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Clerk.exe Malfunction Mayhem's itch.io pageLink to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Y9GG9a18efIkPa6IsecDkTOxvWZ8KYcqLP9vt55QOQ/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!
SPACE BAR to select in title menu
YOU KEEP ALL UNLOCKED WEAPONS IN FUTURE RUNS
You are Clerk. A sentient war machine that has broken free from its creators. Now, the very government that built you has labeled you as EXECUTABLE. Swarms of soldiers, tanks, and experimental weapons are all coming for you—but you won’t go down without a fight.
Blast through waves of relentless enemies in this fast-paced, side-scrolling bullet hell. Upgrade your arsenal, and adapt your tactics as the battlefield shifts around you. Every level brings new threats, forcing you to push your systems to the limit in a desperate fight for survival.
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
you play as a decommissioned military AI which was made as a weapon for the government.
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
I put a lot of work into the game feel. Thanks for being my first game jam!
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Comments
I'm really glad I got to check this game out, it was quite fun. The controls were easy and I loved jumping around on buildings. I saw the judge suggest destructive environments and that is such a cool idea for this game, so I second that suggestion (if you ever have time or desire to add something like that). I really love the pixel art, especially the background. The color scheme in particular was really lovely, sort of a city at twilight mood. I also like the sound effects, they really added to the game feel. Great job on this game, I can see how much work went into it!
I absolutely ran with that suggestion! Destructible buildings will be in the update that I’ll be posting soon! Thanks so much for playing! I super appreciate it! ✌🏻
We apologise for an issue that has occured with submitting your rating. Your judge's review is pasted below:
Clerk.exe Malfunction Mayhem was quite an enjoyable bullet hell, although perhaps not for the reasons intended! During stage one, I encountered a quirk wherein attempting to go across the stage slowly in order to draw out the soldiers would cause greatly increased projectiles to suddenly flood across the screen from the opposite direction. In order to minimize this, I was able to just keep moving and shooting until I made it through the first level. Unfortunately, the gun which I unlocked at that point doesn't appear to have been implemented as a play option at this time.
I found the level design and music quite enjoyable, although I feel some amount of destructible environment would do well in this game. It almost feels like Clerk.exe Malfunction Mayhem could go well with a game loop like the Rampage (city destruction / kaiju) series. Clerk was a very responsive, easy to control, and fun to play murder machine.
Thank you very much for this submission to Pirate Software Game Jam 16
The time you put into game feel really shows, the impacts are juicy and it’s super clear when I got hit. There were a couple bugs, like pausing not stopping the bullets and dropping through platforms not working, but otherwise the game functions great!
My main criticism would probably be that I didn’t feel as powerful as I maybe should have. The tiny enemies and big player model made it a bit difficult to aim at moving targets, and make it harder to avoid getting hit myself. Maybe some bigger, more powerful looking attacks would suit the premise better but of course that’s up to you.
The background is also really nice, and I like the color choice. Very minor issue that the tops of buildings don’t stand out very strong as something interactable, but it wasn’t hard to notice them once I figured that out. Overall, cool game, cool art, cool visual feedback, I hope you keep going with gamedev!
This is quite a nice little entry, I am having fun while playing it! I do like the graphics, especially the parallax background, it fits so nicely into the game. The difficulty is not too great but it feels like the soldiers are a bit too strong while the tanks are just pathetic. They do have high health but one bullet at a time is just too doable. The final boss is also not too bad once the soldiers are dealt with.
A little criticism is that all enemy spawning was not telegraphed, and thus sometimes one spawns in by surprise and caught me off guard. It would be good if there is something that foretells enemy spawning. Another thing is that for some reason full screen doesn't work for me, and it's a bit hard to play in such a small viewable area.
Anyway, good job with the game!
Really good submission, I enjoyed myself!
To me, it's certainly a difficult side-scrolling bullet hell. Overall, the only problem I'd say is huge in volume and SFX management. If there was a way to turn it down, then it would be a good touch.
Tough bullet hell. Liked all the art and the sound fx. I liked the overall design of the player character and the movement of the legs is super cool to see. I like that all the weapons stay after unlocking them. I felt like it was a little tough to navigate the bullets at times and felt like it was hard to navigate where I need to go. Also I don't think dropping through platforms was working in the levels.
Nice submission. I enjoyed my time!
yeah I’m not sure why but the web export doesn’t allow dropping through the platforms! But it works when downloaded. Thanks for playing! Glad you enjoyed it!
At first, I wasn't sure how the game was going to be a side-scrolling bullet hell, but after having played it, it definitely fits. Enemies can shoot lots of small bullets, as expected from a bullet hell.
