itch.io

This isn't a full game, just the mechanics prototype. The level is only there to be able to test the features, there isn't really anywhere to go or anything to do. I was hoping I could make a full game with a few actual levels and stuff but 24h just wasn't enough time for that, and I'd probably need to rework the physics anyway to be able to use them in proper gameplay.

I tested it before publishing and it worked fine, but as soon as I press the "publish" button, it looks like it no longer processes inputs aside from mouse.

cool

edit: I changed absolutely nothing but it seems to work now. not sure what that was about, I guess it was some sort of issue with the game not being focused. I might add a downloadable version just in case

I think I'd have to write an essay to explain how it works. I tried to look into existing maze-generation algorithms but I ended up just winging the algorithm. The sad reality is that a lot of the code ended up being messy, which makes sense given that it's a hacky game jam prototype. The room grid generator itself was still somewhat okay-written (the actual playable room generation is where the spaghetti begins), but either way I've been thinking about redoing it from scratch, as now that I know what I'm doing I can actualy implement proper code, and then open-sourcing the cell grid generator as a set of GDScript classes (for Godot Engine). I'm not sure when I'll get around to that, though.

Oh, one more interesting thing to note about the level generation is that the room tileset is in negative space. Getting the autotiling to work right took me a little bit longer than I would've liked but it worked out well enough, I guess.

How technical do you want me to get in the explanation? The short answer is that I have a generator that makes a procedurally-generated grid layout of rooms, a room class that handles specific data of given room (base size, doors/exits, difficulty, corridor sizes), and finally an object that takes in data about a room and draws the room using autotiles.

Due to the nature of game jams, it's difficult to find the time to properly playtest the game, and as such game jam entries are often somewhat buggy. I have identified several bugs in my game and fixed a lot of them, and am now sitting on a hotfix for it.

The reason I haven't immidiately released it is that I'm not sure if updating the game is allowed in this time period. I think it's reasonable to assume that updates that introduce new content or features should be put off until the game jam voting closes so as to not affect the scoring - it would effectively allow people to work for a few extra days before everyone gets around to voting. I also think it's reasonable to allow a hotfix that doesn't introduce anything new to the game, but I figured I'd ask first to ensure that this is in compliance with the game jam rules.

Is it okay to release updates to the game jam entries?

I would agree that getting a time extension is blatantly unfair to the people who submitted on time. A day of work can make a HUGE diffirence when that day would end up being 25% of the total time spent on the project.

This was briefly discussed in another topic but I'm still not completely clear on this.

I'm not sure how I feel about being forced to release the source code of my entry. It's not a problem if I have to share it with the jam hosts to verify anything, but I don't really want to make it completely public. I also recorded the entire process of making my entry as a timelapse, so once I finish processing it and upload it, that should be enough proof that I made my entry.

From briefly looking  through the entries, it also seems that not everyone has posted their game with the source code. It might be just to save time and everyone might be planning to post it later, but... I don't know, I guess that's my whole problem.

So what's the official verdict?

So do overall aesthetics fall under 'design' as well or...? I can't imagine that not being rated (a well-polished game should be rated better than a game that's on the same level in other categories but with zero effort put into the audiovisual assets) but I feel like that's technically a seperate aspect of submissions.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this one.

For what it is, it's alright, but it could use some polish (mainly sound effects) and something to make the gameplay a bit less monotone - an upgrade system, maybe diffirent enemies and/or weapons etc. If you put some more work into it, I could see it being a very fun arcade game, the type I personally could spend a lot of time on. :)

???

As in, the theme?

https://sisyphean.itch.io/spring-tale?secret=6dPCJKoxazsoXOowU2XJtY

I still need to polish up the animations a bit, but I'm pretty satisfied with how it feels and controls. Now I just need to finish making the rest of the game.

Seems fun, points for not taking yourself too seriously, but it doesn't look like the most optimised thing in the world. Now, I don't have the beefiest laptop in the world, for sure, but as it is, the game is more-or-less unplayable for me. Which is surpising considering that it's, from what I can tell, just a 2d topdown thing. :(

For being a futuristic metropolia, CyTe is awfully quiet innit :)