tom-stephenson 2020-04-19 08:43
a
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD46 → The Dark Cave
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 889 | 3.62 | 309 | |
| Fun | 1145 | 3.35 | 307 | |
| Innovation | 1194 | 3.30 | 306 | |
| Theme | 2267 | 2.95 | 309 | |
| Graphics | 864 | 3.87 | 311 | |
| Mood | 83 | 4.25 | 309 |
a
Wow this game screams mood. Very heavy limbo vibes coming from this and it is awesome. The spider actually spooked me at one point so that was really well done. The sound effects and the fact that any sort of moving creates sound that alerts the spider is really cool. The graphics were well done and I liked the spider animations. Its amazing how much atmosphere can be achieved with just black and gray colors. Nice Job!
Loooooved it. Fantastic atmosphere and presentation. The ambient sounds really helped set the mood. Great work!
cool i love the limbo style. if criticism is desired. I find the clonk noise a little too dominant.
Love the dark vibe of the game. The light source itself is a little hard to attract with sound i feel, could be replaced with static lights in important positions instead. Really amazing how u managed to make the game look so good with just these art assets !
Looks promising, but could use some polishing, especially the volume control on the sounds.
The game has a lot of potential especially with the atmosphere! Although right now it does start a bit slow. Also maybe change or tone down the sound effects?
Really nice graphics, and I had a really loud sound that nearly destroyed my ears
Really nice graphics!! Lovely polishing done which makes it look soooo cool. WOuld love to see an after jam version of it!
Very atmospheric. Good work.
This game is really simple but beautiful! I love the concept, but actually I had some problems with figuring out what to do with those rocks/balls hmmmmmmm maybe manual would be helpful. Good job!!!!
The game looks awesome, great atmosphere and mood.
Y'know what's funny, our i noticed a 2 in my games URL, removed it, then fount yours. And I am so glad I did (nvm i commented this on the wrong game)
THAT IS COOL Did i see procedural animation on the spider? THAT IS SOO COOL
Loved the atmosphere and style, wasn't sure if I dealt with the spider right because it killed me and I spawned behind it! Also, the light at the start got stuck and I wasn't sure if that was intended or not.
The spider climbed into the respawn checkpoint and I got stuck in a loop of respawning & getting killed immediately. The atmosphere is good, though.
The best moody games, what should I say? Limbo style just works :) Also spider is just awesome, animation is so cool... it's scary as hell. Ambient sound is just what it needs... however that clank sound on the floor is not very fitting, maybe it's just too much of it.. but it's just nit-picking. Really nice entry, the atmosphere is just awesome.
Its an amazing base for a game based on a sound mechanic. I like a lot how the whole atmosphere works.
The feel of this game is great. It sets the tone brilliantly. I would love to see more of it.
I really like the eerie atmosphere,the limbo-esque visual design and especially the way sound is visualized.
I only found out that throwing objects was an option after my first time through, so I went back and tried it and I could see some really fun puzzles involving the throwing and luring of enemies, but as of now it seems to be purely optional. There were a few instances where I wasn't sure if the game behaved as intended, but they were pretty consistent across both playthroughs. Is it , for example, intended that the fyling glowing companion we find at the start leaves us right before the water section? I tried to get them across, but couldn't seem to manage it.
I loved the visual design and game mechanic! I think it has a lot of potencial. Even the deadly silence somehow fitted it so you spared on some background music :D And that spider thingy got my heart racing through narrow cave..
As others have said the atmosphere is top notch. Great use of film grain and low light. I couldn't get the light to follow me over the water, not sure if that's intentional.
Well done.
Cool sound based mechanic! I was really on edge around the spider things. I would try to refine the movement though, it felt a little dry. Maybe a little variate in the sounds that would be awesome, hearing the same click 100 times in that last corridor was pretty harsh :stuck_out_tongue: Certainly something I would love to see more of!
As a Limbo fan, really cool game! :smiley: Looking really promising, hope you move this project forward.
Fantastic on the spider animation, and good work keeping the aesthetic from start to finish. Nice job!
Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's so encouraging!
Apologies for the late reply to most of you, I've had a few issues loading the comments section (and other parts of the website)
@ssntf @super-hadoken @radow The flying glowy bug creature was mainly designed to help introduce the concept of creatures blindly following sound and wasn't intended to follow the player beyond the water. In hindsight I probably should have added a scripted scenario where it leaves!
