S-LAYER

by ryusui
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.29
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.15
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.30
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.70
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.81
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.35
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.13
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★50%
In the distant future, humanity threatens to be consumed by an enormous malevolent organic mass - a sentient tumor with an undying hatred of its unwitting creators. You have been converted into the S-LAYER, a biomechanical warrior which can take the fight to the very core of the monstrosity: armed with a baton which can absorb your foes' attacks and wrest control of them from their master, you are the world's last hope.

XBox 360 gamepad supported.

S-LAYER's unconventional combat abilities require power to use. Power is accumulated gradually over time or by catching enemy shots with your baton, which points behind you as you move.

Press Shift/B to lock your baton's rotation (requires at least 12% energy).

Press Ctrl/A to swing your baton and absorb all incoming bullets (requires at least 25% energy).

Press Ctrl/A while holding Shift/B to fire your baton and dominate your enemies (requires at least 50% energy). A dominated enemy will follow you and fire its weapon when you press Shift/B. Different enemies have different attack behaviors. Press Ctrl/A while an enemy is dominated to order it to self-destruct and regain control of your baton. Dominating an enemy consumes energy; if you reach 0% while an enemy is dominated, the enemy will automatically self-destruct.

You have five lives; make good use of them. Checkpoints are scattered throughout your descent into the heart of the nightmare.

Good luck!

Update: Changed the Windows download to a 32-bit version for broader compatibility.

screenshot

Comments19

popcorn89721 Apr 2015, 02:48
I'd love to play but
I can't start the game!!
Ryusui
Ryusuiauthor21 Apr 2015, 20:27
Try it again. Turned out I had the wrong DLLs in the Windows package.
Awpteamoose
Awpteamoose21 Apr 2015, 20:56
Can't play it on Windows, seems like you've missed msvc 2012 runtime dll.
Ryusui
Ryusuiauthor21 Apr 2015, 21:05
Ahhhhh dangit. Try again. >_<#
Tommislav
Tommislav21 Apr 2015, 21:12
I liked this game a lot, although it was very very difficult! I also had to read the instructions on this page several times before I managed to dominate my first enemy. Instruction in game would have helped a lot. Still, well done!
esayitch21 Apr 2015, 22:06
Great game! I really liked the graphics and concept of the unconventional weapon. Very cool and stylish realization. It's fairly hard, I'll grant that. I reached the two big popping eyes twice, died there twice and then rage quit xD

Great entry, good luck!
DefectiveMelon21 Apr 2015, 22:19
Trying to play this with keyboard and mouse was really difficult, but it definitely benefits a lot from controller support. It's a lot of fun once I got into it, with a lot of cool stuff going on. I think an indication of when you've hit a checkpoint would be nice, however.
Ryusui
Ryusuiauthor21 Apr 2015, 22:34
I'll admit there's no visual feedback because most of the classic shooters don't tell you when you've hit a checkpoint, though I'll agree I should probably have put that in there. ^_^;

That said, the checkpoints are after each set of eye blocks, if it helps. ;)
popcorn89722 Apr 2015, 01:07
Cool idea!

this game is difficult as it is fun to look at, which is very. But it became more fun after I realized how to play.

-Sirmi: Team Toast
Jellyhard
Jellyhard22 Apr 2015, 04:51
I liked this a lot. I love these entries that present very simple and yet very fun and promising concepts.
Saltysandwiches22 Apr 2015, 20:47
Pretty hard at the higher levels, but fun to play and the controls feel good.
The only problem is that the levels are all too similar between them.
Ryusui
Ryusuiauthor22 Apr 2015, 21:01
Yeah. I was originally planning on ten different enemies but I ended up only implementing the five you see here. Six if you count the eye blocks. Oh, and the end boss.

I wonder if anyone's ever gotten that far. I just noticed I accidentally left his HP at 3 for testing purposes...^_^;
fixitteam23 Apr 2015, 20:54
the graphics are awesome :)
and what is also awesome is the fact that you used love2D :D
good job.
Tortoise25 Apr 2015, 02:47
Fun game once you figure out the controls. I would of liked the baton fire attack to be its own key. Felt like a solid 2D scrolling shooter with a twist and I had the impression of Metroid for some reason.
Os_Reboot30 Apr 2015, 13:27
Fun game! This is the first LD game I used my 360 controller on. It handles very well, the game has a unique flow to it. Nice job!
herniewise
herniewise5 May 2015, 01:58
Hard to master but great little game.

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