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Thanks partly to your insane run and feedback, I decided to put some telemetry into the game. I wanted to know if something is completely broken and borked.

But that also lead to a leaderboard! The three longest runs are now shown in main menu with the setup and build order it was achieved with, and top 10 can be found from the leaderboard menu - also with the black box data.

Alas, you're not on the list as it gets the data straight from the telemetry and that came after your run. So want to go again ? ;) 

Good point. :) I'll ponder on this. There's a slight chance it makes the game a bit too easy, as you could then wait with your level ups to get that emergency repair. Then again it makes the game harder as well, as you're hoarding levels and missing out on upgrades in the meanwhile. This could even it out in the end. But I hear you! Thank you for excellent feedback. 

Anyways. I'm trying to refrain from patching this weekend, as I got the telemetry working just yesterday and now I gather some data on the runs. Already I found and fixed some issues. For example I noticed that there were surprising amount of people leaving in under 10 seconds into the game. Figured it was because the game screen didn't focus back when you clicked the Itch iframe to fullscreen - and people couldn't move anymore. Now the game forces you to click back and activate the window, or choose full screen mode inside the game. Under 10 second games dropped significantly. 

So I hope the next patches will be meaningful ones. :) Now I try to just watch for couple of days and not tinker at all. ;) 

BTW! Do you happen to use mouse to choose the upgrades, or keyboard (numbers 1-3)? With keyboard you can hold your movement key down while choosing the upgrade, and it's hugely easier.

Hmm! This could be done I think. You mean that you could set in menu / options if you'd want to level up manually or if it's automatic pop-up? Hmm. If manual, I guess you should be allowed to choose your own hotkey to level up, too. I'll ponder how to best make this happen. 

In the meanwhile, there's now leaderboard available (refresh your browser tab if it doesn't show). On the leaderboard there is a link to a "black box" which tells you details of that particular run - what modules were chosen in which order and so on.

In the main menu it shows top3 runs on the difficulty setting you have currently selected. You can check top-10 in different difficulties, and all time bests (old versions) by clicking the leaderboard menu button. 

I love the atmosphere <3 These assets are one of my favourites. Played with them a little maybe a year ago myself. :))

HOOOOOLY SHIT! <3  So it IS still possible to get this monster! :D Well done mate! My best runs have been when I've got an early unstable core, point defense array, collection field + tractor beam, and had good luck with early data amplifiers. But dayumn! You're officially first one to beat this game. Hats off! :)) 

And thank you so much for playing! What you think, is this Unity worthy game? What would you add / remove? Is balance overall in that sweet spot I feel it to be (without managing to beat it yet, mind you!) ? 

Thank you so much for playing! And reminding of that death screen restart -button I need to add! Definitely a must!

But good to hear you noticed the signs! I also went and added this mapview to the next version anyway, and it's pretty fun. Full explanation of upcoming changes in the future (so far) and screenshot of the mapview are on the post below yours if you're interested, but update will include faster and snappier movement and so on. :) Gamefeel will be hugely improved, I promise. :) 

Thank you so much for trying this out! Yea, most of your concerns have been addressed already in the next version of the game, but it's coming out only after the jam ends. :)

But the next version so far includes snappier movement (increased player characters' acceleration significantly), faster movement (a little faster, now faster than the slower drones - you can run from end to end of the station in some 30 seconds or so), and finally so that the rest of the player squad moves out of commanding character's way. No more traffic jams!! All of these changes together made a HUGE improvement to the gamefeel. Wish I had all this super valuable feedback before the jam. ;D

Final addition is a toggleable map view! Now it's easier to see where the next objective markers are on the map in this ortographic map view. You can also play in the map view as it only moves the camera. Downside of mapview is that aiming and such is a lot harder, but atm player is so overpowered that it hardly matters yet. ;) Fixes coming tho, in time.

Attached is a screenshot sneakpeek from the mapview. :)

  

For a little while I had actually implemented that you could switch between teammates with the idea that you could leave them behind or order them to a certain spot on the map. They'll automatically attack anything nearby, so they'd be sentries guarding a corridor or something. With different unit specialties you could even have one "hacker guy" hack the consoles while the machine gun rambo defends in some safeish spot. This needs some work and thought, tho, but would be super to have in the game later on. :) 

Thank you so much for a thorough playthrough and complete analysis! Hugely appreciated! I'll address some of these to garner some interest in the upcoming patches if that's ok. ;) 

HP:
You're right about HP bars / damage indicators. Will be implemented, as well as a blink or something along those lines to tell you that you have been hit. In the end it's just basic game feel thing. Very important. :) 

Map: 
I figured out yesterday how I might be able to keep the exploration for the ones liking that part, AND have a map to ease the mindless wandering around the station while looking for the next phase console: I'll bring in a toggleable map mode. Idea is that the map mode is something akin to the BF2 commander view: real time map that you can actually play in as well. When toggling the map mode the camera would move further up and in the middle of the map, and change to orthopedic view. This way you would be able to see the pulsing green spotlights with one glance quickly - or even play in the map mode. The downside of playing in the map mode would be that it's just harder to aim and hit anything. 

