kilthrall 2020-04-21 02:04
It seems like an interesting game, but I just couldn't understand it :C
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD46 → Gravelighter
By radow, png and SergeantBiggs
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 977 | 3.58 | 82 | |
| Fun | 1690 | 3.09 | 80 | |
| Innovation | 1646 | 3.07 | 80 | |
| Theme | 1144 | 3.69 | 83 | |
| Graphics | 801 | 3.91 | 85 | |
| Audio | 480 | 3.68 | 82 | |
| Humor | 1849 | 2.20 | 68 | |
| Mood | 289 | 3.95 | 83 |
It seems like an interesting game, but I just couldn't understand it :C
The WebGL build takes incredibly long to load, but I supposed that's expected
I loved it! And to be honest I was a little disappointed that you haven't placed in that house something that would scare the shit out of me xD
Wow this was pretty fun! I had to switch to Light mode because my monitor may be a bit dark by default but it was definitely playable in Light mode. I think I played for about 15 minutes but couldn't figure it out and then it started to drop frames so I'm not sure if it was an engine issue or something. Nice job on this, really liked the mood!
wow, that looks great. I love the windows as landmarks. Good job.
@kilthrall @kamranicus Maybe we should have added a more explicit description of the "task" the player has. Given that ones oil lamp is running out the player is trying to get to a safe place. When the fuel has run out the player looses. There are several sections of the graveyard and in each one you can find a way to unlock the next one.(Ill not say more in order to avoid spoilers :D)
@weil Thanks! At some point we talked about possibly adding a jumpscare, but in the end we prefered the eery mood paired with the dispair of the fuel running out.
@petrifiedapple It's rather large for a webbuild ~250MB. We reccomend playing the desktop version for better lighting and shadows in any case, but want to give players who prefer webbuilds an option to still paly the game and in our tests it was running with solid FPS numbers in most browsers.
Cute! I like this disturbing music) It’s just a little annoying that our character throughout the game in some kind of incessant deep panic, it seems because of the music. I would say that it is just tiring.
This was really fun to play! The atmosphere was my favorite part. I also found very difficult to move locate myself around the graveyard, but that's what made it more fun.
SOOOOO SPOOOPY! Audio really got me spooping! I think that as your torch is dying you could of added a good jump scare in there maybe you can add later? well done on the entry :)
impressive work on that on great job !
I love this one ! Really nice Amnesia feels, the atmosphere is amazing. Think I will play it again tonight with light off :)
Really great job on the visuals and the audio, very impressive for a jam entry! I think you managed to deliver the mood and experience perfectly. I died a couple of times in the starting area before getting used to the lowering/raising gas mechanic, I personally think that a more safer and less punishing beginning could have helped a lot. Anyway, great job!
Nice mood. I'm too bad with this kind of game and kept being lost. Still, the amount of work done is quite impressive! Great job!
@kara-nova Well we were going for a setting that was constantly putting pressure on the protagonist, but if you make it through the character should sigh in reliefe =)
@perpetuummobile Exploring enough of the graveyard to be able to orient oneselfe is certainly a challange, given the restrictions on light and speed. We do think that having the lit windows of the house on the hill, that can be seen from almost everywhere does help with that a bit =)
@louis-hayes-greenwood We thought that a jumpscare might be a bit predictable, but given that a couple of people have now asked for it... we'll see =) We do have a list of things to add and tweak for a postjam version and we'll put that on as something to look at.
@bakaraf that sounds like a great idea, have fun! =D
@superpatch you are probably right concerning the starting area. We had plans for an oil barrel in the starting area at some point, that would allow you to return and replenish the lamp as often as needed, but later decided against it, because we did not want the player to stick so close to one specific point, but rather push them out to "new" areas, in order to find more fuel. Maybe just adding a few more fuel pickups in the first area could dampen the effect. We will definitly have another look at the balance based on the feedback we are getting over the coming days and weeks.
Nice mood. Althoug limiting the x-rotation of the camera would be nice and its weird that the lamp doesnt move on the y axis with the camera. But it still has a great atmosphere
@sadsmile limiting the camera rotation was one of the things that didn't quite make it, but that will definitly be added for a postjam version =)
Nice game, with a scary atmosphere.. And i of course love the concept, (great minds thing a like) :-) Its a lot harder than mine, and i couldn't finish, but i liked it anyway. The assets are nice, i especially liked the house with the red light in the background, very eerie! I would probably add a more scary death that fits the rest of the atmosphere, but non the less i really liked it.
Ah I loved the game. Sort of missed something ... a creature in the dark. A hint of an enemy presence maybe. Even a passive one that would make me think it might leap out on me any second. But never does. The movement is too slow for my liking. I get that it's about managing the oil in the lamp. But if it was depleting faster and I could move faster in exchange, that' be cool.
Regardless. I liked the puzzles in the game and the atmosphere in general. Good job on the assets too! Spot on voice acting :D Also, the controls were good. Snappy, precise. Just how I like it.
Good atmosphere
Atmospheric game, catch up horror, nice sounds.
