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GMTK Game Jam 2020

Hosted by Game Maker's Toolkit · #gmtkjam

143k

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A jam submission

Coulomb's CapsulesView game page

Use real life (sort of) electrostatics to crash spaceships into rocks.

Submitted by Fishtail — 2 hours, 14 minutes before the deadline

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Coulomb's Capsules's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Fun	#469	3.591	3.933
Overall	#885	3.408	3.733
Originality	#1039	3.530	3.867
Presentation	#2410	2.860	3.133

Ranked from 15 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?
The escape capsules have lost the use of their engines so you must steer them out of harm's way without directly controlling them.

Did your team create the art for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

Yes

We created all art during the game jam

Did your team create the audio for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

No

We used pre-existing audio

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Comments

Two Separate GorillasSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Very novel concept for a game. I love things that can demonstrate some sort of concept!

I would echo the sentiment of liking some sort of visual indicator of the electronic charge. Right now it sort of feels a bit intimidating to just place stuff down.

Good game!

Submitted

Team AISubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Ok, while this game is really simple, it made up for how insanely fun it is. Really took me back to my physic classes. A few suggestions I would have are to have some visual indicator for how the gravitational pull are being affected atm. Maybe having other planets/asteroids to have their own gravitational pull?

Overall, I think this game have potential. Great job for your first game jam!

Submitted

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks. It's not gravitational pull though, it's electronic charge. They do behave incredibly similarly though.

https://www.nuclear-power.net/wp-content/uploads/gravitational-force-equation.png

https://lpilen23.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/les-2-coulombs-law12-4-638.jpg?w=450&h=338

Team AISubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Oh yea, that was what I mean. It has been awhile, my physics terminologies are all mixed up :)

Walrusware3 years ago(+1)

I really like this as a puzzle. Once you get an understanding of hw the physics works it is great fun to play about and get the orb swinging around.

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks. It reminds me of marbles.

Skipper9904Submitted3 years ago(+1)

At first I did'nt understand the game properly. But after I understand the physics I notice that this is the most fun and challenging game in the jam. I already spend nearly one hour in this masterpiece and I think I will continue the game even after the jam.

Maybe you can add a save and load system for the levels and leaderboards.

Looking forward to play your game again!

Submitted

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

This comment made my day!

DOMOSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Absolutely loving it! some visual representation of the field/force vector would be nice, as the charges seem to affect things globally. Also it seems thatyou can stack charges on a node indefnitely, but there are almost no difference past like +30 - maybe it would be worth adding a cap at some point, and multiclick/scroll to increase the charge would be nice too!

From content perspective, some moving targets, or denser/electrically charged asteroids with with their own forces would make the game more dynamic. It's also possible to put the nodes almost out of screen, and then the numbers are mostly culled away.

Submitted

Terminal Hellocity

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Ooh I really like the idea of the scrolling charge level and the different obstacles. There's a lot of polish that isn't there since it was a solo project and I didn't have a lot of time. If I came back to this I'd need to add a few things like charge caps as you said. I was planning on adding the initial force vector in the setup stage before you activate the simulation but never got round to it.

Lazy Rat StudiosSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

This was awesome! I only got to level 12 because there's so many games to try but I'm definitely playing this one again later!

Submitted

Chuckin' Chicken

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks, you're very kind. Really happy to see comments like this on my first game.

Lazy Rat StudiosSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

If this is your first game, you should keep participating in things like this, you did awesome!

ToSMasterSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Really cool, and a great idea. I found out you can reroll the first level by starting again and again and hope for good rng. Then just place a +25 next to the finish and the capsule will almost always go straight the finish.

It get's really tricky later tho. Had a lot of fun! Good job!

Submitted

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago (1 edit)

Thanks! Yeah it really is up to RNG whether or not you're going to have a hard time or a straight route home. A friend of mine recommended fixed levels rather than random but I wanted to focus mainly on the concept rather than level design. Fixed levels would be good for teaching mechanics though.

capesideSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Fun game of trial and error. Very satisfying to get to the goal after trying a hundred times.

Would be nice to be able to visualize the area of effect of the charges.

Submitted

Bumping Bumpy Bumper Boats

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks! The area of effect is effectively infinite. It's just more powerful the closer the capsule is to the charges.

BuzzBeeSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Love the concept! Some visualization on the actual electric fields or lines might have been good, or maybe some limits on drones per level to prevent spamming until you have a solution. Love having game based on physics fundamentals!

Submitted

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks! I had to make use of that Bachelor's of Engineering Science somewhere.

I think having the electric field lines could make the screen feel a bit cluttered and might scare people away. Plus then I'd have to actually model the shape of electric field lines instead of just typing out Coulomb's Law in Lua.

Limits on drones or how many Coulombs you can use could have been good. Or possibly a scoring system which rewards using as few drones as possible.

Unfinished GamesSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I really liked how the simulation worked, got some really wonky trajectories I did NOT expect to see, good job!

Submitted

FishtailDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks. Physics is indeed wonk.