GDSR

Oh boy, GDSR. This is where things start to get interesting. This is the first real game that I managed to implement any form of mechanics that I really liked, and was the first game I got any appreciatable amount of the way through.

Firstly: the visual design. This was the first project I decided to say, "you know what, screw it - I don't need fancy graphics. I'll just make everything two colors: white and transparent, and then simply tint that white color and the color of the background."

An extremely simple design, and one that, I believe, is the reason why I managed to get so far in this project as I did. It took me five minutes or less to come up with most sprites, which were usually 16x16 or 16x32. This speed of iteration meant I could focus on the gameplay without worrying about the visual part.

So what is GDSR exactly? GDSR stands for "generic demon-shredding roguelike" - a very on-the-nose title, which was very intentional. You were essentially a "demon hunter" traveling through hell in an attempt to kill... Satan. Yeah, kind of a nuts story, but I wasn't too focused on that part at the time, so I just did whatever sounded cool. It was a rogue-like game, meaning you started from the beginning every time you died. It was modeled after "The Binding of Isaac" though GDSR was a sidescroller rather than top-down. You collected items, upgrades and coins. Items could modify the way you dealt damage - by shooting your gun - or by modifying other things, like the way you take damage or heal.

The game features some very... interesting bosses.

Including one named... rock bread. Yeah, don't ask why I named it that. I designed the sprite and said, "hey, this looks like a rock. And also bread." Genius, right?

On the other hand, though, there were some very fun and cool bosses that I designed! One of the best, in my opinion, was "death".

All in all, it's a very interesting project that I may very well return to someday. But for now... I'll let it sit in the closet, collecting dust.