The in development sequel to Spacethumper! Our intrepid pilot finds herself stranded on the same barren rock, but this time with some assistance. Quite a few things have been changed from the first game, but the main aim is the same: use yourself as a (mostly) mobile battery to build up your base and figure out a way off the planet.
Bug reports are always appreciated, as are QOL suggestions and other ideas.
FAQ
What are the controls?
A and D to walk around, W to vent energy, Q to open the build menu, and E to interact. 53N has more tutorial stuff outside the cave.
Are there more weight stages than the first game?
Not yet! It’s a lot of work putting in a whole weight stage and I’m working more on the gameplay/story first.
Can you eat the slimes?
Nope, and no plans on putting that in.
What happened to the prestige system?
Turned out to not really work for what I want the game to be this time around, so just scaling up isn’t going to be part of the gameplay.
Is there a debug mode?
There is for me to debug with, not for everyone else. I don’t want to chase down a glitch that only happens when debug mode is enabled.
Will custom sprites be possible?
Eventually yes, I have a few ideas for how I’m going to implement them this time around, hopefully in a way that’ll be more user friendly (and will save me from having to explain how to get to the local appdata folder ad nauseum).
Changelog
-----V0.1.0
- Miners and steam turbines must now be placed on their respective nodes
- Miners can now mine metal and crystals simultaneously (where node placement allows it)
- Right clicking no longer teleports enemies to your mouse
- Right clicking opens building info menu instead of left clicking
- Added dialogue (portraits are placeholders for now)
- Added 53N to provide a quick rundown of mechanics
- Adjusted volumes of player noises
- Adjusted camera shake to have less intense but longer tremors
- Added music to test volume slider
- Added a few more gurgle sound varieties
- Added sprites for steam turbine 3, laser turret 2, miner 2, barrier 2, accumulator
- Accumulator is now functional
- Steam turbine 3 is now size 3
- Turrets no longer rotate into their own bases
- Turrets are now drawn in front of everything else for clarity
- Gauss cannons now functional (assets are placeholders)
- Settings are now saved
- Destroying generators powering buildings no longer crashes game
- Added two new characters and pilot’s new base sprites
-----V0.2.0
- Added in the rest of the weight stages (same 14 from the first game)
- Booster removed
- Research now requires resources
- Upgrades now functional and cost resources
- Reworked pilot energy values
- Adjusted slowdown with weight
- Replaced placeholder portraits (still no expressions)
- Added characters as npcs, talk to characters to switch to them
- Reworked hitboxes to automatically adjust npc hitboxes properly
- Reworked camera to allow smooth camera motions
- Legacy pilot no longer accessible
- Accumulator range increased
-----V0.2.1
- Mitigated crossing weight energy thresholds repeatedly while moving at lower weights
- Squash effects no longer stack
- “Advanced Mining” research renamed to “Crystal Infusion”, description text corrected
- “Gem Cracking” research renamed to “Crystal Cracking”, description text corrected
- Enemies no longer stopped by unbuilt platforms
- Upgrading (building in same space as lower tier) platforms no longer crashes game
- Elevators must now be placed on ground
- Elevator platform now moves towards floor player is on only when player is on a floor, and at regular speed instead of player falling speed
- Elevator platforms now correctly constrain themselves to elevator max/min height
- Player can no longer walk/float above elevators
- Player is no longer teleported to elevator platform when walking in front of elevators
- Elevator speed now only slows down when moving upwards with higher weights
- Arc field generators now functional
- Resource GUI updated
- Steam vent animation now pauses with game
- Camera now sits a bit higher
- Pilot’s base speed increased
- Mechanic’s base energy transfer rate increased
- Accidentally deleted code for drones and had to redo it, no idea if any of the values are the same as before
- Miner’s drone mining rate and damage doubled
- Miner’s drone laser cost increased by 50%
- Added indicator when off-screen buildings are being damaged
- Minor tweaks to pilot’s portraits
-----V0.2.2
- Drones now properly despawned when switching characters
-----V0.2.3
- Drone laser now pauses properly
- Drone laser no longer fires while in non-pause menus
- Metal/crystals no longer reset when switching characters
- Laser 1 damage increased to 5/sec
- Laser 2 damage increased to 10/sec
- Laser 3 damage increased to 20/sec
- Laser horizontal range increased to 6 tiles
- Laser firing arc increased slightly
- Green slime jump power reduced
- Gauss horizontal range increased to 7 tiles
