Oust

Play the first 12 asteroids here on the web

*with an extra bonus asteroid unique to the demo*

Buy the full game for access to all 42 in the Corvus field, OustEd the editor and extra asteroid fields *coming soon*.

OustEd the Oust Editor is now available with the full version of Oust.

Fly your ship within the hollow asteroids of Corvus to retrieve precious, glowing Clystron orbs and yellow jump-suited prisoners. Deliver them to green transmitters that will beam them away to safety.

Destroy the security systems that seem to have spun out of control and search for the keycards needed to access deeper areas beyond your insertion point. It's believed that there is a store of advanced Nova weaponry somewhere in the facility that you may be able to utilise.

Controls

In Flight	Player 1	Player 2 (Co-op mode)
Thrust	Up	-
Rotate	Left, Right	-
Activate/Deactivate Scoop (toggle)	Down	-
Charge weapon (release to fire)	X,V,M	A
Shield (hold)	Z,C	-
Aim weapon	-	Left, Right
Pause/Info	Return, Start, P	-

Pause	Player 1	Player 2
Scroll asteroid info	Up, Down	-
Set control sensitivity (1 low to 8 high)	Right	-
Solo/Co-op mode select	Left	-
Show map	Z,C	-

Until this morning you were just another class 2 office worker for The Regime, wending your way through a grey existence and only dimly aware of attempts at insurrection and disruption against the self-proclaimed benevolent state. You'd never seen much benevolence, but they'd said those who were members of The Revolution were unthinking terrorists and besides, what else could there be other than The Regime?

Then you opened that innocuous looking communication, read the activation code and suddenly you knew. You knew the location of a ship and that you must go to it immediately for the sake of your fellow beings; for all that is right; for The Revolution. A veil has been lifted from your eyes. Your mind is now clear. You have purpose again and that purpose is to do your part to bring down the evil Regime once and for all.

Or die trying...

Title Screen

Use Up/Down to choose a save slot for the current game.

Left to select Solo or Co-op mode.

Right to select rotation sensitivity. 1 is low for very slow response, 8 is high for very fast. The default is 5.

Press X, V, M to continue and start the game.

In Flight

Your ship is shown at the centre of the screen.

At the bottom right of the screen is your fuel reserve indicator. When fuel levels are changing the outline of this will glow white. As your fuel approaches warning, low and critical levels the gauge will change colour and eventually flash. If you run out of fuel only your gyros to allow rotation and weapon will continue to function; your engine and shield will not be operational. 

It comes with a powerful pulse firing gun capable of single fire or charged multi shots. Hold X, V or M to charge the weapon (solo mode). Release the button to fire charged shots. A quick press fires a single pulse; hold and release fires multiple in quick succession. The current charge is shown in the bottom left of the screen. Once the indicator flashes and the bar is full no more energy can be charged, but be warned, fuel is still used to maintain charge level at maximum.

Your ship is equipped to use Nova technology by charging your gun to maximum then releasing it, but we were unable to source any bombs before your mission. Maybe you'll find some in the asteroids. 

Solo Flight Mode

This is the default control method for Oust. In this mode, the orientation of the ship and its gun sight are always the same and a single player controls all ship's functions.

Co-op Flight Mode

In co-op mode, another agent can take over and control the aim and firing of your ship's weapons independently of its flight orientation, as a gunner. This mode can be toggled on the Start screen and at any time in-game on the pause screen by using the left and right controls. 

Careful synchronisation between pilot and gunner is required for successful teamwork and Drake Blue Games is not responsible for any animosity generated by failure to achieve this.

Pause Screen

Pressing P, Return or Start pauses the game. 

This screen shows:

• The name of the current asteroid where your ship is. 
•  The name for this field of asteroids. The standard game takes place in the asteroids of Corvus. Games in other asteroid fields made with the OustEd editor can be explored and their name will be shown here. The demo is set in Pica.
• Your mission status percentage. Achieve 100% to complete the game.
• Your mission duration time. This increases only when controlling your ship in the flight mode.
  
• Your current rating and the number of times that you've died (how many times your ship has been destroyed). To maintain the highest ratings, avoid dying.
• A list of asteroids in the field. If you have visited an asteroid so your ship has been able to scan it, then the asteroid's name, the number of remaining clystron orbs to retrieve and the number of prisoners to rescue is listed. The green name is where your ship currently is located.
• The current game mode (solo or co-op) is shown in the bottom right.
• Holding Z, C or N will show a map of the current asteroid. Releasing the button returns you to the info screen.
• Pressing X (V or M) will continue the current game.

Map

The map shows the current asteroid topology.

• A mini icon of your ship shows its location
• Flashing indicators show:
  • fuel dumps (red)
  • teleports (blue)
  • clystron orbs (white)
  • prisoners (yellow)
  • transmitters (green) 

Pressing P, Return or Start again brings up the normal PICO-8 pause menu. Use Up and Down to change the selected option and either button (Z,X,C,V,N,M etc.) to  activate it.

This menu has the following extra options, followed by the usual PICO-8 ones:

• CONTINUE: return to the Pause Screen
• SET MUSIC ON/OFF: switches between playing Oust's music and just playing sound effects
• SELF DESTRUCT: destroys your ship. It is unlikely, but possible to not be destroyed,  but be out of fuel and helpless; use this option to continue the game if otherwise stuck.
• RESET SAVE: use this option to win the current game's save slot and return to the Start screen. There is a confirmation screen, but once selected this is permanent and can't be undone.

The remaining are PICO-8's standard options that may vary depending on exactly how Oust is being played. Note the following, however:

• OPTIONS leads to PICO-8's general options such as enabling and disabling sound entirely, volume control, full screen and listing the buttons available for controlling PICO-8
• Use RESET CART to return to the title screen, for instance, to change to another save slot or return to the last checkpoint/teleport.
• QUIT exits Oust entirely.

Tips

• Often flying cautiously with a less is more approach is effective in navigating the asteroids of Corvus rather than trying to fly too fast. Every action uses fuel and crashing into the walls or other objects can be particularly expensive.
• Pay attention to the gravity strength and atmospheric friction values from the scan information before entering an asteroid. These can vary greatly and adapting to the specific conditions can be the difference between successful flight and an unfortunate explosion.
• Always be aware of and looking to top up your store of fuel. Scooping from fuel dumps and landing at transmitters replenishes it; without it your ship is useless.
• When using your shield, activate it manually where possible. It takes more fuel for the shield to automatically activate than to raise it yourself.
• Use the map to know where you are going and plan your route. Especially when towing a Clystron orb, it is useful to have a clear path.
• Use the list of asteroids on the pause screen to view which you've visited that still contain orbs to retrieve and prisoners to rescue. 
• Sometimes clearing passage by destroying everything is not the best way to proceed. Sometimes it probably is.

• If you inadvertently kill one of the prisoners you are supposed to be rescuing then you will need to leave the asteroid where they are held so that the Regime's dastardly systems can restore them to their prison for you to try again. Even death is no escape from serving the time of their punishment, ant least until they can be beamed away from the asteroid field entirely.
• Clystron orbs will be restored immediately upon your destruction unless transmitted.
• The training simulator levels do not contribute to your mission status, number of deaths or time.

OustEd

Buy Oust and get access to OustEd the editor used to make the game. Get access to extra levels as they are released.

For more information check here: https://drakeblue.com/ousted

v1.0.1

Tweak to Cranog asteroid to remove a particularly annoying hole that a prisoner can get stuck in.

v1.1.0

• Control sensitivity setting added.
• OustEd Editor first release
• Bug fixes