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Customers will appear on the left between 8:00 and 20:00 (when the sign at the top says OPEN).
You can buy the potions they place on the counter by pressing C while facing them, as long as you have enough money.
You can sell your potions to them by pressing C while facing an empty slot on the counter, as long as the formulas match.

Place potions in the machines, then run on the treadmill to power them.
The potions will be processed into new potions!

Horizontal Cut
Input: 1 2-high potion.
Output: 2 1-high potions.
Separates the top and bottom halves of a formula.

Horizontal Join
Input: 2 1-wide potions.
Output: 1 2-wide potion.
Joins the left and right halves of a formula.

Clockwise Rotation
Input: 1 potion of any dimensions.
Output: 1 potion of the same dimensions.
Rotates a formula clockwise.

Horizontal Flip
Input: 1 potion of any dimensions.
Output: 1 potion of the same dimensions.
Flips a formula horizontally (over the y-axis).

Trash
Input: 1 potion of any dimensions.
Output: None.
Destroys a potion to make more space in your lab.

Buy low, sell high to make a profit!
You don't have to (and probably won't be able to) satisfy each offer from every customer. Just take the ones that are actually good, then interact with the register to call the next customer.
Once the shop has closed each day, hop into bed and hold X to save the game and sleep through the night.

Future versions will have something to actually do with your money, namely upgrading your lab with new machines and fun pets! You will also unlock more complicated formulas as time goes on. Character customization and some story dialogue are also something I want to try to add.

Version 1

• first playable demo version

Version 2

• current version
• added save/load system
• added cash register
• added sfx
• added music
• added y-sorting for sprites
• fixed pricing so that it's easier to make a profit
  

Press ❎ or 🅾️ (x or c on keyboard) to jump into the pit.
Use left and right arrow keys or d-pad to drift during free fall.
Press ❎ or 🅾️ to fire downward, launching yourself up!

Press the right button in the main menu to see the credits.
Press the left button in the main menu to access the hat shop.

Use the up and down buttons to navigate the shop.
Hold ❎ or 🅾️ in the shop to buy a hat.
Press ❎ or 🅾️ to equip a hat you already own.

The Pit!

Do not run into blocks of dirt.
Do not run into the insectoid inhabitants of the Pit.
Do not let them spit acid on you.
Shoot both blocks and insects to destroy them.
Hug the sides of the pit to fall slower.

The Pit!

All art, sounds, and code were created by Glenn Cagle.
Feel free to use any of these assets in your own work.
If you do, please credit me and let me know so I can check it out!

The Pit!

Version 0 - Initial Release

Version 1

• enemy projectiles now obey physics
• added coins
• increased maximum rate of fire
• added button prompts where appropriate
• added hats

Version 2

• fixed money resetting glitch
• removed button prompts for unimplemented features
• included "stashed" and "grabbed" labels in the run summary
• added a few hats
• changed coin sound and particles slightly
• added credits screen

Version 3 - Mistaken Upload

• mistakenly uploaded a previous version (face palm)

Version 4 - Current Version

• tweaked coin spawning to prevent memory leak
• added hat shop
• added a lot of hats

The Pit!

D-Pad [arrow keys] to move
O Button [z/c/n] to fire guns
X Button [x/v/m] to fire missiles

In the Menu screen:

• Fly to the top of the screen to start the game
• Fly to the left to see the credits
• Fly to the right to see the highscores
  

Objectives

Your mission is to fly into enemy space and destroy the aliens that pose a threat to all life on Earth!

You must wipe out all enemies to clear a wave.
Clear all 9 waves + the final boss to win!

Lives

You start with 3 lives (indicated in the bottom left).
Getting hit by an enemy or enemy bullet costs 1 life.
When you run out of lives, Game Over! You will have to start from the beginning.

Missiles

You start with 1 missile, but you can hold up to 3 (indicated in the top right).
Pressing X fires a missile. Missiles explode damaging all enemies caught in the blast.