Don't know how it will go, but we'll see next week or so. :) 

Movement: 
This is something that needs a proper overhaul anyway. These current mixamo animations don't really work well on this fellow, so I'll need to work on the movement in general while I'm at it. Got to make the teammates to give room as well. That blocking is annoying as hell. ;P 

Ammo:
Ammo, grenades, turrets and such are on the planning board. Maybe different weapons and so on, but this will take a bit longer to implement. I kinda really like the rambo group, but if I want to make this a longer, real game, I need to figure these things out. I have an vague idea that the group escapes and gets stranded on a planet below, and it's in the middle of AI uprising or something along those lines. Chaos anyway.

At the moment the shooting with a full team IS satisfying, but only for the first playthrough. Gets old pretty fast as it takes away the challenge. 

Glad you liked the ending! It's a bit chaotic and pretty much the only part in the game I personally can lose anymore after playtesting the whole weekend. But it's the part I like most.

"Trigger devastating chain reactions" :
This is actually invisible in the web-build at the moment. :( But it's there, "trust me". ;) Something happened with the indicators and explosions during the build and that took a lot out of the game I played myself. Didn't have time to fix it, so here we are. ;) Anyway, when the drones explode, they damage all nearby drones as well. They don't explode right away from the first nearby explosions (unless already damaged by the player), but from the second one. For me this was apparent especially in the testing grounds with masses of drones. Killing just a few would trigger a cascade of explosions from drone to drone, that spread like a wild fire. Sadly, I apparently failed to bring it in properly to the final jam-build experience. Needs more drones, a horde of them, to really notice the chain reaction. 

Audio:
Very good point. Will bring ambient noises a bit up, and add more of them, as well as more ambient sound triggers and such. Music - not sure of yet. In some form in far future for sure, but how and when is a question mark. :) 

Yea that's true. Adding a WASD-movement on top of mouse control as well this weekend. :) 

Thank you so much trying this out! Phase 1 is indeed meant as a tutorial phase without enemies, just to let you get used to the station and the controls. Calm before the storm, as you said. But I need to add some roamers in the other phases. Otherwise the storm really never comes until the last phase. ;P 

Exellent! Just what I asked for. :) In one thing you are wrong tho! "well and obviously u cant move the character and shoot at the same time and thats awful" - You CAN! :) Just click somewhere and they start walking OR backing down and you can shoot and walk backwards. 

But thank you for your pointers! I will consider this hard and well when I continue with the game. :) 

I'm dumbfounded. We got home and I'm in tears. With a map editor this would be a sellable game as it is. Just amazing. The music, the sounds, the menu sounds, level design .. Love everything about this game. Super good. 5/5. I mean the art even in the splash screen <3<3<3

Very nice puzzles and unique idea! That's rare. Haven't seen anything exactly like this ever before. WELL DONE! :) 

I'm not lover of incrementals, but dayumn this teases my dopamines. It's just somehow peaceful to just click going. <3 VERY well done, mate! Good job. :) 

No worries! :) This is not my game btw, just noticed your comment and replied. :)

But if you want to check out a game made for this 72h solo dev jam, BUT which uses almost only Synty's assets, check out mine. :) It's got some good feedback on the jam pages and I kinda like it too. Top-down shooter inspired by Cannon Fodder on Amiga: https://pecatus.itch.io/spacecannonfodder

Uhuh! I would love to like this, but right now it's just confusing to me. :( I guess I'm lacking a proper focus to really check how the relationships go. But I think that something like this might be going on behind Crusader Kings and other paradox games. They're a mess for me as well. ;) 

Edit: I'm going to give this another chance tomorrow when I'm not drunk. ;P 

Ha! Fun little game! Well done. I was happily surprised to find roguelike mechanics after the first wave. :) Pretty hard, but some games just need to be. Git gud, eh. :D

At first I kinda didn't like as I saw it as an Arkanoid-clone, but dayum! This is actually something else entirely! Once you get few balls and get few of those chain reactions going, it's a blast! Surprisingly fun and engaging. Well done! 

I loved this game! It's easy to understand but you've actually managed to make these puzzles something I need to try again and again. Ok, I'm not good at puzzles, but still! Easy enough to progress, but hard enough to get the dopamine flowing. Very, very well done. 

