David Figatner

Games

Asteroid Panner

game · 2018

Play in your browserApp Storeitch.io

Asteroid Panner screenshot

There's a new gold rush in the solar system. And we're looking for a few suck . . . brave volunteers who want to get rich with little effort.

Are you adventurous? Do you understand angular momentum? What about pushing buttons? Do you like money? How about upgrades? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then you have what it takes to join Asteroid Panner Corporation as our newest apprentice asteroid drone operator.

Take control of a drone ship and mine asteroids looking for gold. Get paid, upgrade your drone, and search for even more gold.

You'll need all your wits and sufficient fuel to play this action, physics-based space game. Includes two full sectors of action and excitement. Move up through the ranks from apprentice asteroid drone operator to full guildmember at Asteroid Panner Corporation. (Think of the glory and cash that an A.P.C. guildmember receives.)

And maybe, just maybe, if you're good enough, you too can join the ranks as an executive of A.P.C. (Don't get your hopes up, though. Those jobs mostly go to the daughters and sons of people more important than you.)

This game was originally written in 10 days for #dreamhackaustinjam. It was selected as one of the winning games and appeared at Dreamhack Austin! After the conference, it was polished and turned into a real game.

  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 1
  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 2
  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 3
  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 4
  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 5
  • Asteroid Panner, screenshot 6

Questions

  1. What's with the pixels?
    I originally wrote the game for a 10-day game jam. This was my first game jam ever. The theme was space and I had always wanted to do a space game with real (okay, quasi-real) physics. That's why I signed up.

Since I only had 10 days, I decided to use pixels to draw everything. I had created a nice pixel editor for a previous (unfinished) game, and the editor was fast, fun, and easy, and viola, you have pixelated graphics. It also ended up making the starfield awesome (if I do say).

  1. Why are the controls so difficult and weird?
    Welcome to (2d) space: where Isaac Newton would feel right at home. Remember "an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force"? Well in this 2d spacefield, there are no forces except your engines. To stop yourself from going in one direction, you need to apply an equal force in the opposite direction.

My advice is try not to go too fast until you get used to the controls. Once you master movement it is quite gratifying.

How it was made

Version
v2.0
Language
HTML5 and JavaScript, packaged with Cordova
Engine
My own, built from my open-source libraries
Graphics
pixi.js
Sound
howler.js
Storage
localForage
Code editor
Visual Studio Code
Made at
the TianYu Starbucks, Taipei
Sounds
Changes
  • v2.0 (June 8, 2018) Full game updated with three worlds, management screen, harvesters, missiles, and AI-powered competitors; bug fixes; graphic updates; and sound updates
  • v1.1 (May 22, 2018) Released updates on gamejolt to ready the game for dreamhackaustin. Fixed sound loading bug, asteroid blinking bug, added scrollboxes for store and about; and allow tutorial dialog skip (by pressing the talk dialog).
  • v1.0 (May 13, 2018) Released on gamejolt for dreamhackaustinjam