- Freight elevator metal cost reduced to 4000
- All structure’s energy cost increased by various amounts (previously all were 50)
- Energy costs now shown in build menu
- Structure holograms now slightly more transparent
- Structures now have dust/sound/screen shake when fully built
- Increased energy transfer rate upgrade effect to +20% of base energy transfer rate per level and max level to 10
- Added resource capacity upgrade
- Elevators and platforms now deal with overhangs properly
- Several adjustments to the test map made
- Added elevator noises
- Added capability for stereo sound effects with falloff
- Added room transitions and capability to store associated room data
- Updated 53N’s tutorial text for characters
-----V0.2.4
- Fixed missing pixel and shadows on mechanic sprites
- Structures keep correct energy cost after exiting and entering a room with unbuilt structures in it
- Energy shield now repairs itself
- Going through a transition while menus are open no longer crashes game
- Metal/crystals stored in miners no longer resets when going to another room
- Clicking on completed research no longer pays cost
- Gauss cannon placeholder sprites replaced
- Cleaned up the background tiles
- Everyone starts in a cave now
- Gave drones sprites
- Accumulator no longer halves its own energy output
- Energy costs listed correctly instead of using metal cost values
- Base energy transfer rate increased by 50%
- Adjusted drone decceleration
- Made elevators quieter
- Replaced placeholder sprites for arc generators (arc2 still needs an update though, but it needed a placeholder to check the animation was working)
- Replaced placeholder sprite for spawner
- Added walls to the edge of the map
-----V0.2.5
- Miners no longer mine while game is paused
- Reactors no longer use up crystals while game is paused
- Drone now stays at fixed height to stop it from floating away when gaining/losing weight
- Decreased fuel consumption rate for fusion reactors
- Elevator being destroyed while riding it no longer softlocks game
- Being in a building’s menu while it’s destroyed no longer crashes game
- Player becoming too fat/hanging off the edge of the elevator while it’s moving now forces elevator to move down to nearest floor
- Hopefully fixed the issue with the check support script crashing the game, was unable to recreate this bug myself
- Buildings are now placed on correct layer when loading areas
- Implemented adaptive music
-----V0.3.0
- Fixed several issues with elevator audio inconsistency
- There is now a title/main menu screen
- Saving implemented
- Solar panels no longer work in areas shaded by terrain
- Building in cave disabled
- Resources must now be on screen to be mined with drone
- Fixed issue with reactors crashing the game
-----V0.3.1
- Build menu can no longer be opened on title screen
- No more softlock in title screen advanced audio settings
- Menu toggles now change properly on click instead of setting option on first click and confirming on second
- Drones no longer stay at level above player when moving downward
- Fixed support checking script, buildings can now be built on reinforced platforms and hab walls simultaneously/size 2 and larger buildings no longer destroyed when upgrading reinforced platforms beneath them
- Enemy spawn timer no longer advances on title screen and in cave
- Energy can no longer be gained/lost in cave
- 53N no longer moves when game is paused
- Game time saved properly (not visible but controls enemy spawns)
-----V0.3.2
- Destroy menu now prioritizes buildings over platforms (no longer deletes platform behind when clicking on building)
- Elevator noises stop when paused
- Elevator platform heights now set to player level and default to moving down when not on floor level when loading/transitioning between rooms
- Added a event/cutscene manager
- Destroying buildings uses crystal build cost to calculate crystal refund instead of metal cost
- Created a short intro/tutorial section when selecting a new game
- Different characters now have different text colors
- Updated dialogue voices
- Updated 53N’s game mechanics reminder dialogue
- Slightly decreased pilot’s speed
- Decreased movement energy cost
-----V0.3.3
- Fixed research table not unlocking after finishing tutorial
- Replaced starting wind turbine
-----V0.4.0
- Fixed energy resetting when loading/transitioning between rooms
- Game no longer sends you to test room when starting a new game twice in a row
- Game no longer crashes when returning to main menu during tutorial
- Main menu now asks for confirmation before exiting to main menu
- Updated background and added parallax
- Text properly switches from intro dialogue
- Added expressions
- Npcs weight now constant between rooms
- added variable panting speeds
- (maybe) fixed issue with buildings acting as if they were shifted 1 grid space to the right when checking if they’re supported
