Orbital

Orbital v1.0

Story:

In the distant future, an AI-piloted ship arrives in a distant star cluster. Its mission: to search for signs of intelligent life. You are that AI.

Gameplay:

Navigate star systems and land on planets searching for clues to what happened to a long lost civilization. As you discover alien artifacts, you may gain abilities. Absorb special minerals on the planets to replenish your energy. No enemies or time limit, but watch your fuel levels and don't crash into a star or a planet surface (nose-to-ground collision).

Controls:

Saving:

This game supports saving/loading. It should work in the web version depending on your browser settings, but it definitely works if you grab the cart and run it locally. Will save automatically after the intro text is read, and after each artifact is found. You can also save through the in-game menu under "options" at any time. If you save in space, you will load exactly where you were, but if you save while on a planet, you will reload back in space where you were when you encountered the planet.

Notes:

Those familiar with KSP will adapt to the controls easily. Others may struggle with navigating gravity wells. For now, see the tips below. Please let me know how it feels to you, or if at any point you're unsure what to do next.

Size:

This game uses no map and almost no sprites. The entire star cluster is 65,536 x 65,536 pixels in size, so there are huge distances between stars. And the planet surfaces are about 32,768 pixels wide. Everything is generated procedurally, based on a seed chosen when you start a new game, so the star locations and planet surfaces are consistent and unique to your save game. 8192/8192 tokens used. 99.14% compressed size.

Tips on Orbital Mechanics (how to fly a space-ship):

• After you start, try accelerating just a little bit, then wait. Watch how your orbit is affected, and see how your speed corresponds to your orbital distance.
• Use the acceleration sparingly. Small bursts. Unless you are accelerating away from a star toward interstellar space.
• When in orbit of a star, accelerating in your direction of travel will increase your orbital distance on the opposite side of your orbit. Decelerating will reduce that distance.
• Also, increasing orbital distance slows you down, decreasing orbital distance speeds you up.
• Combining the above two ideas, if you are behind a planet and want to catch up, slow down a little bit. This will make you fall slightly closer to the star, making you speed up. And vice versa: if you are in front of a planet, speed up a little. It's counter-intuitive, but it works.
• Accelerate/decelerate at the lowest or highest points in your orbit. This is where you can achieve the greatest change in your orbits vs fuel cost.
• BE PATIENT

Good luck!

*** bugfix 4/11/22: fixed issue on crashing after running out of fuel