Bitstream (itch)

Well it isn’t quite finished but I wanted to share what I’ve done anyway!

Bitstream was going to be a game about a virus going deeper and deeper into a computer, destroying AntiViruses on the way - but I tried to go too big and ended up with just a single level with no end state! The core game mechanic is the Bitstream, a string of ones and zeroes that you have to use strategically to get efficient results.

The aim of the game is to destroy all the antivirus shields without running out of bits, this is made easier by the fact I ran out of time to create an end scene, so now we have unlimited bits for everyone!

To start the game, you must deploy your viruses in one of the blue squares at the left of the map, by clicking them.

And now you will see your viruses on the motherboard ready to fight some poorly-coded unable-to-move enemies (which look like shields because antivirus or something idk…)

So now our viruses are deployed, we can take our first turn! Each turn begins by selecting a logic circuit to plug into the bitstream at the top of the screen. This is your hand of carts:

By clicking one of them, you will be able to see what I wasted far too much time doing, as a copy of the circuit plugs into the four leftmost bits at the top of the screen. The 1s act as truths and the 0s as falses, and the animation should show a preview of what the circuit will do.

In the above example, the 3 will be lit up as it is linked through a NOT to a 0, while the others will be unlit, since the 6 requires 1’s in the first two positions and the 5 in the latter two. This means, if we decide to use this circuit, we would have access to the yellow three for our turn.

To confirm this choice, click the circuit again, and it will be consumed and turned into some buttons on the left side of the screen. Each of these squares represents an action we can now take.

The pink coloured ones represent an attack, with the number corresponding to the range. With this pink 6 I could hit an enemy shield up to 6 squares away! The yellows allow you to move a unit up to that range. To use an ability, click its icon, realise I haven’t included any feedback to indicate its been clicked, and then click one of the units who is highlighted (meaning they haven’t yet moved this turn). Both attacks and movement are blocked by the components on the board. Despite sometimes having 3 actions available above, each unit can only take one action maximum. Below is an example of an attack, where all enemies in range are highlighted.

Now if we click one it is killed and removed from the field.

After either all the available abilities, or all the available units have been used, the turn is over, and a new one begins!

If you make it past the first few enemies you can move the camera to see more using the arrow keys.