ACATTAG
Take DNA scans of the creatures around you, and then synthesize new creatures using their combined DNA to solve puzzles!
(Press Z to jump, X to interact OR download ROM and play in own emulator!)
To synthesize a new creature:
1. Scan smaller creatures in the environment for parts
2. Interact with the synthesis machine in certain rooms
3. Select a creature you scanned from the top row using the Interact button. A secondary cursor should stay on it if it's selected properly
4. Select a slot of the new synthesis creature's body part. Moving the cursor all the way to the right or left will go to the cross, which has empty slots for each limb. When you hit the Interact button, it will change that slot to the scanned part you selected.
5. Hit right on the D-Pad until you get to the Synthesize button, click Interact, and your new creation will synthesize!
Different parts may do different things in different positions, experiment with different parts in different slots for different results!
Click here to view the source code on github!
Originally made for GBJAM9 / GBCompo 21
I didn't really manage to finish in time, but It's been a huuuge learning experience.
I've never developed for the Game Boy (or coded in C at all really) before, so all things considered I'm kinda happy with how much I did get
Not to mention this was kind of an ambitious idea to begin with
Big thanks to Zalo and the other folks in the GBDK discord for help!
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Super idea. I like your game!
Hey, I finally found time to play this game. I don't think the idea is specially ambitious, but if the core gameplay of your game is creating creatures combining different parts, you should have experimented with that first (so you could understand how mirroring works)
I understood the mechanic very soon and completed the demo... The idea has a lot of potential
Thanks for playing!
Mirroring went through a series of working and then breaking and then working as time went on and I changed and added things, I'm not sure what your recommendation is but I feel like I had a decent grasp on priorities after I started using ZGB (I started over on this game 3 times, once with GB Studio and once with plain GBDK). My primary goal was to get to the point that the game was mechanically functioning, getting the graphical stuff in order was secondary
Have you tried the post-jam9 version/compo version on github with everything fixed(or did I misunderstand and you're talking about a different mirroring problem)?
I played the game on my browser and saw a lot of glitches but also just tested the github version (on the bin folder) and this happened
so yesterday when I was playing it for the first time I wasn't sure what was happening
Ahhh, crud. I was sure I had gotten all of it stamped out at the end... Thanks for the screenshot. Didn't test thoroughly enough it seems
peppy music and big bold graphics are nice! I found a bug I think, when I keep jumping Z key the main character can keep going higher..interesting concept with dna!!
Thanks for the kind words! The infinite jump ceiling glitch has thankfully been fixed in the post-jam version!
allrigght!!
Hope you finish it. I love those type of games.
If you have an update you'd like to submit before the gbcompo21 time window closes tomorrow (but are locked out due to another jam), we can work with you to find a way to submit your new version to the judges. Just get in touch with me or any of the other active compo organizers.
Oh nice, I had given up on bothering doing anything for the last couple days but tomorrow I'll see if I can maybe iron out some kinks. Thanks!
okay, maybe i am jsut too dumb for how it works...
so I go to the computer with worm dna previously collected. I hover over the frog dna and press x to select it.
then I move right until I am over one of the cross hair spots. pressing x wherever I wanna place the dna.
but what next? pressing x again would only unplace the dna in that slot which is not what I want.
so as there doesnt seem to be another way to get out of that menu, I would press enter.
which brings me back to the start of said room.
so after having placed the dna in the computer menu, what next? what do I do or press to get out of there and start producing said animal?
You're totally not! Lots of people have had issues with the menu!
After you place them into the cross, hit right a few more times until the selector highlights the "Synthesize" on the bottom- the text window on the left will say "Make it!!", then you can hit X to generate
(I really wish I had gotten the up and down buttons to work)
I'll definitely have to rework this whole menu in the future!
beat the game literally without getting what I was doing.
Like, I dont get it. a tutorial or soemthing would be nice to have :-)
I agree, tutorials are always helpful, maybe if I had more time in the jam! Is there something specific that was confusing? I tried my best to make the description clear
well in the computer screen, I managed to for example put the worm dna in the 4 slots around the min body. same for blob dna and stuff.
but I dont really get outside the pc screen how to utilize this.
like having 4 worm parts attached didnt seem to change anything. and on the last screen I had like 2 worm and 2 blob.
in that room I just pressed c (and didnt climb up to the pressure plate or anything) and the barrier just opened. for whatever reason.
so yeah, no idea, how to actually use the equipped components :-)
So you never saw a creature get generated? If you hit the synthesize button, then I think you ran into a bug! I actually haven't seen this bug before, but I managed to get it just now. Still not sure how, maybe exiting the menu without synthesizing messes it up?
Also, filling out all 4 slots seems to make the creature sometimes fly off of the screen at light speed for some reason, although monsters that only use 1-3 slots mostly seem to work ok. It's weird, I definitely thought I had 4 slot worms working in testing.
The C button opens gates because I knew there were bugs that might make the game unbeatable, it's a special cheat.
I'll have to look these bugs! Thanks for the details!
I gotta try the game again but I cant really remember seeing any creature, no.
I though the x button was jsut there to place and unplace stuff in the slots :O
I'm gonna quote you here: Very ambitious idea! Took a bit for me to get what was going on, and that's not a bad thing. Seeing the first creature get synthesized gave me a nice 'a-ha' moment. The music and graphics were a highlight for me, great job nailing the aesthetic. Chiptune is satisfying.
I enjoyed the platformer aspect, I think it could have been expanded by adding fail states such as dying to the spikes or blob. I also wonder if the screen space could pose challenges for expanding on the interesting concepts you established.
There were some funky graphical glitches, nothing deal breaking. Starting the game again really breaks everything though. Funny enough, it fixed the worm which I didn't realize was supposed to be crawling (and not spinning in place)!
It left me wanting more, and the authenticity of these GBA games is really impressive. Especially since, as you noted this was your first time developing in C. Overall great execution within the limited time frame.
Thanks for the detailed input! I wanted to add fail states but there wasn't nearly enough time. Maybe in the future!
I saw the spinning worm in almost every playthrough :-)
this conecpt is really interesting, but the game is pretty buggy. I feel like the idea is limited because of the harware it's meant for, I'm confident this would be great in a more powerful engine!
Thanks for playing! I definitely agree, when I started I definitely didn't realize just how limited the GameBoy is, I'm definitely considering trying again on something modern!
I'll keep an eye out, good luck!