Recently, having some free time, I browsed interesting Jams on itch.io and encountered an artist from Azerbaijan who created an eye and shared it with me. This immediately sparked the idea of making a game about defeating "eyes" from the internet. Within 12 hours, the concept evolved into a shooting game. I spent two days refining the interface, levels, and sound effects. Every night, we updated the web version and brainstormed new ideas. It was fascinating how a fully playable game could originate from a single image, a phrase, or a new acquaintance.
An interesting aspect of this Jam was the requirement to use only 1-bit assets, meaning only two colors could be used, and all other game visuals and materials had to be created with code. This meant that every aspect of game design had to consider a minimalist style and clear user experience.
To resonate with the theme "Transform," I implemented numerous transformations in the code, including:
- A script that analyzes black and white graphics and performs automatic transformations, capable of morphing an enemy from "tears" to "eyes" or transforming a spaceship into any other object.
- A script that turns a four-panel comic into an animation, utilizing image transformation to gradually change the white comic on a black background to the next one, like in a dream. I used this as a transition animation in the main menu.
- Flying creations being blown into pieces, flying off the screen.
This was an interesting project. Although it didn't win any prizes in the end, it consistently ranked high. In the final scores, the music and art received relatively good recognition. After discussing with my collaborator, I packaged this game into a game template and published it on the Unity Asset Store for more people to use.