RobTSD







Level 0 Lunar Rescue Mission « on: July 19, 2017, 12:23:33 AM » BETA OUT NOW

Android and PC











PLAY STORE



ITCH.IO



ENJOY

Hey, Im Rob.

I've been a full time independent game developer for the last 3 years.. and in all that time I haven't created anything that I love. That is about to change!

Its worth noting that I am the sole dev on this game, I am wearing every hat not matter how badly it fits!



So here it is, my first game that Im putting real effort and passion into.



Lunar Rescue Mission

The story is that something terrible has happened on a Jupiter's moon Europa and an scheduled cargo mission turns into a rescue mission. Im trying to make a big effort on the story without being too much that it gets in the way. This is completely new territory to me.. I consider myself a coder, not a story teller.



In the past I was an Mechanical Engineer so there is a big focus on realistic physics and intricate mechanisms. This will probably be the games downfall, but hey. Im making this game because I want to make it, if people like it then thats great. If not.. maybe I'll tone it down for the next one





Each mission starts by landing the mothership in the designated area





Doors open, you fly out and complete the objectives





Colonists are rescued from outposts





Sometimes things just dont work out...





Screen of the first (unfinished) sandbox environment, this is all the current vehicles you can pilot (can pilot the crane too)

Each mission starts by landing the mothership in the designated areaDoors open, you fly out and complete the objectivesColonists are rescued from outpostsSometimes things just dont work out...Screen of the first (unfinished) sandbox environment, this is all the current vehicles you can pilot (can pilot the crane too)



I'd love to get some feedback on this. Do people like games like this? or am I just doing this for the fun that it is?



Follow me on Twitter:

Like me on Facebook:

Hey, Im Rob.I've been a full time independent game developer for the last 3 years.. and in all that time I haven't created anything that I love. That is about to change!Its worth noting that I am the sole dev on this game, I am wearing every hat not matter how badly it fits!So here it is, my first game that Im putting real effort and passion into.The story is that something terrible has happened on a Jupiter's moon Europa and an scheduled cargo mission turns into a rescue mission. Im trying to make a big effort on the story without being too much that it gets in the way. This is completely new territory to me.. I consider myself a coder, not a story teller.In the past I was an Mechanical Engineer so there is a big focus on realistic physics and intricate mechanisms. This will probably be the games downfall, but hey. Im making this game because I want to make it, if people like it then thats great. If not.. maybe I'll tone it down for the next oneI'd love to get some feedback on this. Do people like games like this? or am I just doing this for the fun that it is?Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/development_ts Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/LunarRescueMission « Last Edit: September 24, 2017, 11:07:50 PM by RobTSD » Logged

RobTSD







Level 0 Re: Mars Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #3 on: July 19, 2017, 03:12:49 AM » Quote from: rj on July 19, 2017, 01:33:01 AM dude if you’re pssionate about it fuckin do it. don’t make something you hate because you think it’ll sell



Thanks man, I've made things I hate before.. and guess what. They failed miserably from a getting paid point of view.

I have a good feeling about this one though and I enjoy making it.. win win so far Thanks man, I've made things I hate before.. and guess what. They failed miserably from a getting paid point of view.I have a good feeling about this one though and I enjoy making it.. win win so far Logged

Thaumaturge









Level 10 Re: Mars Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #4 on: July 19, 2017, 10:23:50 AM » A story nitpick, if I may: I'm pretty confident that Europa isn't a moon of Mars, but rather of Jupiter. The moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos, if I recall correctly.



(Unless this is an intentional divergence from our world, of course.) Logged

Traversal, exploration, puzzles, and combat in a heroic-fantasy setting

Website ~ Twitter Traversal, exploration, puzzles, and combat in a heroic-fantasy setting

filbs111







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #6 on: September 07, 2017, 01:56:31 PM » Looks good to me. I can't get enough of rotate and thrust games with solid mechanics. Logged

RobTSD







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #8 on: September 07, 2017, 06:26:35 PM » Quote from: Josh @ WARP DOGS on September 07, 2017, 04:23:00 PM Makes me sad to see only the one update. Any progress? This looks rad as shit



Been super busy developing and not having time to post updates. my bad

I will be releasing an Alpha on Android within the next 7 days with the first campaign and sandbox level.

