Very nice audio/visuals, I like the idea of having to keep track of the various systems. Was confused at first, I think a small tutorial screen would go a long way.
Viewing post in Lunar Rescuer jam comments
Hm. I can probably try adding a simple tutorial screen before starting and do it quickly.
About subsystems — it seems that this was one of the main core mechanics. However, I'm not entirely sure I've chosen the right set of subsystems that the player should track. The current set of subsystems is as follows:
- Flight computer through which the ship's movement is controlled
- Main engine — linear forward acceleration
- Reaction control system — ship rotation
- Fuel tank — fuel for main engine and RCS operation
- Fire control — handle for weapon
- Main gun — pew-pew with specified accuracy, fire-rate and bullet speed modificator
- Turret (only for big ships) — allows you to rotate the main weapon independently of the ship
- Missile launcher — canceled, because I havent time for finish the enemy
- Radar — it should be related to weapons, enemy detection, and mapping, but this was not completed
- Life support — crew
- Damage control — hit points and repair of subsystems
- Cooling system — not released
- Power system — not released
This emphasis on subsystems in this case is an experimental mechanic that is great for testing on a game jam, but I'm not sure that this is done correctly. It seems to me that the number of subsystems was too large, although this combination allows you to achieve unique combinations of damage effects (for example, a ship without a crew loses control and becomes a useless pile of scrap metal in space), but it seems to me that there should be fewer subsystems, because such a large number of subsystems is very difficult to tracking by player, and it also complicated the development. Now I'm thinking that it probably makes sense to combine some subsystems to reduce their number, for example,
- Combine the main engine, RCS, and flight computer into a single subsystem, exclude the power system (it is still directly connected to the main engine), but for other hand the main engine and power plant can function independently of the performance of the flight computer and RCS (but not vice versa, since the heart of the atomic ship is a nuclear engine)
- Combine radar and fire control into one subsystem, on the other hand even the failure of the sensors in theory allows the player to shoot blindly
- Combine life support and damage control into one subsystem
- Eliminate a separate cooling system (although it was planned to make an overheating system for weapons, and cool it independently).
In general, as you can see, I got into a classic design fork and experienced developer analysis paralysis. Personally, I think that the number of subsystems should be somehow reduced to 4-6, because first of all, a person can usually keep about 3-5 entities in his head, and secondly, this will simplify the development of code (now I have a very large number of disparate game objects and a voluminous property inspector). But on the other hand, a large number of subsystems can be perceived by the player as a special version life bar.
What do you think about it?
Personally I like when mechanics are introduced progressively, so you could start off with fewer subsystems, and as the player learns and accomplishes goals you can add more in with brief tutorials or explanations. That way you could keep a large number of systems without overwhelming the player. The combinations you mentioned would also work to simplify things