- added blue (fast), orange (tough), and red (spawner) slimes
- revamped wave spawning
-----V0.4.1
- Miner dialogue no longer crashes the game
- Holding shift or space now prevents you from using the elevator
-----V0.5.0
- Added more dialogue
- Reworked arc generator code, should hopefully stop crashes from that
- Game no longer crashes when moving elevator is destroyed
- Player no longer softlocked when elevator they are riding on is destroyed
- Fixed (hopefully) issue where player would teleport to platform above in some elevator interactions
- Added teleporter hub, unlocks with teleporter
- Teleporters can now teleport player to teleporter hub
-----V0.5.1
- Fixed a few crashes from improper dialogue tags
-----V0.6.0
- Objects now saved by name instead of index, should hopefully future-proof saves when adding new objects moving forward
- Opening teleporter UI when there is no teleporter hub is placed no longer crashes game
- Player will no longer snap to platforms as aggressively
-----0.6.1
- Updated red slime sprite
- Updated enemy sprite drawing logic
- Wind turbines are now only blocked by hab walls
- Wind turbines now generate more power when placed away from ground, up to double when at least two platform heights away
- Solar panels now only fully blocked by hab walls and generate half power when obstructed by other platforms
- The build key no longer reverts in pause/start menus to fix not being able to bind the current build key to anything
- Fixed a myriad of issues with elevators and overhangs
- Character swaps now have smoother transitions, adjusted npc spawn positions
- Updated crystal and metal deposit sprites
- Added destruction effect to structures
-----0.6.2
- Fixed npcs not keeping their weights when saving/loading
- Character swap dialogue no longer able to be opened during character swap fade out
- Nerfed wind turbine max power generation, is now capped at 50% greater than base generation instead of 100%
-----0.7.0
- Player weight now “catches up” to player energy instead of changing instantly
- Changed dialogue backend to support having less than two speakers during dialogue
- New area added (that cave floor doesn’t look very sturdy)
- Tutorial no longer has to be done strictly sequentially
- Added a flying slime
- Added the very weak, but very damaging pink slime
- Updated enemy pathing
- Turrets can no longer shoot upwards as much
- Fixed issue with save system not loading rooms correctly, this unfortunately means (yeah I know I said I solved this) older saves might be borked again
- Overhauled enemy spawning, waves now have distinct types with different spawn rates for the slime types
- Enemies now spawn from one spawner at a time
-----V0.7.1
- Adjusted spawning weights for slimes, mostly making orange slimes spawn less
- Adjusted the spawn amount for waves to be lower
- Later spawn amounts that are determined with an equation now have a MAXIMUM of thirty slimes instead of a MINIMUM (woops)
- Added three new wave types, one with more red slimes, one that spawns more slimes but mostly greens, and one with a ton of tiny red slimelets
- Fixed game crashing if enemy spawns at the same time the player is moving to a different room
- Characters no longer appear as NPCs after the first time teleporting out of the caverns
- Game no longer crashes when an enemy destroys a building you are in the menu of
- Slimes no longer jump/fall through the floor when the game is paused
-----V0.7.2
- Red slimes can now only shoot from 1 level above their target (no more infinite slime rain)
- Red slimes lose a little bit of health every time they shoot
- Amount of slimelets in horde waves reduced by 25%
- Health of all buildings buffed, energy shield recharge speed slightly buffed
- Slimes will not spawn from the upper spawner in the caverns until you rescue both crewmates
- Added play time to save files (old files will not have an accurate play time)
- Added sounds to menus
-----V0.7.3
- Conversations in the cave are no longer dependant on which participant is the player (e.g. talking to Tauma as Dax vs. talking to Dax as Tauma)
- Clicking now advances dialogue, and the mouse can be used to select dialogue choices
- Drone can no longer shoot during dialogue
- Player no longer gains or loses energy during dialogue
- Added a slight input delay to advancing dialogue to prevent accidentally skipping lines when speeding up dialogue
- Revamped tutorial, it is now skippable, can be exited at any point (directly through dialogue, going into the cave, or researching), and takes place in the main area
- Removed starting wind turbine
- Increased energy when starting new game from 100 to 120
-----V0.7.4
- Fixed issue with game crashing when entering cave
-----V0.7.5
- Title screen updated
- New game transition a little smoother now
- Resetting controls in start menu now displays properly
- Inspecting the teleporter hub pre-cave collapse no longer gives dialogue
