The Last Astronomer
Did you know, there was once a time when we could predict the stars...
(gamepad recommended)
Controls (explained in-game)
All controls can be remapped. Press escape / start on controller, and go to 'options -> controls' to remap anything.
| Control | Keyboard | XBOX | PS4 |
| Move | WASD / Arrow keys | D Pad / Left stick | D Pad / Left stick |
| Jump | Space/W/Up | A | X |
| Attack | J / Z | X | Square |
| Dodge | K / X | B | Circle |
| Heal | L / C | Y | Triangle |
| Open Map | Tab | Back | Select |
Explore a tight, interconnected world!
Adventures, secrets, and friends around every corner.
Perhaps you'll uncover the secrets of the old world...
This is my entry for Metroidvania Month 26. It's currently just a prototype, and therefore unfinished. Perhaps I'll continue to work on it, perhaps not.
If you enjoyed the game, let me know if you'd play a 'complete' version of the game with more zones and bosses.
You can find the soundtrack on my soundcloud (warning: autoplay), or in the embed below.
Other stuff
- All art assets, music, sound, and gameplay code were created by me during the Metroidvania Month 26 jam.
- Generic code like gameobjects/physics/collision etc are re-used from my past games
- Some generic sound effects were taken from my past games. I believe this is allowed per this post which was linked in the main jam's page.
If you're having weird controls issues like "I can't hold jump + dash + right at the same time", it might be your keyboard. I've seen some keyboards disallow certain key combinations like space+x+right for some reason. Consider going to the pause menu (press escape) -> options -> keyboard controls -> and remapping the controls to other keys on your keyboard.
The font used in this game is monogram by datagoblin.
Download
Development log
- Post-jam QoL update + some more thoughts6 days ago
- I finally made my dream game! (clickbait)33 days ago
Comments
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really neat way of indicating enemy attacks clearly without spending ages on animation haha. I also love the music, though everything is impressive as a whole.
Thanks! Particles / squash-stretch / flashing indicators are my usual shortcut for avoiding animating a ton of ‘anticipation’ frames for every attack. It’s also nice cause it’s easier to control the rhythm of the cues for attacks like this.
The Last Astronomer
ANOTHER GAME!!! Yet again, spectacular work from the one and only! >:D
I strive to be like you when developing games, I have a big one I'm thinking about.
I love the art, mechanics and music in all of your games and this one is no exception! Absolute peak fiction, I love your work! HFUIOHudjibjnshuijnlbyinjl
PS: I like to think the guy from Spectral Slash is related/friends with this protagonist
Thank you!
This was absolutely stunning! I loved the worldbuilding (hints at a very well-built lore, and questions about how moral the stars truly are), the mechanics (the platforming was super smooth, and I loved the gradual introduction of more features)! The music is also some of (if not the strongest) music I have heard in a spectacularly long time: I would totally listen to the full soundtrack if released online!
All in all: An incredible journey, and congratulations on finishing such a momentous work in time for the game jam! I don’t try to say this often, but this really does have an incredible amount of potential. Well done!
Thanks for playing, glad you liked it! I had a lot of fun with the music (it’s on my soundcloud if you wanted to listen to it outside of the game). I’m hoping to work on this more, but we’ll see. Thanks for the comment!
Oh piano is a thing? Hell yes. I didn't find any of the melodies to be that memorable, but it was really pleasant to listen to. It really set the tone for the game, together with the theme of stars. It almost feels post-apocalyptic, or pre-industrial revolution. It feels like the game is hinting at the dark ages (when science essentially got reduced to nothing in europe for three hundred years). You've sparkled in a bit of religion, a bit of science, a fair bit of beating the shit out of orange blobs and I'm really enjoying it.
I feel like this game is so much more feeling than it is mechanics. The combat and platforming is okay-ish (though the "heavier" / delayed and more thoughtful combat was quite an interesting change), but the mood is what really makes it interesting for me. I adore the characters, the music, the interaction. I got shivers really early in the game from hearing the little snoot pal speaking about the stars. When I got to the end I really went "the fuck? there isn't more?". I'd love to play more of this.
