itch.io

Not a problem! I'm glad it helped you approach it further

I'm so happy to have played this. It really helped with some stuff i've been dealing with, and I adore how much depth you crammed into it! Well done!

Hello! Firstly, may I say that I am impressed with how much work you've put into this generator. I'm going to start using it for my campaigns so that I can save myself the tedium of designing Each and Every place from scratch. 

That said, I did have an issue when trying to open the exported .SVG file for generated cities. When opened, the top part of the map is cut off - right in the middle of the city name. Now, if that's an issue with the Size of the font, or the SVG always clips the top and bottom, i'm not sure. No real rush to fix it, since i've read you're not keen on the SVG aspect, and this is probably solvable in other ways on the user's end. Thought it might bear looking into!

Beautifully done. Thank you for making it!

A few hours in, and i've got three areas sorted out! You'll start out in engineering, where you'll go through a quick interaction with some other characters and some computers. Once finished, you'll head up to the command deck for your briefing on the strange ship that appeared!

I have to say, though it was daunting at first, I actually forgot to eat once I started delving into the pixel sea that is Bitsy's tile creation. I'm using a hack of the Bitsy engine that allows it to use 16x16 sprites, so I can squeeze a little more detail and use out of my environments. Obviously, i'm no master at this, but i'm happy with the result thus far!

It may not be clear in the above gif, but when you go up the stairs, I wanted the lower level to still be visible, just not accessible. I think the tiles i've chosen may be a little too complex in shape, which might make it hard to know what exactly you're seeing here. Regardless, i'm happy i've fleshed out this much in such a short amount of time (Especially for having never used this system!)

Onward and upward!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Jae, and i'm an aspiring writer, actor, and general creative. Been a rough road trying to accept my chosen fields, and now (as ever) is the perfect time to toss myself in the deep end of videogames, as well!

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I needed a change of pace, and i've been wanting to make videogames ever since I read a book on how to program them on an Apple II back in grade 3. Having a time limit and engine specifics makes this easier to make myself learn than if I simply set myself my own goals and timetables (which sadly hasn't worked well in the past).

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Oh jeez, the penultimate question. My favourites are the ones I grew up with, usually: Starcraft, Pharaoh, LoZ: Link's Awakening, Homeworld, to name but a few. Nearly every game I play has inspired me in some way or another, however. Over the years, I started piecing together how the games were made; "Oh, I bet they made this NPC change their dialogue like this when you've already done something", and, "That's not animation, it's a clever trick with room transitions and graphics!". The fact that i've been dissecting even my beloved classics means I should probably apply that understanding to making my own! Besides, as a writer, i've constantly got stories pouring out of my head, so this is another medium to explore them.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I have absolutely no experience with game development. The closest possible thing could be running tabletop RPGs, but that seems like a Big stretch.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm passionate about telling stories from a non-human perspective. So often, we see everything through human understanding, and even when we do play as aliens or robots, we ascribe things about their behaviour based on our own subconscious habits and shorthand. I love to explore Human language and habits too, especially through the lens of someone completely uneducated about them: is a bird in the hand Really the same value as two birds in a bush?

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

My goal is to make a smallish adventure in the Bitsy engine - I love the limitations and design of it, and I want to force myself to get clever when I want to do something that other engines might have no issue with. Depending on how much time I can devote to it, I would like a 15-minute game out of this, though I may end up needing to make a small demo for the jam, then building the rest of the game afterward!

Salutations to all! I may not be very active on the forums, but i'll always be on Discord (username Jaelien)!

When a damaged ship is detected near an orbital refinery, a crew of medics, diplomats, soldiers and engineers must board the vessel to prevent it from causing more damage. But the ship is of unknown origin, and the SOS in a language never encountered. Who are these aliens, and can they be reasoned with before it's too late?

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Miscommunique (A working title) will be an adventure game after the style of older cartridge-based games, using the Bitsy engine. Players will take on the role of an engineer, and interact with the environment and other characters to ascertain the damage on the alien craft. But be warned: there may be aliens still present on the ship, and they may require medical attention, or might be a hazard themselves. Use caution and tact, as your personal translator will only grow through interaction and study.

This is my first entry on Itch.io, as well as my first videogame period, and I am hoping to have at least a small section of this game ready by the time the jam is complete, if not the majority of it. I've chosen the Bitsy engine because it most closely resembles the level making tools from other games i've enjoyed, and has logic that allows for simple or complex designs, including animation (after a fashion). My primary goals in the first week are to get the rooms laid out, transitions sorted, and some key dialogue and set-pieces made. After that, I will be working to make the pixel art more polished and nuanced, though i've never done pixel art before, so that might not go how I plan it to!

In all, this will be a story about doing your job in the face of overwhelmingly alien circumstances, and trying to be the best person you can be in the face of an alien race with little in common. If time allows, I plan to implement a rudimentary form of dialogue interaction and choice, beyond the simple "Interact -> Dialogue is Spoken" chain that Bitsy is designed around.

I'll be posting periodically on here, but for now, let's just get to the grindstone and start designing rooms for the ship you start on!

Even playing this for a few minutes genuinely enticed me to keep playing. Beautifully made, and truly impressive given how little time it was made in. I feel like i'll remember this for quite some years to come. Thank you!