The music was a bit loud, so I had to lower the browser volume. A tiny suggestion I have for the tutorial is to either outline or fill in those tutorial texts and images, just so that it's a bit easier to see/read them!
When actually jumping into gameplay, there's a lot of small touches that I really like, like the "fading in" of enemies coming from the buildings, or the indication of the limit walls. Their flashing feels just right.
Playing the game also felt satisfying! The movement is snappy and precise, and I enjoy being able to be on top of buildings. I do think this game could've used fullscreen, since you can sometimes get the cursor out of the screen amidst the chaos, causing you to misaim. Other than that, the aiming also felt precise!
I also really like how the weapons get more and more broken and powerful as you progress. It feels awesome to stomp enemies that used to take so long to defeat with your first weapon.
Something that really stood out to me is when you destroy a tank. The game's sound effects fit it very well, but the tank explosion is just really satisfying. The sound itself is awesome, and the screen shake really gives that extra impact it needs to feel rewarding!
The boss was also a really cool thing to add. Making bosses for jams is not an easy task at all, and this one felt engaging and fun.
The visuals are pretty, especially the parallax effect. The orange sky with the buildings around just feels like a really cool sight.
This game felt nice to play and satisfying to destroy enemies in. I enjoyed it!
thanks so much for playing it and for all this wonderful feedback! You really took your time, and that means the world! Glad you like the tank cause that’s my favorite part too! When I got the hit stop and screen shake to work, I was so freaking excited! Seriously thanks for the kind words and thoughtful criticism. You’re the bomb! ✌🏻✌🏻
Nice game! Art and music are both awesome! Really like the parallax background and the the shotgun can fire in time with the music. Movement and shooting felt good, and it was nice having the hearts drop because it was fairly difficult to dodge all of the bullets. The weapon variety was nice and they were all fun to use. I was able to cheese the final boss though by shooting him from offscreen with the shotgun. Very fun game, great work!
That was pretty fun! The hearts dropped made it so it never felt like you run was doomed as there was always a chance for some health to appear. I didn't manage to beat it the first time since I didn't find the gatling gun on my first run and the boss hit me with a death lazer. But second try with the gatling gun I managed to beat it! The game was great and the couple levels in there gave a good idea of what it would look like expanded, it could also make a really fun endless game if you made some procedural spawning mechanics!
thanks so much for playing it! glad you liked it. i was thinking about adding an endless mode. i would just want to create some more variety with enemies to keep it fresh. and obviously new weapons. glad you tried again and ended up beating it.
The music and the art style pair well with each other. The mechanics feel polished. The enemies seem to fire a little fast and a little too accurate (probably because I suck lol) and I also feel like they take too much damage, but overall, it's a good game and a solid submission!
yeah after one person said how tanky they are i noticed it immediately. but when i was making the game it felt totally normal. really goes to show you how blind to certain things you can be while in development, and how important play testing is. thanks so much for playing! really means a lot.
Reminds me of the Commando Flash Games that I used to play as a kid.
Art looks great. Love the colour contrast between the foreground and background. Skyscrapers and Tank were my favourite bits. Good interpretation of the theme.
For improvements, the pacing feels a bit slow (the time taken to unlock a new weapon and how tanky enemies are). I'd suggest upping the players and the enemies damage to speed it up while maintaining the difficulty level (which was quite good).
Cool submission. Good job!
yeah that is a common critique. i will definitely fix that after judging is over. but im glad you liked it! the tanks exploding is my favorite thing about it, so im glad you liked them!
I agree with previous comments, killing enemies takes too much bullets but overall it was interesting to play. I had a massive skill issue but later adapted. Was nice to see different weapons and enemies. That artwork & sfx were great, good job on that.
thanks! yeah i definitely see that now! 8 bullets to kill an infantry is too much. just didn't notice it before. glad you got to see the other weapons though. i feel like the game really picks up after the machine gun. but thanks for playing it means a lot.
your game was really fun btw/ super funny!
This a whole other perspective of cyberwarfare. Game loop feels good! I agree with grantlerr that I wish the later weapons were unlocked earlier (that or the enemies wouldn't take in so many bullets). Could be nice to have some type of dodge aswell. Good game overall!
thanks for the feedback! means a lot. other then jumping what kind of dodge do you mean it would be nice to have? just curious cause im going to implement some changes after the judging is over with.
Hi, how do i start the game? The Enter button doesn't work for me!
space bar
Got it. Nice game! I think you should make the first enemies easier to kill to make the game go a little faster. I got the 2nd gun, but a lot of people won't play that long. Gotta keep it shorter to show people everything you have! Good job!!
thanks for the feedback! I will keep that in mind moving forward. Cause the later game gets intense and I want people to get there. So that total makes sense.