Berzerk At Home
Berzerk At Home
by Classy Kraken
===What is it===
A love letter to Doom, Berzerk, and a simpler time when we only needed one button to get our gaming done!
Don't let the kids fool you into thinking that you need an entire keyboard and mouse, or a controller with 4 face buttons, analog joysticks, triggers, and haptic feedback to get your game on.
Step back to a better time, when you could count the pixels on screen by hand and only had to fiddle with one joystick and one button.
Also, my submission to the Cover Up 1 Game Jam.
***NOTE: this may run poorly in browser. If you have problems please report them, so I can try to get it working smoothly!
From my limited testing it appears that letting the game run for about 30 seconds clears up the lag.
For browser, you'll have to hit "esc" if you go into any of the menus to get your mouse cursor back, I swear I'm not trying to steal your pointer!***
===Why you should try it===
You were probably thinking, "I wish I could play Berzerk, the groundbreaking game for ATARI 2600," well I've got news for you, we've got Berzerk At Home, so put your worries aside grab a Tang (I think that's what you all drank back then, right?), put on some Black Sabbath (or jam out to the crunchy in game track provided by Fredrik Blom) and hit play!
Initial reviews are really promising!
"Well that is something isn't it!" - My grandparents
"Thanks for sharing that with us. It seems like you enjoyed it." - My parents
"You would rather put your time into that, than me?" - My wife
Also, it's free, then again a lot of the games on here are, and they're almost certainly better, but you won't know unless you try!
===Story===
Your dad grounded you but stepped out to get some cigarettes (or milk if you want to keep it PG) and you have exactly 1 minute to wreak havoc. Destroy your father's prized model mech collection in the digital world and then share your stats with friends and coworkers in the real world so you can finally gain their respect!
===Game Play===
- Destroy 40 targets in 60 seconds.
- The targets randomly spawn providing literally, multiple minutes of pure adrenaline-pumping excitement!
- Maybe find a secret.
===Controls===
WASD - movement
Left-click and hold - swap weapons
Left-click (blaster) - fire
Left-click (hand) - nothing... unless there happens to be secret(s) hidden about.
That's it... No sprint, jump, dodge, duck, dip, dive, or dodge.
===Known issues===
1. It appears to end the game at 39 kills rather than 40 (haven't investigated)
2. Laggy, at least on startup of browser game. (likely need to reduce assets significantly)
3. Mouse contain on browser doesn't work as expected, and ends up being rather obnoxious. (haven't investigated)
4. I don't know how to spell "check". I should probably spell chcek everything...
5. More enemies spawn than should be allowed (possibly fixed)
6. Potential for the game to hang up if you try to play another round after winning (possibly fixed)
7. If there was a secret, there might be a "speed running hack" associated with it. (easy fix, but may not be worth it)
8. Assuming the lifetime stat tracking works, it's just saved in an unencrypted .json, so ruffians could just plug in absurd numbers and trick their loved ones into thinking they're the ultimate gamer. (no intention to fix at this time)
===Future plans===
Nothing unless this somehow drums up a fair amount of interest. My spaghetti code, lack of sensible file structure, and horrible coding practices have made this pretty miserable to work on, but you never know...
- Add more maps.
- Include more stat tracking (time played, fastest clear, etc.)
- Implement pickups
- Enemy variety
- A better options menu
- Presentation overhaul (only with extensive help)
===A little about me===
If you've made it this far and are reading this, I genuinely appreciate it! I've been in love with gaming and fascinated with game design for as long as I can remember. I made horrible text-based adventures in Basic, Rock Paper Scissors in Visual Basic, and a handful of cheesy little games in Excel. My dream is to make independent games for a living. I have no expectations of being up there with the titans of indie development, but if I can bring a few people some joy and maybe make a few bucks along the way, that would be pretty freaking awesome.
Berzerk At Home is essentially the first "feature complete" game I've ever made and I hope to make many more (and better games) in the years to come.
https://classykraken.itch.io/
https://www.youtube.com/@ClassyKrakenStudios
=====Acknowledgements=====
This project would not be possible without the amazing free resources below and many helpful folks online.
FPS Gun Sprites - Rekkimaru https://rekkimaru.itch.io/fps-gun-sprites
Tin Stumpers (enemy sprites) - Lanferna https://lanferna.itch.io/tin-stumpers
School bus and SWAT van - overcrafted https://overcrafted.itch.io/free-paid-vehicle-car-sprites-
Skybox - Richard Whitelock https://godotengine.org/asset-library/asset/579
Lanterns - Karsiori https://karsiori.itch.io/free-pixel-art-lantern-pack
Outdoor and Material textures - https://cc0-textures.com/
Music - Fredrik Blom https://soundcloud.com/fredrikblom
SFX - https://pixabay.com/
Splash Screen Wizard - ThePat02
https://github.com/ThePat02/SplashScreenWizard
GAP EasyExplosion Textures - Gabriel Aguiar
Godot Splash Screen - ACB_Gamez
Download
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Comments
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Great work! Way to go, participating in [====== game jams.
(extra characters are Scout's review, I don't have the heart to correct her grammar or translate to English.)
I think that your backstory could use some more depth and a few passes in workshop. Are we in the gritty reboot phase or is this the cynical post-modern version of the character? You should definitely consider motivations and where this character is coming from. Does their situation warrant a more explosive response, maybe? Or do you think that maybe this is their effort to re-mold themselves via abject violence. Where do you see this character in a year? ten years?
Otherwise, great job!szesZCqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
Thank you!
I actually had some better stuff typed up, but ended up not importing it because there's nothing I like better than missing details!
As for BAH Kid, his backstory and future area already heavily penned. I can't release the full details, but he funnels his daddy issues into an unhealthy obsession with success. He becomes the CEO of a company which he pivots into personal space exploration, and eventually builds a lab on Mars where he begins experiments on interdimensional travel.
Please give Scout a treat for her incredibly valuable feedback!
Good job. Think the concept is pretty funny, and trying to find secrets in the map is always fun.
The weapon switching felt a little awkward, but I think that's more my brain kind of defaulting to Doom controls. The time limit also felt really strict, but I don't think you could raise it too much without losing the challenge.
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback!
The weapon swapping was intentional (my nod to the Atari 2600 only having 1 button).
As for the time limit, my intention was to allow the player to modify the time and enemy count, unfortunately I did not organize my file system and ended up wasting my last few hours trying to prep it for release without breaking everything, and didn't have time to implement the last couple of features.