Saucers From Space!

Play the game:

You can play Saucers From Space in your browser here —> Saucers From Space (HTML5)

FYI — It seemed to play better in Firefox than it did in Chrome.  Chrome had some slowdown at the end of the levels.  Minor issue – didn’t affect gameplay.

Gameplay Description:
Saucers From Space is a city-building arcade game made in the style of early-mid 80′s games on the monochrome monitor of the Apple II.

The object of the game is to build up a city and defend it from flying saucers.  You start with 1 truck collecting resources, one house, and the AA gun that you control.  The levels start easy and increase in difficulty as you go.  In between levels is the purchasing phase.  Here, you can use the resources you’ve collected (points, wood, and ore) to purchase more trucks, buildings, and even tanks for reinforcements.  Sometimes other buildings are required before you can purchase a particular building.  The more items you have at the end of the level, the more bonus points you will collect.  Try to build up your city and get the high score!

This game was originally made for the GMC demake a classic JAM #20.  The Jam version was pretty wonky.  This is the polished version that I will call a beta.

I tried to balance it out as best I could.   Please give it a whirl and let me know what you think.   I’d be grateful to hear what you liked and what you didn’t like.

There is no save option in this version.  I plan to add one with a high score table at a later time.

More screenshots:

Controls and instructions are in the game, however there is no tutorial.

The basic controls are:

Left/Right Arrow Keys — to move your AA gun left and right.
‘A’ and ‘D’ Keys — to aim the barrel of your AA gun.
‘S’ Key — to fire.  (Hold down to auto-fire.)

Things I implemented/fixed in this version 1.1 (after the Jam):

• In-game Help doc.
• In-game Credits doc.
• An Intro. (Besides the simulated Apple II boot-up.)
• Made the menu more user friendly.
• Tried to balance gameplay.
• Fixed broken trucks and tanks.
• Added context to the purchasing screen. (Yal)
• Fixed no-win scenario of no ore trucks.
• Trucks are now 50-50 random chance wood or ore.
• Fixed the tree problem.

To do:

• High score table.
• Save system.
• …?