LudumData

USPS United Space Poostal Service by FabDynamic

[raw]
made by FabDynamic for Ludum Dare 53 (COMPO)

Title Screen.png

Lore

In the year 2152 there is a shortage of healthy specimens for FMT so ships from throughout the galaxy have arrived in your solar system to possibly receive one of 100 precious specimens. Your job is to deliver a specimen into every airlock as the ship passes by while wasting as few as possible.

Controls

  • Point and left click to move your ship left and right
  • Right click or space bar to shoot a specimen

Goal

Hit as many airlocks as you can with as few misses as possible.

Secret Ending

Get enough hits and you get a secret ending

Devlog

  1. 3 power outages (that never happens here)
  2. After I was totally done all of my assets disappeared (the folder contained only the example scene as if none of my work had ever happened)
  3. Computer died mid-jam (probably the power supply, it won't power on now)
  4. I had to re make the entire game and sprites late on Saturday

Its been crazy but I overcame and am proud!

Gameplay Screen.png

Link https://fabdynamic.itch.io/usps-united-space-poostal-service
Link https://fabdynamic.itch.io/usps-united-space-poostal-service
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/usps-united-space-poostal-service

Ratings

Overall 363th 2.881⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 380th 2.548⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 389th 2.452⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 362th 3.024⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 307th 3.095⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 138th 3.524⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 263th 2.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 297th 2.929⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Kwiper
01. May 2023 · 00:02 UTC
Pretty neat arcade-style shooter, I love how you have to be precise. Kinda confused on the click and drag control scheme? Feels like it could've just been a mouse movement to move the ship and then click/space to shoot, but that's just me. I read your devlog and I'm honestly surprised you still managed to pull through despite all those outages and data losses!
TrampolineTales
01. May 2023 · 02:14 UTC
I don't seem to be able to use the space bar to shoot (it just makes the page scroll down), so I can't really play the game since I'm playing on a laptop with a trackpad.
aschab
02. May 2023 · 09:47 UTC
I like the concept. The ship movement being instantaneous feels too non gamey :) But reading your devlog its great that you at least managed to Publish. Keep it up!
cheesepencil
11. May 2023 · 03:40 UTC
i figured out how to rapid-fire by hitting both RMB and space a bunch, which was cool
Demuss
11. May 2023 · 20:20 UTC
I have read the devlog, rough! Good job on delivering (no pun intended) the game after all!

I like the retro style of it (Art and sounds) as for the gameplay i have some feedback:
- Player ship should move automatically as the player moves the mouse (without having to hold the button)
- Fire should be on RMB
Those two can be summaried to: Dont fight with player habits! It's losing battle most of the time
- I was confused when i found out that you can actually place more than one package in one ship, feedback suggests that one is enough
- with that being said i would recommend implementing some minor randomness like: Distance from the player, speed at which it moves, amount of airlocks on the ship, length of it, direction from which it comes or maybe even things like: amount of ships at once or add a counter how many packages given airlock can hold
LDJam user 314045
11. May 2023 · 20:32 UTC
I really enjoyed the music and sound effects you included in the game. I'm sorry to hear that you encountered some difficulties during the game jam. One suggestion I have for improvement would be to consider making the controls more user-friendly. For example, it might be helpful to adjust the controls so that the player doesn't have to continuously hold down the left mouse button in order to move.
Hakro
11. May 2023 · 20:52 UTC
Cool concept, given the challenges you had to face during the jam !
Glad you managed to get something ready.
It does feel kind of repetitive, but that's pretty much expected for a Compo and when you end up without a working computer ^^
Using the mouse actually makes it quite simple to aim without too much effort. You just keep the mouse cursor somewhere near the ships' path, and shoot when the ship reaches the cursor at a specific spot. I would have used arrow keys to move, and spacebar to shoot.
But overall, GG for managing to get this entry published.
Cheers
Hakro
11. May 2023 · 20:52 UTC
Cool concept, given the challenges you had to face during the jam !
Glad you managed to get something ready.
It does feel kind of repetitive, but that's pretty much expected for a Compo and when you end up without a working computer ^^
Using the mouse actually makes it quite simple to aim without too much effort. You just keep the mouse cursor somewhere near the ships' path, and shoot when the ship reaches the cursor at a specific spot. I would have used arrow keys to move, and spacebar to shoot.
But overall, GG for managing to get this entry published.
Cheers
kanity
11. May 2023 · 22:19 UTC
Nice projectile training! :D I love the retro vibe, the visuals are super pretty - especially how you did colour on the big ship! As I understand you went through a lot of trouble while making this game, but if you will continue to develop it, I think it would be nice to add different ships that go with different speed, and maybe when I already sent supplies to a ship, it would fly away very very fast so I don't wait too long for the next one :) But overall I enjoyed the game, it felt very meditative as it is now, and kinda addicting ^^' only got 54 out of 100 in though :") ![ending.jpg](///raw/c93/65/z/5bb4e.jpg)
Max Amaden
18. May 2023 · 22:45 UTC
First and foremost, I just want to say - the fact that you pushed on through all of those shitty situations (power outages, broken computer etc.)... I genuinely have a lot of respect for you making it in the end!! That's awesome. I'd have given up three times over.

Anyway, the game! I was mostly focused on the aesthetic when I was playing, which I find to be simple but somehow captivating! The dithering on the spaceship, the shiny gradients on the text... It gave me an oddly nostalgic feeling and I'm not 100% sure I can put my finger on why. Either way, I really enjoyed it!

I had a good bit of fun with USPS, and I'm looking forward to whatever you make next time! Keep up the great work!! :grin:
arron-fowler
19. May 2023 · 07:20 UTC
It is a thing and you got it done. Kudos. The loop quickly became a bit dull and maybe having less would have kept the tension up a bit. Like 3 shots and you have to make them all type of thing. It quickly became a grind with such a high number.
Christian Zommerfelds
19. May 2023 · 08:48 UTC
Got bored after 15 points, but nice job finishing the game with all the problems you ran into during the weekend! I like the sound + music, gives a happy vibe.
floralvikings
19. May 2023 · 13:15 UTC
Seemed slow until I realized I could hit the same airlock multiple times. This feels like a really good start, I would love to see what you would've accomplished without so many technical difficulties!
AceArcher
19. May 2023 · 23:32 UTC
The retro shooter vibe is very well executed. The music is great! I agree with other commenters that it can get a bit boring and repetitive, but it runs well and it's a great base to add on more features later if you want to!