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I didn't like the previous movement mechanics you used--it felt clunky.

I prefer controls like asteroids where you rotate left with one button, rotate right with another button, thrust forward with yet another button (and maybe a move back button acts like a break to slow you down, or perhaps it has some sort of Special function).

Basically, movement exactly like the classic Asteroids. If you let got of the thrust, the 'drag' decelerates your ship, but you don't stop rapidly, you drift for a bit as you slow down.

So like:

W = Thrust/Accelerate the direction your ship is currently facing (adjusting the thrust vector if you are currently travelling a different diction than you are currently facing).

A = Rotate the ship counterclockwise.  If the Thrust key is being held down, the thrust vector rotates as the ship rotates.

D= Rotate the ship clockwise.  If the Thrust key is being held down, the thrust vector rotates as the ship rotates.

S= Special function (like a shield or something) or Breaks/ Decelerates the ship opposite the direction it is facing, until the speed is zero.

Mouse cursor acts like an aiming reticle and the laser turret quick turns to face that spot and fires the direction the turret is facing when the Left Mouse/Fire button is pressed regardless which way the ship is facing.

If you don't want a turret, then fire the direction the ship is currently facing (which may not be the direction the current thrust vector is taking the ship. You could be flying upward, let go of the thrust, rotate your ship to the right to fire while while still drifting upward until the drag reduces your speed to zero or you hold down the Thrust button again and then rotate your ship upward again after firing and reengage your thrust).

I have a little spaceship game you should play in your browser. It's a short game and only takes a few minutes to play through since I made it for a game jam. This ship does not have a turret (but I think the turret idea is cool), but the movement is like what I am trying to explain. (BTW, the enemy saucer ships are pretty accurate, so watch out =p )

https://pegasusgames.itch.io/spacecadetfirstmission

Regarding the dialogs, I find they interrupt the action. I'd prefer a fast forward button or skip button or something to speed through the dialogs. I read them the first time I play, but if I play the game more than once, I'd rather have the option to speed past since I don't want to read them every time I play the game. 

Regarding the energy bar, I would prefer to shoot unlimited and maybe the bar charges up a little each time I blow up an asteroid or hit an enemy. And when it maxes out, you have a special attack available (which depletes the energy bar when used) that does something cool--like maybe an attack radiates out from your ship and damage all nearby enemies/asteroids. Then the bar starts charging up again. Something like that maybe. Alternatively, the bar could start charged and once used, it recharges over time (or perhaps you have to collect some ore that comes out of blown up asteroids), or maybe the bar doesn't start charged, but slowly charges up either by time passed or by collecting or from destroryed asteroids.

I hate running out of energy and having to recharge--I find it so annoying. I dislike that I cannot fast forward through the dialog. I also dislike that you stop so abruptly after let go of the thrust; I'd prefer your momentum carry you ship a bit further after letting go of the thrust. The controls are better than the last version, but...I would prefer asteroid controls (A=Rotate Left, D=Rotate Right, W=Thrust, S=Special) with a turret that rotates towards the aiming reticle (mouse pointer).

Sounds interesting!

This is really great!

This is very awesome! Great job, Henrique!

I'm glad you enjoyed playing it!

Woot! =3

Super Mario Galaxy mechanic! Woot! =)

Very good points! Most people only seem to think to have a single state machine on their player character, but I find it better to have one state for movement actions and separate state machine for attack actions --for the reasons you mention. Two small state machines working in conjunction are easier to manage than one giant state machine unless the player character is very simple.

Nice tutorial!

Yes, please =)

"I’m thinking about writing a book about 10 Enemies Archetypes and how to implement them in your game, let me know in the comments if you’re interested."

Ah, okay. I didn't look there. Nice. I use Godot myself. It's a good game engine.

Out of curiosity, what new game engine are you learning?

Maybe add a button/slider to speed up the passage of time. Nice result for your first game.

Being able to shoot faster by pressing the shoot button repeatedly was an intentional choice - you get a benefit if you put in the extra effort =)

You are not imagining things. Each saucer ship is giving a random speed from a limited range to make them more interesting. Also, they are now each a different color so you can better tell them apart. There is also a little arrow indicator that circles around your ship that points to the nearest enemy saucer ship (or the green asteroid) to help you track them.

I updated my game if you want to give it another go.

I like how the enemies come in as shadows. Nice idea! I suggest that the health bars be invisible until the enemy takes damage for the first time. The music is too loud.

I found it to be rather hard. I couldn't make it past the first spiky thing =p But good job! It looks good and the wall jump works well.

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

Yes, the voice is my own. I'm happy it amused you and that you enjoying playing my game.

I have a new build in the works that I plan to release after the judging period is over. I put a little arrow on the Cadet Ship that rotates around it and dynamically points towards either the Big Green Asteroid or the nearest Saucer Ship. Additionally, the edge barrier is now visible once you get close to it. Hopefully, these improvements will help players locate their targets. 

