Well that was a wild ride!  Now it’s time to check out some games!!

I’m really happy with my end result: squarespace : A 2D “build your own ship” shooter/miner game. It’s definitely the most ambitious one I’ve done to date, and hopefully the most fun to play!

From the Play Guide:

“You start off as a captain in charge of a small spaceship. Over time you are able to upgrade the ship (adding new components) if you gather the necessary resources. You’ll also be given missions to carry out by mission control. You will encounter a number of hazards along the way and be set various challenges, finalizing in a major
mission that will test your piloting, mining and construction skills to the max.”

I started off with the idea to create the most minimal space exploration game possible that was still fun to play,with heavy re-use of gameplay elements in different settings. For example the ship which you build in space should also land, travel along the surface of a planet, and mine down into the ground. The idea was to cycle between flight –> surface exploration –> mining –> flight, all with a similar look and feel, but subtly different mechanics. It would use an “always forwards” approach – no turning back or slowing down – so decisions are deliberately constrained, and have a high impact on the outcome. However: somewhere along the way things turned complex! This is mostly due to the ship construction and resource harvesting mechanics. Everything is based in the flight phase only (though you can see aspects of the surface exploration / mining ideas in the level design). Finally, the “no turning back” concept is covered partly: it’s not possible to stop the ship, but the levels do loop vertically so you can continue until you reach your objective.

The music is my attempt at a minimalist composition, whereby the core pattern is repeated and overlaid in different ways to create an interesting texture.

Inspirations: Elite Frontier, 0x10c, Minecraft.

I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed creating it – have fun!!!
~berkano