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A jam submission

LunaView game page

Find what secrets lie inside this mysterious station.
Submitted by KaffeDev (@S0yKaf_) — 2 days, 7 hours before the deadline
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Luna's itch.io page

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Comments

(+1)

I love the weakpoint mechanic, it's something obvious but the fact you made it work with monochrome deserves a shout out.

I'm not going to bother with the gravity puzzle though.

Developer

ahah thanks for the kind words! The puzzle isn't very hard tho. are you saying that because you find it boring?

(+1)

It's because it's a bit janky for me unless I'm doing something wrong. The line between player and cursor being intersected changes the target, and it's easy to fall down, especially since I'm not good at using WSAD controls for precise platforming. It would be a good puzzle for a bonus item, but for progression I would prefer a less steep ramp up in difficulty for learning.

Developer

Thank you for the clarification! this is valuable information. I don't think I'm planning on changing this puzzle right now but if more people turn out to share your feelings on it I'll definitely consider it some more.

(+1)

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(+1)

I liked your demo. I ran into 3 bugs from what I've noticed. My first involved the boss: I died to him, and when I back to him, this happened : 

The attacking part of the boss separated from the boss' body; I was still able to attack its body and kill it.

The second bug I encountered when taking the elevator back up; when it transitioned to the next level I was presented with just the elevator shaft, and I couldn't see my guy, but I could hear my guy moving around. I was soft-locked at that point. This happened several times until it didn't, and I could see my guy on the elevator going up to the next level like normal.

My last bug was when I returned to the beginning of the game after getting the double jump and gravity gun; I saved/healed at the first save spot and my game immediately crashed. When I went back into the game, I was at that save point like nothing was wrong.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your game!

Developer

That boss bug is absolutely crazy, I'll have to investigate that. and yeah the elevator I need to figure it out better, no idea why it's causing so much trouble in the release build.

Thanks for playing!

(+1)

That was a pretty fun time, my dude. I like the bigger emphasis on dialogue. Your typical Metroid-like is a very cold, lonely affair, which has a time and place but sometimes I play games not to be reminded of the average day to day. 

And the emphasis on precision 360 shots is a pretty nice mechanical twist. Fun time all around.  Good luck in this cold, lonely world.

Developer

Thanks! I think sometimes I go a little bit TOO heavy on the dialogue. but I do want to make it at least some interesting part of the game. Cave Story is what I'm going for dialogue wise. Where it's not constantly bombarding you, but is there to get the story moving along.

Submitted(+1)

This was my favorite game in a lot of areas this demo day. Your level design is good! You should be proud of what you've put together here.
I agree with whoever mentioned the game has ESA vibes: it very much does. And that is a great thing.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this but you mixing the retro sfx with the more grounded foley like the cave ambience works surprisingly well, and grants a lot of life to the station that wouldn't otherwise be there, audio will be your friend on this project for making the world feel alive since you're sticking to monochrome graphics.

I didn't find it immediately clear that the big gateway things are save points. That might just be me being stupid, but a lil text pop up when you interact with one would go a long way to making that more obvious for oblivious folks like me :)

Your first boss is good! I would maybe force him to use his moves in alternation, because on my first attempt due to some wild rng I didn't even know he had more than one move. 

Overall the whole thing was a joy to play, and I love the main weapon. Your gravity gun is a lot of fun too. Hitting a lot of very base satisfaction receptors with this.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing! ESA is definitely a big inspiration, specially in the way it makes the station seems so alive. Compared to lets say metroid where most things just seem there to be a challenge.

I'll definitely stick with the more detailed audio, because indeed, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to have somewhat abstract graphics with abstract sounds.

I'll have to take a look at the first boss RNG again. I also found that he does the homing lasers way too often.

Submitted(+1)

I don't have so much to add that hasn't already been said, but I will reiterate that this game feels very good to play, it kept me playing for quite a while. I'm a bit burnt out of the slew of metroidvanias released in the last 10 or so years, but I'd definitely give this game a shot on release simply for the aforementioned feel (and juice) and atmosphere.

Keep it up bro.

Developer(+1)

Thank you! I'm glad it kept you playing despite you being fed up of metroidvanias. I'm hoping this game can bring something new and fresh to the metroidvania table but while still staying close to what makes a metroidvania great.

(+1)

The stars dropping from enemies could do with a bit bigger pickup range i think.

At one point the sound bugged out and it was playing the shooting noise on repeat - I think it happened when i got hit at the same time as holding down the attack button https://files.catbox.moe/rw08r0.webm (video is from after it happened though)

very nice style, think some atmospheric bgm could be nice too

Developer

BGM is definitely on the TODO list, just sadly didn't have time to get that for the demo. as for the stars, I've just added a feature where when you get close to them they fly to you, essentially increasing their pickup range. and I also hopefully fixed the turret sound bug.

Thanks a lot for playing!

