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GeneCraft's itch.io pageLink to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kU-uyhgCLDPuuP0uQ6MgA26FIwh4Sk7_vY4XfpF78AY/edit?usp=sharing
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yes
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes
Summarise your game!
The idea was that instead of just a character builder roguelike, you also build the enemy. The initial brief also mentioned viruses and I thought it would be great to set the game in a microcosmos.
10 rounds of 60 seconds of co-op, twinstick shooter action followed by a shop buy upgrades for yourself, but every upgrade you buy evolves the enemy for the rest of the run
Basic twin stick setup, better with a gamepad, best with a friend.
Oh and in the shop, Exo = bullet.
In microscopic theme I just could not call it a bullet, even if it is a bullet,
WASD to move
Mouse to Aim
Left Mouse to Shoot
Spacebar (hold for charge up) = Dodge ( you dodge in the direction of the movement input )
Your dash direction is the movement input, you can charge and aim your dash.
In Shop W / S to select | Spacebar (long press) to Buy | E to ready | Q to lock | R to Re-roll
------- Better With Gamepad ------
Left stick = Move
Right Stick = Aim
Left Shoulder (hold for charge up) = Dodge ( you dodge in the direction of the movement input )
Right Shoulder = Shoot
In Shop: D-pad to select | " A "(long press) to Buy | "X" to ready | "Y" to lock | "B" Re-Roll
Tips:
60s per round, collect green orbs, spend to buy upgrades, die, learn, repeat.
Friendly fire goes both ways; getting the enemy to kill their friends works well
The Dash is your friend
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
A philosophical take on the nature of direct action, by acting you are in effect a weapon for the enemy. One weapon causes another to be created. Weapons don't exist in isolation. You (cause) create the weapons you fight against.
Your actions in self improvement is weaponized against you.
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
My first ever game jam, my first ever game. Been a visual creative for 20+ years but this has been the most frustrating fun ever. A interesting quirk about the game is that I used no sprites to make it, all the game assets are shader generated Signed Distance Fields, modified for every animated element. No sprites where harmed during the production of this game.
My focus was on Game feel, 14 days is so short, learnt a lot. Will do again, thanks.
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Comments
A nice visual style, though the UI can use some polish and more feedback.
I see that the game is made to allow multiplayer(which is cool), though the input for single player doesnt seem to fire 100% of the time, atleast the game did not always respond to input(though this might also be due to low fps).
Tried playing in both chrome and firefox but the game seems to be rather laggy.
I like the idea of the cells in combination of it being a roguelike
Well done.
You have nailed the inside the cell aesthetic, was quite a calm and soothing experience despite being a rogue like asteroids, I think some of the effects you buy could be simplified as they felt a bit too detailed but was a fun game
This game is so pretty!
It is polished and really nice. No sprites is insane!
It kind of lags a decent amount, maybe a firefox skill issue. But I imagine a native build at high refresh rate would work wonders!
Congrats on this achievement!
You knocked that out of the park. Especially for your first game.
I had some problems understanding the controls but that's bc I need it shown instead of described. A tutorial would have helped with that and also with understanding what was actually happening in the game.
The atmosphere you created is amazing and very apealing. Defo one of the more unique submissions I've seen
Awesome game! The visuals are super cool, and the atmosphere is really unique. The movement feels smooth, though a bit "floaty" at times. Love the minimal style and how everything comes together. Great job! Like the previous comment mentioned, does indeed remind a bit of Brotato!
Great visuals, and who doesn't love a good twin stick shooter? I love Brotato. This reminds me a bit of Brotato. That is good. Bad part is that now I need to go and play Brotato again. Which is also good
Keep up the amazing job :D
Getting some strong flOw vibes from this, absolutely love the presentation here with very resposive controls. Very impressive for a first game, I hope you'll keep going.
Fun game! I love the background distortion when the player passes by. How did you do that? Shader?
Yep, the entire visuals of the game was made using shaders. I try to practice cruelty free code, so no sprites where harmed during the production.
I have gotten a few requests on the implementation and its pretty easy to do and can work on virtually any shader so I might just put a little video together on the topic.
Nice, how do I find the video when it comes out?
I will post it as an update in the GeneCraft Devlog so since you are following me you should get a notification.
Damn, thats a LOT, for a first ever game. Extremely impressive, the visual style, and audio really make this game stand out.
As a minor critic, i would say that the WASD, controlls are to heavy, i like physics based movement, but i think this one is a little too have in its response, i ended up, abusing the dash for movement. Also the speed on the player projectiles is a little slow too, so the controls don't feel really responsive, which can be a little frustrating. To be clear, i'm not saying you should make the controls super snappy (like hollow knight for example), but instead you could add a lot more force during impulse, and compensate it with a lot of drag. Anyway, that is just my opinion, and could be a taste thing more than anything.
Congrats on your first game and your first gamejam!
Technically impressive and amazing vibes! Love the visual style and the audio design really supports it. The floaty movement and drifty controls match the ambient style pretty well too.
In terms of feedback the main thing I'd say is the combination of delayed/out-of-sync controls and the abstract visuals can lead to the game feeling a bit confusing and frustrating for the player. While I don't think super sharp and snappy controls are needed for a game like this I might reign them in a little - for instance maybe the dash could be directly controlled by the cursor instead of the direction of the player's triangle.
Overall super fun game, visually stunning and very unique - great job!
I did a terrible job of explaining the "dash" as the rest of the controls. The dash happens in the direction of movement, and is controllable with a hold that also charges it up. Thank you so much for taking the time, I really appreciate the feedback!
Shaders-only is incredible, I’m kind of in awe at this game. Amazing work!
Awesome atmosphere and visuals, feel and immersion. Incredibly impressive for a first game (and one on a time-constraint for that too), especially the visuals being entirely based on shaders. Good, inspiring stuff!
Great submission! I really liked the smoothness of movement and everything - it was very satisfying! Not sure what the outlines were supposed to mean, but they were visually appealing. Great submission, especially for the first try! congrats!
This game is amazing. I have no idea what shader wizardry you did here, but it is awesome. It feels like a new version of Asteroids, but the polish and combat make it much better. This is an amazing submission!
shader wizardry indeed, The entire game is made out of shaders, Signed Distance Fields to be precise and I don't use any sprites or texture at all save the logo on the intro screen. Thank you very much for noticing.
Dude this game is awesome! I really love the visuals, minimalist yet spot on. This game has one of the coolest main menu I've ever seen! A feedback though is I recommend making the bullet bigger and the orbs also bigger to make it more easy
Thanks so much, it's a pretty rough draft at the moment, truly appreciate the feedback.
Hard...
Its very rough still and can be unforgiving, I tried to warn you.
Love the background visuals. Congrats :)
I see you are a fellow fan of Dark "Shader" arts,