LdDB
Ludum Dare #42jam

ZeroBytes

by swiftpotato
Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.58
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.10
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.38
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.65
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.05
Audio★★★★★★★★★★1.54
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.23
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.27
TitleScreen.png

Hi! This is my team's entry for Ludum Dare #42, ZeroBytes! This was our first Ludum Dare Game Jam, and even though everyone on the team wasn't available for the whole duration of the Jam, we managed to get a semi-working game by the deadline. :tada:




ZeroBytes is a game set in an old Windows 1998 computer where the system is out of storage space. Your goal is to kill off malware and viruses polluting your storage system, and free up space by getting rid of their corruption. In order to do this, you have 3 apps (weapons) available to you in the arsenal.

ArsenalScreencap.PNG(The Arsenal; The objects in this room at the top left are your apps, and they are interactable. They allow you to equip different weapons)

ArsenalScreencap1.PNG(A USB Stick Slug Shotgun)

ArsenalScreencap2.PNG(A fully automatic, slightly unbalanced, audio 'dongle')

ArsenalScreencap3.PNG(A small but relatively fast firing, wireless usb pistol)

With these tools at your disposal, and plenty of Trojan Horses to defeat throughout your system, enter the portal at the right end of the Arsenal to enter a procedurally generated (slightly buggy) floor full of rooms of enemies.

Gameplay1.PNGGameplay3.PNG


The controls are:
- WASD/Arrow Keys to move
- Mouse1 to shoot
- E to interact (with interactables like the apps in the arsenal, or the portal)
- Escape to open escape menus in certain scenes (This is only really implemented/necessary in the areas where you have a player. They aren't perfect, so you may have to try to open them multiple times in order to get them to work)

As I said earlier, this was our first Ludum Dare Game Jam, so the game is barely playable.

Some of the quirks may include:
- Bullets that phase through walls.
- Enemies that refuse to chase or attack you.
- A missing crosshair (for some reason, the built version of the game refused to have a crosshair texture even when the editor version of the game worked fine)
- Invisible walls; the procedural room generation is far from perfect and sometimes spawns rooms on the edge of or outside of boundaries.
- The USB Stick Shotgun does 10 damage, the app menu for it is wrong.
- Plenty of other unintentional 'features' that are currently unknown.

screenshot

Comments12

LaytanL_14 Aug 2018, 21:45
Good idea but the quirks pretty much make it not fun to play, there is not really anything to do and i could keep killing these horses for a few minutes without the game actually being hard to play.
Joschi14 Aug 2018, 21:46
Hey this is our first Ludum Dare too! Nice game you have there, but it could use some improvements, try to add a score and some sounds, it would make the game a lot better!
Chocolat-Endive
Chocolat-Endive14 Aug 2018, 21:50
We're first-time Ludum Darers too! With some sound, and some fixes (I have been blocked by invisible walls), it can be cool.
SwiftPotatoauthor15 Aug 2018, 13:45
@laytanl @joschi @chocolat-endive Thanks so much for the feedback! I did intend on adding a score counter and some sort of currency to unlock upgrades and better weapons, but I ran out of time. I may come back and do that later as a separate update now that the Jam has ended. The invisible walls are another thing I wanted to fix, I know whats causing them, but I didnt have a chance to implement it in time. I'll have to look into coming back when I have time and adding an update to add/fix some things.
mrsylar59
mrsylar5916 Aug 2018, 21:02
Pretty good for a first ludum dare, nice idea. However as you pointed out yourselves, the game is clearly buggy and needs some serious polish in order to be fun. I don't have many things to tell you as you probably know them already. You should opt-out audio as there is no audio in your game. I do hope you learned a lot by creating this game for your future LD. Good job :)
Robo_Chiz16 Aug 2018, 21:02
Congrats on your first Ludum Dare! Good to hear you might come back to this. Keep it up.
SwiftPotatoauthor16 Aug 2018, 21:16
@mrsylar59 Thanks for your feedback! I definitely learned a lot by creating this game, hopefully I can manage to add more polish on my next game in the next jam, but for now I'll definitely be looking into fixing this one up once I've got the time for it.

@robo-chiz Thanks!
Megalink
Megalink16 Aug 2018, 21:19
Great game! Concept is very innovative and unique. I love the weapon ideas! More visual effects, such as screenshake, would assist in making the game feel more satisfying and enjoyable to play. I'd recommend looking at a talk called "The Art of Screenshake." Sounds would also assist in improving the gameplay. Overall, a really innovative and unique game. Good work! :)
SwiftPotatoauthor16 Aug 2018, 22:08
@megalink I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the suggestion and feedback!
comenoha17 Aug 2018, 04:57
I like the concept, the shooting style is well done here. Although my one gripe is that I wish the cursor didn't blend into the background of the level. Well done!
SwiftPotatoauthor17 Aug 2018, 14:25
@comenoha Thanks! The cursor wasn't intended to blend into the background, theres supposed to be a crosshair sprite. For whatever reason, the crosshair works in the editor and I didnt have a problem with it until I built the game right before the jam ended, so I didnt have time to fix it.
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