In a careless moment you let your tiny kitten siblings out of your sight.\nNow they are all lost in the big and dangerous city.\nSoon you won’t just be a black cat, you will be the black sheep of the family.\nUnless, you can get them all safely home.
\nDefinitely PG-13 for cat lovers, because you can’t save them all…
\nPlay on desktop with the WASD keys.\nPlay on Quest with the thumb stick (only one controller needed, after start enter VR!).
\nTechnical details:
\nBest looking city in js13k so far.\nI just wish there was some drop-off point for kittens, so I do not have to frag a dozen of them behind me.
\n","games":["All you have to do is Dream"]},{"typ":1,"at":410379491,"re":410340258,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Hi Alexander, thanks for the compliment!
\nI planned for a drop-off point at the end , but ran out of time. But while playing I really liked the ever increasing dread of having to cross the road ‘Do I dash to save the one on the other side of the road, or protect the ones I’ve got’.
\nThanks for playing!\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":410460421,"author":"Teddy Chen","login":"teddychen1251","gh":20600583,"text":"Played in VR - props for procedurally generating a city! The thumbstick control feels a bit hard to wrangle, but I really enjoyed being immersed in the environment.
\n","games":["CatSlap"]},{"typ":1,"at":410751693,"re":410460421,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Hi Teddy, thanks for playing!
\nI have done controls before so I assumed it would work the same here. But this was my first time doing a 3rd person camera, and I think that could be related to the hard to wrangle part since you are moving around the cat which might make the player overcompensate when streering. I’ll have to figure out how others do that.
\nThanks again!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":410881884,"author":"Elias Ku","login":"eliasku","gh":3038174,"url":"https://eliasku.win","twitter":"eliaskuvoice","text":"Such an adorable concept — a little cat gathering other kittens! 🐱❤️\nI really enjoyed playing. The music is lovely, and I love how you collect them all into one big train procession.\nI haven’t quite beaten it yet, but it’s one of those games you just want to come back to.\nGreat job! 👏🎮
\n","games":["Cat Survivors"]},{"typ":1,"at":411031530,"re":410881884,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks Elias! Those are some great complements!
\nI’ve played quite a few times as well, never got all of them out alive :-(
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":410937563,"author":"Superman","login":"superman2211","gh":1331864,"text":"Interesting 3d city generation. And then there are the vertex shadows. And the very idea of the game is interesting - you go collect your cats.
\n","games":["Black Kate"]},{"typ":1,"at":411031403,"re":410937563,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thank you for playing!
\nThe vertex shadows and AO is actually not even per vertex but per voxel face, and the lighting only has 4 stages levels: light / shadow and AO / not AO. I was quite surprised the end result looks as good as it does with those limitations (but I did cheat on the shadowed underside for the tree foliage and hedges by using a darker green).
\nBest,
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411027138,"author":"Reverend Stickle","login":"ReverendStickle","gh":215874048,"text":"The procedural city is really cool. The cats getting hit by cars is pretty funny.
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":411031067,"re":411027138,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Glad you liked it! I had a good chuckle first time my cat got ran over :-P
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411116391,"author":"xem","login":"xem","gh":1225909,"text":"Ah, this one is playable without VR headset. And it’s super impressive! Visual, sound, technic. Though the title screen says “ittens crossin” on my Firefox
\n","games":["I got up on the wrong foot"]},{"typ":1,"at":411204448,"re":411116391,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Hi Xem!
\nThanks for playing and especially thanks for you kind words!
\nI thought I had fixed that problem once and for all (can’t reproduce it anywhere anymore). Ah well, that’s one to fix next year :-)
\nBest,
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411449258,"author":"Kev Etchells","login":"KevinEtchells","gh":1634605,"text":"This game is really impressive. It worked well in VR but the motion was too much for me. It felt very immersive though and the graphics are great. I enjoyed playing this on desktop.
\n","games":["9 Lives: An Escape Room"]},{"typ":1,"at":411675761,"re":411449258,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks for playing, and your compliment!
\nI’m mostly not susceptible to VR Motion sickness, but even I noticed that the movement and steering is a bit too wild. But I played mostly on desktop, so I figured that out too late to remedy.
\nThanks again!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411628719,"author":"Andrew Higson-Smith","login":"ElementalSystems","gh":4255763,"url":"www.elementalsystems.co.za","text":"Fantastic work - amazing to fit it all in - emotive and entertaining to play. Your entry has all the features of a winning game- playable; on theme; original and technically very impressive.
