Substrate

Version: 0.13 (05/06/2025)

SUBSTRATE is a top-down bullet-heaven prototype where you pilot a small, transformable ship to reclaim occupied star systems.

Tap to move, weapons fire on their own, and the ship will transform as you acquire and build new blueprints. 
 
The gameplay consists of defeating enemies, collecting raw materials, and using whatever blueprints are available to build and enhance your weapons. You steer the ship to aim - weapons mount where they fit on the hull and fire in a straight line (with many exceptions).  Asteroids provide safe sources of matter and can be destroyed by weapons or close proximity mining lasers. The enemy - a group of rogue machines referred to as the Swarm - will continue to amass over time, produce from nearby Factories, and never despawn - destruction is the only path to survival. 

The game is a single HTML file; the game window is rendered in a Canvas object and all gameplay and data is stored in the Javascript of the game itself. The game is playable on mobile, but the UI has not yet been optimised for vertical view/touch controls.

--DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS--

LAUNCH
You are presented with a campaign list and can have multiple campaigns in progress at once.
A star map will show the current status of the galaxy, and what systems you can venture to in order to liberate them.
Meta-progression will allow you to customise your load-out and upgrade your ship across runs.  
 
CONTROLS
Tap to move
Tap and hold for more fine-grained control
Tap asteroids to stop near them and mine
Tap the 'autopilot' button to continue moving in whatever direction you clicked

BLUEPRINTS
Defeat enemies and factories to collect Blueprints
Blueprints can upgrade your existing weapons, give you a new weapon to build in your 'blueprint queue', or upgrade an unbuilt blueprint
Blueprints require matter to build. Collect matter by defeating enemies and mining asteroids.
Blueprints can grow in power and there is no limit to how many weapons you can install - but each one becomes more expensive than the last. 
You can only carry a finite amount of matter in your cargo hold - but your ship has a handy tractor beam that will scoop up anything left over in a cloud that follows you around. You can build from this as well!  

TRADING
Find green trading zones to trade minerals for blueprints or upgrades

CORE NODE
After 5 minutes, the 'core node' in the system  will spawn. Destroy the core node to liberate the system!

DEFEAT
Dying will leave your ship as a wreck floating in space. The next time you go to that system, look for your wreck - you might be able to salvage materials and blueprints from it! 

META PROGRESSION
Liberating a system with resources in your cargo hold will preserve them between runs - so you can start with extra matter!
Liberating systems generates Tribute. Spend tribute on permanent upgrades to your deployed ships!
Future updates will introduce custom weapon loadouts from discovered blueprints and other meta-progression systems.

The game is under active development and is by no means complete or developed at this time, but I'm really just testing to see if the core conceit and gimmick is fun. Feedback is more than welcomed!

DEBUG VERSION

This version contains the following debug commands requiring a keyboard if you're interested in testing functionality and pushing things to their limits. You may need to download the html file and run it locally in order to use these functions:
   
    ` (backtick) -Open Debug Menu 

     Numpad 0 — toggle GOD MODE (invincible, +10x dmg)

     Numpad 1 — +materials (matter/antimatter/darkmatter)

     Numpad 2 — heal to full

     Numpad 3 — spawn red enemy near player

     Numpad 4 — spawn green elite near player

     Numpad 5 — spawn random blueprint pickup

     Numpad 6 — spawn random common mod pickup

     Numpad 7 — toggle slow enemies

     Numpad 8 — toggle draw-grid + draw-targets debug

     Numpad 9 — spawn core node boss NOW

     Numpad . — install a new random weapon at tier 0

     Numpad + — upgrade a random installed weapon's tier

     Numpad - — random rare mod pickup

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Disclaimer: Generative AI has been used heavily in the creation of this game.  It would not have been possible for the developer to write the thousands of lines of functional javascript required for this game to work on any reasonable timescale.

Ontogeny Interactive understand AI evokes a lot of strong reactions from people, and if you are vehemently philosophically opposed to its use, Ontogeny Interactive respects your position.

Ontogeny Interactive hopes that in the future we can find a balance between leveraging the benefits of Generative AI and ensuring those benefits are evenly distributed to all. 

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We at Ontogeny Interactive recognise the traditional owners of the country where we live and work. We recognise and celebrate the diversity of Indigenous people and their enduring cultures and connections to the land and waters of Australia.