Wtf.. ROM for GameBoy as well? In three days? Dude. :D I smell a winner here. This is some insanely well done game and the puzzles are really interesting! I don't really have anything to add. Theme interpretation is great, gameplay kicks ass, art is unique and let's be honest, it's not easy to do art for GameBoy.. And you even had a character customization.. Like .. I'm speechless about now. :D Here, take my upvotes! You deserve them.

Thank you so much for a thought out feedback and trying the game to the end! :) 
About the movement, yea. The animations need some work, and that someone's earlier comment about adding WASD-movement on top of the mouse controls is a very good idea. :) 

Ooooh this is pretty! Reminds me of a "Deflector" on Amiga. But this is super pretty and chill! Absolutely loving it! 

This is addictive! Simple but with anything moving it's surprisingly hard! :) Very nice job! Well done.

It's for solo dev 72h jam. Not synty jam (which was at the same time) :)

Daaaayumn! This is top notch work! Figuring out those puzzles would've taken me a week out of the 72h. Hats off to you, sir/mam!

I like! Haha! Now I understand why you had no problem with the click-movement in my game. You're a veteran! :D  

This is super duper dope! I can't believe you got this out in just three days. I smell a winner here. The polish is insane. I love the sounds, the vibe, the art, everything. 5/5. 

Very neat game! And very impressive that you managed to make the assets as well from the scratch. Well done! I always forgot my special moves like squatting and stuff, so I just kept hitting and it kept working. For a while. :D

Yiss! The level 5 and mr Boltcutter were pretty hard, but I managed to beat them all! YARR! This was VERY fluid and felt very polished. The whip was hard to figure out, but once you got it, it was pretty intuitive. Well done, good job! 

Thank you a ton for playing and for your kind review! :)  

Thank you for valuable feedback. WASD isn't impossible to add on top of this. Could actually be a huge intuitive improvement for tight spots when you need to back away from the fight but shoot at the same time. You can do it now too, of course (they can walk backwards and shoot at the same time), but it definitely would be a plus as an option. :)

Thank you! Appreciated! 

Very very very nice! Clean, polished, pretty, engaging, all the right feedback on actions ... <3 Absolute gem. The little thing I missed was a subtle hint which way the blocks would conduct. But I guess trying out is part of the fun as well. 

Thank you so much for trying it out and for your feedback. :) Hehe, you're absolutely right about the movement, btw. ;) The mixamo animations I picked didn't really suit this guy. ;) Looks funny, especially when running to the right. Also the slight sliding doesn't feel too good, but didn't have time to focus on it any more than I did. :) Such is life.

Those floor markings are actually a really good idea either way! 

Lol. Yea, I get that a lot xD Coming in the future. 

Edited my game page a bit. Could as well put the edit in here too: 

 EDIT/NOTE: Overwhelmingly people seem to get lost in the station and not find the right place for the next phase. Minimap/radar coming in later patches after the jam, but for now here's couple of hints for the testers. :)

Look at the signs and icons on top of the doorways as you explore in the first phase and later on.

The important signs are always lighted with a white spotlight and they're facing up for the player to notice easier. Each screenshot on the right has an example of an icon sign. Look for those.  -> (screenshots are on the right in the game page ;P) 

The right console for any phase is also always marked with pulsing green spotlight, and escape locations are marked similiarly. There are no other green spotlights in the game except the one you should see at the time. You see one, it's important.

For example: the embedded screenshot above shows the green spotlight for extraction spot in the hangar.  (Embedded BG image on the game page ;P)

SIGNS TO LOOK FOR:

Ship icon -sign: Insertion ship 
Satellite dish icon -sign: Communications
Shield icon -sign: Security
Electricity/Lightning icon -sign: Powerstation / Reactor
"Bridge" -sign: Bridge
"Hangar" -sign: Hangar
"Escape pods" -sign: Escape pods

Hahaha! I crashed the game. Seems I hooked on this worse than I should've. 500 balls and 100k / second. This was surpisingly fun! Audio is great! Chill. <3

5/5. This might be most polished game I've seen here yet. At first it was waaay too hard, yet still intriguing. Then I noticed a comment about not moving but just hitting a space. Works. Even tho I lost in the end as the bounce rotation slightly shifted over time and I didn't. So it's not an automatic win, but being steady makes the game whole lot easier. :) But damn, I love the feel in this game.  

Now this is The Chill <3 I absolutely love the art and polish, and the music is just perfect for this serene experience. I've never been a fan of incremental games, but damn! It's got me hooked. 

This was a weird one in a good way! <3 Very nice idea and a cool concept! Took a bit of getting used to, but darn! Love it. Good job!