MICROSLAYER by jellyfishhunter
You are a bacteriophage on your quest to infect the mighty amoeba. Will you survive the onslaught of viruses? Will you save your RNA? Will you succeed in bringing forth the next generation?

Controls: - Movement: WASD/Arrow-Keys/Left Joystick - Attack: Space/Controller-A/Right Shoulder Buttons

This is my first participation in Ludum Dare and my first game with Godot as well! I hope you enjoy my creation! I dedicate this submission to my parents' cat as well as the former conductor of my brass band, who both unfortunately passed away this week.
Tools used:
Godot 4.3
Pixilart
SFX from Gamemaster Audio - Pro Sound Collection
Music from Ovani Sound
| Link | https://github.com/jellyfishhunter/jellys-LD56 |
| No Audio | https://github.com/jellyfishhunter/jellys-LD56/releases/tag/v1.0 |
| With Audio (not by me) | https://github.com/jellyfishhunter/jellys-LD56/releases/tag/v1.2 |
| With Audio (not by me) | https://jellyfishhunter.itch.io/microslayer |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/microslayer |
Ratings
| Overall | 349th | 3.737⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 224th | 3.776⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 807th | 2.961⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 397th | 3.855⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 342th | 3.974⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 855th | 2.368⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 451th | 3.611⭐ | 38🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 58🗳️ | 69🗨️ |
Really well made little game, I felt like a bacteriophage.
Combat felt decent. Great work.
The music is really cool, made this game.
Only thing I have to add is that sometimes the enemies don't die on one hit and it's not clear why, but having some enemies with more health is actually a good idea (as they just get knocked back but still prepare their attack, I can't just keep pushing forward and attacking carelessly) - just make them different so the player has to both notice it and plan ahead
Great entry!

PS: Sorry to hear about your parents cats, hope the Jam has been able to help brighten your week :heart:
@budaniel @holysparks To be honest, it's a bug that some enemies can withstand several hits as they're all only meant to withstand just one hit. But it felt right to keep it as is to have some more menacing foes. However I agree that in the long run I would have rather introduced separate enemy types.
@neoawesomeon @cliff-coffee @pietmichal It was my first time trying to do all visuals by myself and went with this simplistic retro style. I keep your feedback in mind for the future. Thanks!
@heiden-bzr Yes, some levels with confined spaces can be very hard, especially if you lost your RNA (your life) and can't get back to it. I tried different level designs to create different kinds of challenges. But perhaps some additional mechanics, like dashing through enemies, could help in these situations and still keep the game challenging.
@triggthediscovery Hah, nice! Unfortunately I'm not that old. My art inspiration was VVVVVV. Today I learned a new thing. Thanks!
@conor-wilson Thanks for the kind words. I've been through a streak of bad luck recently. LD56 really has been a little highlight for me. I had a lot of fun developing this game and still have fun testing all the other cool creations, so I'm doing well so far. :heart:
Sometimes the spiky enemies doesn't die on the first hit. It's not clear why. Do they have a random amount of hit points, or to they block my attack in some way?
A few times after getting hit by spiky guy, the spiky guy would remain stuck to me while I didn't have my attack available. Then I was just guaranteed to die the next time he attacked. Not sure if that was supposed to happen or if it was a bug.
@paulmag Both of the things you found were bugs I observed but didn't fix. However it never happened to me, that an enemy stuck to my head. That's very unfortunate.
@sleepystudios @dgspitzer Thanks for playing and thanks for the positive feedback!
@hakimallazi I'll make sure to learn how to export Godot games for web next Jam :wink:
fantastically dear jellyfishhunter,
I love your game microslayer in ld56 so much, especially the fantastic graphic art effects. Please allow me to study creating wonderful pixil art from you. And we can communicate some other things about Game Development.
My email is ceasiumzmj@gmail.com. I am looking forward to your reply.
Love and peace,
From ceaiumzmj
2024.10.17
drawback is that some enemies will attach to you and you cannot get rid of them, that's so disappointing. But at all the game is really good out of my expectation.