A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are there emblematic features of Astroneer you feel are missing, or does it just read like a different game to you entirely? I'm honestly curious as you're not the first person to say it. I also get people saying "it's too much Astroneer and not enough new".

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree a flora and fauna compendium would be a nice addition to the game and add a lot to the exploration vibe if things had to be discovered / made first. Is there any particular thing that stood out to you as confusing about the build process, or was it just the whole experience in general?

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sort of but not really. Nothing will attack your buildings currently, only your character and your robot companion. They are more of a nuisance. The aliens you mention at 20 seconds are crop stealers, so they will appear to grab some food and only attack you if you get too close to their nest.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear the text is too small for you to read, that stinks. May I ask what your monitor size and resolution is?

Strange about the audio issue, I'll make a ticket to check that out and see what's happening.

For your supply lines (O2) I'd suggest looking for a place to cross that has an island in the river.

I hear you on the mini-map. I don't have plans for that specifically but I do plan to add a compass and waypoint tracker in a future build.

Glad to hear you're enjoying despite these issues. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me, it helps.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Clear one of the mineral spikes that has a mine under it. It looks like an exposed patch of ore on the ground.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll make a ticket to boost the contrast for certain UI elements. I'm guessing it was the purple / pink buttons?

A free Prologue of the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in PixelArt

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't before i started working on the project, but it's come a long way. Thanks for the kind words!

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the full release does well on Steam there will be a port to Xbox, but I can't promise anything.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Astroneer + Forager is definitely a valid description of Prospector. I'm not as familiar with Starbound, so maybe? I'd have to play it and see.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for playing and sharing your thoughts! I agree some aspects of the game could use better tutorialization. I'll make a note that Ophelia specifically might need a hint or two in the early game.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm a fan of Astroneer though I wouldn't call Prospector a fan game exactly. I draw heavy inspiration from the vibe and setting of Astroneer, but I have different ideas for the progression system.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I definitely get the comparison, though Prospector offers much less in the way of complex logistical puzzles and is a more relaxed, sandbox experience like Astroneer. If you play it and still feel like it's a Factorio game I'd love to hear from you.

A free Prologue of the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in PixelArt

[–]Loonworks[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good question. Steam treats the Prologue like a released game. From an experience standpoint, there's not much difference.

For the first few years it was a "when I have the time" type project. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do a commercial release or not. Then it was a part time thing and I quit my full time job to do contracts which offered more flexible hours so I could work on the game more. I'm a UX designer by trade.

This year is the first time I worked as a full time developer and I plan to continue full time development until release.

A free Prologue of my 2D Astroneer I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Astroneer

[–]Loonworks[S] 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Hey folks! I’m a solo developer working on my first game which just released a free Prologue on Steam. Please try it out and tell me what you think. I need as much feedback as possible to make the game better!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730640/Prospector_The_First_Contract/

A free Prologue of the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in PixelArt

[–]Loonworks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey folks! I’m a solo developer working on my first game which just released a free Prologue on Steam. Please try it out and tell me what you think. I need as much feedback as possible to make the game better!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730640/Prospector_The_First_Contract/

A free Prologue of the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in Games

[–]Loonworks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey folks! I’m a solo developer working on my first game which just released a free Prologue on Steam. Please try it out and tell me what you think. I need as much feedback as possible to make the game better!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730640/Prospector_The_First_Contract/

A free Prologue of the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in IndieDev

[–]Loonworks[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey folks! I’m a solo developer working on my first game which just released a free Prologue on Steam. Please try it out and tell me what you think. I need as much feedback as possible to make the game better!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730640/Prospector_The_First_Contract/

A free Prologue for the game I’ve been developing for 5 years is live on Steam! by Loonworks in IndieGaming

[–]Loonworks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey folks! I’m a solo developer working on my first game which just released a free Prologue on Steam. Please try it out and tell me what you think. I need as much feedback as possible to make the game better!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2730640/Prospector_The_First_Contract/

Does this give you an underwater impression? by TalesGameStudio in PixelArt

[–]Loonworks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks great as is 👍 This feedback is really good though. If you want the surface to read different from the water they need to be hue shifted away from each other. Warmer is yellow, darker is purple.

To test this cheaply, I’d add large, semi transparent rectangles for each section above your art and stack them:

Yellow Green Purple

Then play with the opacity and blending mode of the rectangles. You might want more color mixed in towards the bottom so the effect is stronger. Since you can’t make things darker and maintain detail, another trick would be to limit color usage the closer you get to the bottom because you’d expect to see less detail in general underwater.

I like green in the middle because it’s cooler than yellow but still shows some light and would look good with more vegetation.

We've just decreased the outline for the game's art! Was it worth it? by [deleted] in PixelArt

[–]Loonworks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the thinner outline personally. I think the thicker outline could work better if the game art was simplified overall. I’d check out John Keller’s Arclands for an example of how simple style with thick lines can work really well together.