experience. If you're a fan of arcade shooters, I highly recommend giving this game a try.
- Why are bonuses so slow move??? If you didn't know, then in shoot'em up they move bonuses at a fast speed to make a choice: either you play beautifully on the edge and get more points, or you just miss it. In this game, it turns out that you can collect 100% points without putting yourself in front of any danger and choice;
- Why are enemy shots of the same color as bonuses??? It looks more like some kind of mockery, considering that you have the whole screen in bonuses;
- Why the forward acceleration button? Why not make the same speed initially so that you don't have to clamp W? To have time to collect all the points at a calm pace)? Also with shots: why clamp it)? But as for the speed change, at least I can understand that it could be used if done correctly, but why not auto-fire? This game not there are different weapons and shoot/don't shoot puts you not in front of some choice;
- Hp is hard to read. These are the lines on the character (or who is it at all?) they look too complicated for such a simple indicator);
- Also, the character slides, which is generally unacceptable in such a genre, as for me).
But in general, well done, although you certainly pulled the topic very strangely, huh).
One last note: I always write down honest review, because everybody need that, not just nice craps with some bullshit, but sometime I will appreciate very good games. So if this review insult you, but use it well :) Anyway every game is counting so :)
The controls and mechanics felt right, but obviously needs a bit more variety in the enemies / waves. I was seeing enemy craft spawning in the middle of the screen, which didn't seem right.
I'd recommend adding enemy movement patterns, etc, along with potential scrolling backgrounds with more detail which would help break up any repetitiveness.
I did quite like the aesthetic though and the music/sfx was well chosen to match.
I think you have the beginnings of a cool game here, and it's easy to forget that even just submitting a completed game for Ludum Dare is a huge achievement. So I hope to see you back for the next one! Good work :slight_smile:
Not really sure what harvesting the energy gives you other than points, I wondered if it topped up the 'health bar' image on the left but it seems to not have any effect or repair. Had a number of recently-offscreen enemies blow up the ship which seemed a bit brutal or buggy and I'm not sure what the map in the top right adds - it's everything that's already on screen by the looks of it as the map retains the same ratio as the screen from what I can see.
Anyway, it was fun nonetheless and kudos to linking to the others for the sound and gfx work. :)
The harvesting and energy could have a deeper meaning in the game, e.g. you need energy to fire and repair your ship, or charge shields.
While the style is adorable, enemy ships appearing midfield instead of rolling in over the top border is a unnecessary taint.
There could be more of ... everything: one or two more weapons, shields, more enemies, and enemies that shoot more, destroyable asteroids ...
In conclusion your game is too simple & easy, looks & sounds pretty, you did mostly well in polishing, and I would like to see that your next creation is cautiously more ambitious.