ATM is just constant testing, bug fixing, testing... you know how it is. Been super busy developing and not having time to post updates. my badI will be releasing an Alpha on Android within the next 7 days with the first campaign and sandbox level.ATM is just constant testing, bug fixing, testing... you know how it is. Logged

Wilson Saunders







Nobody suspects the hamster





Level 5Nobody suspects the hamster Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #11 on: September 21, 2017, 01:34:36 PM » First off, Congrats on getting your game this far. So far three failed attempts at the first level, I will give you more feedback as I get further in the game. Impressions thus far:

* On first play through I did not notice the thrust buttons until I had crashed. Dark green against a black background is hard to see.

* It would be nice to see the landing zone and the space between before game play starts. When the dialog says "I have highlighted the landing zone" it could pan to the landing zone, and Pan back to the player's vehicle after the text has been dismissed.

* If you want people testing and giving feedback, it would be nice to disable the advertisements (unless you want feedback on how intrusive the advertisements are in which case, it is very intrusive).

* Having to restart the level after messing up on the lander portion seems a bit punishing especially on the first level.

* Having to scroll through all the dialog at the start of the level if you are restarting the level after a prior mess-up is annoying too. Logged Play my games at http://monkeydev.com/

RobTSD







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #12 on: September 21, 2017, 02:31:25 PM » Quote from: Wilson Saunders on September 21, 2017, 01:34:36 PM First off, Congrats on getting your game this far. So far three failed attempts at the first level, I will give you more feedback as I get further in the game. Impressions thus far:

* On first play through I did not notice the thrust buttons until I had crashed. Dark green against a black background is hard to see.

* It would be nice to see the landing zone and the space between before game play starts. When the dialog says "I have highlighted the landing zone" it could pan to the landing zone, and Pan back to the player's vehicle after the text has been dismissed.

* If you want people testing and giving feedback, it would be nice to disable the advertisements (unless you want feedback on how intrusive the advertisements are in which case, it is very intrusive).

* Having to restart the level after messing up on the lander portion seems a bit punishing especially on the first level.

* Having to scroll through all the dialog at the start of the level if you are restarting the level after a prior mess-up is annoying too.



Hey thanks for taking the time to look at it, appretiated.



- Noted on buttons, I plan to have a poppup explaining their existance in the future.



- The game does throw you straight in at level 1, good suggestion on showing the distance between you and the landing zone.



- Advertisements, I hate them. They are intrusive. Ill tone them down on the first level for sure. However from experiance they are an integral part of monetisation on the Play Store, Ideally I would just make the game paid.. but in the past where I have tried this I have failed as there is just too much free content available and no one want to part with their cash. Love to here others feedback on how to tackle this challenge.. paying bills



- Restarting after crashing the lander is a bit harsh yes, Ill have to think about how I can handle this better.



- Good idea on skipping the dialog, I might chuck in a skip button to bypass them.



What do you think of the actual game? Be honest. I can take it



Thanks again for the feedback. Hey thanks for taking the time to look at it, appretiated.- Noted on buttons, I plan to have a poppup explaining their existance in the future.- The game does throw you straight in at level 1, good suggestion on showing the distance between you and the landing zone.- Advertisements, I hate them. They are intrusive. Ill tone them down on the first level for sure. However from experiance they are an integral part of monetisation on the Play Store, Ideally I would just make the game paid.. but in the past where I have tried this I have failed as there is just too much free content available and no one want to part with their cash. Love to here others feedback on how to tackle this challenge.. paying bills- Restarting after crashing the lander is a bit harsh yes, Ill have to think about how I can handle this better.- Good idea on skipping the dialog, I might chuck in a skip button to bypass them.What do you think of the actual game? Be honest. I can take itThanks again for the feedback. « Last Edit: September 21, 2017, 11:42:28 PM by RobTSD » Logged

filbs111







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #13 on: September 22, 2017, 01:02:29 PM » Fixed video link:







Would rather play this on my PC. Browser version would be welcome. Perhaps I should figure out how to run Android on PC.

Controls seem backwards to me, but probably can get used to it.

On 2nd level, went past the dotted red line thinking i'd get bounced back or something if it was a level boundary. It's insta-death though, which is a little annoying.

Works solidly though, and I like the graphics. « Last Edit: September 22, 2017, 01:31:44 PM by filbs111 » Logged

Wilson Saunders







Nobody suspects the hamster





Level 5Nobody suspects the hamster Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #14 on: September 22, 2017, 02:37:20 PM » Quote from: RobTSD on September 21, 2017, 02:31:25 PM

What do you think of the actual game? Be honest. I can take it



What do you think of the actual game? Be honest. I can take it

I like the old moon lander game but the angular momentum of this version makes game play unnecessarily hard. Some times I would hold one paddle down for too long or press the wrong one and end up in an uncontrollable spin close to the ground. If you are using the unity engine, I think the game would be much more playable if you increased the Angular drag on the Rigid body.



