Rock Hopper

(MVP Build)

"Rock Hopper" is my submission to the GMTK 2025 Game Jam, with the theme, "Loop"

The idea of "Loop" got me thinking of cycles, repetition, and returning to the beginning. It also got me thinking about one of my favorite games of all time, Outer Wilds (if you've played it, you know why...)

I liked the idea of Loops as orbits around planets, and of planets around a sun...the idea of the universe as both repeating and never ending...

And so, I set out to create "Rock Hopper",  a simple game where you have to steer a little space ship to loop around a star system by hopping between the gravitational fields of each planet along the way.

I worked on this solo, and this is the first game jam I've ever done. Actually its the first "full" game I've ever put out into the world! If you've played it, thank you so much!

There are a lot of features and mechanics that didn't make it in before the submission deadline:

• Fuel mechanic: You start with a set amount of fuel, and using your thrusters or your boost consumes fuel. Careful not to use all your fuel before you make it back out of the worm hole!
• Obstacles: I want to add floating obstacles like asteroids or space junk that the player needs to avoid. If they hit it, they take hull damage. Too much hull damage, you explode.
• Black Holes: Another flavor of obstacle, these would have a smaller gravity radius but stronger pull,  and would appear/disappear in random places. Get sucked in and its game over...
• Supernova: Add some time pressure by turning the sun into a timer...take to long to get back to the worm hole and the sun explodes, taking you with it...

I plan to keep working on this, adding these features, and of course polishing the look and feel a lot.

AI Disclosure: No generative AI was used for any of the assets in this game. However, I did use GitHub Copilot (chatGPT) to help me with the coding. I am very new to coding, and Copilot was a great tool to help me learn how to develop the code to achieve my ideas, and to help me solve the many many problems along the way. I used AI like a hyper specific tutorial and tutor, and did my best to actually write most of the code myself. (vs just copy/paste).

Speaking of tutorials huge thanks to these generous creators, who's videos have been incredibly helpful:

Brackeys

Tarodev

SpeedTutor

Raycastly

BMo

RumpledCode

Asset Credits:

DOTween

Pro Camera 2D

Adobe Stock (planets, stars)

And finally, a huge thank you to my incredible fiancée for supporting me with hugs, encouragement, and hot meals while I crunched on this jam <3