thanks!
rostok
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I just assumed there was a single drone and, as you've explained, extra target would force it to perform cost analysis. Please note, that this is a 1KB game, and I really had no more space to fit in any kind of extra effect to hint the player. Even a single sound. Well, maybe if I have refactored it more I could spare these couple of bytes...
All right, here's the solution. I can't hide it since itch.io has no spoilers tag.
Once any of the characters is in the open, drone targeting begins. A red rectangle appears and gradually shrinks over time. Once the target is locked, the character is executed. However, if a second character appears, it disrupts the targeting mechanism, causing the initial rectangle to grow larger. This gives you extra time—not much, but still enough to reach nearby buildings if you hide and reveal yourself strategically. Note that if both the hero and the kid move close together, this disruption becomes unnoticeable.
thanks. the print string is flip() cls(1) and setting palette. ⁶ is a shorthand for \^. palette is being set by poking memory at 0x5f10 but I skip 2 bytes as first color is typically black. here's more info https://pico-8.fandom.com/wiki/P8SCII_Control_Codes#Poking_memory
The further you go, the longer are the distances between the houses. But no perfect movement is necessary to finish the game. I did, however, assume that eventually players will "hit the wall" and become slightly frustrated and this will force them to revise the strategy. In particular - did you study/notice the drone targeting behavior?