Hollow Cheese

Created for GMTK Jam 2024.

The idea was to make an Metroidvania. Sadly, as is usually the case with overscoping, most of the content that makes the game a game couldn't get in. A good chunk of the development time actually went into making the basic mechanics and the level editor, so I made sure to include them in the web version as well (even if without the ability to save your creation). Usage instructions below.

The game is open source and is developed using C++ and SDL.

While this is hardly a "finished" "game", any feedback would be appreciated.
The same goes for testing of what's available in this build.

What does work?

While the limited things we managed to implement don't really let our project pass as a game, I'd like to note down most of the things that do work. These are:
- the core mechanics of being able to resize certain tiles;
- composition of levels within a bigger world that allow for non-linear order and multiple paths;
- a World Editor that lets you order and connect levels on a plane;
- a Level Editor that lets you place and modify tiles, add objects (even though we didn't add the objects) and add certain textures in the levels. It also contains a bunch of cool features such as possible path movement, partial game mechanics simulation while editing, or jumping to the actual game system and back for easier level testing.

Controls and game mechanics

Use the WASD keys to control your character -- a blue rectangle, as its animated sprites couldn't get in on time.

Use the mouse to drag the brighter edges on some tiles.

Get out of the screen to visit other areas.
(There are bugs with some transitions not making sense. We added all areas in the last hour before the deadline, so they are brought to you untested.)

Once you get bored of the existing areas, hop onto the World Editor and play around.

How to use the Level Editor?

The world editing is split in two main scenes: world editor and level editor.
The World Editor has it's usage instructions in the actual game, so I'll only cover the Level Editor.

The Level Editor has 3 active modes that you can pick from the buttons above the top right of the level area. (the ones with the complex icons)

In Edit Mode... ahem, (realizes he didn't render the button labels here), in the one at the right which is selected by default, you can drag on the screen to either create new tiles (platforms) or resize existing ones. Dragging with right click deletes platforms instead. Clicking near a platform's side  allows this platform to be scaled in the selected direction by the player.

In Object Mode, which is linked to the middle button above the right side of the level, all available in the system objects are listed and you can drag them into the level. Use right click to remove them.
Currently there are only two objects, a level entrance and the game's start point, which can be used just once in the entire world. They do not have textures attached, so there's not a lot to see here. When a player gets outside of the screen, the game finds or (untested feature warning) is supposed to find the closest level entrance in any level that is touching the current one in the World Editor.
As you can guess by now, I do not exactly guarantee this will always work great. For best results make sure you add one of these on each side of a place where areas do touch each other, and wall out all other possible ways for the player to go outside the area.

In Texture Mode (the left-most button above the right side of the level) you can pick some of the textures that did made it into the game files and drag them into the level.

The Play button at the top left corner will run the level in the actual setup seen by the player... except at this point it will pick a random(?) starting point on the level.

The next button lets you drag up to two players inside your work-in-progress level to try out some movements. The first player uses the controls mentioned above, the second one can be controlled with the arrows. Click a third time to cease the game simulation.

The third button toggles the Jump Reach Prediction System mode. It's a system that runs a part of the movement and collision systems to provide you with an accurate path reachable by the player when jumping or falling towards left or right.
I do believe that could be a very useful feature for level design, especially when combined with items that increase the jump height or movement speed of the players... items that didn't make it in the version uploaded here.

The last interesting group of buttons is the time control section.
It provides the basic-yet-satisfying ability to slow down or entirely stop time, letting you do your level testing with precision, style and satisfaction.

The gray X button at the top right will return you back to the World Editor. It also doubles as a save feature, but that's meaningless in this web build.

Known issues with the Level Editor:
- Picking textures in Texture Mode doesn't pick the texture that was clicked on.
- You are able to get the simulated players stuck into some tiles if you really try to. The system that prevents that tends to modify the tiles that would otherwise collide with the player, but it is not allowed to do so in the Level Editor. Make sure to try it out in the actual game, it is kinda fun to play with.
- Players in the Level Editor can fall out of the level area. Just press the button you used to summon them a few times and they will be back. That's better than having the level you work on change randomly every time you happen to drop a player.

Where the cheese?

Only in the game files and some of the source files.
But also on the ending lore.. which you only get to see in the screenshots section, as the game doesn't have an ending condition.

Credits

I am to be blamed for all and any issues in the source code. All assets were created during the Jam period by Jennifer Skot, including the ones we couldn't put in the game in time. The GMTK Jam logo was provided at the Jam page.