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Traslo11 hours ago (1 edit)

Hello.
Unfortunately we've had to disqualify this entry.
The bulk of the game seems to run at 576p or higher as its internal resolution and not 144p, as there is a constant shader in use during all the mine segments that gives all the assets dithering within their larger pixel blocks. This same higher resolution appears to be in affect for the vision/light system's circle which is very far above 160x144p internally.

This system appears done selectively as it does not affect all screens in the game (i.e. the main menu and the surface hub) and UI is completely unaffected by it too. As a result this appears to be a very intentional implementation and we don't want to have people think that we're allowing a much higher internal resolution than the rules state. If this isn't a shader, that would mean most of the artwork has been purposefully drawn at around 4x the intended resolution to have the shading on purpose in the first place, which is still the same issue.

The game was very fun so it is indeed a massive shame to have to disqualify it, but as said we need to ensure rules are adhered to sufficiently so as to prevent future misunderstandings. We hope you understand and that we see you next year.





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Dasmish10 hours ago

Hi, and thank you for the kind words about the game and for explaining the decision.

We went through the project to find out exactly what happened. You're right about what you saw, but it wasn't intentional and it isn't the artwork.

What happened: the game is built around 160x144, using Unity URP's Pixel Perfect Camera to render at that resolution and upscale by whole numbers (exactly 3x). The mine uses its own camera prefab. In our final commit, about 10 minutes before the deadline, the pixel-perfect component was removed from that prefab while we were trying to fix how the mine framed on widescreen displays. We didn't catch the side effect: without that component, the mine camera renders at the window's resolution instead of 160x144. That one missing component explains everything you described:

  • The palette/dither pass is a 4-colour, 4x4 Bayer full-screen effect meant to run on the 160x144 buffer. Without the low-res target, it ran on the upscaled window, so the Bayer pattern ended up inside each large pixel.
  • The lamp is a 2D light whose texture is sized relative to the camera target, so its circle was also rendered at window resolution.
  • The title screen, surface hub, boss room and ending weren't affected because their cameras kept the correct setup. That's why it looked selective.
  • The UI is a separate 160x144 canvas at integer scale, so it was never affected.

The art itself is native: every sprite is 16 pixels-per-unit with point filtering, drawn at 1x, not 4x.

With the component back on the camera, URP renders the mine into a 160x144 target, runs the dither and lighting on that buffer, and only then upscales it, which is what the rules require.

Since uploads are locked after the deadline (which we fully understand), a mistake made in the last minutes couldn't be corrected. We're not asking to replace the build. We'd just ask you to reconsider the disqualification, since this was a last-minute configuration bug rather than a deliberate choice to use a higher internal resolution. If it helps, we're happy to send side-by-side screenshots of the mine with and without the fix.

Either way, thank you for running the jam. We had a great time and hope to see you next year.

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