- Fixed issue with enemy parent object trying to draw a sprite that doesn’t exist
- Fixed some of the speaker mix ups with some conversations
- Haven’t found the exact issue with the game occaisionally crashing during dialogue, but it should just have messed up sprites instead of crashing now, which will help tell which lines are the issue
- Elevators will now drop to the nearest unblocked level when unpowered, no more softlocks between walls
-----V0.7.6
- Standing on an unpowered elevator no longer freezes your character
- Added versioning data to save files for debugging
-----V0.8.0
- Overhauled gauss cannons, they now shoot penetrating lasers instead of projectiles. Damage has been halved for balance
- Fixed missing collision at cave entrance after cave collapse
- Shattering platforms no longer visible before cave collapse
- Pausing now closes all other menus
- NPCs are now also saved by object name instead of index for future-proofing, forgot to add them in V0.6.0. This will once again break saves unfortunately
- Improved laser turret effects and added sound for laser
- Added visual indicator for when absorbing/venting energy
- Updated Arc Generator Mk. II sprites
- Fixed arc generator animation loop
- Improved arc generator AOE effects, added sounds, added slight screen shake
- Arc generators now knock back enemies and delay their attacks, but have significantly reduced damage output
- Removed erroneous description for gauss cannons saying they cost metal to shoot
- Improved drone laser effects and added sounds
-----V0.9.0
- Added some more dialogue for weight milestones and random conversations
- Changed how NPC energy values are loaded to prevent crashes between versions
- Slime number now limited by how many buildings you have placed (purely to allow for the chance of rebuilding if your base gets annihilated, shouldn’t affect spawns normally)
- Decreased energy cost of movement efficiency upgrades by 20%
- Increased effect of energy transfer rate upgrade to +50%
- Added radio tower structure to initiate end game
- Increased health of slimes
- Changed speed of slimes, some up, some down
- Slimes are now faster when far away from any buildings/player to create less delay between wave spawning and actual attack
- Slimes now try to stay grouped together and spawn more grouped together
- Decreased damage of orange slimes
- Increased damage of green and red slimes
- Fixed bug where red slimes were always travelling at their minimum speed
- All building menus now close when dialogue is happening
- Character weights saved properly even when they are being controlled
- Enemies no longer take damage while game is paused
- Laser sounds stop when game is paused
- Defensive structures energy consumption now matches the value in their description
-----V0.9.1
- Reduced the speed and damage of most slimes
- Increased the health of most slimes slightly
- Increased the healing rate of the energy shield
- Radio no longer scans while game is paused
- Added slime spawn reduction if many buildings were destroyed since the last wave
- Lowered target height of flying slimes
- Reduced number of slimes spawned during horde waves
- Increased range of turrets
- Increased vertical range of turrets
- Moved elevators into the platform tab in the build menu
- Messed with audio for enemy hits, elevator, and laser noises to resolve volume issues
- Increased the damage of arc generators
- Increased the stun time for arc generators from .5 seconds to .8 seconds
-----V0.9.2
- Doubled the health of all barriers, and increased the health of the fortified barrier to be higher than the energy shield
- Decreased energy shield heal rate by 25%
- Increased health of all enemies except for red slimelets
- Turrets now focus on their initial target until it dies or goes out of range
- Increased speed and fire rate of red slimes
- Increased speed of flying slimes
- Raised target height of flying slimes slightly
- Flying slimes now spawn first slimelet as soon as they reach their target
- Wind turbines no longer get a penalty from being covered by hab walls
- Wind turbine descriptions updated to reflect efficiency bonus from higher elevation
- Wind turbine max generation values increased
- Reactors are more crystal efficient
- Reactor Mk. III output increased to 140 energy per second
- Increased ranges of both arc generators
- Slightly increased interval between individual enemy spawns
- Slimes will now hurt themselves when dealing the final hit on a structure
- Increased self damage to red slimelets when hitting structures
- Fixed research tree now showing complete branches again
- Long range teleporter now stays unlocked when transitioning between rooms
- Decreased speed of blue slimes
- Increased speed of pink slimes
- Scan timer now resets if radio tower is destroyed during scan
- Scan timer now pauses if you go to a different room while scanning
- Slime spawn order in each wave now randomized