ZODIAC: STORY OF THE GUARDIAN - PRESS KIT

Developer:     Dynamics of an Asteroid, LLC (Colorado, USA)
Release date:  February 19, 2027
Platforms:     Windows (Steam, itch.io)
               Android handhelds (itch.io only) - an APK for devices like the
               Retroid Pocket 4 Pro or better. Requires a physical controller;
               not meant for phones.
Genre:         Metroidvania: side-scrolling exploration platformer with
               shoot-'em-up sections
Website:       dynamicsofanasteroid.com/zodiac
itch.io:       https://maximumcdawg.itch.io/zodiac-story-of-the-guardian
Trailer:       https://youtu.be/4bNAre522pg
Contact:       support@dynamicsofanasteroid.com
               (checked periodically; responses may take 30 days or more)

DESCRIPTION
Zodiac: Story of the Guardian is an unforgiving, old-school side-scrolling
Metroidvania. A hijacked asteroid is bearing down on Earth and the strike
force sent to stop it is gone. As the Guardian, the player explores twelve
zodiac-themed zones, claims a weapon from each zone's Zodiac boss, bombs walls
to uncover unmarked secrets, and transforms into a starfighter to blast through
bullet-hell flight stages inside the asteroid's vents.

HISTORY
Work on Zodiac began in the early 2000s as a quest for ZClassic, a game editor
made by Armageddon Games. The quest was first released to the ZClassic
community at PureZC in December 2014 (original project page:
https://www.purezc.net/index.php?page=projects&id=224 ).
Using generative AI tools, the studio ported the original assets, script and
code into Python, then expanded and improved the game into a standalone release.

USE OF AI
The code was written with the help of generative AI. AI was also used to help
make a 1980s sound effect generator. The art, music and writing were not made
with AI: every sprite was drawn by C-Dawg and the original soundtrack was
composed by Michael Mood.

CREDITS
C-Dawg         Sprites, game art, publicity artwork, design, story, writing,
               original code
Michael Mood   Original soundtrack

USAGE
All images in this kit may be used in coverage of the game. You're welcome to
stream Zodiac and post videos of it.

Screenshots are native resolution (256x232); scale them up with
nearest-neighbour (no smoothing) to keep the pixels crisp.
