Thank you and replies :)

bencoder on 2008/09/28 01:34 of SINAA- Lunar Delivery

Hi everyone, thank you for all your comments and ratings, I was surprised that there were so many quite positive ones. I really enjoyed my first pyweek, finally "completing" something and playing all your games :) well done all.

Simply a fun game. Adding some music or more art wouldn't hurt it though.

Thank you! You're right, more artwork and more sounds and music would be good

it reminded me of Lunar Lander, which is also a frustrating and not very fun game.

Hmph! I like lunar lander, and was(fairly obviously) what I based the initial idea from... But I do think the lunar lander physics concept doesn't extend so well to the huge world that I create... I will need to think about that.

would have liked it more if it had some sort of goal, maybe something to do with your money or a target amount of money to pass a level.

Yes, the money to upgrade your ship idea was an original feature that got scrapped at the end due to time (and possibly programmer lazyness.. but I was pretty ill all week and was feeling very worn out by the end) and it was my intention to eventually add a storyline as well... like you pick up a certain box and it would trigger the start of a little story arc, requiring you to pick up boxes and deliver them in time limit and such, but again, that was beyond my ability for the week.

It seems like all the packages are either pretty easy (like the first two) or next to impossible. Not much of a middle ground, so it was hard to get into.

I added 6 packages around the starting position that should have been quite easy and were way over-priced, so you can build up some money for fuel and repairs, but after that you have to search for the easier packages that you can do... I think another feature I should have added is more feedback about the packages (i.e. ones of bigger mass should have been bigger, and if they are really fragile they could have a red outline or something) so that it's easier to see what the package is like without having to stop and read every one.

It could have been great a pause key!

There is one! It's undocumented though, forgive me... it's escape, it pauses all the physics, although the sound and graphics still change when you use the thrusters(oops)

Fun game! I enjoyed the mechanic of the game, and had a good time with it for a few tries. I really enjoyed the premise of the game -- it made me want it to be better, but not because I was disappointed so much as I wanted more of it. I wanted to be able to have more powerful lateral control over my ship -- decelerating takes soooo long. Either stronger default thrusters or a shopping interface to spend credits on upgrades would be /sweet/. I also found some of the long deliveries to be... well... long. Especially with fragile packages, some of the tight squeezes make it nearly impossible to complete some of the tougher packages, since a certain amount of damage is guaranteed. Issues aside, it was a *really* well done and creative game -- great job!

Thank you very much for this comment! I've commented on a few of the points above already. I agree that the world is probably too big, or at least, the maximum distance for the package is too big. I just increased the lateral thruster strength, interesting effect, the game feels a lot(!) faster, but it makes landings and precision much harder... it probably needs some tuning to get that working right, but I guess I have to agree that lateral control was too weak.

This was an awesome game! The only thing i actually disliked were the controls. I felt kinda annoyed when trying to move my direction when in full speed. I know it was realistic but well, that's me :D I loved the way i shifted to another "level". Or at least that's what i felt it was :P. I moved all the packages when suddenly there was one which had a distance of 23k or something. Then at the end there were new packages. That was cool!

Hehehe, everything is randomised apart from the 6 packages that are closest to you when you start the game... I guess it was just luck that it worked out well for you :) In terms of the controls, I know they were difficult, I should experiment with them and see if i can find anything which feels "right" to me, but also makes for more fun and less irritation. Thank you very much for the kind comments.


Again, thank you all for your comments and games, hope to see you next pyweek :)

Ben