Run Pollux by downloading the zip file and unzipping it.
- WASD Movement
- Click buttons for upgrades/continue
- If buttons don't seem to work, it may be from not enough money
Many many years ago, before I was a college student and I while I was a wee little lad with a weak computer, I would spend my time playing flash games. Two of the flash games I enjoyed the most were Learn to Fly and Flight. Both involved gaining money by sending out an object and then purchasing upgrades to go further. I wanted to try making a game similar to those two and see what I could do.
In Pollux, you use the WASD keys to control a rocket ship that Pollux rides. Every run, the fuel (green bar at the top) depletes over time. When it runs out, you return to the shop where you can purchase upgraders with the money you have earned. If the upgrade does not seem to be working, it's because you do not have enough money yet. Press play and get back at it!
Everything except the music was made within Game Maker. I did all the pixel art by hand and wrote all the code by hand, with some help from tutorials for text drawing and side-scrolling.
- Art takes a long time. I did not expect to spend 4+ hours on the art alone
- Not everything was able to be implemented because of lack of time.
I am most happy that I was able to get this all done in less than 12 hours. I did not have the full day Saturday or Friday to work on this so I was under a time crunch. Regardless, I was able to get a good portion of the game done. I am very pleased with the art. I am not a very artistic person but I am happy that the backgrounds and planets turned out nicely, at least in my opinion.
There is a tradeoff between art quality and game mechanics. The more time I spent on art the less time I had for game mechanics, which ended up getting thrown in last. There were three remaining mechanics I wanted to add:
- An end game
- Collectables to boost fuel, speed, and money
- More upgrades
I am going to continue working on Pollux until I feel like it has reached an end state. The planets still need a lot of work and it would be good for there to be an actual end of the game. There needs to also be more upgrades and perhaps a bit of a story.