1-1(bit) Off-Planet Dreams
A downloadable game
Dying is Feedback. Death is information.
1-1(bit) is a cognitive platformer made in Pulp for the Panic Playdate. The platforms are invisible and the player builds a mental map of the level layout through traversal and observation.
Players can reveal the level using the B button. Players also tend not to do that.
Inspiration
This game was inspired by a similar project shown at Fantastic Arcade in Austin, TX years ago. It was a beautiful wooden arcade wall mount that consisted of a joystick and a single, vertical strip of red LEDs. As you navigated the level you 'viewed' it 1-pixel slice at a time by observing your dot's position. 1-1(bit) is based on this concept and built on a 'Smooth Movement demo' created by Nick Sr. and released on the Playdate Squad Discord.
DEMO
Demo v 4.1.3 is up and I consider it more or less complete as a standalone. Unless I find bugs, this will be the last update for a while as the primary infrastructure is in place now.
Start Screen has New Game, Continue and Deaths options. The demo will now save your progress as you go and there is a level select option under the World icon. There will eventually be more worlds and you'll be able to select any levels you have reached through gameplay. There is also an option to turn on/off the music backing track. (It's a banger composed in Pulp by Eva Boyd, who has previously worked on the ART series games as well!)
The B button menu now includes the ability to go back to the Start screen which keeps your level progress, but if you Menu out of the game back to the Playdate game selection, your progress will be saved as well.
Time to build out the rest of the game!
(v4.1.3 fixes a minor bug in v4.1.2 that let revealed platforms be persistent within a session)
How to Play
This demo can be played on the Playdate but can also be downloaded and played on the Simulator included in the Playdate SDK
Download the SDK to get the Simulator here: Develop for Playdate
Then follow the instructions (to run on PC or Mac) here: Inside Playdate
Not sure how to Sideload on the Playdate? Helpful video below!
Download demo
Development log
- Playdate Community Awards!49 days ago
Comments
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Gave this a run at the weekend, and it's a really intriguing little game. Always amazed that pulp can be this smooth! I can imagine extra UI tweaks might be good, like maybe flashing up platforms for a few seconds after landing on them to firm up the level layout in a player's mind. Looking forward to seeing where it goes!
Thanks! Take a look at the new trailer. You'll be able to 'Peek' by hitting up or 'Paint' the level in as you go as a mode. I'll rework these into the demo as I finish up the game 😁
Ah yeah, looks great! The story side looks nicely intriguing too :)
Note in Demo 4.1.1 I've added Music and a Start Screen. The continue option is not working but will be soon. The World select IS working but further worlds don't exist.. yet 🤣
4.1.3 has continue and level select options. I'm planning several more worlds, but Pure is the one currently in the demo.