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Tractor Beam in an Asteroid Field's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Originality | #2141 | 3.104 | 3.104 |
| Fun | #2223 | 2.750 | 2.750 |
| Overall | #2621 | 2.757 | 2.757 |
| Presentation | #3294 | 2.417 | 2.417 |
Ranked from 48 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
You're ship is joined to the "P.L.O.W." by a tractor beam. You have to not let that connection break for too long.
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam
Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the music during the game jam
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Comments
Cool game! I thought that the PLOW was a bit too heavy and the player was a bit too slow, there were many times that the PLOW would get going very quickly and I would barely even be able to chase after it to slow it down. Also, I think that the scrolling background is a bit disorienting.
That was really really fun! The ball speeds up dang fast and really makes it tricky, but still loads of fun.
I enjoy getting bullied by the game as told me I kept getting killed by the Plow. Good job on the game!
I like the aesthetic you went for and the sense of humor in the game, there is just a little something that didn't click for me, so I've been overthinking it for the past half hour ^^
I'm not sure about the formula you used for the pull but I have a suspicion that it's relative to the inverse square of the distance (1/distance²) and maybe that's what makes it feel a bit slow, too strong when really close and barely perceptible a bit further away? Maybe going for something linear (1/distance) could make it have more punch and allow for a more hectic gameplay? Maybe make the ship a bit faster could help or move it with the mouse?
I can't put my finger on what's the tiny thing that would make it super fun because the concept is cool and I'd love to see the evolution if you decide to continue developing it!
This was pretty cool. I think I would have liked to see more feedback when the P.L.O.W. is moving, as it's sometimes it feels like I'm not having much impact on it. This was fun outside of that, though. Nice work!
Interesting game, I really enjoyed the slight touch of adding humour/ judgement to when I got hit by my own PLOW!
I've seen a couple of games like this so far (the player is tethered to some kind of object that is used as a weapon), but I think this has the most interesting execution. It would work well for last year's prompt, "out of control", too! It's got a nice balance of challenge and fun. The decision to make the PLOW kill the player on contact is a really cool choice.
Nice mechanic - and I liked the visual style :)
At first I died pretty much instantly, and thought that it would be a nightmare to control, but by my second run through I found it really intuitive, so kudos there :D
A bit more variation would be cool - but 48 hours isn’t very long :D
Interesting influence mechanic for getting the PLOW to move - it felt a bit uncontrollable at first but once I got used to how it needed to be gently pulled in the right trajectory, it was much easier. Interesting concept and a clear take on the theme! Good job :)
Thanks for playing!
amazing game! the mechanic of controlling the ball by proximity is good, but it seems pretty hard to interpret what's about to happen, maybe because the ball has it's own momentum too. However I think it's a good idea and with more effects / juicy it can be a great game!
Thanks for playing! Yeah, it's definitely lacking some juice right now but glad you still enjoyed it!
very interesting interpretation of the theme, the controls are snappy and the concept is simple yet fun. i would love to see the instructions inbuilt into the game more explicitly and some sounds, but overall its a fun little jam game
Yeah, If I had more time I'd like to add more mechanics and split them across levels so they can be better tutorialised. Glad you had fun with it!
The concept is interesting! In my team we also worked with the idea of attract one object with another. It's quite fun and the art is simple but it works :) For my taste the attraction force could be somewhat stronger to give the player more control. But overall, good job!
Thanks for playing! I'll take a look at your game
Loved the idea and the simple art. would have liked to have little more control over the plow
This game provides a great balance of fun and challenge! I really liked having to keep track of a few things at once, like making sure the ball didn't blow up, making sure I didn't get hit by the ball or the asteroids, hitting the asteroids with the ball, and collecting the pink dots. It felt like there was enough going on at once to be engaging, but it didn't feel overwhelming. The only suggestion I have really is to make the tractor beam a bit stronger, since it didn't really feel like I had much control over the ball.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah that's a bit of feedback I've had a lot and definitely needs some tweeking :)
I liked the simplistic art style! Trying the control the ball was an interesting challenge.
While I have seen a few games do the "you use something connected to the player to destroy" similarly, I do like the addition of having to stay close enough together. It really incentives not just doing spin to win and is a nice way to introduce more risk-reward.
It might be nice to have the attraction a tad stronger, since every now and then it felt more like just following a bouncy ball along its path.
If seen a few abstract puzzle games so far but yours might be the first abstract score chaser! I really like the whole "early 90s rendering" vibe and could imagine it could gel really well with fitting soundscape. The P.L.O.W. being just as deadly as the asteroids is a great mechanic, that will very well with more risk/reward mechanics.
I agree with others that the beam could feel a bit more "beam-y". Maybe a some flickering or a wavelength effect? Adding controls for repulsion and attraction might also be good mechanics to experiment with. Anyway, you've got a great concept and solid design foundation to build on. Well done!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! I'm not an artist and was very much doing the best with the skills I have. Would love to make the beam feel more beam-y and I even had a build about 2 hours before the jam ended with some major post processing on the beam but it was buggy with the screen resolution so I had to revert to an old one. Maybe I'll go back to it some time!
Nicely fits the theme. Would be cool if the beam connecting you and the ball could destroy the blocks, but still fun to play!
I really like the theme and idea behind it. Control should be more easy and user friendly. Also string connecting plow should be more strong and springy. With more effects and visuals it will be an interesting game. Good job on completion.
This is interesting, at least in concept. The idea to have your influence over the plow be gravity based is interesting. My intuition says that the control should be spring-based (i.e. becomes stronger with distance, not weaker), and I kept dying due to it. Once I got a better hang of it, I found it quite interesting, but I still didn't feel like I had a good handle of it.
Yeah I get that. I intuitively coded it as a spring initially but think this is more engaging but maybe needs some more signposting. Thanks for playing!
I really like this idea! The connecting being something that you have to actively make, being connected to something that can kill you, and trying to pick up after the PLOW's destruction is really engaging! I do agree with some of the comments below that the current physics has the PLOW moving a bit unpredictably, but fixing that and adding some slick sprites or something could really elevate this into a great game!
Thanks so much! Really glad you enjoyed it :) I think you've picked up on what I thought was really fun about this idea so glad it has come across!