Ocelot Safari

welcome to the ocelot safari!

enjoy the ocelots, and do let us know if you find any long-lost relics deep in the jungle :)

instructions

* hold Z to drag things
* arrow keys to move
* retrieve the lost gemstone of Tezcatlipoca! some say it’s as far as fvkgl-sbhe meters deep in the jungle!

tips

* we'll leave you some new tools at the initial drop point, if the ocelots steal your gear
* ocelots can crawl through vines and trees -- they're tricksters!
* be sure to bring some matches; the nights are long and dark, and who knows what lurks in the jungle...

tutorial

I didn't make the time to make an interactive tutorial, so here's a video instead. I'd recommend playing first, but if you're confused or stuck then maybe give this a watch:

https://youtu.be/tYDLA6QXjM4

And here's a gif showing how to use each tool:

(light a fire by bumping matches into wood)

good luck in there!

---

postscript

* My initial goal was to make a game exploring how items feel if you have no inventory system or "use item" button. I'd stumbled on a similar system ("tangible code") recently and wanted to see if it would work again; more info here: https://pancelor.com/posts/linecook. Sometimes movement can feel a bit awkward, especially at the start, but that's what the whole game is built around, so I think it's fine.
* I really like how the nighttime and the ocelots make it a visceral struggle to advance deeper and deeper into the jungle. (although I do now think the deaths are too punishing)

post-compo bugfixes:

* fixed a mixup where night damage happened every time you stepped, instead of once a second
* fix some small AI bugs in the ocelots - dropping tools when they failed to move (leading to possible softlocks) and not checking to get scared off often enough (once per second instead of once per step)
* fix broken player sprite animation (the code + sprites already existed to do this, I just forgot to call it)
* fix tool sounds to play at more reasonable times (e.g. pushing an axe into a machete should not play a chopping noise)

The full code changes are visible on github, and a detailed changelog is available here: 1, 2, and 3