Colony Rescue
Save the people of X-117 before it's too late!
Save colonists by using your lander to carry them to space in this Lander rogue-lite. But be careful, each person saved increases fuel requirements to escape. Also, the orbiter is damaged and you will have to scavenge parts from the colony to repair your rescue craft.
Controls:
- Up to thrust
- Left/Right to maneuver
- X does everything else
- Descend and land on the platform, then ascend to the top of the screen to reach orbit
- Soft landings only
- One life
- Manage fuel while landing and in orbit
This is my first Pico-8 game, based off the lander sample in the Pico-8 gamedev starter magazine.
Any feedback is appreciated.
Colony Rescue v1.4
Change Log
(+)Added repair minigame, break the red block to repair a part of the orbiter. Use <(left) and >(right) to control the paddle
(+)Added exploration mode. This replaces automatic cargo loading. Explore the landing pad and collect the hidden cargo. How much is added to the lander is based on how many pieces of cargo are collected. Fuel and health are refilled on each return to the lander for free. Controls are the same as the lander with the addition of pressing V(down) or X will jump, which doesn't cost fuel. Be careful, there is falling damage and losing all health results in a game over.
(+)Added the asteroid rising as the lander enters orbit as a reference to show climbing. Depending on approach angle, it will change from where it enters, and sometimes a steep angle will take it a little bit to enter view.
(+)Fixed a rare bug where orbiter indicator wouldn't appear and make achieving orbit difficult.
(+)Increased number of parts possible to acquire per pad. Total depends on which stage and how many pieces of cargo are taken.
Previous Versions
Colony Rescue v1.3
Colony Rescue v1.3
(+)Added orbiter, will appear when getting close to docking. Continue to thrust toward it using up while adjusting approach using left and right. Touch the nose of the lander with the docking guidance indicator to dock.
(+)Docking target indicates docking point on orbiter now, grows close when nearing docking. Note: The orbiter is in a low orbit and moves very fast. In conditions where the lander is heavy, the orbiter will likely gain distance until enough velocity has been gained to catch up. As long as the vertical velocity meter is in the red zone while in target distance mode, it will always be possible to catch up to the orbiter.
(+)Altitude meter changes to target distance mode once aligned enough with the orbiter
(+)Increased amount of fuel that fuel pad gives per landing
(-)Reduced fuel weight slightly
(-)Reduced parts weight slightly
(+)Changed lander orbit disaster end game, now only can game over if drifting too far from orbiter target while climbing
(+)Fixed orbiter target being able to leave right side of screen after it has appeared. Once it's on screen, it should never disappear while at high altitudes.
(-)Removed built-in time cost for docking to account for new approach mechanic
(+)Improved fuel efficiency even more to account for approach mechanic
(+)On the victory screen, added how much time was spent during the rescue mission
(+)Fixed a rare bug where scouting menu would be skipped
(+)Fixed a rare bug where ending menu would be skipped
(+)Fixed an issue where the cursor would not move to the nearest selection when menu choices changed
(+)Fixed scouting camera not reaching left side of map sometimes
(+)Fixed how landing pads are dispersed throughout map, should have more variation
(?)Note: Last change log didn't mention the inclusion of a terrain warning sound. When descending too rapidly, there will be a tone that plays indicating the need for immediate upward thrust.
Version 1.2
Colony Rescue v1.2
(+)Added scouting mode that occurs after launching from the orbiter. This allows freely looking at the map. The first scouting is free, but a new map can be scouted at the expense of time.
(+)Added vertical velocity meter on the left of the craft. The red zone indicates orbital velocity needed to dock. The green zone indicates safe landing velocity. At the top right of the meter is the descent indicator. Purple=falling
(+)Added fuel meter on the right of the craft.
(+)Changed how ascending to orbit works, target no longer bounces off map edges, still need to chase in order to dock. Need to be above ALT 1600 and in red velocity zone to successfully reach the orbiter. Beyond ALT 4000 will result in a game over
(+)Fixed Altimeter, it now measures ASML, height above median sea level. This can read negative if descending into a deep crater or low land area.
(+)Rebalanced fuel usage. Fuel efficiency is significantly higher, and returning to orbit can cost as little as 125 to 150 fuel depending on how much maneuvering is needed.
(+)Rebalanced how fuel retrieval works. Before, the lander would hold spare fuel as cargo to bring to the orbiter. Now it's held entirely in the lander fuel tanks and can be used while on mission. To supply the orbiter, fuel must be placed into the reserve hold via the docking menu manually.
