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A jam submission

STARHAULERView game page

Haul cargo. Outrun space pirates. Shake the Interstellar Police. Trust no one.
Submitted by Alphonsus (@alphnsus) — 1 hour, 25 minutes before the deadline
Rated by 28 people so far
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STARHAULER's itch.io page

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How does the game fit the theme?
You are a Starhauler, an independent contractor transporting cargo across space.

Every job comes with a risk: pirates, raiders, shady clients, and the Interstellar Police.

Trust no one.

What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
Physics, UI, basic game object scaffolding code.

How many people worked on the game?
1

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Comments

Viewing comments 25 to 6 of 25 · Next page · Last page
Submitted

Amazing style you put into this game. Love the idea and the execution. Could see this being a full-release for sure. Great work with the music too, perfection!

Submitted

Was shocked when I read this was your first soundtrack because it really sounds professional. 
The art is amazing and the shader to make the screen warp is really cool to. 
My only suggestions would be to hide the stars when they are behind the asteroids because I feel it detracts from the experience a bit. It would also be really satisfying if the user could unlock little blasters to use on the rebel ships, though I understand that it was probably impossible within the scope of the jam. 
Really great job on this one!!

Submitted

This is so beautiful. I honestly can't think of a thing that would make this better and yet fit a game jam, lol. I would want so much more of this. With a longer story. All that. Amazing job!

Submitted

Cool game, I really enjoyed the first few. I thought it was weird because I only ran through asteroids at one point and they were all gone on my way back. I got a few of the references, that was cool too. I felt like the game immediately escalated to unbeatable around the third job when tons of enemies would spawn and catch up to me and no matter what I did I couldn't outrun them. There was no cover to hide, I tired a few times but it just kept playing out exactly the same. I liked the way the game looked and sounded and handled.

Overall very cool game, but the execution fell off insanely hard. It might have been better to start off with a couple of enemies or gave me ways to deal with them, unless I misunderstood something.

Submitted

The audio was really nice and sets well the mood, congrats !

Submitted

Very atmospheric game, the music was especially fitting and epic!

I'd like to see this fleshed out more, one of the missions mentioned getting an upgrade, but then nothing happened, so I assume upgrades didn't make it in time for the jam.

Really nice use of the parallax effect for space as well, quite a soothing meditative experience :)

Submitted (1 edit)

Ok, this game is awesome. By far one of my favorites of the jam. I love the dedication to the old school Asteroid vibes-- literally felt like I was playing on a old arcade cabinet. I like that you took a simple concept but really made it interesting. And this game is way more polished than most of the other games, you can feel the attention to detail. The music was awesome-- one of the only games that actually bothered to use good (and fitting) music. I was so mesmerized driving around in space I forgot I was on a delivery mission.  

Also, personally, I love all little things: the naming homages, the bits of humor, and dialogue, the delayed film-like title screen etc. Can't even remember the other stuff I wanted to mention because there was so much. Beautiful work! 

Maybe you want to make some real time space battles for our game? ;-)             


Edit: Dude, I had to come back and edit this, I just realized you actually made the music for this... incredible! Seriously. 

Submitted

The space drama! ☆ Just finished playing the game and wow, it's addictive! One of my favs for this jam, for sure. 

Space looks really pretty with how simple the sprites are, and the music was absolutely beautiful. 

Kiting the hostile ships into the asteroids was lots of fun x)

Submitted

This game is really awesome, honestly. The minimalist design, the gameplay, and the style that feels like you're  watching an old TV. It's really good.

Submitted

An absolute masterclass in solo game development! The core gameplay loop of luring pirates into asteroids during cargo runs is brilliant, and the smooth ship controls make it incredibly fun to play. That main theme track is an absolute banger, and the dialogue brought so much charm to the world. Striking visuals, excellent mechanics—awesome job!

