Finally! I’ve been working on this project for quite a while, I think it’s now in a solid enough state for an “open beta”.
It’s just a demo, created in the free version. If it gets enough traction, I’ll upgrade to Indie and release a larger full size game later.
The game is called Fishy
Rated E for everyone.
The goal is for the player fish to avoid undersea dangers, while eating smaller fish in order to grow larger and progress to the next level.
Movement can be controlled using either ARROW keys, or the WASD setup.
The player fish will STOP moving when no movement keys are pressed.
Pressing H will pause the game and open the Help menu.
Starting on level 4, the player will also have access to a temporary rechargeable SPEED BOOST activated by holding down the SHIFT key + any movement key.
The BOOST bar will deplete when SHIFT is held down, and will slowly recharge when not in use.
Making contact with any EDIBLE fish will add to your food bar. Once your food bar is full, you will pass to the next level.
Making contact with any DANGERS will result in your “death”, restarting the level.
CAUTION: The higher levels of the game have a lot of moving sprites on them that may lower your frame rate, especially if you’re playing on a lower end device.
KNOWN BUGS AND ISSUES
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“Alert bars” have been used as temporary placeholders instead of actual menus. You may need to click several times before exiting a level start or help screen. This issue should hopefully be fixed in any future “full” versions of the game.
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In the game’s actual code, negative Y variables have been used to move UP, because for some reason my PC is bass ackwards and using inverse Y outputs. If this function is not working correctly on your end, please provide feedback and suggestions below.
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Sometimes, colliding with other objects in the game (including both harmless walls and edible fish) may either slow, stop, or even recoil the player until the movement key is depressed and pressed again. While this was not intentional on my part, I think it adds to the difficulty factor, so I’m keeping it.
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Occasionally, NPCs will get stuck in cave entrances. Again, this was not intentional on my part, but I have tried to ensure that there is still enough “food” available in each level for a player to be able to progress without eating every possible food source. SPOILER ALERT: except for the last level, in that one you have to eat every edible fish.
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The NPC fish oftentimes behave erratically. The eels and lantern fish in levels 3, 4, and 5 for example, will occasionally swim upside down. Other fish will get stuck in corners or against walls, swim backwards, or float in place. None of these actions were intentional on my part, but I think it helps add to the randomness of the overall game flow, so I’m not going to bother spending 100 hours trying to fix it.
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There are probably a few other glitches that I forgot to mention, but hopefully none of them are game breaking. If for some reason your current level gets completely borked, it’s pretty easy to get yourself killed and start over again.
Feel free to offer any feedback below. Criticisms, ratings, complaints, suggestions, telling me I should probably give up on game design and go work as a Walmart greeter instead, etc.
ADDITIONAL: Credits
Credit to FLOWLAB for providing the engine, tools, and collision sound effects.
Credit to MYSELF for the “artwork” and overall game “design” (if you can call it that).
Credit to Mother Nature for the background sound effects (downloaded “free use” MP3 recordings)
Credit to other games I’ve played for the inspiration behind the entire concept
Credit to my father for introducing me to video games
Credit to my mother for letting me play video games even though she thought they were a waste of time