\n","games":["Wake the Cat"]},{"typ":1,"at":411675855,"re":411628719,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Wow, thanks! That is a great compliment, especially from someone who is a top contender this year themselves!
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411693972,"author":"João Lopes","login":"lopis","gh":2715751,"url":"www.jlopes.dev","text":"I was having fun until have my cats got ran over. I think I shed a tear. The surround sound effects are pretty nice. I feel like cats should walk a bit faster.
\nThe end screen said I saved 8J cats. Not sure what J means?
\nThere were some corridors that I couldn’t cross, but I feel like the cat should fit in them. Maybe the hitbox should be a bit narrower.
\n","games":["Meow Mountain"]},{"typ":1,"at":411816542,"re":411693972,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Sorry for the trauma :-)
\nThe 8J was a final day, too quick release, artefact of my own pre-minifier, that accidentally minified something in that string, oops!
\nThe cat looked great going through those narrow passages, but I had to make the collider a bit bigger after I implemented proper anti clipping for the cats and camera since the camera could easily get stuck in these narrow passages (still not entirely gone, but al lot better in the wider passages).
\nThanks for your comments and of course, thanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411695098,"author":"JackDesBwa","login":"JackDesBwa","gh":493717,"text":"Impressive result: graphics, sound, gameplay. Simple original concept well executed.
\nI had difficulties playing in VR though, because motion sickness caught me very quickly. Maybe a 3rd person view could help with this without changing the gameplay too much.
\nEdit: I used the wrong term. I meant a point of view that is not moving with the cat, for example a camera that is moved behind the cat only when the user presses a button, or the way around, a button to keep the camera where it is until released.
\n","games":["Catway XR"]},{"typ":1,"at":411815944,"re":411695098,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Since this was a 3rd person view, I assume you mean first person view? Either way your not the only one to get a bit queasy, sorry :-).
\nThanks for the compliments and thanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"typ":2,"at":411711726,"author":"Josh Marinacci","login":"joshmarinacci","gh":276938,"url":"http://joshondesign.com/","text":"The game looks amazing but was very slow and glitchy on my Quest 1. I also got motion sickness pretty easily. I suggest using a different motion mechanism.
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":411816107,"re":411711726,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks for the compliments!
\nI think the combination of 3rd person view and slightly volatile controls was a bit much. I was mostly developing on desktop and not playing enough in VR, especially the latter I should have caught :-(
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411879224,"author":"Alex Swan","login":"BoldBigflank","gh":636964,"url":"https://alexswan.dev","text":"This is a technical marvel. Great art style and a nice game concept.
\n","games":["AL13YCAT"]},{"typ":1,"at":411965090,"re":411879224,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thank you very much!
\nAnd thanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"typ":2,"at":411903217,"author":"Fernando Serrano Garcia","login":"fernandojsg","gh":782511,"url":"http://fernandojsg.com","twitter":"fernandojsg","text":"Very beautiful aesthetically! Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work properly on my Quest 2, but on desktop it runs perfectly. Congratulations as well for not relying on any third-party engine and building everything raw without external dependencies — really impressive! 👏
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":411966221,"re":411903217,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks for the compliment!
\nI have a Quest 2, but haven’t used it a long time since I got my Quest 3, I assumed it would simply work (perhaps a bit slower) and didn’t get around to testing on it. Tried it just now, and there is indeed something wrong with the controls. Strange, but in my experience controls are usually the most difficult part to get right, so perhaps not surprising.
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"typ":2,"at":411929381,"author":"Kieran Farr","login":"kfarr","gh":470477,"twitter":"kfarr","text":"What you’ve accomplished here is an amazing technical achievement. A procedurally generated city complete with buildings, moving cars, varied urban environments with nooks and crannies to explore really raises the bar for what’s possible in 13 kilobytes! The 40-60 second generation process is both annoying to wait through but also impressive knowing the computational complexity of what you packed in. Playing as the cat rescuing 20 lost kittens created real tension as I navigated streets, avoided traffic, and watched my rescued cats form a growing trail behind me. My one concern is that the classic thumbstick locomotion caused VR sickness. Consider adding teleport locomotion or comfort vignetting as an option if you expand this. Despite that comfort issue, your technical wizardry and engaging gameplay make this a standout achievement. Brilliant work!