Submitted

The page design is nice, especially banner and gifs, really catching attention. As for the game - it looks simple yet beautiful. The bitter thing is it is unfortunately impossible for me to play the game because of the font size, I just don’t see and can’t read any text be it UI or dialogs.

If there is some setting to configure this that I missed, please let me know.

Developer

Hi, sorry about that, may I ask what display or browser resolution you are playing on?

Submitted

It’s win 11, Google chrome, 2k display, but I also have like 125% upscale in os settings.

Submitted

Here is how I see the game. Barely readable unfortunalty:

image.png

Submitted

OMGFG. I'm the artist of the team, and i FUCKING love that experience. The way you enter in with the music after the first mission accept and the title and everything, it definitely sell the universe. And i really like that kind of parallax effect which sell well the universe.

WELL DONE.

Feel free to test our game !

Submitted(+1)

At first I was afraid of the asteroids, but then I learned that they are my only friends in the vast nothingness of space. 

This game is a vibe, man. Fantastic ambient music, cool retro visuals and minimalist ship designs, and fun sci-fi references. Awesome intro, too! 

As was already mentioned, I can very much see this as a full release. Upgrades are the obvious go-to, but I would also just love to see more of the setting, characters and factions. I do love the fact that you're just a starhauler and can't fight back in the traditional way, so it would be very interesting to see how the game could evolve and become more complex later on while sticking to that aspect.

Anyway, great job, man!

Submitted

I totally agree with my fellow developer from our game. This is a fun throwback. Loved the music and atmosphere and you got me personally smiling severel times with all the references in the chat to stuff like Alien and Cowboy Bebop. 

Submitted(+1)

Dude, I can totally see this turning into a full-fledged release! It already has an unbelievable atmosphere, and I absolutely love the entire vibe you built here.

Throwing the player straight into the action and then transitioning dynamically into the intro is brilliant. The graphics are minimalist, but in a way that could scale directly into a full game, and the soundtrack is epic! The screenshake when enemy ships crash and shatter is ridiculously satisfying, and weaving through asteroid fields while being pursued makes you feel like peak Han Solo. I also really like that the ship has no weapons: it puts all the focus on pure evasion and maneuverability. It gave me huge X: Beyond the Frontier nostalgia.

For a jam scope, the length was spot on: it wrapped up right at the sweet spot before the loop could start feeling repetitive.

A few thoughts and ideas:

  • The font gets a bit too pixelated and hard to read at this scaling size.
  • The jam theme ("trust no one") definitely took a bit of a back seat.
  • For future expansion: earning cash from successful deliveries to buy ship upgrades (like temporary boost bursts, momentary shields, etc.) would fit this loop brilliantly!
  • Why am I piloting a penis?

Anyway, seriously impressive work, I had a blast with this!

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback, really appreciate it!

> For future expansion

Yeah, I initially wanted to add upgrades, which is why the quests mention monetary rewards. I'm definitely considering continuing development and turning this into a full game!

> Why am I piloting a penis?

I realized this a little too late and was hoping no one would notice, but dammit! You got me 🤣

Checking out your game now!

Submitted

ıncredible art theme audio visuals all are awsome Great atmosphere

Submitted

This game is awesome, the visuals look so good. I love the parallax effect with the stars, and the audio is also great the ui looks very cool, and I like the distortion. Would you mind trying mine out as well?

Submitted

Fantastic atmosphere, the music, stars parallax and space truckers radio are really setting a good mood! Controls are really neat too. excellent work!

Submitted

I really love the vibe of the game. I would finish the game I don't have work, great visuals and sounds.

Submitted

Love the atmosphere of this space delivery game! The art and music are a great match.In the early game, the pacing between deliveries feels a bit too slow. It would be great if the wait could be a bit shorter:D

Developer

Was kind of aiming for a 2001-esque vibe but I agree I might have overdone the slowness, this being a game jam game and all. Appreciate the feedback!

Viewing comments 25 to 6 of 25 · Next page · Last page