Dice Nine
For the Roll of the Dice theme for GMTK Game Jam 2022.
Story
An unstable (game) element, Dice-nine, has been spontaneously invented by the mad scientist, Doc Numb!
A single roll could end the Universe! (If it's a 5 or a 7, or something like that).
Only you can stop him! (Sorry, I'm really busy today.)
It's dangerous to go alone, so let's roll for your first weapon.
Dice Guns
Dice Guns shoot randomly according to their ammo.
Some are
<3
(shoots 1s and 2s)
Some are
>3
(shoots 4s, 5s, 6s)
Some are
odd
(shoots 1s, 3s, 5s)
Some are
all
(shoots 1-6)
Bullets are color coded (by their number).
Perhaps some can be modified/combined? Dual-wielded?
> Yahtzee gun - shoots full-houses
Enemy AI
Keep it simple. Patrol up and down a hallway or according to a path. If player enters the line of sight, they chare, or shoot
Enemies with associated numbers
Enemies have one or more numbers associated with them
As a counter or a weakness? Could be either I suppose.
Enemies drop their die when defeated - more ammo? Additions/upgrades to the gun?
enemies have their number subtracted according to which numbered dice hits them? ones are one shot, 6s take a few (unless you fire a six)?
could also change their size based on that.
Space Shooter or Top Down Shooter?
Asteroids or Rambo? Diceteroids?
I'm thinking bullet hell!!
avoid bullets that don't match your current number
maybe we should have little shops?
instead of linear upgrades?
maybe that's the game, betting on upgrades?
explore the cloning/separating to go down hallways/controlling multiple dice
rolling to find the right die?
limit the number of rolls!
some enemies: need a matching number
others just get knocked down a number based on your ammo
consider a movement boost? maybe different powers for the different numbers?
magnetic dice-gems ?
enemy drops
Backlinks
A 48 hour game jam held once a year in July.
From the Game Maker's Tool Kit
Youtube Playlist showing the top 20 from each year: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc38fcMFcV_vnAZjugCRdKr8_8d_y_rRl
An inspiring moment in gaming, from Zelda.
I have this on a tshirt and love referencing it.
This was actually referenced in Dice-Nine
A hackathon of sorts!
A deadline!
A reason to start (and finish!) a new project!
A game jam is a time-frame for making a game with other people, usually accompanied by a theme and some constraints (like time, game-engine other arbitrary rules).
Tilesets should be automagic! But it takes some pre-work and some bitmask learning.
See also: TileSetTools script