Fun space trader and exploration game. As other have said, having a map of what you've discovered already could be helpful (potentially with their has/wants and current status). I'd also recommend maybe putting some kind of repeating starfield or something in the background and also mark the ends of the map (if there is one)... I held the controls down for a long time in one direction and wasn't sure if I was flying further away or just bumping up against the edge of the map.
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Voyager's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Adheres to jam theme | #37 | 4.136 | 4.136 |
Overall | #114 | 3.470 | 3.470 |
Concept (gameplay) | #131 | 3.227 | 3.227 |
Presentation (visuals) | #224 | 3.045 | 3.045 |
Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
I like the concept and ambiance ! There is not so much game where you have to sell and buy things in the jam, so that's great ! If you plan to improve your game you could add some smoothing on the "snapping to planet" animation and to the ship's motor sound when it stops ! Cheers
Good game, the concept was nice and i enjoyed looking for planets but i got lost and dont know where to go. Just like what others say minimap would help and the snapping kinda bothering me.
This was a really interesting and serene game, I liked wandering around looking for planets with this atmospheric music playing in the background! Most of my critiques are already mentioned in other comments (i.e. lack of a map/background when moving in the darkness, not quite understanding the buy/sell resource system), but this kind of game where you act as a diplomat of sorts is really cool and has a ton of potential as a full-fledged game. I would love to see where this goes next, great job!
They say "you can't please everyone" but this game makes you try :) I enjoyed it a lot, like others said it could be improved in terms of travel speed and ease of finding the planets again but even in its state it's quite enjoyable. Would love to read some small bit of lore for the planets after you scan them, with that it would remind me of planet scanning in mass effect
Nice game! I like the idea, since I'm a fan of relaxing space-themed games. (The choice of music made it very chill and space-y, good choices!)
If you ever plan to work on it after the jam, here are some ideas:
- I wish the player moved a little faster so I get to the planets right away (or that there's a background that has stars or something so it feels more like I'm moving faster).
- Also, a quick tutorial at the beginning would be good, too, and maybe also a map that can be filled in as I explore.
I liked the concept and that you kept the resources simple by just using different colors.
A map would have been great to get a better overview over which planet traded in what resource and if they where happy or not.
Also a background with stars or some kind of pattern would have made the travelling feel a little better. Flying between the planets in the black void almost made it feel as if the ship was standing still.
Cool idea for a game.
I liked your use of the assets provided, decent amount of variety. Your choice of SFX was good too, really added to the aesthetic of the game. Adheres to the theme very well.
For improvements (I'll try stick to stuff not already mentioned), I'd say that I did not quite understand how the amount of resources a planet needed/provided was determined. Perhaps make it depend more on the planets size and add some text explaining how it works. I'd also recommend adding a speed boost button. Finally, for the camera snap issue, you could add a Rigidbody2D to the camera and then adjust its velocity to move the camera to the desired location.
One thing I will say is your game did capture my imagination. It would be interesting to see what it develops into with more development time/balancing.
Good job!
Thanks for the feedback, these are some great points! The resources were originally planned to be a bit more advanced, but to hit the deadline I just hardcoded them in for each planet (the sprite actually corresponds to the production type!). Thanks for the idea for the camera snap issue, I’ll definitely give that a go, I’m very interested in playing with the camera more to add to my games.
Nice contrasting asset colors. Camera kind of snapped when near planets :/ Some tiny animations for spaceship and planets, and a starry background would be awesome.
Thanks! The camera snapping was intentional to try and make it easier to see the planet info and to provide some focus, though it was meant to be a more gradual shift and it didn’t turn out quite right :S
The animations for the planets would be a good idea, maybe something with clouds or rings or little moons could be nice, I’ll keep that in mind for after the jam. I attempted a starry background, but it didn’t turn out very well, so I’ll give it another shot after! Thanks for the feedback!
I liked the core concept of this game but I found it a bit too easy to get lost (restricting the playing area might have helped as well as adding a mini-map) being able to send small scans in an aoe would have been nice to help locate the remaining planets too!
I am not sure I fully understood the concept of buying / selling and making the planets happy but the idea is really nice!
With a bit more time and polish this can become a pretty great game!
Thanks! A minimap has been a very common request, I’ll try to implement one after the jam, or maybe a little indicator to the nearest uncovered planet.
I had hoped to have a bit more complexity in the system beyond just buying and selling directly but ran out of time, it’s primarily meant to be a resource management game but I wanted you to be able to help the planets get to a point where they could develop on their own, I just overscoped that a little 😅
The game was fun and chill :D
it might need a lil tutorial at the beginning though :o
overall, well made !
I love this game! with more polish I would sink hours in to it! I like it alot !
This was great! The atmosphere was super calming and I love the idea of discovering and managing planets. There is definitely a lot you could do with this if you wanted to develop it further! If I had to critique anything, I would say add a mini-map and increase the player's speed. Overall fantastic game!
This was really nice, well done! Minimap of some sort would be nice, as well as maybe some extra background effects/imagery
Nice space exploration game. Got lost a bit though when searching for the last few planets.
nice! can definitely see potential, you could add a minimap to remind yourself of where you are, it could maybe cost something so you have to explore without it a little first! great work
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