The floating dust particles are sometimes the only frame of reference, and since they themselves are moving it is hard to gauge how fast the player is moving.



The Joy in a game like this is mastering the controls and applying your mastery to ever more difficult situations. However your choice of putting adds into the first level makes the initial trial failure repeat unnecessarily slow. I suggest you make two training levels accessible from the main menu one to practice mother ship piloting and one to practice lander piloting. Call them "Simulator" if you like and don't put any art assets in but a flat line to indicate the ground. Disable adds in the training levels and allow for a one button reset to a playable state (no dialog). It would be unreasonable to put an astronaut into a lander craft and have them figure out what all the buttons do as he descends to the moon, the player should be afforded similar consideration.



I also don't like the combined dynamic of a limited fuel supply and implied bonus humans rescue stops. If you are going to make the challenge navigating to a set point while preserving as much fuel as possible don't include an incentive to haphazardly wander the map. If you are going to make wandering the map looking for Easter eggs the challenge don't put a fuel limit on how long the player can wander. If you added a refueling mechanic this would be less of an issue. As it is I don't feel there is any incentive to search for missing astronauts that aren't displayed on the mini map since completing the base mission under the fuel constrains is already challenge enough.

I like the old moon lander game but the angular momentum of this version makes game play unnecessarily hard. Some times I would hold one paddle down for too long or press the wrong one and end up in an uncontrollable spin close to the ground. If you are using the unity engine, I think the game would be much more playable if you increased the Angular drag on the Rigid body.The floating dust particles are sometimes the only frame of reference, and since they themselves are moving it is hard to gauge how fast the player is moving.The Joy in a game like this is mastering the controls and applying your mastery to ever more difficult situations. However your choice of putting adds into the first level makes the initial trial failure repeat unnecessarily slow. I suggest you make two training levels accessible from the main menu one to practice mother ship piloting and one to practice lander piloting. Call them "Simulator" if you like and don't put any art assets in but a flat line to indicate the ground. Disable adds in the training levels and allow for a one button reset to a playable state (no dialog). It would be unreasonable to put an astronaut into a lander craft and have them figure out what all the buttons do as he descends to the moon, the player should be afforded similar consideration.I also don't like the combined dynamic of a limited fuel supply and implied bonus humans rescue stops. If you are going to make the challenge navigating to a set point while preserving as much fuel as possible don't include an incentive to haphazardly wander the map. If you are going to make wandering the map looking for Easter eggs the challenge don't put a fuel limit on how long the player can wander. If you added a refueling mechanic this would be less of an issue. As it is I don't feel there is any incentive to search for missing astronauts that aren't displayed on the mini map since completing the base mission under the fuel constrains is already challenge enough. Logged Play my games at http://monkeydev.com/

RobTSD







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #15 on: September 23, 2017, 08:59:38 PM » Thought of the hour...



I'm getting feedback from other channels that they would play this on PC / Mac.

This is uncharted territory for me.



Should I release it on PC / Mac? and what is a good place to list it?

Logged

RobTSD







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #17 on: September 24, 2017, 04:55:54 AM » Quote from: ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ on September 24, 2017, 03:28:06 AM itch.io , you won't lose anything releasing it for pc/mac.



Will I gain anything though? I have very little experience with PC / Mac sales or revenue (I sold 1 copy of 1 game for $1.99 on itch before. ).

I have no idea how to monetize on those platforms? I see so many game in itch that are free.. do they contain ads? I don't know? Will I gain anything though? I have very little experience with PC / Mac sales or revenue (I sold 1 copy of 1 game for $1.99 on itch before.).I have no idea how to monetize on those platforms? I see so many game in itch that are free.. do they contain ads? I don't know? Logged

filbs111







Level 0 Re: Lunar Rescue Mission « Reply #18 on: September 24, 2017, 08:22:50 PM » Was finding this a bit hard so installed Bluestacks on my PC. Works a treat! IMO the game is better appreciated this way. Big screen, better audio, tactile keys, no crick in my neck. Can even map the thrust controls to my liking!

It's still hard though. Particularly the mag lifter bit. It might be nice to have save points where the land-here boxes are (i understand that currently you might be in a state where it's impossible to win from a save point though. a save and refuel spot might work though)

Would also be nice to have a map or an arrow/breadcrumbs. Annoying on the 5th level where it says to conserve fuel, then doesn't tell you whether to go left or right to get to the 1st target. Logged