Play Defend the Earth II
Defend the Earth II - Game Jam Edition's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #22 | 3.929 | 3.929 |
| Overall | #40 | 3.929 | 3.929 |
| Audio | #62 | 3.643 | 3.643 |
| Graphics | #82 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Innovation | #179 | 2.929 | 2.929 |
| Theme interpretation | #268 | 2.571 | 2.571 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/RoamingMaelstrom/Game-Off-2024
Game description
2D Space Shooter where your goal is to "Defend the Earth" against waves of Aliens
Theme interpretation
The Aliens origins are secret; The storyline is based around discovering more about the Aliens.
Technologies in the game are obscured until the player reaches a certain level or Unlocks certain Technology
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Comments
I lost but I'm saving it for later because i can absolutely see myself coming back to this. It feels like a professional project in almost all aspects. Good art, good gameplay, overall really solid. The theme interpretation is real loose though
Glad to hear you enjoyed my submission! I spent a lot of time on polish.
Regarding the Theme, I went for a scatter approach of adding stuff related to secret (main storyline is learning the aliens secrets, tech tree effects obscured until you reach a certain level), rather basing the game around the theme. Fair to say it's loosely based on the theme.
Nice game 💯
reminds me of chicken invader 😅
Keep going
Cheers!
This feels like a full blown videogame!!! I played this for a solid hour so far with multiple play-throughs and ALMOST managed to win in my last attempt but ultimately was defeated by the aliens. The balancing feels very punishing but fair. I'm gonna have to come back and beat this one properly later and try to beat those damn aliens.
Congrats dev, you've got a winner here.
High praise! Glad you enjoyed playing my game.
The aliens do put up a fight; To win you need to get the correct balance of Growth Techs, Weapon Techs and Completing missions in good time before you are overwhelmed.
I had a heap of fun with this game. Balancing felt good, does feel like it could lose replayability but overall a very solid game. Did feel like I got swamped at the end but I assume that is the idea.
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed my submission!
Yes, you are meant to get swamped at the end if you take too long.
Wow! A fun game. I like the fact that as you progress, the aliens also gain strength. This increases the intensity and tension of resisting the attack. The UI also felt really polished. Nicly done.
Ahoy, thanks a bunch matey!
very good! I like the tech tree, it's like a 4x game!
It is tough but not unfair
Cool to hear you enjoyed the difficulty level and Tech Tree!
I had a great time playing this! The skill tree felt like I had some semblance of progression, and the rock music once it started to get intense definitely added to the setting of an intense alien invasion. I found myself constantly holding left click, so it would've been nice to have an "auto-shoot" toggle to keep firing constantly. The movement took me a sec to get used to, but really I was just holding W and spinning around to fire at enemies. In my first run, I put off going down the "Victory" tree until the end, and ended up not finishing that tree since I already maxed out the others and then I got overrun. The UI and effects really made this game feel professional, and I'm now gearing up for another run! Great work.
Thank you for the kind words! I spent a lot of time on polish, so I'm glad it showed in the final product.
An Auto-Shoot Toggle sounds like a good idea. I will implement that in a Post-Jam release of the game.
The concept might not be entirely new, but the quality of its execution is undeniable. The standout feature of this project is its progression system—it's incredibly satisfying to upgrade various abilities wave after wave. Great work!
Happy to hear you liked my progression system! Spent a lot of time on it.
This is a quality game, well thought out and well executed. I appreciate it when devs put serious effort into the UI, not just the game itself.
Enough back story and instructions to be engaging without being too much to take in. Great tech tree: meaningful descriptions of new technologies with actual game stat improvements shown so player can make a meaningful choice and feel like they are in control.
Love the soundtrack (reminds me of "Behind the Wheel" by Depeche Mode). The controls are interesting, a bit weird for movement but excellent for shooting! A 'wishlist' item would be that the aliens blow up rather than fade away, but that's only a minor thing.
Great work!
Thank you for the kind words and feedback.
Nice to know that the effort I put into the UI design was noticed and appreciated. I spent way too long tweaky it and the Tech Tree ;)
The movement system is a bit like Marmite, you love it or you don't. I will probably add an alternative movement system once the Jam is over.
On the alien death explosions point, I think it would get too overwhelming later in the game. However, I might make it so that bigger ones explode, or its say a 10% chance.
Cheers!
Thanks! Fair point re explosions.
This was a fantastic game! I could definitely see myself playing this on my phone during a bus ride. The main menu felt incredibly professional, and the interactive "how to play" section was a standout feature. I might have to incorporate something like that in my own projects!
One aspect I struggled with, though, was the controls. I found it confusing that pressing W moved the character forward relative to the mouse position. It would feel more intuitive if either the camera rotated with the player or W consistently moved the character towards the top of the screen.
As a self-admitted lazy player, I didn’t feel motivated to thoroughly read through the tech tree updates. While the highlights of each upgrade were helpful, I think there’s room to make them even more engaging or streamlined.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game! It felt polished, professional, and like a complete, well-thought-out experience. Awesome work!
Thank you for the positive and detailed feedback!
Glad you appreciated the time I put into menu design and the tutorial.
On the controls aspect, I think I might add an option to change how the thrust direction works; I'll keep the current one and add one where Thrust direction is always in the same direction (i.e. W always up).
Now that you've mentioned it, removing the long description of Techs from tooltips, and just keeping it on the Unlock popup might be a good idea. Makes it easier to see what Techs do when browsing.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it overall!