(+)Rebalanced fuel weight, now what fuel on board is taken into account. More fuel = heavier
(-)Slightly increased how much fuel is needed per colonist saved
(-)Fixed maps not spawning enough landing pads
(-)Fixed being able to repair without parts and getting stuck on end game screen
Version 1.1
Colony Rescue v1.1
(+)Code Refactor to make it more readable.
(+)Expanded map size.
(+)Time passes during landing maneuvers and after returning to orbit.
(-)Removed Mission Select, cargo is found on different types of landing pads now.
(+)Additional number landing pads can be found scattered across map.
(+)Cargo types are labeled beneath each landing pad.
(+)Random number of landing pads per mission.
(+)Added flight stats along top of screen during landing maneuvers.
(+)Return now requires aligning with a moving target in the sky which appears near top measurement readouts once rising to an altitude of 1. Remain in alignment while climbing in altitude to ascend to the orbiter.
(+)Player can now launch the lander uncontrollably into space resulting in a game over.
(+)The orbiter must be repaired in time before launch using parts found from landing pads. Parts are the heaviest category of cargo.
(+)Landing on fuel pads refuels the lander and provides extra fuel that can be brought to the orbiter. Fuel is a medium weight cargo.
(+)Landing on colonist pads rescues a number of colonists, adds a small amount of weight.
(+)Saving colonists increases fuel need to escape colony.
(+)Escaping on the orbiter can be done any time the repairs have been completed and there is enough fuel on the orbiter.
(+)Added ability to transfer fuel between orbiter and lander, this occurs instantly without time cost
(+)Fixed an issue where launching after successful landing would cause rapid unplanned disassembly
Version 1.0
Its a solid Game I like the whole story and gameplay,
I like the fuel and time management. But I got confused with the logic of fuel.
The rocket transports the fuel to...a station? and refills from there, but why can´t I refill fuel on the Moon itself after landing?
If you keep developing, here some elements I would like to find in an update:
- A light change of story, where you rescue people from x-117 or transport fuel to the station at orbit for a bigger rocket to get away from the doomed x-117.(So you need fuel to leave orbit at the end, but still need to rescue as many people)
- the refilling takes time. (some rebalance of the tank size, to "gamble" for two flights with only one refilling.)
- multiple landingzones on one screen/landing szene, with different counts of people to rescue.
- a positionmarker of the station when you start from x-117, so you need to fly to a posiotion of the screen instead of just press "up".
Sometimes when loading up the cargos, the shuttler will bounce up a bit, and then crush right on the spot however you're trying to accelerate.
@thePixelXb_ Thank you for the feedback, I'll look into this.
@Zellente This is great feedback, thank you. I have some ideas for an update that expands the orbiter mechanics and ground missions.
Wow what a fast update V1.1 and what a huge new colony/map.I like most of the changes but I had trouble to finish the game because I run out of fuel so often :(. The combination of random platforms and unbalanced fuel or my lack of flight talent makes the game a little bit hard.
I really like the little text info about the cargo time and the chaseing of the orbiter, the flight infos are good, maybe put them into some gauge/display?
This different weight of cargo is nice and the fact that you need more fuel for the rescue the more crew you saved is good.
-my trouble so far is the changing map? Is it changing? I once had the feeling the map wars small and only had one platform?
-The fuel. Even if I land on the fuel platform, the ascending takes more fuel than I got there.
-If I try to align the rocket with the orbiter and the orbiter gets to the screen edge and bounces of, this is hard to follow, costs lots of fuel.
-The altitude is confusing the landing starts at 0... so I don´t know how high the rocket is above the ground.
(+)Return now requires aligning with a moving target in the sky which appears near top measurement readouts once rising to an altitude of 1. Remain in alignment while climbing in altitude to ascend to the orbiter.
Sometimes an altitude of 10 is enough, sometimes it´s 14... don`t understand this mechanic.
I miss this, now that the map is so big:
-if there where some kind of map shown at the beginning to plan a flight or some visuals, not permament, color coded radiowaves, beacons, some short indication, to remember the position of the platforms, some help to plan ahead.
-the repair , it was allways possible to repair, without repair parts. *there is no end at 100% repair and if the time runs out, the courser is stucked at the repair menue item and I cannot change the position to "accept fate"
some Ideas for the game feeling.
If you start from a plattform an asteroid fragment (just visual) destroys the platfom right after you left, so the player has some excitment.
Also some visual in the background would be nice, asteroid fragments flying down.
I still like this game a lot. I´m nether a game developer nor a testplayer, so this is not meant as critics, I just like space games and hope this game gets some polish.
@Zellente Thank you for your feedback, it was helpful. I've made some updates that were just released.