(+1)

Fun game. Wasnt sure I would like it first going in, especially since im not to big on platformers. But this was fun. Got to the ending of the demo and will be waiting to see more of this game!

I played it on linux and I dont think I ran into any issues that would be OS related.

It feels like you move faster when going down a slop than when you move normally or go up a slope. Felt a bit odd.

I found a glitch, where if I opened a door while a slug was crawling up it, the slug would fly over to the next wall. Just guessing here, but seems like you have the gravity that affects to slug rotated when it climbs onto a wall or roof? I think resting the gravtiy to be downwards if the slug has no gravity based collision would fix the issue. Or just keep it cause it looks funny and not too out of style for a creepy space slug.

The ability to look up or down while standing still would be nice.

Maybe its just cause im a noob, but the flying bugs almost filtered me.  It be nice if they died once they hit you. shooting at them gets weird when they are stuck hovering over the plater body. The shooting works fine, its just at least in my head feels weird to point at yourself to shoot them.


Thanks for the fun demo and good luck on the game!

Developer(+1)
It feels like you move faster when going down a slop than when you move normally or go up a slope. Felt a bit odd.

I never noticed, thanks for pointing it out, I'll investigate this.

I found a glitch, where if I opened a door while a slug was crawling up it, the slug would fly over to the next wall.

yeah, it's a pretty silly bug, and you're right on why it's happening. I kinda like how goofy it looks. so it'll probably stay in the game. I like the idea of the slugs doing a full 180 and turning into face huggers for like 3 seconds.

The ability to look up or down while standing still would be nice.

you mean the camera? if so that's a good idea, I'll add it to the list.

be nice if they died once they hit you

I've thought about this. I'll try it honestly, it's true it can be annoying when a fly is stuck to you and you didn't notice. I'm kind of in the situation where the flies feel good to me, but only because I've had to deal with them so often. I guess this is why player feedback is so important.


Thanks a lot for the feedback and playing the game!

Submitted(+1)

The gameplay and the combat is good. The game did lock itself to the top left side of my screen. No idea why or how to turn it off. The turret and the flying enemies are easy to kill/avoid. I wanted to play more, but I got stuck in the upgrade room, unable to leave (or see how to leave with the game locking itself in the corner) No idea if the bug is causing only a party of the game to be shown, but this is what I can see during gameplay.


Developer(+1)

Yeah this bug is a really odd one. I want to say it's a Godot thing since my camera doesn't have anything special going with it. I'll definitely try to investigate it after I get back from my fishing trip. it's just a tricky thing to debug since it seems to only happen in the release build of the game and it doesn't throw any error.


rebooting the game fixes it. Thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

- too much text up front, if the player goal is not in the first two sentences, I'm skipping all text until I'm invested in the game, which I'm not on start
- if arrows aren't used for anything in game, support both them and wasd, even if you prefer one of them
- solid sound effects and artstyle is nice
- pressing down for prompts is odd, isn't it usually up?
- no idea what the "40" means when you kill something, since the counter counts the stars you collect
- expected alt+enter for fullscreen

Got to the double jump, got disappointed it's the most generic possible method of progression, boss made it better, but I quit the game after being respawned all the way at the start for losing. The game is solid and well made, potentially even immersive, but sparks little to no excitement, which could be due to how little of it I cleared.

Developer
- too much text up front, if the player goal is not in the first two sentences, I'm skipping all text until I'm invested in the game, which I'm not on start

I understand how you feel, I have a tendency to write long dialogue. The game introduction will be a nice little cutscene later on. I just didn't have time to add it in for the demo.

- if arrows aren't used for anything in game, support both them and wasd, even if you prefer one of them

you can remap keys in the options.

- pressing down for prompts is odd, isn't it usually up?

that's pretty suggestive but thank you for pointing it out.

- no idea what the "40" means when you kill something, since the counter counts the stars you collect

maybe it is a little odd to have damage numbers when you insta kill something. the reason they're there however is to indicate when an enemy isn't taking damage. since a lot of them have mechanics where you need to hit their weak spot.

- expected alt+enter for fullscreen

good point. I'll add this to the todo.

Got to the double jump, got disappointed it's the most generic possible method of progression, boss made it better, but I quit the game after being respawned all the way at the start for losing.

I'm not sure why you're disappointed. a double jump is pretty much a staple of metroidvanias, plus they feel good to use. now for the respawn thing, a lot of people seem to be walking right pass the save points. which by the way, there are 2 before the first boss. now this is more an issue to fix on my side. I think I'll have to move the first one maybe at the top of the first jump quest. that way it can act as a quick access to the boss once you get the double jump. I tried making them more noticeable by adding "S" next to their rooms. but apparently I also need to put them right in  your face so there is no chance you miss them and get the chance  to associate the "S" with a save point.


