- After 4 years of development, Rocket Shipment is finally out of Early Access - 13 September 2023
I wanted to thank all who helped me improve this game throughout the years. While making this game many people have been so helpful in giving me feedback and tips to improve the game. I started making Rocket Shipment from scratch to learn more about game engines. The physics and collision systems were one of the hardest things I had to program, but I powered through and eventually I'm really proud of what the game has become. Even though the game has not been a commercial success, I've loved making it and am forever grateful for everyone I met and everything I've learned in the process. The game has now been fully released! I will always keep updating to keep improving, but the main job is done, and that feels great! Thank you all once again for playing my funny little space game, and helping me along the road! Have fun Rocketeers!
- Full release update: v1.12.1 - 7 September 2023
A small update in preparation for the full release. Changes: - A new main level has been added - Fixed a bug where the game crashes on rebinding of certain controls
- Changelog 0.11.1 - 10 October 2022
- Fixed a bug where the round crates got a wrong collider attached
- Changelog v0.11.0 - 6 April 2022
- Added Steam achievements - Added reminder to save unsaved changes in the editor - Added gate pairing so touching gates of the same type will automatically share a detection range - Added 2 new levels - Optimized Wallblasters to only shoot when sufficiently close
- Changelog v0.10.0 - 12 January 2022
- Introduced new crate shapes: "Long" and "Triangle" and added some levels introducing them - Removed showing level tips on a level restart - Added 'R' as level restart shortcut button - Increased rate of effect of the towing sensitivity setting, meaning it has a lower low and a higher high - Made level 26 a bit easier by making a few crates unbreakable - Slightly improved performance on bullet heavy levels Have fun!
- CHANGELOG v0.9.1: - 22 November 2021
- Fixed bug where level 24 was not playable due to cable being too short on initial grapple - Fixed bug where certain joystick controls were overwritten faulty on startup
- CHANGELOG v0.9.0: - 26 August 2021
- Added a new powerup: Dual cables - Added towing sensitivity option to accommodate players that find the pull physics a bit too difficult to handle - Upped the time until a forced death triggers when out of fuel - Added 2 more main levels
- Update v0.8.0: Introducing powerups - 22 June 2021
Hey rocketeers, Only a small update this time, but a cool one nonetheless. Powerups has been something on my list for a long time and I wanted to give them a try. This update features a very simple one: Life gain. The added "life" powerup simply gives the player a life to a max of 5 total. It can help to overcome harder parts in levels for example. I do have other powerups in mind, but would like to try out this concept first. Alongside this feature I have also added 2 more main levels that use it. Have fun!
- An interview with the developer of Rocket Shipment - 18 May 2021
It's time for another GamingOnLinux indie developer interiew! This time we had a chat with Chocolate Pinecone, the developer of Rocket Shipment. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/05/an-interview-with-the-developer-of-rocket-shipment
- Update v0.7.0: Lowering difficulty - 23 March 2021
Hey rocketeers! Some more weeks have passed and again I've gotten some great feedback for some helpful features. Many new players find that the difficulty still ramps up pretty fast after the first 4 levels. To counter that, I've improved a couple of things to hopefully take that edge off a bit and ease players in more. First off, I have added 5 medium difficulty levels to give players a bit more practice before getting into the more challenging stuff. I've also added difficulty labels to levels. Main levels have a difficulty set, so you can easily choose your battles. You can also set an estimated difficulty for your own custom levels. When playing a level for the first time it might be annoying to have to look around for the locations of the crates. This is why I've added crate indicators, small arrows pointing to the undelivered crates in the level. In combination with the level pann…
- Update v0.6.0: Improving player experience - 26 February 2021
Hey rocketeers! Some more feedback has rolled in, and I noticed there were some improvements needed to accommodate inexperienced players better. With that in mind, I decided to pack this update with a couple of features dedicated to improving the player experience! I've added tutorial tips to 8 different levels. These will explain a range of things from steering and accelerating, to handling tanks. I plan to add more of these when finding a knowledge gap or when introducing new features. Another big feature is the panning option in the pause menu. This option will provide the player with a way to explore levels without spending fuel. By pressing this option you will easily be able to pan the screen in the same way as the level editor does. Furthermore it seemed not all players understand when the ship is invulnerable (after losing a life). To emphasize the invulnerable state, I've added…
- Update v0.5.0 featuring new conveyor tiles - 5 February 2021
Hey rocketeers! After launch I wanted to make sure the first update doesn't only fix some bugs, but also contains some actual new content as well. I'm proud to announce the new update contains brand new conveyor tiles for you to expand your levels with. I've added 2 new main levels to demonstrate some possible usages, but of course you are more than welcome to try out some of your own. Alongside this new addition, there are also a couple of other improvements that have been implemented. This is the full changelog: - Added all new conveyor tiles - Added 2 new main levels showcasing these new tiles - Added editable descriptions to custom levels - Added opaque color choice in ship editor - Added choice for wall blaster orientation when multiple are possible - Improved bullet animation - Fixed bug where certain screens in editor would not fade correctly when exiting the editor - Fixed bug w…
