This post is about a Rust program…

$ cargo install conway-nes

…that prints out a NES binary…

$ conway-nes > life.nes

…that runs Conway’s Game of Life!

$ fceux life.nes    # fceux is a NES emulator

A traditional roguelike where the outcomes of attacking and defending are pre-determined and visible. Gameplay revolves around fighting slimes, adding to your sequence of combat outcomes, and using abilities to modify the order in which combat outcomes occur. It’s set in a neon sewer!

It’s my entry in the 2020 7 Day Roguelike game jam.

Play or download slime99 on its itch.io page.

View the source code on github.

It’s done! I spent today fleshing out the final boss fight, music, and lots and lots of playtesting and tweaking until the game felt challenging but winnable (and fun!).

I spent today play-testing and tweaking mechanics to make them more fun and balanced. Originally there were slimes which granted the player abilities when attacked. These slimes would flee the player at half speed, and you would need to chase them down while evading other slimes to get new attacks, defences and techs. This proved tedious, so I cut them. Now all enemies have a chance to drop items when killed. The green “goo” slimes drop better items, but they also spawn sludge when killed, so you have to step in sludge and take damage to pick up the item. There are also various items placed around the level, with better items being placed in sludge.