Power

You start with 0 power with a max of 9 (indicated in the top left).
Collecting a Power Pip increases your power by 1. Getting hit costs 3 power.
Enemies will sometimes drop a Power Pip when destroyed.
Destroying an enemy while it is attacking increases the odds of a drop.
When you have full power, you will automatically enter Power Mode, tripling the shots from your main guns.
After 6 seconds, you will exit Power Mode. Time spent in hyperspace (between waves) doesn't count.
Collecting Power Pips while in Power Mode extends the timer. Getting hit reduces it.

Bonuses

Every 10,000 points a bonus missile will appear.
Damaging a bonus missile enough turns it into a bonus heart (1-up)!
Be careful! Damaging a bonus heart too much destroys it!
Collecting a bonus missile while you have 3 missiles or a bonus heart while you have 3 lives awards 1,000 points.

Scoring

Destroying more powerful enemies awards more points (indicated in the top middle).
Destroying an enemy while it is attacking increases your chain (indicated below score).
Continuing to destroy enemies during their attack awards bravery points based on your chain.
Watch out! If you destroy an enemy during its attack, another enemy will immediately attack in retaliation!
If an enemy completes an attack run, you will lose your chain.

If your score is high enough, you will be able to enter your name in the highscore table!
Use Up/Down to change the letter, use Right/O to move to the next letter, use Left/X to move to the previous letter.

All art, music, sounds, and code were created by R. Glenn Cagle ( @MisterWizard01), inspired by the work of Krystian Majewski ( @Krystman) on Cherry Bomb as part of the Lazy Devs Shmup Tutorial on YouTube.

Special Thanks

To Krystian Majewski, the best coding tutorialist on YouTube
To all my students and coworkers who helped me playtest
And @badmini99, the only person other than me to have beaten the game before its release

And ALF, a legend.

Version 1

Version 0 was a mistaken upload. Had some dev stuff still enabled. V1 is the first public version.

Version 2

You can no longer shoot down your own missiles.
You can now fire your missile while holding the primary fire button.
Tweaked the cart label art.

Version 3

Lives indicator is now drawn below the sprites.
Centered the boss's fly in animation.
Added cloud of green smoke when collecting a bonus.

Version 4

Fixed infinite Power Mode glitch.

Considerations

I don't really intend to keep working on this game any longer. The only thing I think really needs more attention is the music. Power Mode could use a little aesthetic help as well, but I set my deadline for this project at 6 Sep (the original jam deadline) and at this point it's good enough.

That said, if you see any bugs let me know! I will release another version for bug fixes if you spot any.

• actually implement the settings menu...😅
• Use a transposition table to speed up the AI. I actually already tried this, but immediately ran into memory issues. If I were to re-implement it, I would need a good algorithm for deciding which table entries to purge when the memory starts getting full.
• Restrict the cursor to only pieces that can move (when no piece is selected), and only moves that the selected piece can make (when one is). This was recommended by @ChristopherD who played the game while it was WIP. You can view my response to that below.
• MoAr PaRtIcLeS...I had planned on having a starfield or some shapes moving around in the background, as well as a bit of dust coming up around the pieces when they land after making a move. I implemented the former, but took it out because I thought it added too much visual noise. If you think it would cool to see in the game, please let me know. I have plenty of tokens left for more of this kind of juice. 👍
  

V1

• Jumps are now mandatory, as per the official checkers rules
• Added sound
• Updated AI (includes 3 more levels)
• Animations are somewhat smoother

V2

• Hotfixed a sound glitch that made the game nigh unplayable

V3

• Improved AI speeds slightly
• Show available actions at the bottom of the screen
• Show jumped pieces on the sides
• Show opponent level while playing
• Added Pause menu
• More sound fixes

V4

• Recognizes draw by threefold repetition
• Improved AI endgame strategy
• Added Take Back last move option in Pause menu
• AI now runs on a coroutine (i.e. game shouldn't freeze)
• Added proper title screen
• Show what move the AI is considering
• Added a few miscellaneous sounds and effects