Fantastic work.
Glad you liked it! I’m gonna release a small update in a bit to make the platforming and combat feel a little better. I also feel like the combat is a little dry now, I might tweak it a little.
I had a lot of fun writing the dialogue for this game. Setting up a mystery is super fun (and really easy), so I’m happy you enjoyed the story so far. The hard part comes from making some kind of payoff to all the mystery that was set up.
Since the game is unfinished, the story’s in this weird ‘superposition’ where people get to imagine the best version of it, but if I finish it, that all collapses and that’s a little scary.
Either way, thanks for stopping by and for the comment!
please finish this.
Really great. I tend to like Metroidvanias more the simpler they are. This game is simple, minimal, and well executed.
By the way I love your other games. PEAK keep it up 👍
Thank you!
ya know I have a slight suspicon the stars are evil. lol
This was a lot of fun! what a great game!
I love the aesthetics and overall vibe, the mechanics are really solid too! I love how many bosses with unique mechanics there are, it was a lot of fun fighting them! The buff guy was my favorite :>
The only thing that bothered me is that the jump gravity is a lil too strong, so platforming gets quite challenging at time.
Great job!
Thanks for the feedback! If I keep working on this, I’ll probably tweak the fall speed, a few people mentioned it being a little fast. Thanks for playing, glad you liked the bosses.
aaagh I just started to get invested then the game is over!
Love the game!
Thank you!
Frickin fantastic. I know you said it's unfinished and that you probably won't come back to it, but what is here is still pretty damn good
The presentation is great ( as usual ). I stayed in the main menu for a long time because of that theme, but also because of the vibe with all the other characters. I'ma download that soundtrack asap
As usuals, your boss battles are great and the art and animations are so damn expressive. The game feel in general has a lot of polish
Now that said, I feel like the actual player's movement could've been polished a little more though. Considering the type of platforming in the game, I think the player should maybe fall a little slower, or maybe just float slightly after dashing and jumping. I think the terminology is coyote time ? idk. I also think there's maybe a little too much of a delay between trying to dodge after an attack. I'm not saying attacks should be cancellable, but I think this delay could be reduced, especially since the game is pretty fast paced in general
All that said, what's here is very well paced and fun. Great work on this
Thanks for playing, glad you liked it. I think I’ll keep working on this, I had too much fun making it.
I might reduce the fall speed and add a bit of hang-time after you do a star-pierce, quite a few people have commented on that and it does feel a little jarring to fall so fast. I might also allow roll queueing after the attack, or maybe cancel the last couple frames of the attack with a roll. It’s a little high-commitment now for sure.
Thanks for the feedback and for playing, I always appreciate hearing from you.
Fun fact: you can't die to spikes, you can only die to enemies.
Wow, didnt even see the Heal option... Still beat it!
Nice job! haha yeah I gotta put that tutorial text somewhere else, seems easy to miss.
finished everything , very nice ! the dash orbs that move direction are really tricky though
This was very fun! Worst thing about it was the lack of content lol. Would love to see more. The soundtrack is very nice, and the mechanics all felt very satisfying. (Defeating bosses with the freeze frame was great) Feels celeste-y.
Hi, would love to play. Could you make a Mac or webGL build?
The game is already playable in the browser via WebGL - are you having trouble running the web version?
I managed to get it working! This is bloody brilliant! Really enjoyed getting to know the movement and mechanics of the character and love world you've built here - Very sonically pleasing sound design as well. I particularly like the use of different tones for character dialogue giving each one a slightly different personality. Great job and please develop further!
Haha glad you liked the NPC dialogue sounds, I had fun making those. Thanks for playing and for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome! I was really hoping to see the kind of formal combat from Clash Mastery in a longer narrative form. Oh man did this hit the spot.
Little Abhi said I finished everything, but there’s a wall and switch by the Tomb’s checkpoint that I never opened… is that reachable?
I hope you do build this all the way out.
Ah that switch in the tomb checkpoint is just a placeholder, I originally had another room planned but didn’t finish it. Little Abhi is correct, you’ve finished everything! Thanks for playing!