@enderr42 @raeya The spider movement is procedural! I'm proud of what I made in the time given, but the movement does require a lot of work! I had a few issues when trying to prevent the spider from climbing up ledge so it sometimes still gets to places it shouldn't. Apologies @3lstmsinatrenchcoat for the unlucky bug find!
A lot of comments have mentioned sound which I certainly agree needs some balancing / work!
Thanks again for all the feedback, it's definitely made me want to do some more work on the game!
Haha I see the Limbo inspiration this is great
Having limbo flashbacks and probably won't sleep tonight because of the spider, good work! Amazing game, love the minimal graphics, they work so well for the style. controls felt slick. The idea of moving sound and light is great too, haven't really come across that before.
Wow, this was a neat little game! The way you presented the boss at the end was very cool. The mood was great and everything was simple and easy to get the hand of. Well done!
love the shadows !
The portion with the spider was pretty intense, it worked with the sound mechanic really well. I don't know if the light bugs were supposed to follow me the whole way, but at some point they got stuck. Also is a shame actual audio didn't make it into the game. The graphics were gorgeous though and I had a good experience!
The environment design, the gameplay as well as the BGM is great. It quite felt like the Limbo. I should appreciate the additional sound mechanism. It has already become one of the favorite games of LD46.
Loved it, from the graphics to the mood! When I saw your post this week-en about the procedural spider, I knew it was going to be interesting, not disappointed! Well done :)
Cool! I really love games in this style! But, I discovered one bug, when a spider climbed a rock, I began to die without stopping, because my hit box was in the collision field of the spider, which stood in one place.
Very cool game, great how you create an ambiance with very few things !
Really nice game, the cave atmosphere is really nice and the spider really well made, good game !
Hello there! We actually use the same graphics and atmosphere style :D
But a total different take on theme and mechanics.
So unsurprisingly... I really like the graphics and the dark mood.
The spider is really impressive, well done!
Very atmospheric. Really polished. Spider animation was really cool, I'm guesing procedural? Would have liked to see some more game play content before the spider.
The mood is great. My main complaints are that the light thingy only moves in straight lines and doesn't respawn next to you when you die. On my first attempt it got stuck at the cliff part before the floating platformers. On my second try I did manage to get it down the cliff, but the floating platformers were still too difficult.
I tried it some more and eventually managed the jump. There seems to be a limited amount of the throwable object, but there is no indication when you pick one up and how many you have left. The battle with the spider was also a bit limited. I would have liked more interaction with the spider, then just running away.
I love the style. Immediately made me think of limbo, but this game has a much better mechanic than Limbo. Awesome!
Pleasant style and well-chosen music. But in some moments everything became so dark that nothing was visible around. It spoiled a little mood.
I couldn't find out how to kill a spider, but overall I liked this atmosphere and the sounds)
nice work on the animations
if you distract spider by making sound in opposite direction and die, it helps with getting stuck with spider C: Overall it's a really good game. This style is awesome and the animations are really nice. I like this ambient background, the sound design is good, only this clicking sound is too loud I think. Thanks for amazing experience, you should totally make more of it!)
The spiders were the radest element of the game. By the wary, near the end there is a corridor that always makes noise and there are two spiders, one running after you in the corridor and anorther one stuck inside the walls. I just ran away as fast as I could and I made it rather than trying to distract the spider that was chasing me, is that the intended course of action?
damn, that is best game i have seen so far! great job!
i loooove the mood of this game! pretty great job on that. i just got confused that if you kite a spider to the left and let yourself die you spawn behind the spider so there is a simple way to "cheat" i guess? maybe it is intended and i didn't get it. overall a pretty good job
Good job on the game, very Limbo inspired i guess. I think it's a little to easy to just run through it all, but i really like the sound mechanic. I was a little confused at the start, if i was picking up the stones, but i found out that they were just lose gravel that made noise when walking on them? The concept is very promising, and the mood is very good.
