CONS
Overview
In the game of CONS you are a sentient warrior cons cell. In each randomly generated mission you will infiltrate and sabotage an alien military installation.
CONS is in a playable alpha state and is available for Windows, Mac OSX (Intel only), and GNU/Linux. Please visit the downloads page to choose the right file for your platform.
This is not a finished game, but your comments and feedback are welcome. Many user requests and suggestions have made it into the game; tell me what you want and perhaps I'll implement it!
My games page has links to my other games.
Screenshots and video
Play mechanics
The player is composed of several square 16x16 pixel pieces whose movements follow one another like a centipede. At the start of the game, there is the "agent", i.e. the head of the snake, and three segments. Each body segment is one inventory slot; adding body segments upgrades one's inventory, but since segments are also susceptible to enemy fire, these upgrades also increase your vulnerability.
All gameworld interaction is accomplished with the arrow keys, shift, and the keys Z and X:
- Arrow keys (or numeric keypad) for movement.
- Shift-arrow for activating the selected inventory item. If this is a gun for example, you fire in that direction.
- Z to change the selected inventory item
- X for picking up items, activating switches, and so on.
- C to drop the selected inventory item
Notes on the downloads—PLEASE READ
Please visit the downloads page to choose the right file for your platform.
Windows users:
Right now there is no fancy installer, but you can still download and run the game with a few clicks.
First, your browser will probably ask you whether to Open the download, or Save it to disk. CHOOSE SAVE TO DISK and put it wherever you want. If you are just trying out the game, you can put it on your Windows desktop.
Second, RIGHT-CLICK the CONS zip file and choose EXTRACT or EXPAND or UNZIP (this may vary depending on your version of Windows.) If it asks for a destination folder, choose the Desktop.
Third and finally, DOUBLE-CLICK the CONS-alpha-N-win32 folder that should now be on the Desktop. The folder should open into an Explorer window. Scroll down to CONS.EXE and double-click it. That's it! Sorry, we are working on improving the installer.
Mac OSX users:
Use CONTROL-P to pause, as there is no "pause" key on the Mac.
Linux users:
- You need the libsdl, libsdl-mixer, libsdl-image, and libsdl-gfx libraries installed via your distribution's package manager.
- If the game complains about
libsdl_gfxnot found, it will give you the option at the command line to choose between several restarts. Choose CONTINUE and it should work. - If you get errors about paths and configuration when trying to start up, see these notes for a fix. In particular, you can add a line like:
(setf xe2:*module-directories* '(#P"/home/dto/xe2/"))
to a file called .xe2rc in your home directory. We are working
on fixing this bug.
- If you get no sound, you may need to install the pulseaudio
version of SDL-MIXER from your distribution's package library.
This will replace the raw ALSA version of SDL-MIXER and fix the
problem. The package name you want on Ubuntu Karmic is
libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio - If you still can't get any of the binaries running, or if there is no binary for your system, see the developer's install guide for instructions on making your own binary.
Support
- irc.freenode.org#lispgames
- email me
The game world
Each enemy base is rectangular in shape, where each grid square (or "sector") therein represents a different type of facility (and a different randomly-generated game level.) This is the game's "overworld map" if you will, but it is limited in size to between 4x4 and possibly as high as 16x16 on a higher difficulty setting.
In each sector, one or more goals must be completed, such as defeating all enemies, defeating a particular enemy, retrieving an item, or unlocking a doorway. Once your total mission is complete, a victory/scoring screen is displayed, and then the game ends. Death also ends the game.
The different sector types are:
- Archive (AR)
- Security (SE)
- Storage (ST)
- Reactor (RX)
- Corridor (CO)
(In addition there may be surprise sector types which occur rarely and may figure into an overarching story of some kind.)
The contents and varying goals of each sector must be discovered as the player visits them; only squares adjacent to a sector whose objectives are completed, may be identified and visited. One may complete goals and sectors in any available order, and return to different areas as needed (for example, running back to an Archive to retrieve more healing items.)
Each sector generator has a "level" parameter that can trigger additional behaviors intended to make a level more difficult and more rewarding. The general difficulty of the game can be ramped by generating map squares of appropriate difficulty levels.
Sector types
Archive (AR)
These long-term data storage facilities can hold valuable secret data. In addition, repair programs may be available.
Security (SE)
The station's data security depends on the operation of the computers here. Important secret data files may sometimes be obtained, or even new abilities.
Storage (ST)
You never know what you'll find in a storage chamber. All manner of supplies, ammunition, and sometimes special items may be found here.
Reactor (RX)
The reactor cores contained in these chambers are the main source of the enemy's power.
Corridor (CO)
These massive tube-like corridors are used to transport materials and vehicles all over the base. Steam flows upward along the sloped channel; corridors adjacent to a reactor are especially hot.