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":411966730,"re":411929381,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Wow! Now those are compliments that anyone would like to hear! And thanks for your extensive feedback, these sorts of comments on my previous entries definitely helped me improving my entry for this year.
\nYou’re not the first to comment on the VR queasiness factor being a bit too high. I’m sure that is partially because the 3rd person camera that swings around the cat when turning instead of just following. First time implementing a 3rd person camera, so there is definitely room for improvement.
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411951123,"author":"Jasper Renow-Clarke","login":"picosonic","gh":26137750,"twitter":"femtosonic","text":"Wow this is amazing!!
\nThe procgen city looks really good
\nThe graphics and models are very polished and work really well
\nI like how the traffic drives around autonomously
\nI genuinely started caring for the little cats and as my train of followers grew crossing the roads became more and more perilous, I was listening out for the dreaded ding-ding
\nThe background sound is as you say a little repetitive, but a bit of procgen could easily fix that
\nI did see a couple of vehicles which were overlapping for a while, and they had z-fighting
\nThe nearest sibling thing didn’t always work or me, sometimes the arrow pointed somewhere away from a kitten that I could see right in front of me, but without it I wouldn’t be able to find the next one
\n","games":["Mochi and the midnight escape"]},{"typ":1,"at":411967389,"re":411951123,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks for you high praise!
\nYou nicely pinpointed my top two known issues :-)
\nUnfortunately I only noticed after closing that kittens could spawn inside a building. That’s when you get the arrow seemingly pointing the wrong way, and you can’t finish the level in those cases :-(
\nThe cars sometimes overlap because they look ahead one block, waiting for the other car to leave. That resulted in eventually all cars deadlocking, LOL! Without time to rewrite the logic I simply maximized the waiting time, hoping that the car in front would have left by that time. That works mostly, but obviously not always.
\nThank you very much for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"at":411951766,"author":"Michel Sabchuk","login":"michelts","gh":361492,"url":"http://turbosys.com.br","text":"I almost gave up when Firefox wanted to kill the tab assuming it was frozen, lucky I didn’t because the game is really impressive!
\nI don’t have a VR headset to test with, I tested in the regular browser, wonder why didn’t apply for the desktop category as well.
\nCongrats!
\n","games":["Black Cat's Rise"]},{"typ":1,"at":411967643,"re":411951766,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Although it is quite fun to walk around the city in VR, I think it actually plays better on Desktop, so you didn’t miss anything! However, WebXR entries are allowed to use an external WebXR library, like A-Frame in this case, which is not allowed in other categories like the Desktop category.
\nThanks for the compliment, and thanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"typ":2,"at":412016194,"author":"Diego Marcos","login":"dmarcos","gh":39342,"text":"Super fun take on the theme and graphics are great. Locomotion too intense. I couldn’t find all the cats. I was too motion sick
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":412034173,"re":412016194,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"By far the top comment below was motion sickness related, so you’re clearly not alone. This was my first 3rd person implementation, and being impervious myself made me not realize this (not sure if I had time to fix it either way).
\nThanks for playing and all of your work that did the heavy lifting!
\nSamuel
\n"},{"typ":2,"at":412027696,"author":"Akbar Sultanov","login":"akbartus","gh":54757270,"text":"The game wonderfully reflects this year’s theme. The graphics are impressive, especially considering the small scale of the game. My only concern as a player was motion sickness caused by the current controls and navigation, which may need to be reconsidered. Otherwise, the game is very engaging and interesting to play.
\n"},{"typ":1,"at":412034365,"re":412027696,"author":"Samuel van Egmond","login":"SamuelVanEgmond","gh":95985602,"text":"Thanks so much for your kind words!
\nYou are definitely right that it is much more playable on desktop currently! I find controls by far the hardest part of WebVR to get right especially targeting different environments. But that is what makes participating every year such a great learning experience!
\nThanks for playing!
\nSamuel
\n"}],"results":{"theme":{"rank":4,"min":2,"score":4.32,"max":4.53},"innovation":{"rank":2,"min":2,"score":3.92,"max":4.06},"gameplay":{"rank":2,"min":1.75,"score":3.64,"max":3.8},"graphics":{"rank":1,"min":1.73,"score":4.68,"max":4.68},"audio":{"rank":3,"min":1.81,"score":3.4,"max":4.41},"controls":{"rank":5,"min":1.31,"score":3.32,"max":4.2},"primary":{"rank":2,"min":9.67,"score":23.28,"max":23.88},"label":"WebXR"}}