Crocodile Survival

A phone-first survival game where you see the world as a rotating cross-section — grow from hatchling to river god through an outback Australian river system.

Compare All Versions

The Design Story

Built over three days in October 2026, Crocodile Survival explores a unique camera mechanic: you only ever see a 2D cross-section of a 3D world. Rotate the slice like a radar beam to navigate. Every element — hunting, stealth, oxygen management, growth — plays out in this single clean image.

The game went through three major visual iterations and eight code versions, all built by AI agents using the local qalarc toolchain: Z-Image-Turbo for sprite generation, ACE-Step for audio, and GLM for orchestration.

Version Progression

🎮

v1 · Oct 8

Pixel Prototype

First playable: slice mechanic, fish eating, growth, day/night. Pixel art style — proved the concept worked.

Clean flat-vector art, interactive props (reeds bend), ambient life, proper speeds. Abandoned pixel style.

Same mechanics in 6 art styles. AI-generated sprites via Z-Image-Turbo. Shore cattle, motion effects, full animation suite.

Full 1950s picture book style with AI-generated sprites. Fixed: dense prey (16 schools, 20 cattle), proper fish schooling with separation, bigger eat radius, smaller croc on screen, clear direction arrows, settings gear.

latest

Try Each Style

Same game, six visual directions. Tap to play, compare, and let me know which works best.

📊 Compare Side by Side 🎮 Pick & Play

Core Mechanics (all working)

Rotating cross-section navigation (dial, slider, wheel, A/D, touch)
Croc follows finger — no buttons needed for eating
Auto-eat on contact, jaw opens in anticipation
Growth from biomass — camera zooms out as you grow (hatchling → giant)
Oxygen, stamina, food, HP meters
Breach at speed → airborne arc → pierce through surface keeping momentum
Shore cattle: graze → walk to water → drink → flee on detection
Body undulation, head-look toward cursor, turn anticipation coil
Interactive props: reeds bend, lilies push, bushes rustle
Day/night cycle with world-bearing sun and moon
Surface wave physics — splashes propagate outward
Fast-forward time for ambush hunting (F key)
Local-zoom minimap with slice line
AI-generated SFX (chomp, splash, heartbeat, water ambience)

Development Timeline

Oct 8 · 18:00

Design document written — full GDD with slice mechanic, bestiary, notoriety system, 8-region world map

Oct 8 · 19:00

First playable prototype (demo v1) — pixel art, fish eating, growth

Oct 8 · 20:00

Audio generated via local AI Audio Studio (ACE-Step): 10 SFX + 2 music tracks

Oct 9 · 02:00

Major iteration sprint: breach mechanics, grab/drown/death-roll combat, plane-lock prey fleeing, alert ladder

Oct 9 · 12:00

Outback Australia theme: kangaroos, cattle stations, estuarine crocodiles

Oct 10 · 16:00

Art direction pivot: abandoned pixel art, rebuilt as flat-vector with interactive props

Oct 10 · 16:30

15 AI-generated Art Noueau sprites via Z-Image-Turbo on local GPU

Oct 10 · 17:00

Animation audit: body coil on turn, tail whip, breach arch, eat squash, eye tracking, parallax depth

Oct 10 · 18:00

6 style variants built, shore cattle added, dense prey population

Oct 10 · 18:30

Published to qalarc.com/projects as a public design story

The Stack

Engine: Vanilla JS + Canvas 2D, no framework
Art: Z-Image-Turbo (local ComfyUI, AMD Strix Halo)
Audio: ACE-Step via AI Audio Studio (local)
Orchestration: GLM 5.3 + GLM 5.3 Flash sub-agents
Hosted: Cloudflare Pages (this site)