Fantastic use of audio and limited scope to set a great tone! It took me a while to track down the angels for the puzzle even after figuring out what was going on. Maybe a subtle extra reflection or something to catch the eye when you pass them would help. Like @damagefilter I missed not being able to speed up, even if it came at a cost. Overall fantastic!
@batswinger yes the death could be a bit more impactful, especially on light mode, where it does not even turn off all the lights. (I forgot attaching the fog to the script that handles the death and we never died in light mode while testing). Generally quite a few people seem to want more scary element, which is not quite what we had anticipated, but it might influence a potential postjam version^^
@damagefilter a few people have mentioned this. We didn't want to do a jumps scare, because it felt predictable and somewhat silly, but something along the lines you mention might actually work quite well.
@corriecravie It seems like we underestimated how long people would need to find the angels. We actually were more concerned about the lever, because of the positioning in the level, but have now observed a few people even running past the angels without realizing that they could interact with the, so a bit more hinting seems to be warranted.
Concerning the movement speed: We did want the game to feel a bit slower than games usually do, to increase the sense of dread, but I can definitely see where this becomes more annoying than we wanted if people need to redo the beginning multiple times. we'll talk about a a fast-walk feature that will allow players to speed up for a while before catching their breath or something along these lines and see how good that works in testing =)
@overmolo @perfontana & everyone thanks for the kind feedback :heart: The atmosphere was what we were focusing on most an we are thrilled to hear, that so many enjoyed that aspect of the game :smile:
I loved the atmosphere and mood. The lantern mechanic is also very good but quite difficult (depends obviously on the player :P). The feeling of graveyard is really there.
The atmosphere is perfect. All of the models are really nice looking too! really well done
Such a good spooky atmosphere.The music and the SFX all fit together. Love to know what you think of my entry~
VERY unsettling mood and atmosphere. Almost shit my pants when the guy started breathing on Game Over.
Game itself was a bit confusing to me but nevertheless Well Done!!
Nice game. It was difficult to find second statue, so I passed on easy difficulty. I wish there were some check points, because you really can beat it only by trial and errors. Good luck!
Thanks you all for the great feedback we have recieved so far. We have been doing some work towards a post jam release and the input of everyone has been more than helpfull for that!
@maksym We might have tuned normal mode a bit too brutal (it can be difficult to judge the difficulty if you know the level very well and can only simulate the original exploration to a certain degree). We are working on a postjam version that will likely be more lenient in normal, especially since the hard mode still exist for those who really seek a more brutal challange.
@bodaciouslycrazy thank you so much! we are super proud of what our artist @png was able to do in so little time.
@morandigame thank you so much! Will be sure to have a look at your entry later today =)
@marcusnystrand glad you feld the atmosphere :D We were reluctant to add too many pointers on what to do and might have overdone that a little. The upcoming postjam version will include a few things in order to guide the player a bit more, especially in the very beginning of the game.
@n-feofentov We noticed that a few people had more trouble finding the second statues than we had anticipated. We are not sure yet how to adress this, since we want to keep the incentive/need for the player to thoroughly explore the graveyard, but will look at tweaks that might make it a bit more obvious once the player is heading roughly in the right direction. We talked about checkpoints as well, but decided against them for the current levelsize, since we do like the fact that even failing can be rewarding, sicne it allows the palyer to start again with more knowledge about the situation, enabling them to solve the earlier parts of the level fairly quickly.
Very atmospheric and unsettling. I kinda wish there was an overhead view when you die showing the actual path you have taken, GPS style, because I'm pretty sure I've been going around in circles like an idiot most of the time! :)
Great submission! Overall a really well polished game with great audio, graphics, and mood! Keep it up!
Fantastic Game, Graphics were good and the audio was amazing, really set the mood.
Nice game, i liked the atmosphere. Good work
Hello, just saw your game, nice graphics. I'm a programmer looking for a graphic designer or a team to join and maybe work on new games, are you interested? email:m.shahiri.m@gmail.com my LudumDare Game: Social Distancing For Ladybugs
Played the game, got as far as the angel statues but couldn't figure out which orientation i needed to turn that third one and i died. I was expecting jump scares or people to run around in the background so perhaps maybe some of that could help increase the eeriness of the game :P Decent submission for sure, great work on all the menu options, i know that can take a lot of time sometimes :)
I enjoyed the ambiance of the game, the sound design was really anxiety inducing and the interplay of shadows and the environment made it feel like there was an inherent danger. I found that the fuel consumption on normal difficulty seemed very steep, and even knowing the layout ahead of time and using the second lowest consumption rate I was still unable to progress. But in light mode it was much more enjoyable and the ambiance felt stronger thanks to the fog.
Very good ambience and mood. It really builds up tension in the player
Thank you for all the feedback everyone!
@palsina Thants an interesting idea. I think it would give too much information in a format, that is very different from the primary exploration mode(it would give it in an abstract, almost map like fashion, while the game tries to communicate through a very immersive experience of the scene), but maybe we can find some kind of middle ground that gives the player a bit more direct information upon their death without going as far as such a GPS view. Great suggestion in any case!
