LudumData

LD58 - Space Crystals by Endurion

[raw]
made by Endurion for Ludum Dare 58 (COMPO)

Space Crystals is a simple little game for the beloved C64. Collect the rare Space Slug (TM) energy drinks to sell them for space crystals. Get rich fast! Head into enemy territory and destroy their freight pods. If you're lucky they will drop the highly sought after Space Slug (TM) energy drinks. Collect them with your trusty drone.

Use Joystick in Port 2, Move about and press fire while moving to shoot.

Stand still and press fire to control the drone.

For use in an emulator, drag or open the .prg file in the emulator of your choice. Recommended is VICE, but any other will do. Or play it in your browser over at itch.io.

My best score so far: 757 points

Have fun!

LD58_anim.gif

Emulator image (binary) and source https://www.georg-rottensteiner.de/files/LD58 - Space Crystals.zip
Web (itch.io) https://endurion.itch.io/ld58-space-crystals
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/ld58-space-crystals

Ratings

Overall 192th 2.833⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 209th 2.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 142th 3⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 195th 2.778⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 172th 2.861⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 164th 2.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 172th 1.861⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 192th 2.5⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 11🗳️ 16🗨️

Feedback

Threeli
Oct 06th · 03:01 UTC
Pretty addictive little loop you've come up with. I was so incredibly bad at the start, that the second I had some success I slurped up all the dopamine left in my brain. How difficult was it to work within the constraints of C64? I'd love to know something about the process. Solid effort for sure!
pres2300
Oct 06th · 05:08 UTC
Pretty cool to make a C64 game! I had a hard time getting used to the controls and switching drone control and being able to fire. I'm sure with practice I would get better, but it was quite a challenge! Overall, nice work!
🎤 Endurion
Oct 06th · 07:12 UTC
@threeli: The game is simple enough that I didn't run into any memory restraints. My naive collision/update code proved to be quite performance intensive though. You'll probably notice some flickering on the enemies when they're flying at the top or bottom. That's when they're removed, but have not been redrawn in time. With more time I probably would be able to lessen that.
Currently the update time (both all enemies and bullet slots active) takes nearly the entire frame to process.
Threeli
Oct 06th · 19:47 UTC
Inspirational! I'm looking into the process myself now, I'm obsessed with progressing toward bare metal work, and this seems like a rational step. Thanks for giving me some insight into the process. Cool as heck.
CaptainDreamcast
Oct 06th · 20:19 UTC
Super fun shooter! I felt I found a nice spot on the left side of the screen where the patterns barely got me (though they ultimately still did), I got 1504 points on my best run:

![space crystals score.PNG](///raw/a71/9/z/6db17.png)

It's very fast-paced and cool! Adding the drone for collecting also varies up the gameplay and adds another additional layer, that was a cool addition. The C64 aesthetic (well, can you still call it aesthetic if it's the real deal, lol) is super slick as well and fits great with this time of game. Awesome job on this game, well done!
LDJam user 280624
Oct 07th · 17:47 UTC
Retro-hardcore in the best sense of the word.
cogcomp
Oct 07th · 19:54 UTC
Impressive making a C64 game for a 48h compo. The game was fun but I found the controls to be a tricky. I guess I should try it with a joystick as well :smile:
Avhatar
Oct 10th · 07:37 UTC
I honestly tried to figure out the controls, but I just couldn’t. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Holding Left Ctrl and using the arrow keys moves the ball, releasing Ctrl moves the ship. And… what exactly am I supposed to do in the end? I just keep getting one-shot by some fast-flying things. I guess I’m too dumb for this game =(
Jimbly
Oct 10th · 22:27 UTC
That is... challenging! After many, many tries, I managed to pick up a coin and get to 112 points. I died before I managed to move - many, many times. Just figuring out how to shoot was pretty challenging... I like the authentic retro feel though =).
Samuli
Oct 11th · 14:51 UTC
Got around 300 points. Pretty tough, even harder than arcade games from the 80's. Love to see C64 entries.
🎤 Endurion
Oct 13th · 19:05 UTC
@Avhatar: The C64 only has one fire button, so it's a bit tricky. To shoot, you have to push the joystick in any direction, and while doing that press fire.
If you press fire while not moving, you activate the drone control. Releasing the button sets the drone free again.
8BitCharlie
Oct 15th · 18:21 UTC
@endurion I am trying to play it on itch.io and I figured out how to start the game and move around. I cannot find the key to fire, though. I'm on MacBook. Can you please tell me how can I fire?
🎤 Endurion
Oct 15th · 19:10 UTC
@8BitCharlie: I've configured the left control key to fire. I have no idea if that maps properly on Mac. The emulator is using SDL beneath, so I think that ought to work.

The other possibility would be to download the .prg file and drag it into your favorite C64 emulator (those exist!) ;)
8BitCharlie
Oct 16th · 02:15 UTC
@endurion Thank you. I will try again later this week.
bentglasstube
Oct 16th · 20:20 UTC
It's very cool to see a C64 game as an entry! The game was fun and definitely felt at home on the C64. Having to double up on the fire button to mean both fire and control drone gave the game an interesting twist. This, combined with the very fast pace, made the game quite difficult. Some background music would have been a nice touch, but overall I really enjoyed the game. Nice work.
auxiliarymoose
Oct 20th · 04:02 UTC
It's an interesting concept, and cool to see a C64 game in the compo category! I wish the game speed were a bit slower---either half or one-third speed. And maybe with a progressive speedup. Since as it stands the levels fly by very quickly and it can be challenging to get the hang of it. Nice work overall!