Posted October 23, 2023 by therabidbanana
As with my previous Lisp Game Jam entry, I'm collaborating with my daughters and they've decided that this time we're doing a mermaid game. The platform will be one even more limited than Tic80 - the Playdate. This is a handheld system with a really friendly SDK but only 1bit graphics and a crank - it's pretty neat!
My first few days for the game jam have been mostly focused on trying to get the core mechanics of the game down. I'm imagining Calm Sea as a more free-form version of Frogger - dodging schools of fish, sharks and other ocean inhabitants as you attempt to dive to the bottom.
The control scheme is a bit weird - attempting to take advantage of the crank for directional control. The crank being tied to scrolling in the simulator is okay but it's definitely easier to get used to when playing on the actual device. I still need to figure out how to make it feel more like "swimming" though.