@blue-pin-studio There is supposed to be an audioqueue that is supposed to give a bit of a hint for the statue puzzle, but the coliders and trigger conditions are set up in a far too restrictive way. Thats somethign we are tweaking in the postjam version right now, as part of our efford to rebalance normal mode. As for the scarry and eerie elements: A fair few people have suggested jumpscares and we really don't want to do it, because we felt that a traditional jumpscare can easily come of as cheap and a bit silly if that makes sense? But this has lead us to explore some ideas similar to your other suggestions (having things move aroudn you or trigger sounds behind you) and somethign along these lines will be shipped with the postjam version.
@dauntlessstudio From the feedback we recieved and the people we were able to observe playing the game it's quite clear that we overtuned the difficulty for the normal mode in the jam version. We had already suspected this and turned down the original difficulty of normal mode significantly before turning the game in, but it doesn't appear to have been enough. Adjusting this is part of what we are currently working on for the post jam version. We are also quite happy with the light mode (especially since it makes the game playable in spite of the overtuned difficulty on normal), but it does take away a bit from the tradeoff mechanic the lamp is supposed to provide, so we don't want to abandone the other two modes =)
@lairinlair @leetchi-heda @inventivum-games @proforce thank you so much for the lovely feedback!
@mehrdadsh We are generally happy to work with other devs, but are also quite busy with our existing projects, so I wount be able to promisse anything. But for a future jam (LD or otherwise) this may be an option.
nice atmosphere! but you must work with the doors, bocause it's easy to go through them and go forward to home.
@alexascher you are absolutely correct. The lamp collider is part of the player rigid body and allows for all kind of map escapes we didn't have the time to test for. In The postjam version we are working on this whole setup is quite a bit diffrent and this will hopefully solve this issue.
good atmospheric play. i had to play on easy because the lamp was off relatively quickly at normal. i also found it more atmospheric with the fog on easy.
Great job setting the atmosphere here. Agree with others that the "normal" mode is maybe a bit too difficult - including an easy mode was a great decision!
I wasn't able to finish in my first playthrough as I kept getting disoriented, though I realized after I stopped that the house was a way better landmark than I had first though. I definitely want to come back and give this another go!
Hey @turritom and @rjhelms thank you for the great feedback! We will be releasing a postjam version sometime next week that will include a rebalance for normal mode. We have definitly underestimated the diffuculty due to limitted outside testing opprtunities durign the jam weekend.
I also really like the fog, but it does almost eliminate the core mechanic and without the glow it did not look the way we wanted it to look like, which is why we didn't include it in normal.
@radow Yeah, I totally get it. One thing I've learned from Ludum Dare is that, by the end of the jam, it's really hard to have perspective on difficulty - after all, you've been playing your own game non-stop for a few days and know it inside and out!
The game was a bit confusing, i could not see very well, the brightness were super low, i wish i could play it alite more but i could not finish my playthrough
Hey @elio, thanks for the feedback. The brigthness not being very high is the main mechanic of the game (you can regulate the brightness by turning the flame of your lamp up and down with Q and E, but it will consume more fuel). That being said: If the low brightness is not for you, there is the light mode you can select from the start menu, that will make everything much lighter.
https://youtu.be/WLiXZ3zYOVo
Here is my Playthrough. My microphone volume is a little low.
Wow super impressive @ausstein ! Respect for makign it all the way through on normal and even stying on hard for qutie a while in the beginning. I do not think we'll be adding a map, since this would take away too much from the challange of exploring the graveyard, but we did add a few hints and did a balance pass over the lightradius and intensity in normal, sicne it was too close to the difficulty we had intended for hard.
@radow Yeah the map was just a sugestion. But I do feel that it is really hard to remember what you have and have not explored especially since everything looked quite similar. Maybe instead of a Map overlay, you could have a paper map with the layout on a pillar or Wooden Board near the Spawn. But in the end this is your descision!
A more elaborate fix would be to differentiate the different parts a little bit more so you can remember more easily where you have been.
I like the paper map idea =)
We were hoping that the light from the two windows gives some assisteance in keeping track of where the player is, but I do agree that this needs work, in normal mode anyway.
Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!
If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/615937007?t=5h15m27s
Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D
💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady
https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
Really atmospheric game that was great to experience. I was tempted to play a third time as it felt I got quite close to the end. I wish there was a tiny bit more of a hint as to what I was to do with those angel statues. When your flame only lasts so long - puzzle design is important. You want players to be challenge to do it in time, but not lose due to trial and error. Great effort!
@honest-dan You are absolutely right. We had a hint in place (there is supposed to be an audisequence once the player has been close to the statues in front of the mausoleum and at least one of the ones "out in the field"), but I messed up the layers and the hint never plays. Looking back we really should have hotfixed sice since it is clearly a bug, but we opted for putting it into the postjam version and that got delayed a few times since it adds a major feature that took a while to impliment, and is only now about to be released. Thank you for great feedback!