SKYHAND by GlassMoonGames

[raw]
made by GlassMoonGames for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

Per rec: https://files.jam.host/embed/$417581/43009/index.html

Play as a lone UFO zapping up plenty of helpless humans awoken late at night by your lasers setting their house ablaze! Avoid military aircraft, and collect as many humans as you can before they all escape to safety.

—Try to abduct as many humans as possible before they reach shelter. —Blast the houses with your lasers to force the humans out. —Once all of the humans have been abducted or escaped, the game is over. —Tip: try to destroy one house at a time. This allows you to sweep up more humans. —Tip: Fly low to avoid fighter jets.

Keyboard Controls - Arrow Keys - Move UFO

Space - Abduction Beam

Control - Shoot Lasers

Enter - Start game

Gamepad Controls (see notes) D-Pad - Move UFO

A - Abduction Beam

B - Shoot Lasers

Start - Start Game

All code, art, sound, by William B Hill.

Notes:

Well, I'm uploading, and I guess that's something. It's missing a lot of the features I planned in my scope due to a lack of time/energy (working third shift is hard!), so the only power up is for the beam. Gamepad controls aren't working during testing, you may have better luck. There is only one level as I didn't get the additional mechanics in place to warrant making a second level. Enjoy all two or so minutes that made it to here as much as you can!

Ratings

Overall 684th 3⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 430th 3.283⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 559th 2.957⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 291th 3.826⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 700th 2.413⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 473th 2.636⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 326th 3.174⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 473th 3.432⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

gonutz
Oct 06th · 15:22 UTC
Hey, really cool! Nice little game :-)

First thing I had to do in my browser was to inspect the embedded HTML element and open it in a new tab because the embedding frame is too small for it :-)
Consider putting the embed line (https://files.jam.host/embed/$417581/43009/index.html) in the description as well.

I love the programmer art, both graphics and sound effects :-)

What framework did you use for this game? I cannot tell from looking at the page source.
🎤 GlassMoonGames
Oct 06th · 19:58 UTC
Thank you so much! I added the link as suggested.

As for framework...I may be misunderstanding the question as I am 200% out of my depth about all of this. The game was made in Game Maker Studio 2, with most of the art assets being drawn there. I used GIMP to do the splash images for the backgrounds. Two of the sound effects were made with a little Korg Volca synth, and the rest were done in FL Studio, along with the music.
Artur Hawkwing
Oct 07th · 03:31 UTC
This is a super concept -- and I really enjoyed the loop of destroying houses and abducting people.

The one difficulty I had was that I could only shoot in the direction I was moving -- which made evading / defeating the planes quite difficult. In any cases -- this was a very cool (and innovative) take on the theme.
breadstick
Oct 07th · 04:09 UTC
This was just the game to play right after watching the movie Nope for the first time... now I get to live out my alien-abduction dreams (military leave me alone)
SnowfallEagle
Oct 07th · 05:19 UTC
I would like to play this game but for some reason I don't see any humans / military stuff, just wondering alone on ship
🎤 GlassMoonGames
Oct 07th · 05:47 UTC
@snowfalleagle Shoot at the houses first. That kicks off the humans.
Antarktis
Oct 07th · 09:23 UTC
It looks cool, but I don't understand how to play it
🎤 GlassMoonGames
Oct 07th · 10:50 UTC
Definitely sounds like I need to update the description to clear up how to play. Apologies for the lack of clarity.
LRDJJ
Oct 07th · 11:27 UTC
Fun concept! It's super enjoyable to watch the little earthlings getting helplessly beamed up. One issue I found is that the music doesn't play when you start the game, but only when you restart after finishing the game. This meant that I had music x1 in my second playthrough, and music x2 on my third playthrough. Otherwise it worked for me very well once I'd figured out the mechanics.
Wouter52
Oct 07th · 15:34 UTC
Fun game! I love how the army is instantly there to nuke the damn thing haha, the search lights are a nice cherry on top
First I had to read the description to find out that I need to shoot the houses to set them ablaze. Maybe some kind of in-game instruction could have been nice :-)
NoahRo
Oct 07th · 16:45 UTC
Cool game, I had fun playing!
I like the panicky little human animations and the fire was also cool :)
The enemy/human fighter jets/planes shots seem a bit impossible to dodge :o although the UFO has more than enough HP to survive a couple hits.
The game has a cool vibe, not sure how else to describe it haha
I had fun playing :) Great work!
Vipaka
Oct 07th · 20:31 UTC
Very cute game! I enjoyed the human's animation as they ran.

You might want to add that the Control button (on Windows) shoots the lasers. I read through the instructions on your description and in the comments and didn't see it mentioned anywhere, and had to restart the game 3 times trying to figure out how to play...since you can't abduct anyone if their house's aren't on fire first.
stephenwhoskins
Oct 08th · 04:08 UTC
Ya! Finally a game where I get to be the hero! These hu-mon's puny bullets are useless, lol. MuahAHaHAHaHaHA! And in the end I save the world from mankind. I love happy endings! =)

Very cool entry and very much in theme!
caeonosphere
Oct 08th · 04:33 UTC
I got 48, I think that's the highest possible score? You can shoot a house and then kinda... lurk underneath it to pretty reliably scoop all them humans up. No tractor beam required!
Radjax
Oct 08th · 04:48 UTC
Very cool! The fighters were a good addition and I liked that the beam upgraded, it definitely captured the essence of a ufo invasion. Good vibes and a straightforward premise, great work!
DeadCode
Oct 08th · 21:34 UTC
The fun gameplay really makes for the programmer art! Great entry!
Eugenik
Oct 09th · 00:18 UTC
The graphics are astounding.
Martynas Dargis
Oct 09th · 17:43 UTC
Fun game! I played on mac, so it was a bit annoying as pressing ctrl+arrow key switches desktop. Also I am not sure if i'm right about this, but the powered up bean consumes more energy than regular one. so it feels like a debuff, because I get to cast it for a shorter time and the fact that it sucks humans faster doesn't feel like a bit advantage
LDJam user 395647
Oct 09th · 17:46 UTC
I love this game. The ability to just lurk near "shelter access" is hilarious. Actually amazing what you accomplished while also working, great job!
Liu Qinying
Oct 11th · 03:21 UTC
really cool
b0guslaw
Oct 11th · 10:42 UTC
Nice little game, well done!
David Sheffield
Oct 11th · 11:21 UTC
Is it just me or do no humans spawn at all? I just wander around as the UFO and see nobody? Otherwise I love the concept but it seems not to work properly for me
🎤 GlassMoonGames
Oct 11th · 16:57 UTC
@david-sheffield it looks like I’m still having formatting issues with the description. That’s what I get for editing on my phone.

The houses have to be shot to trigger humans running out of them. It allows you to decide when to shoot the houses and also encourages fire control when between the houses, lest the little humans escape.
David Sheffield
Oct 12th · 09:12 UTC
@GlassMoonGames Ohhhh derp, I didn't even realize you could shoot lasers, this is my bad for not reading the instructions well enough. Thanks for the response!
DGo
Oct 13th · 23:49 UTC
lmao I love the way the people fly up, feels satisfying to catch them just as your beam runs out. Great job!
xlambein
Oct 17th · 16:01 UTC
Fun little game :D My only pain point was the collision box of the houses that are bigger than their sprites.
Arkadi Voronchenko
Oct 24th · 09:45 UTC
Nice game. But for my opinion its too much defenders. And UFO always crashes at destructed houses probably need to fix collision.