The Galaxy is suffering under brutal reign of a mad tyrant, and all cower in fear of his doomsday weapon capable of vaporizing entire planets. But a brave rebel leader has arisen, to free the people or die trying.
To win the game, strike at the tyrant's capital - the more ships you have, the better your odds of succeeding. 6 ships are a guaranteed victory, but even with 5 or 4 you have a decent chance.
To get more ships, visit planets - their chance of giving you a new battleship are displayed as percentage. Planets with more than 50% chance are highlighted in blue. However, beware of occupied planets, highlighted in red - they are garrisoned by tyrant's warships, and will destroy one of your ships each time you arrive at one.
After you move, two things happen: the tyrant vaporizes the planet you just left, and dispatches his minions to occupy another random planet. This means you should move both quickly and deliberately, to avoid getting cornered or cut off.
There are special locations that can't be vaporized or occupied:
- Purple Nebulas hide your presence, and after you move into one, no new occupier fleet will appear.
- Golden Gateways are accessible from any point in the Galaxy, and can save you from a dead end.
- Green Wormholes teleport you to a random non-occupied planet - a risky, yet quick way of travel.
Since Galaxy layouts, chances of help and final battle outcomes are randomized, not every battle can be won - but you can instantly start a new Galaxy by pressing Z/O. Good luck in your epic cosmic struggle against tyranny!
This is an early version. Planned features:
- Sound/Music
- Jump animation for rebel fleet
- More unique locations
Feedback is always welcome!
I like these sorts of games. You've got a good primary game loop. It took me a second to get the golden gates (you can move to them from anywhere).
But there very little feedback on whether that 56% planet joined your cause or not. I feel like a little window in the corner with a little alien face taking to a small animation ala the campaign mode in Star Control (1) would give the game a sense of scope.
Of I were doing it I'd have 7 alien heads with 2 frames of animation so they could talk and a list of "success"/"fail" messages pop up. Things like:
"Zarkon must be stopped", "We pledge our support", "We hope our humble assistance will help" or "You've doomed us all by coming here. Get out!", "Leave now and maybe Zarkon will spare us", "We need those ships for pr own survival". When you enter a nebula a short animation of ships in a purple fog. When you go to an occupied area, a fleet flying though with one blowing up. And in the final battle, a space battle with an ultimate success or defeat.
One problem with this game is the player doesn't feel in control of what happens.
Something ethat could be considered is a mini game that will determine your success. A lower percentage puts you at a disadvantage on there game, a higher percentage would make it an easier win.
This would change the pacing of the game, but it would make the player feel like they were a bit more in control.
Of course this is a big change and could tilt the game from fully luck based (like it is now) to fully skill based, depending on the mini game chosen.
For instance, a tetris-like game where the percentage determines how many lines are pre-loaded. A good tetris player might still be able to reliability clear even the worst board. Or, a timed memory-like card game, with the chance of success effecting the number of pairs you need to find. The worst case would require skill and luck to succeed.
However, thematically, a top down shooter might be the most appropriate, with the percentage shifting it from simple shooter to bullet hell. Again, very skill based in the highest levels.
This all would make a very different experience from this game, but one that I think people would enjoy more.
@joealarson Thanks a lot for feedback, I agree that the game is presently too random - I'll probably add some skill-based minigame challenges, or even resource management. I also added some dialogue and portraits, as you suggested - 16 different characters, 16 different lines for now.
@Doriencey Glad that you liked it! I agree, it's way too easy to beat now and the optimal paths are way too obvious. But I'm determined to make it into a better game.
Took me a bitty to get around to playing this cause I presumed it would be really complicated, but you're write up was nice and concise and clear. Glad I did play it,the tight gameplay loop had me playing it over and over to see if I could win. Cool idea and well made.
the game looks cool, but there doesn't seem to be an upgrade system or anything
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