Thanks for the feedback! hopefully you play some more and reach the end. I'm sure you'd enjoy it. but please, don't skip the text :^)

Submitted

it's really cool, it feels like a lot of effort has been put into this. I get the feeling of the spaceship being huge. I like the small details like the small window/opening on the right in the beginning of the game which I can shoot trough for no reason. I like the story aspect, though I felt like it's a little much text in the intro. I like that you get money from killing monsters, it gives an incentive to kill them. The laser and overall effects are cool and not too much in my face which is something I really appreciate. The sound is top notch.

One weird thing, when I get the double jump and die from the miniboss, I just keep the double jump, there's no penalty for not defeating him?

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

I do have a tendency to write long dialogue. I'll definitely need to stay aware of this further on.
For the double jump, the reason you keep it, lore wise, is that when you die, you don't actually die. you just  get teleported to safety. And the double jump upgrade is registered with the teleporter so it stays with you. now gameplay wise, it gives you a chance to go grab upgrades in case you're really having an hard time with the boss. and you HAVE to beat him to progress the story, he unlocks the next area of the game.

Submitted

I just started and I'm spawning a turret gun on top of myself everytime I collect a star bit or whatever these collectibles are. I've died once. This definitely looks like a bug.

I love your laser. It feels... It feels so right. I'll edit this comment as I continue but that bug is pretty wack so I wanted to get that out there quickly.

Developer

this sounds like an insane bug, I'd love to see a video of it. are you playing on OSX?

Developer(+1)

Hello ! I have fixed the turret bug. a real crazy one.

Submitted

Great job, yeah that was wild. It was on Windows. Sorry I wasn't immediately available to offer more details :)

Developer

no worries, a friend also ran into it so I was able to reproduce it.

Submitted(+1)

This game reminds me a lot of Environmental Station Alpha, which is entirely a good thing. The graphics are nice, the playing field is easily visible and defined despite the limited palette, and the game plays well. I particularly like how as far as powerups go, you got the double jump first.
I'm a big fan of the Observer boss. Really fun and intuitive. Despite it being a bit challenging, I was able to beat it on my first try since it was a natural evolution of the mechanics I had just learned. I love it when games do that. My only complaint I have from my time playing is that the flies in the second area can be a bit much at first since they're small yet come in such big numbers. I'd either make their hurtbox just a bit larger, or maybe decrease their numbers slightly. Great work!

Developer(+1)

The flies are indeed hard. they'll definitely be tweaked somehow, or at least this area of the game. The very narrow space and the insane amount of flies isn't a very good introduction to them. Even tho you can walk past them, this is really not a reflex most people have. and not one I want them to have either.

Thanks a lot for the feedback! and yes it definitely has some ESA inspiration! but hopefully less cryptic.

Submitted(+1)

Luna:

First off, space is a fine jump button, but I would want it on ‘w’ also if I had my druthers, as ‘w’ seems unmapped, maybe it comes up later. 

<span class="s1" <the="" console="" is="" logging="" some="" errors="" when="" i="" kill="" enemies="" (error:="" resumed="" function="" ‘blink()’="" after="" yield,="" but="" the="" instance="" gone.="" at="" script:="" <="" span="">res://entities/player/damage_number.gd:36</span> at: modules/gdscript/gdscript_function.cpp:1873) Cute little door opening animation.

The console is logging some errors when I save? (Error file must be opened before use. at core/bind/core_bind.cpp:2053)

Going back through a door gave “Signal ‘area_entered’ is already connected to a given method ‘_on_door_enter’ in that object” love the leg movement, really cute little jiggle back and forth. 

I’m getting killed over and over by the observer. Would be a bit easier with ‘w’ jump. 

Good writing in the computers, clear and concise but builds the world. 

Very nice use of jump scaling with the upgrade in the observer room, backtracking the small area I already came through has good rewards and feels nicer with a higher jump.

Nice environmental storytelling with the dead worker under the surveillance/laser defense system. I like how the first one is easy to pass and teaches you the mechanic. 

The hotboxes on the collectable scrap could be a little more forgiving, or last a bit longer before disappearing.

Also, on the basis of hitboxes, you may want to increase the granularity of the recast used for the player weapon (if I understand what is happening) as enemies seem to occasionally evade direct hits. 

WOO I beat the observer, had to get 9 max health before, and I won with one left, so that’s tight design. 

Ripley can’t stand those damn scientist’ slight grammar nitpick, scientist should be scientists. 

There should be a save point at ripley, I died to the bees and got sent back a long distance. (scratch that, consider this one praise of good design, there is a save block right where it should be in this area.)

Kinda cool and ironic, you need Dr. Mandragora’s card to learn about the enemies you will fight, but you fight them first. 

I've got to find Pomao, (thanks for putting him in the game) 

Developer

Thanks for the great feedback! and making me realize I pushed a debug build!! those errors should now be hidden.

this is truly a precious comment.

Developer(+1)

oh by the way. you can remap keys in the options. but I guess maybe that wasn't clear.