- Rocket Shipment is a slick homage to Thrust and Crazy Gravity now in Early Access - 15 January 2021
Rocket Shipment is a tricky, physics based, space delivery game. The game is a love letter to the old style lander games like Thrust, Solar Jetman and Crazy Gravity. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/01/rocket-shipment-is-a-slick-homage-to-thrust-and-crazy-gravity-now-in-early-access
- Rocket Shipment is now officially available! - 15 January 2021
Game development is such a weird field of work. Especially when doing it solo, you have to apply (or learn) so many different skillsets. Next to the programming there is art and music involved, marketing, planning, social media, architecture, game design, testing, community management, you name it. I embarked on a huge journey when starting to make this game in August 2018. My goal was to make something completely from scratch in a language I had not mastered yet. No usage of fancy existing game engines, just pure C++ code and a few libraries. Was it worth it? Definitely! Even though it will probably not be a huge financial success, I have learned so much that will help me with future projects and the support I got was amazing. Some of the key points I learned were: - Learn how, where and when to market (I actually wrote a small article about that here: https://chocolate-pinecone.medium…
- Launch date has been set! - 24 December 2020
Rocket Shipment will be launching into Early Access on January 15 2021! With only a few weeks to go, I'm super excited to share the latest developments with you! I've been pouring in everything I got these last months so you can hopefully enjoy Rocket Shipment even more. I want to keep improving the game with the feedback given after launch, so if you have ideas or other feedback please send it my way! Without further ado, here are some of the new features: New tiles: Swappable background colors: Brush sizes: And a big one, a Steam Workshop Integration: I can't wait to see some community content! If you haven't already, consider wishlisting Rocket Shipment! It really helps!
- Devlog #017: Drones and locked gates - 17 November 2020
Finally some actual new content for the Early Access version! I've been blasting at it, getting as much done as possible before the release. The biggest challenge to date has been the new Blaster Drone. It's mean, it's lean and it's... dumb. For now at least. The first version will drive around randomly and shoot straight up, or aim at you if configured. After release, I'll expand on it, adding more intelligent AI. Here's a little preview: It wasn't the easiest thing to create, but hey, gamedev is hard: Also, locked gates are done! It's a pretty basic concept, but allows for some cool level concepts! We've got 3 flavours: A couple of things are still in the pipeline, namely multiple ground types, a configurable background color and the Steam Workshop integration of course! Want to help me improve the game? Join the Discord!
- Devlog #016: Configurable gate speeds - 23 October 2020
Now that the demo has been out for a while I've been focussing on adding small features for both the demo and the full version. I've added stuff like: - A next level button after completing a main level - Small random pitch shifts on collision sounds to make them more authentic - A ghost preview of the selected object in the level editor Now I can finally focus on the full-version-only features and can really start on that big v1.0 for Early Access. The first feature I decided to pick up is extra settings for existing objects. I just finished a speed setting for gates which you can see here: Next on the list is a speed setting for the wallblaster! Other planned stuff soon after: - A moving enemy - New level settings like number of lives, fuel starting level and background color That's it for now! If you haven't tried the demo yet, please do! Want to help me improve the game? Join the Di…
- CHANGELOG v0.3.2 - 19 October 2020
- Added ability to edit gates that are already placed in level editor - Added ghost preview of currently selected object in level editor - Added new collision sound for ship colliding with platform - Implemented escape button always working, even when exit functionality is remapped v0.3.2 Want to help me improve the game? Join the Discord!
- Update v0.3.1 - 12 October 2020
Releasing the demo has been a great experience. Meeting new players and getting fresh feedback made me want to improve some things right away. This update introduces a couple of subtle changes to improve player experience. Enjoy! CHANGELOG v0.3.1: - Added "Next Level" button for after completing a main level - Added a small random pitch shift on collision sounds to make them sound more authentic - Added paint sound to ship customization - Tweaked max sound range to hear a bit more when things are further away - Reduced default music volume so it doesn't dominate as much - Fixed bug where steer control could activate too early after launch, causing a ship corner to hit the ground Want to help me improve the game? Join the Discord!
- What is Rocket Shipment? - 7 October 2020
Roots Rocket Shipment has been in development for 2 years now. It started out as a personal challenge project to create an own game engine around a game. Now it has grown out to something I'd love to share with you all. What's in the demo? In the official demo you'll be able to experience 10 levels that introduce the basic mechanics of the game. You'll also be able to create your own levels in the level editor to up the challenge even more! Full version release I'm working hard to get the first Early Access version ready, and hope to release it in December. The full version will introduce a couple of things you won't see in this demo, like: Sharing levels in the Steam Workshop More enemy tech Different biomes and background colors More level components like Locked gates with keys I'm stoked! What can I do already? You could wishlist Rocket Shipment so you will be informed as soon as it…
