Zephyr Express is a solo platform-like task simulation game. Unlock tools, cars, and movement abilities to rack up points. Try the hard mode for a bit more motivation and slower progression.

Goal:

• pick up tool -> complete tasks
  • Note: There is no way to "lose" the game / run. You'll only lose score if you fail to satisfy the customers.
• choose your upgrades at the end of each round
  • Note: if you make many customers happy, you'll get a bonus round unlock

Known Bugs:

• You can pick up multiple tools at once. I think this turned out to be rather interesting so I'll leave it in there. It is fun to complete a lot of tasks at once!
• Some issues with stairs (especially at high speeds): keep moving left or right and your player should snap to one of the floors
• Score Wrapping: hard mode can cause the player to lose points. I am really out of energy so you can try to wrap around 0 to int16_t max!

In terms of the theme for the game jam... well... let's just say losing points would be unlucky of you! or maybe the tasks spawn in an unlucky place! yea... It would have been better to have certain tools or upgrades locked at the start of a run but I am running out of time to implement that...

This game was inspired by Co-Op games like Overcooked/Plate-Up. I wanted to make something similar and wanted to use the game jam to test out some of the UI and progression. Unfortunately, the game boy's serial connection is a bit slow so I am unable to deliver co-op on that platform. However, I was able to get a "split screen" NES version working! The game isn't optimized well so it runs a bit slower on NES but seems to at least function correctly (at least in the Mesen emulator). Technically, the code is programmed to support up to three players but I think it would run poorly in its current state. There is also some code to control NPCs (players 3 and 4) but this was not completed in time.

Controls (Browser):

Browser Button	Game Boy Button	function
Z Key	A	Pick up Tool, Menu Confirm
X Key	B	Menu Back
Direction Keys	Joypad	Movement, Menu Select
Enter	start/select	Unused

Take a look at the code here: https://github.com/jgensler8/zephyr-express-game

Built with GBDK! This was a first targeting the NES. I still don't understand some parts of that system but, hey, it sort-of works!