This new Hud is great. That it stay a little bit above the ground when you land the rocket is nice, so far it never blocked my sight.
I still cannot get enough fuel, even in a game where I only land on fuel platforms. :'( But it is fun to play just inevitable for me to lose.
edit The gif with the returning to the orbiter seems easy, but I had multiple times where my speed meter was higher and my altitude was higher to, than in this presentation. My flight skill might be a problem.
Might be a ecxel/math balance problem, idk.
Maybe a hight based fuel consumption? The higher you fly the less fuel is needed for maneuver?
Or a game mechanic of stages, start stage full throttle, medium stage with just no touching controls and a third stage full throttle again, where you need some reaction skill.
I don´t want the game it self change to much, its about start and landing. (I thought of "press the right direction, as indicated to dock", like music dance games -> -> <- |^|, but this would change the game itself really much, imho)
Some glitches I found after short play.
- if you start from the edge of the screen, the rocket glitches to the middle of the screen after you reach an altitude
- if you boost into sky in the landing part you could reach altitudes beyond 4000 aand after falling (and crashing) the velocity meter gets over the red indikator.
(no problem with the max/deathy altitute if you start from the ground) - I only reached times like -4h till asteroid crash, so I couldn´t test what happens if the timer runs out if your are still in flight or the cargo loading takes to long and the time runs out.
@Zellente I just added a new update. There should be a much lower demand on fuel usage overall.
As a hint for docking, thrust toward the indicator while also keeping the upward thruster on. If the indicator is on the left side of the screen, burn left and up. If it's on the right side of the screen, burn right and up.
With the new docking phase, it's speed based, so you'll have to keep thrusting upwards while maneuvering.
V 1.3
Yes I nearly end the game! 
Well I had 14min left... couldn't start rescuing the colonists was forced to do another landing.. And I could start a landing approach with zero fuel...that was not good ;)
Why changed the Reserves label to green? The count was lower than needed, is there a small margin?
This last version was good, I used the map scan reset, because there was no fuel and I needed fuel, for the last flight to get the reserves of the orbiter up. worked.
I had a lost moment with no orientation because of the star background reset animation and where the orbiter indicator did'nt show up. Had to get below 100 and start ascending again.
I will play some more missions, if I find time today.
@Zellente Almost! The green text was a feature left in from 1.0 that I need to update. The next patch I'll be sure that the fuel number is a round number and will turn green when there's enough fuel to depart. And I'll add in some features that help keep orientation when changing to targeting mode.
I have one more big feature I want to add in that will be a secret ending that's risky to pull off but will reveal the reason behind the crisis and the fixes will come with this addition.
I might win the game... but some bug keeps me doing, when the Orbiter indicator did not show up, but I couldnt reproduce so far.
The hard thing with this bug is, that the rocket cannot break (makes sense) and I was forced to fall down to retry the start. (run out of time, got the ending screen)
It happend more at the end with 4h or less time left. Last time when I could start into orbit(end the game), but decided to make a last rescue for the people.
I thought it happend when I start from the edge of the screen, but if i just try this the whole game long it did not happen so far.
-
Some other thoughts: The repair part, took 4 flights and i`m not sure something about 4 hours to do the repair? Always. Might be nice to have a time estimation before repairing. (Do I need 100% reapir for ending the Game?)
-
A max loading text for the lander would be nice in the menue.
The fuel meter is red or yellow, never green, in flight. -
I miss some space domes near the platforms for a little game athmosphere.
- The first versions I made some flight errors because I thought there is some initia for the lander so I did not throttle up the whole ascending and maneuver right/left while speed up to the orbiter. Playing on the browser is almost impossible with this two buttom at the same time methode, don't know about hand helds.
Your game feels finished. What a Week! how fast you did updates and react to my comments. I have three unfinished games in my pico-8 for way longer. This was fun to have part in your Game creation.
@Zellente I did another update. I fixed the bug that made the orbit indicator not appear. It was a tricky one to find, very rare. I think with the new exploration update and repair mini game it will help balance repairing, both should now be based on player skill rather than a flat cost.
I also increased the number of parts per pad to accommodate the change.
I'm glad you had fun. I wanted to practice using pico 8 for an upcoming game jam that starts soon, so this was a good exercise. There are a couple of small features that I'd like to add that will totally finish it but that will come after I finish with the game jam in about a week or so unless there are bugs that are totally game breaking. I'll fix those even during the jam.
Mr. developer, please change this moment in parkour, it's too narrow, very expensive and in general a very cool game))))
[Please log in to post a comment]
