After getting used to the operation method, it really feels like being in the universe. And the background music and atmosphere are very very amazing! Even you can sense an extra sense of loneliness in the game.
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STARHAULER's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #3 | 4.469 | 4.469 |
| Enjoyment | #89 | 3.906 | 3.906 |
| Overall | #91 | 3.797 | 3.797 |
| Visuals | #108 | 4.312 | 4.312 |
| Gameplay | #174 | 3.594 | 3.594 |
| Innovation | #258 | 3.438 | 3.438 |
| Theme | #929 | 3.062 | 3.062 |
Ranked from 32 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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
Comments
with some gameplay expansions or shortening it because the slightly repetitive mechanic there is a lot of great and potential in this :)
At firs i felt that this game is just very polished unfinished game but then i got to fight and this was awesome
The first wave of enemies came in hot and nearly took me instantly out, but I loved hearing them crash into the asteroids as I deftly flew through the asteroid field. Really interesting esthetic and lots of potential.
I do feel I was looking for a bit more agency, especially when there was a lot of dialogue to go through to choose Y/N on the mission, I generally just went with whatever option I got to first vs. backing out and trying to compare the options. While I'm usually one for seeing how long I can go without shooting sometimes in games, I did feel like I was missing something, maybe even just a limited boost option. I needed my ship to have a bit more weight to it, even if it was just a flame out the back when I had the accelerator on.
On one hand, especially for the title, the long-haul emptiness of space vibe was interesting, but on the other hand, there was a bit too much of it. It'd be useful I think to have some of the earlier missions be shorter, and also for each mission to have at least something "interesting" about it, whether it's an asteroid field, enemies, or something else. Some rewards/upgrades and making the choice of mission more impactful too will help.
It was a bit hard to see where the theme really came into play into the game itself vs. just world building around the clients. In the future, some sort of reputation/faction system where doing different jobs made you friendly to some and enemies to others over time that could change (and that you could recognize the different ship types of) could be interesting.
In either case, this is a phenomenal jam game you've put together, and it's a great start to something bigger!
Absolutely love the visuals, the music, the chat, the intro! It’s great!
In addition this game would probably make a very good full game, so let me be a bit constructive if you want to go that route.
The gameplay currently is just “press W” and “return to the same exact location every time”. You could probably guess, this gets pretty boring.
Nothing unsalvageable, there are always some good, elegant ways to solve these kinds of issues.
For example you could locate the different mission-giving ships in different parts of space that have different areas. Like a mission ship in the middle of an asteroid field or asteroid belt. One nearby pirates. One nearby police or something. Just to break up the locations that you go to.
To fix the “press W to win” mechanic, there could be ship boost, where the enemy is faster than you normally, but you’re faster with a boost, and you have to conserve it.
In addition i found the asteroids to be no challenge. It would be good if later on obstacles get a bit more interesting, like odd-shapes or locations that do something to you. Or adding more floaty ship inertia when you have cargo so you think about your rotation a lot more. The main point is to just break up the straight-line movement and make you actually think about what you’re doing, how you position the ship and where are you going.
I also got no hint of the money system, some missions said contracts granted money, but nothing. Would be cool if we could buy more boost fuel or upgrades from somewhere.
There was barely a hint of the theme to “trust no one” when a mission wasn’t what i expected. They said it’s a long haul with threat and i got a short haul with no threat. Would love to see an element where one mission ship gives you proper missions and throughout dialogue or experience, you learn that other mission ships aren’t so trustworthy, some less than others.
Hopefully this helps!
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!!
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.
The audio was really nice and sets well the mood, congrats !









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