MOONSTAHR by benmcnelly

[raw]
made by benmcnelly for LD33 (JAM)
Instructions: Gather and store all resources until further notice, or you reach maximum capacity (over 9,000) units.

WASD or Arrow Keys to move, space to jump. You must return to Home Dock to empty payloads, and charge up. Some one time only charging pads exist, use sparingly.

Wrap up thoughts: is not entirely clear how you as a little space roomba are evil until you win the game, but I like that there is a reward for those who beat it.

***spoiler*** for those who don't get it, the way this fits the theme is; you (the STAHR robot) are just doing your job, but to the celestial object you are on, you are an alien robbing it of its life sustaining resources. The real monster is whoever made you, even if destruction wasn't intended, if we aren't careful we will become one of the monsters we humans fear most, an alien species sending its emotionless drones to harvest a peaceful planet.

"History will Judge us for what was done here, and by us I mean you."

*** POST JAM UPDATE***
CHeck out the "Bonus Features"! I had the idea during the JAM to save whenever someone won the game, and use that data to represent each person doing their part to destroy the celestial resource. I just now had some time to do something with that data, so here you go; now you can see every time someone beats the game, and maybe even someday see your name there. You monster you.

+Bonus+ now I know how to load in dynamic image assets at run time!

Ratings

Coolness 69% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.09 631
Fun(Jam) 2.82 708
Graphics(Jam) 3.56 442
Humor(Jam) 2.11 852
Innovation(Jam) 2.80 683
Mood(Jam) 3.29 410
Theme(Jam) 2.38 1039

Feedback

Flygamer101
24. Aug 2015 · 13:20 UTC
Pretty big file O_O
Very cool little game, grabbed my interest for a long time. First off, Really cool intro and icon. Also the minimap and effects were really cool. I liked the jump effect, it shadows the ground more.
Aumni
25. Aug 2015 · 02:05 UTC
I really liked how your game showed the 3D depth even with the top down view. I also enjoyed the relaxing ambiance that the music created. :D
valid4life
25. Aug 2015 · 05:08 UTC
Not bad!
I noticed the Zelda intro piano haha!
ranmaru90
25. Aug 2015 · 07:41 UTC
What a pretty game! I like the minimap!
aprotasenya
25. Aug 2015 · 07:58 UTC
Very cool audio/visuals, especially the minimap which is not the usual static schematic representation of the reality, but the actual reality shown from the cam somewhere above that's drifting and rotating a bit. That last thing is my favourite. :)
amras0000
25. Aug 2015 · 17:54 UTC
The game is relatively compelling (got me to finish it, even if it dragged on a bit) and you nailed the mood. There's just a lot of small things that bothered me throughout the game:

-The music, while nice at first, eventually got repetitive and grating.
-The mountains/pipes/etc aren't textured at all.
-There are clipping issues in places, both between pieces of geometry and with camera intersections.
-The texture on the ground isn't tiled properly; you've just reflected it across both axes, without hiding the fact. Photoshop's bandaid tool is your friend.
-Theme! How is this in any way related to "You Are the Monster"?

Finally, in the end credits you mentioned that you didn't make the music. If this is true, I believe Ludum Dare rules request you disable voting on the game's Audio. Thanks.

Pleasant experience overall.
🎤 benmcnelly
25. Aug 2015 · 21:35 UTC
Thanks for the detailed review, and we are pumped you were able to complete the game! I think you are right about the music category so we opted out of that one. Our music designer had to go home after day one, and we came up with the game idea after he left!
Lancelot Gao
26. Aug 2015 · 02:59 UTC
Very cool art and sound, Amazing!
Galan
26. Aug 2015 · 03:06 UTC
Very chill. Would be very enjoyable broken into a series of short stages, especially to clear stress.
Acerio
26. Aug 2015 · 03:35 UTC
I really love the 3D view! Great job. The music got a little repetitive but that's okay, I read about why it was like that.

And I see where you got the theme idea from. You're like me, thinking outside the box :) Great game!
Fanatrick
26. Aug 2015 · 04:02 UTC
Looks and feels awesome, there's not much gameplay but the great tune and cool graphics left me playing for around 15 minutes just searching around. Well made. I would've rated audio highly, but for some reason you disabled it D:
Maxi and The Gang
26. Aug 2015 · 04:12 UTC
I like the intro, feel epic when first time open the game
martymon
26. Aug 2015 · 05:51 UTC
loved the music but couldn't rate it :/. I thought he top down jumping was pretty innovative though!
AdayMC
26. Aug 2015 · 22:48 UTC
Very good entry, amazing artworks. Music, sounds and graphics were very well done.

Good job
Kuchalu
26. Aug 2015 · 23:39 UTC
Really chill game, I thought the minimap was an especially awesome addition. Ps nice zelda music.
HellBlazer
27. Aug 2015 · 02:09 UTC
Not a bad entry but I feel the theme could have been made clearer, if only in the ending text. I read your "spoiler" above, and that's an interesting interpretation of the theme, but in-game I don't think it's really clear that you're doing anything harmful, even at the end.
🎤 benmcnelly
27. Aug 2015 · 04:01 UTC
Totes agree man, I wish I would have done more in game to convey that. I had a plan (now live at the top) to show that off better, but no time to work on it until tonight. Work has been crazy and I just want to sleep when I get home ;-)
CheesyRamen
27. Aug 2015 · 05:44 UTC
Nice job! Reminds me of playing the resource collection parts from Star Control II =)
ManuelGF
27. Aug 2015 · 07:49 UTC
Call me a rare, but I understood the theme simply by looking at the map on the game, it reminded me instantly to the world's map and its energy resources (though the map it is not from the earth). Well, not much to say, I simply love this entry, awesome work.
jk5000
29. Aug 2015 · 06:16 UTC
Great music.
tweedle
14. Sep 2015 · 21:01 UTC
Good stuff here! The mood is set well by the music and lighting. The minimap looks really cool, and it's incredibly helpful to find your way back to the recharge station.