Play Atari 2600 Game
Count Down: The Sleepy Vampire's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #2831 | 3.615 | 3.615 |
| Narrative | #3880 | 2.577 | 2.577 |
| Enjoyment | #4177 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Audio | #5094 | 2.654 | 2.654 |
| Artwork | #6312 | 2.654 | 2.654 |
Ranked from 26 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
Count Down (the vampire) is Counting Down (feathers) for his pillow so the Count can lie Down (Horizontal) for the night and sleep.
(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
See description.
(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Two Separate Gorillas
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Comments
That fact that this was even possible during the jam is a massively impressive. Love the basic gameplay it is really fun. I have a few nitpicks with the gameplay but those aren't much to go on. Mainly that the bat controls are fairly floaty but that's it. Also the count often is stuck on corners for some reason.
Apart from that this is a lovely entry into the jam, Hugely Impressed with it.!
absolutely awesome! i played this using a arcade joystick and it was such good fun, great job! i adore the style of atari games it reminds me a bit of the og haunted house or the adventure games!
Hold on, is this a real 2600 ROM running in Javatari? Because if you actually built this within original Atari hardware constraints, that’s one of the cooler flexes I’ve seen in this jam. The loading screen took me right back.
Made it to my pillow, though I died more times than I care to admit, those dogs run a tight patrol. I liked that it drops you straight into the gameplay, no ceremony, very period correct.
Couple notes from my run, I clipped into walls a few times and got stuck inside a dog once, and WASD support alongside the arrows would feel nice on modern hands. Some music under the SFX would be great too, unless the silence is part of the 2600 authenticity, in which case carry on :)
What was the hardest 2600 limitation to work around?
Full disclosure: I used Batari Basic for this one so while it can run on a 2600, it wasn't the original 6502 Assembly Code.
Main limitation is you are allowed 5 things on the board: Player 0, Player 1, a missile for each and a ball. Any game which shows more than that has to do some very quick switching out which flickers to get it all on screen at once. The second player was the dog and it's why the feathers were lines. Music is doable (a bit) but a pain so I just kept it to the SFX.
Main complaint people have is the collision which I will try to fix. Thanks for playing!
Five objects and flicker-swapping explains so much, the feathers being lines is a genuinely elegant workaround. Good luck with the collision fix!
Very nice !!
Thanks for the game !
Very nice !!
Clever game concept!
neat game :)
Nice concept, the bat was a bit fiddly to control at times when trying to get through small gaps which led to some frustration. Overall a generally enjoyable game
This is an extremely unique and interesting concept.
It's pretty fun getting a handle on the movements, and flipping flawlessly between human and bat form!
As another commentor mentioned, the count get stuck on walls, especially around corners.
I had this happen quite a lot - in fact, the majority of my "deaths" were me turning into bat form while stuck just to restart the game.
Screenshot attached below shows an example.
I also think it would be nice to avoid insta-death for bumping into a wall as a bat, being forced to start all over again; but I'm guessing that was a deliberate throw back to the old unfair games of yesteryear.
A game that is very true to its medium. Simple, old-school fun. Love it.
The only issue I noticed is that the count sometimes gets stuck in walls. But somehow that made it more authentic. :D
Very cool that you wrote this in something that could compile down to run on the atari. If you ever put it up in a form where it could be flashed to an authentic cartridge let me know - my brother has a collection and would love to have something kooky like this.
As for the game it self pretty fun! I got a little tilted trying to get them all so my count will unfortunately have a bad sleep tonight.
Thanks for playing it! Might need to make a "hardware" version which is a bit more forgiving because the penultimate room feels like it might be either impossible or at the very least a very big challenge on a proper joystick.
Sorry for ruining your sleep!
Wasn't expecting to play an authentic Atari 2600 game for this jam, but very glad that I did! It's uncompromisingly difficult, but in a way that feels true to the era (even if the little winding descent section towards the end made me rage quit more than once lol). The bat score countdown is dialled in to perfection, navigating the more difficult sections as fast as possible to prevent running out of time was nerve-wracking.
Bit of an aside, but I absolutely love your description of how the game fits the theme!
great entry. you tried something unique and I indeed liked it alot. also the atari artstyle is very pleasant. Good job !!
The 80s nostalgia is off the charts with this one! Kudos for using some completely random and unique game framework/engine thing. You might have the only batari game on itch.
Loved the concept! And very fun to play an Atari game. It's simple and it works well, except for when you get stuck into the walls :D
It's a fun concept! It's quite interesting how you made a Atari game lol. I think the gameplay is fine but the character gets clipped into walls which basically ends my run which is quite frustrating. Though I imagine it was difficult to work on the code!
Just think of it as a "precision" Adventure-style game!
FUCK this stupid fragile ass count who clips into walls at the drop of a hat i bet he clips into a wall gets stuck and dies trying to go to the kitchen to eat his breakfast he clips into his dog while going in for a pet man im genuinely in awe that hes even managed to survive to bedtime
its cute and i liked it but i gave up before beating it because its an evil game that wants to hurt me
Yeah I think you beautifully summarised what all the people are thinking!
The fact that I die from touching literally anything in bat mode frustrated me. Getting stuck inside walls/furniture when I'm just walking around frustrated me even further.
The style on the other hand is quite unique
The dying when you fly into a wall as a bat part was to incentivise the player to choose when to be a bat and when to walk (and plan out strategy). The getting stuck as a human part is a quirk of bad Atari 2600 collision. Sorry!
It is all 100% authentic Atari 2600. Play it on your own 2600 if you want!
Cool concept of making an atari game and I like your application of the theme haha. I had multiple instances of getting stuck on the wall, or trying to use the wall to line myself up before transforming only to die immediately after turning into bat form because I guess part of me was in the wall. Not sure if this is a limitation of the engine or if you were just prioritizing finishing the game. Either way, I enjoyed the game, just wanted to give some constructive feedback!
Never thought I'd play what feels like an authentic Atari game during this jam! Nostalgic and fun. Was a bit unforgiving at times (but I guess all Atari games were at the time hahaha) Had a good time with this one, awesome job! :)
It is one! The bin file can be put on a flash cart and played on native hardware if you so desired. Thanks for playing!