Astra And The New Constellation
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Astra is the smallest star in Constellation Station. Tired of being picked on, she sets off an adventure to build a new constellation of her own!
Run, jump, slide, and float across the galaxy while collecting stardust to build your new home in this retro-inspired Pico-8 platformer.
- Fifteen levels, spanning multiple planets and diverse biomes!
- Precise controls that provide you the opportunity to express yourself through your movement!
- Nearly 30 minutes of original music!
- Platforming challenges designed with all skill levels in mind. Choose your own path and challenge yourself to improve your best times!
- Accessibility options to ensure players can enjoy the game comfortably!
- Speedrun support including a loadless timer and record-keeping for your individual level PBs, full run PBs, and sum of bests!
A three level demo is available for free download on this page as well! The demo includes full game feature functionality, except for the level count and access to the Stats pages. All three demo levels are unlocked by default. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!
Astra And The New Constellation was developed in the PICO-8 fantasy console! Purchased copies of the full game will include an executable for your choice of Windows, Mac, Linux, or Raspberry Pi-based devices, and a folder with the P8 files for those that would like to use the Pico-8 desktop client or other handheld devices.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- Astra Is Coming To Steam!May 17, 2023
- Astra And The New Constellation - 1.1 Patch And Updated DemoMar 06, 2023
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I saw the mention of 1.2 patch and then the Steam release. Where should I buy this game? Here or on Steam? Is there any noticeable difference between one and the other?
Both versions are identical - the only difference is that Itch allows me to include the .p8 files as standalone downloads too. If you're interested in looking at the code then Itch is better, but other than that you can use whichever platform is best for ya~
Just played the demo and could not figure out how floating worked in the control scheme. So I stopped at the part you have to float in level 1. It seems like there is a state machine that only allows floating in a really specific spot and I just could figure it out.
The game is really slick but I could not make it very far into it.
Hi there! The floating is by default a hold input when you're in the air, with Z or C on keyboard (same as jump). You can change the settings on the options menu on the main title screen, so that you just have to tap the button to activate/deactivate float if you'd like.
You can also flip the inputs so that jump and float are on X/V, and slide/groundpound are on Z/C on that same menu. If you're still running into issues, I'd try disabling the Jump Buffers option on the menu if it's on - that option prevents float from activating if you're holding a down input. Hope that helps!
Bought the game and am loving playing it on the steam deck. Only weirdness I've seen so far is that when I favorite title.p8 in splore, the title of the game just reads "title" instead of Astra and the New Constellation. It's purely cosmetic, I realize, but consider renaming title.p8 to the game's title and updating the level p8 files accordingly?
Otherwise, my only frustration so far is relationship between stomp dropping and springs. Specifically, hitting stomp in the air when hitting a spring for the first time should result in an immediate high jump, but instead I have to land on the spring first and then immediately stomp which sometimes/often mutes the height I get the first time. I find that it messes with the flow and has caused a ton of extra deaths.
Heya, thanks for the feedback and glad you're enjoying the game overall! I'll make a note about the cart names, that's an edge case of sorts I'd not heard about yet. There should be a 1.2 update in April with a few QoL/polish tweaks if things go according to plan, and I can take a look at changing it then once I make sure it won't mess up anything for existing save data (it shouldn't afaik but I'll get some due diligience in here before making the change.) If you get a chance, feel free to shoot me a pic of it running on a Steam Deck - I've not seen that yet and I'm really enjoying seeing folks play Astra on handhelds in general~
With the springs I've heard this a couple of times, but it mostly comes down to the functionality just being different than in some other 2D platformers (and similar to a different set). The game is only concerned with your state as of when you touch the spring, not what you're inputting; if your big bounces from spring plummets are getting negated you might just need to time the plummet slightly earlier so there's no risk of the plummet input being the same frame as the spring contact. I totally get that it can feel like a weird learning curve but it definitely has a good flow once you get there! ✨
thanks! The mechanics choice is frustrating, but I get it. Still a ton of fun! :) Here's the shot you requested. This is running natively within the linux version of PICO-8 via splore, launched from normal gaming mode (not the deck's desktop mode).