Neat game. Audio was a bit loud. Maybe very the pitch slightly on repeated sounds also. Graphics were great! Neat to see an isometric game with animated sprites. Good job!

Cute game. The left shift boosts, but the right shift key didn't seem to work.

Assembling a biplane is an interesting concept. Music seems loud. I like the character art.

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

I've been thinking about this situation. It does feel bad when you are sniped and don't know where the shot came from. I will shorten the distance of both the Cadet Ship bullets and the Saucer Ship bullets to about half there current distance in the next build. That should make for a better experience. Thank you for your suggestion.

I'm not sure what I want to do with the game after the judging period is over other than putting out the new build I'm working on that addresses issues and incorporates some of the suggestions giving here. But I will think about extending the game and adding upgrades/power-ups.

Interesting idea. Rats!

This game is too hard for me  - hah hah. But interesting idea =)

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

I'm happy you are having fun with it! I am working on a new build that incorporates feedback. I plan to release after the judging period is over. I have already implemented the ability to 'autofire' by holding the attack button down . So you'll will be able to fire each time you presses the attack button, or just hold it down to autofire instead. I was also thinking about having the asteroids break up into smaller asteroids like the classic Asteroids game. 

I appreciate you informing me about the music being a tad too loud. I'll lower it a bit in the next build. I'll consider adding a volume control in the future.

I had to reuse the same 'bullet' for the saucer ships as I did for the Cadet Ship because I ran out of time, but I'll look into this idea.

Thank you for pointing out the bug. I intended to have Cadet Ship's weapons 'locked down' until you move her ship close to the Green Asteroid, but I was under time pressure and I forgot to add it. I'll address this in my next build.

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

I'm happy you felt my little game was fun to play. I try to make games that seem fun to me and then hope others also find them fun.

I get you about the minimap. If I zoom it further out though then everything will be too small for the minimap to be of any use (unless I switch to a stylized minimap with icons instead) and I don't want to make the minimap any larger since it would take up more screen space.

I kind of like the idea of 'hunting' down the saucer ships instead of being shown where they all are, but I might consider adding a pointer arrow to show the nearest enemy saucer ship to the Cadet ship.

I'm also considering whether to add light and shadows to make it more 'hide and seek', but that might change the flavor of the game too much. I might test it out and see how it feels with lights and shadows.

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

I'm glad you found the voices funny. They turned out better than I expected. I laughed the first time I heard them and was still amused even after playing the game repeatedly while making it =p

I wasn't expecting 4 mini games inside the game. Creative! I found it hard to grab the cake parts since they were moving so fast along the line hah hah =p

"Dem dirty rats!" =3

Interesting game. I liked the Light 2D/ Light Occluder effect.

Interesting idea. One of the cars drives backwards =p I'm not very good at it, but I made it to level 2. The short, vertical streets are challenging. 

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

Since this game was going to be short and I was running out of time, I didn't really think about just holding the fire button down to fire. I hope to revisit this game after the judging is finished and I will see about adding that in addition to some of the other things I didn't have time for. 

I felt it was both funny and appropriate to add that quote, so I'm glad you were amused by it. Heh. Heh =p

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to add any more length to it. I hope to revisit this game after the judging is finished. 

I'm glad the Cadet Ship's controls were satisfying. I spend extra time trying to get 'the right feel.' I'm happy you enjoyed playing it and found it cute. I enjoy cute things and so I try to incorporate that into my games when it makes sense.

Thank you for taking the time to play and review my little jam game =)

I intended to make each of the five saucer ships a different color and to extend the game a bit more but I ran out of time.

I'm glad you liked it! I love Asteroids-type games too!

Your game was interesting. I didn't like that the trees so easily blocked your shots, but it was still fun.

Yes, a couple of the other players have suggested making the tractorbeam auto-activate. It seems like a good way of simplifying the controls, so I plan to look into implementing that change after the game jam wraps up. Thank you for playing my gaming and sharing your thoughts.

Yes, I will see what I can do to make the tractorbeam auto-activate after the game jam is finished. Thank you for playing my game and taking the time to leave your thoughts on it.

I downloaded the source code and ran the game in my Godot editor. I'm sure you were just time crunched or something. Ideally you would provide the exported .exe and .pck files for those people who don't use Godot (or won't bother running it from source code like I did). Exporting a web build is a great idea for a game jam also.

As for the game itself, the soundfx of the walking got old quick. I suggest lowering the volume down some and varying the pitch slightly each time it plays (randomly set the pitch scale [such as $AudioStreamPlayer.pitch_scale = randf_range(0.9, 1.1) ] through GDscript each time you play the sound). The graphics were fine and I liked the idea of the game. Keep at it!

Yes, it works fine for me now. I played through it. Good job!