Ludum Dare #60compo
Punch Corp
The game takes you back to the days of mainframe computers and dumb terminals. You’re a new hire at a big corporation Punch Corp. Their programmers are real punchers, and you’re about to become one of them!
Yes. This is a coding job. And it’s tough, because punched tapes are still state of the art. It’s not for everyone! Only real programmers can handle punched tapes. Not like those Fortran hipsters. Do you dare?
About the computer
There are 15 instructions you can use. Instruction is encoded in 4 bits. But you won't need half of them, some of them (like conditions) has no use at all in the game. I wanted to slowly introduce instructions level by level but there was no time left - so you have full manual available where you can find what you need. This is raw coding experience!The tape has 32 lines you can use for your code. Left part is for encoded instruction, right part is for argument. Unlike the real punched tape, both parts of the tape in the game have the least significant bit on right. Oh, and you'd need to know a little bit of binary, but it's obvious when you are about to code in machine code :)
If you'd like, you want to optimize code for the fewest lines! When you hit ESC after finishing a level, you can see stats in the menu + you can return to every level you visited.
Controls
- control the punching head by keyboard like a real programmer!- Arrow/WASD to move punching head
- Space - punch a hole into the tape (or remove it if there already is one - what a technology!)
- Esc - back to menu - you can return to levels you already opened
- (cheat code Shift+N to next level, if you are stuck but you'd like to see the rest)
Used tools
- Godot engine- Inkscape + Gimp
- Dictaphone app in iPhone + Audacity + bfxr.net
- jam.trackr (https://jamtrackr.net)
Walkthrough
If you are stuck, check this walkthrough (no audio in the video, but the game has it)No AI used
Sad times when I have to declare that I DIDN’T use AI for my Compo entry. Yes, good old two-day crunch with five hours of sleep, like a real game jam geek, to deliver good old handcrafted game. But I don’t mind if you do use it as long as you follow the LD rules. No hard feelings (even when I think it doesn't have place in Compo). For me, Compo is also about the challenge. When the rules allow Claude and I choose not to use it, that makes it even bigger challenge for me :)BTW, I use AI daily, so for me, LD is a welcome opportunity to do things the old way. To sit at the computer and punch in code by hand like a psychopath. And I love it!
Versions
- 1.0.0.0: Initial release- 1.0.0.1: Fixed copy&paste issue in statistics on menu, it displayed number of ticks on place where number of lines should be + fixed number of ticks.
- 1.0.0.2: Fixed COPY instruction - it always stored 0 instead of value of memory[0]
- 1.0.0.3: Fixed REPEAT instruction - it always decreased memory #0 even when you set counter to different one.
Comments31
@asalidonat HRM indeed, but more like a prequel :)
Here is a quick breakdown of my thoughts:
• Gameplay & Design: The core mechanics feel solid and intuitive right from the start. The gameplay loop is engaging, and the controls feel responsive and fair.
• Visuals & Art Style: The visual direction fits the overall mood really well. Everything looks cohesive, and the presentation makes it very clean to follow what's happening on screen.
• Audio: The sound effects and audio design add a lot of punch to the experience and help build the atmosphere.
• Theme Interpretation: You did a fantastic job incorporating the jam's theme into the core loop in a creative and clever way!
Constructive Polish Idea: If you decide to update or expand this after the jam, adding a few extra feedback cues (like juice/particles or subtle screen shake) or expanding on a few mechanics could make it feel even more polished!
Overall, awesome job for a jam project! Left you a high score/rating. Keep up the great work! 🚀
Yeah, I love 7 billion humans too, the inspiration is too obvious. But my game uses punch card (or punch tape), so I'd like to think about it as a fanfictional prequel to it :)
The game was really nice, felt a bit like creating your first codes in a new coding language.
Was a bit confused at the start because i wasn't able to just punch holes into the card where i wanted with the mouse - it wasn't clear that i can only put holes in the current row. Switched to keyboard, felt much better :D
Puzzles were well made and interesting, tho after i finally got throu day 3 the rest were one taps x)
In the hindsight, I regret adding mouse control for writing code at all. Intended way is to use the keyboard, because it feels much better. Allowing to edit at lest current line could lead to confusion. I wrote to use keyboard in the first printout and on description but it's easy to miss.
@magi-chan Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway :)
If you have a few minutes, we’d love for you to check out and rate our game about a cat assembling an atom bomb: Meow Bomb! 🐱💣 Cheers!
@eugenik Thanks, I'm glad you like it. No one mentioned the atmosphere yet. I'm really happy that this turned out. It's a pitty I didn't have time to make some music (apart for that track playing during program run), it could add to the atmosphere too. But I'm not good at making music anyway :)
Your game is really spotless, I didn't find any bug or anything, it's clear, even for someone like me who is absolute shit at programming.
I gave you almost perfect scores, because this is brilliant!
This reminds me so much of Reeborg's World!
A little bit of shameless self promo here, but I'd love your opinion on my game. No hard feelings if you don't do it or if you have any criticisms with the game.
@adam-gould Thanks! Glad you liked it. Add binary code anywhere and you got instantly feeling of an old tech :)
@fassenberg @thanatosisanoob I agree, unfortunately there wont be much time for it, instruction manual is a bit rough, if I had more time, explaining instruction one by one would be the thing I would want to do the most.
@iluvatar Thanks for nice words! Yeah, 7 billion humans definitely influenced me. I'm glad you didn't see the issues, there are things that can be better if I had more time.. but it's better not to point at them and let you think it's perfect :D
@jeffrey-meyers Thanks! I'm happy you liked it.
@fassenberg thanks for your feedback on text - do you mean it's small or font is hard to read?
@brimstone Thanks, I'm glad you liked it so much! It's my 21st compo in a row, that experience has to show somewhere :) I also felt that for every part of the game I already did something similar in the past. And still I didn't have time for things like music (apart for that short track that plays when you run the code) or better tutorial / introducing instructions. I didn't know Reeborg's World, I'm gonna check it, thanks. I'd like to play all games of people who comment on my game, slowly working on it... :)