While waiting for 1.2, I decided to try to do a find/replace of any references to title.p8 in the level files to another filename. I tried astra_and_the_new_constellation.p8 and then renamed title.p8 to that. But just making that small change broke the transition from the cart_formerly_named_title.p8 to the level files. It just stops at the end of the loading animation. No idea why. I'll keep trying, but if you have any other suggestions or thoughts as to why it might misbehave, let me know?
EDIT: I tried astra.p8 instead of the full title with underscores, and that didn't help either.
EDIT 2: While trying to figure out the problem, I also realized if the files are not stored in the root of /carts, they don't transition either. But even when I store them all in carts instead of a subdirectory (which would be my preference, as I have other multi-file itch carts I'm trying to keep organized), I still can't manage to rename in the code them without breaking the transitions. I'm officially out of ideas now.
Hi - just bought the games specifically for the Pico 8 files to play on a handheld. Normally I get one .p8.png files per game from https://www.lexaloffle.com/. This download is in 16 parts though (.p8 instead of p8.png). Could you tell me how to use them - or if they can be combined into one p8.png pls.
I don't think a multicart game can be combined into a single p8.png, but you may need to check with other folks that do setup for their handhelds to get that confirmed - it's not something I've tried to do in the past, my projects besides Astra have all been single-cart. If you drop all the p8s into a single folder they should recognize each other when run to load between them and for save data, but I don't know whether that works with some/all handheld devices' systems.
Hi again - that worked great! The game is really good so far - I'm just starting level 6. Some very challenging sections, and I'm hoping I can get through if the game ramps up much more. But the movement is very precise and fun, and the controls have just enough to them to allow for some finesse. I can totally see the speed-running potential. It's really excellent stuff. In terms of 'feel' I'd put it alongside excellent games like Mos Speedrun, and I think we can even mention the original Super Mario. The games I've been enjoying most this month are Metroid Prime Remastered and Pac Man Championship Edition for the NES. Now this sits with them. And it looks lovely too. Played on a Miyoo Mini.
+1 to p8 cart in the downloads plz 🙏
Done and done!
downloaded and running on my miyoo mini. so fun! thanks ^_^
This is a real fun little project. Looks great!
Could we potentially get a .p8 added to the downloads so we could play port-ably on devices that support Pico-8?
P8 carts and RasPi have now been added!
Bought this. Cute game. there’s an issue playing this on Mac. It won’t work on latest version of OSX. Same error with Pico-8 and similar executables. Would appreciate a p8
that said, the bug doesn’t prevent running Pico-8 from cmdline just when clicking. Haven’t tried opening the game from the terminal yet tho
MAC UPDATE:
Drag the app into applications and use the following on the command line:
open /Applications//AATNC.app
Great game!
P8 and RasPi are now available, but glad you were able to sort it out so it's convenient on desktop too ✨
If a p8 PNG file gets added I will definitely buy this great looking game. Without that it's not really a Pico 8 game and I can't play it on handhelds.
RasPi and P8 carts are live now with the 1.1 update, enjoy!
Any chance we could have the cart(s) added to the downloads?
RasPi and P8 carts have been added with the 1.1 update that just went live!
Brilliant!
This is a really polished fun little package!
It could be pretty hard at times, and I don't think I'm good enough to speedrun any levels, but I see the possibility too.
The moveset did a pretty good job squeezing as much as i could out of the button that wasn't jump, and worked well with the mechanics. The graphics are great, the utilization of the secret pallet for 32 colors helped a lot. There was one level towards the end where I felt the mechanic was pretty unclear and tedious, and the music could have maybe been a bit more lively in some parts, but otherwise a really great experience.
Overall had a lot of fun and see more potential in pico8 (and therefore the limitless potential of the upcoming picotron) to make full games now.
I had a great time with this game. The controls feel great, and the levels are very well designed. What I'm most impressed are the visuals. The game really looks so colorful as if it were using a lot more colors than those of the Pico-8 palette. Also it's just very nice to look at in general.
Great platformer! Recommended!
Super fun! Every level introduces something new, whether that be a recurring mechanic or a one-off gimmick. Astra has a pretty varied skillset: you have a slide if you want to go fast, and an aerial float if you wanna take it slow. There's collectibles if you're a completionist, and individual level / full game timers if you're a speedrunner.
There's a lot of fun ideas here. Highly recommend if you're a fan of platformers!