Here is my entry to LOWREZJAM 2020. There's the version I submitted onto Itch to meet the deadline yesterday, but I found a couple more bugs that really needed addressing, so here's 1.1 for your consideration.
Clever Pixel is an abstract dungeon crawler with Metroidvania elements. You start off in control of a single pixel and explore a large maze-like world battling other creatures. Collect red pixels to unlock new areas, search for the Mega Key, collect upgrades, and uncover secrets.
Controls:
Arrow keys, X - drop/shoot pixels, Z- upgrade menu.
The only requirements of the jam were for the game to run at 64x64, so I used Pico's mode 3 so everything would be rendered at the lower resolution. It was interesting working at this resolution, it gave much more space for a sprawling game world, 16x8 screens rather than the usual 8x4 on the map. I was able to recycle a little bit of code from some of my previous projects and some bits of code for what's probably going to end up as some sequel/prequel to the game with some similar mechanics, which helped move things along. Other than that, it was 16 days of pretty frantic work. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, it was a lot of fun to code :)
1.0 - The version submitted to the game jam
1.1 - Fixed some bugs. I d wish I'd wrote down which ones
1.2 - Fixed some other bugs/issues: boss/player-projectile collision, widened some areas of the game world, added a few more power-ups and collectibles to make the East side of the world map less empty/frustrating.
1.3 - Fixed a few more missing map tiles that were screwing up the camera, added a respawn option on the pause menu in case you still manage to get stuck or just want to go back to the last checkpoint for... reasons ;)
Hello extar!
Great game, I love it.
The gameplay is very envolving and the new elements are presented in a very interesting way.
Great soundtrack!
Congrats!
@eduszesz Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I made an effort to try and introduce each of the game elements in a step-by-step way so the player doesn't get overwhelmed at the start, so I'm pleased you thought that part was good! :D
Awesome little low-rez game! Simple, fun, and engaging. I love the pacing. For a suggestion, have the player accelerate a little when holding in one direction. Seeing where you need to be onscreen and having to wait for your pixel to get there was the only frustrating part of the gameplay... it's the only reason I stopped playing.
@CirothUngol thanks for playing! Balancing the speed of the pixel, acceleration and precision movement was quite tricky. There's some acceleration in the game but it's not really noticeable until you're at max speed. At one point I had it faster but that made the parts where you needed to move carefully like the lava mazes too difficult. Did you upgrade to max speed (4)?
Lovely! It is really satisfying how the movement sound effects wind up being in time with the music, especially with the strong backbeat. The onscreen instructions are a fun graphic touch too.
@Kittycat glad you appreciated it! I find it's hard getting tutorials into games, by the time they're finished I'm usually running out of tokens, but this game really needed it. The sound effects syncing up with the music is totally accidental, happy accidents. :)
Phew. 66:39, died 40 times, picked up 121 red dots. Activated the cheat two or three times though (saw the hint in the tower). Killed the megaface, to my surprise. The game is really fun, thank you!
@Zverik that's awesome! I'm so glad you made it all the way through. I think I've only legitimately beaten Megaface maybe twice, mainly to make sure it's actually possible. It was meant as an entirely optional challenge for completionists like yourself. My hat is off to you :)
Well, it was just interesting. Thanks for not making it too hard to close the window after a few minutes. And for many areas to explore — I esp liked the tower and for some reason the excavation.
It’s years later but I played this for the first time today and gotta say it’s super inspiring! I love it.
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