AMOEBOID

Malingerer-Z's picture
Amoeboid.jpg
Game File: 

AMOEBOID

A bit of Video Graffiti.

A short science-horror story of survival and self-rescue.

Just a small experiment in item conservation and economy of movement.

Author: 
Malingerer-Z
Made For: 
An event

Comments

dessgeega's picture

i found this really

i found this really compelling even though i couldn't finish it after three tries. the scarcity of ammunition makes for a lot of good little moments of hope and dread and also moments of I HAVE NO AMMO, ALL I CAN DO IS QUIT which is the least fun. given that you've got two different kinds of resource anxiety going on - ammo and torches - i think maybe there's a way to leverage them? maybe there's a big maze of tunnels all the way back at the beginning, with scattered ammo cans - but getting back there and finding them in the dark burns valuable torches, so it's only for the desperate. maybe there are some monsters down there, too, and since the player can't afford to waste her precious ammo on them she'd better get in and out as fast as possible!

Malingerer-Z's picture

I tried to be fair, but at

I tried to be fair, but at the same time be VERY strict with item conservation. There is a VERY small margin of error. Knowing the experience would be a short "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" bit of graffiti, I figured repeated plays to get the solution down was it's best chance at any sort of longevity. I did my best to balance things by leading the player's eye by anticipating where they'd likely be and teasing information j-u-s-t on the periphery of the torchlight. Of course, investigation doesn't ALWAYS pay....

Funny thing is, after speed-running it a few times, I thought I was TOO GENEROUS with supplies!

There's so much I want to discuss, but I want folks to discover the little moments (the few that there are) for themselves.

I think I'd like to develop this further.

If you find the time, give my silly experiment ILLUSORY MOMO a try!
http://yourpointsnowpoints.blogspot.ca/2012/05/illusory-momo.html

dessgeega's picture

okay i will!

okay i will!

commodore's picture

A good challenge, just long

A good challenge, just long enough too. Not so long that you really start to get sick of it. Once you know where to go, you can build a little bit of a surplus, but I guess its a balance between memorizing where to go and allowing some room to discover the right move. I wasn't sure if there was more, since it did not endgame. I was initially a little bothered by this, but on reflection it might be a better end to just be stranded there. It occurred to me that I might have to fling myself off the edge to end the game, but I just ran into the sky!

Malingerer-Z's picture

SPOILERS AHEAD?

DESPAIR: NO title screen, NO endgame, NO WAITING!

(SPOILERS?)
What I REALLY want to know is... did it look like an upside-down helicopter to you? I took for granted that because "I" knew it was supposed to be, that everyone else would too. My ZZT ARTWORK might be lacking....

commodore's picture

I can see that now, but,

I can see that now, but, yes, originally I did think the helicopter was upright. I thought it might have been like a chinook, double bladed style.

It might have involved some bombs too. As this sort of game gets longer, it gets harder to balance the resources you give the player, but you could add some intermission or something that starts you over at a set amount.