Graphics on point. I didnt get how we could get more stones, and how to kill the spider , maybe a small introductionary video or a few keypoints would have been nice.. But none the least, a well nice game. Well done ;)
I see you have inspired from LIMBO a lot, and It is great. I soo like this game, but it have a little problem with the sound when I walk through the thing (maybe is was rocks or gravel) and it starts spamming the sound. And I think during the first escape the spider moves kinda slow.
It was quite nice. My light got stuck after the first drop down. Is that intended?
Very good mood! I was actually pretty scared by the spider. Makes me think a lot about Limbo for sure. Regarding graphics, I believe the eyes on the main character are not necessary. They are not consistent with the overall style in my opinion. Sticking on shapes and minimalist style is good in itself. Well done!
LIMBO feelings (which is good). The mood on this is top notch. Well done! Finished it and gotta say the final corridor let my years bleeding xD Other than that, impressive.
Really nice, I loved the rendition of sound and the mechanics! The style is nice and simple but It's quite short, I'd have loved to see some more but it's a really good demo :)
Really love the atmosphere and visuals of the game, got a lot of Limbo vibes from it XD I couldnt' figure out what to do with the spider, and even got stuck in an endless loop cause the spider was where respawned at so I constantly died.
Despite that, I see a lot of potential in this game and really love it!
I liked the dark theme. I got really anxious when the spider started chasing me haha. Very polished and fun game!
Really nice concept and aesthetic. Would love to see more action and peril with these spiders in the future.
Looks and sounds amazing and is quite scary. Wish it was longer!
One minor issue I have encountered is that you can end up with the monster standing on your respawn point with only option to restart the game.
Awesome, hope to see more of it! Cheers!
The was really cool. I'm getting strong Limbo vibes overall, and the sound design was top-notch. I would recommend adding some sort of distinction between the foreground layer and the default player level. There were times where I tried jumping over a ledge that ended up being part of the foreground.
loving the Limbo vibes. Really atmospheric! Would love to hear the spider making sound and some more exploration of the sound bubble mechanic...
yeeelp, I did not expect it to be able to climb X_X I thought it would stay down there. scary when it came after you as well.
very nice! :D
DAMN! This game was moody! Probably a 5 on that one. The art fitted the theme even though I felt it could've been better, but that spider was just amazingly well made! The sound added sooo much feeling! I truly wish there was more, this is the kind of scary ass games I'd like to pay for. It really gave that "Little Nightmares" (the game) feel.
If you make a game like this, polish it up and stuff I'll buy it dude!
Nice mood. My light stayed stuck almost at the beginning, but it didn't prevent me from completing the game. I love what you did with the sound mechanic. Nice entry! With more diverse sound FX, it could be really great.
got that LIMBO feel, good job
Very promising combination of Limbo and Quiet Place. I wish you went farther with that original sound mechanic. In current build I had to use it only once - to lure spider out of my way. Other than that, great job.
Fantastic presentation with this entry! The sound mechanic was well excecuted and the spider thingy was scary! 😂 Honestly was very tense when getting chased by him! Lovely ambient soundscape too. Would be very interested to see where this could be developed further. 😁 Really well done getting this done in the time limit!
Interesting Game! On my first run I wasn't able to have the light follow me all the way through (probably went to fast) and went kinda through the spider :(
On the second run I've switch pace and it was working a bit better, it's too bad that there is only one monster! Also at the end the sound of ball object on gournd breaking is maybe a bit too much ;)
A nice entry! It should be improved and made into a real game!
Creepy with a dark theme. How you manage spider movements is just amazing. Maybe a procedural animation which is really efficient. Of course, it reminds me Limbo. A neat entry. I had fun playing. Well done ++
Really interesting but i got stuck on the spider level because the spider crawled up onto my platform and killed me over and over again. I really like the art direction of the game though, very limbo-like
Really cool mechanic using the sound/sonar. Loved the dark mood and simple controls. Great entry!
Absolutely loved it!! Great art and sound design, gameplay is simple but very effective, animation is wonderful. Great polished. Really great job!
This looks like what happens when Limbo is crossed with Thomas was Alone. Great atmosphere and use of sounds. I did have to exploit the death reset in order to get past the spider though, there didn;t seem to be any other way around it.
Very immersive very gooood!
This game was interesting, I liked the feedback on the sound the player makes! Wasn't sure of the real goal and if everything worked. But fun nontheless
This scared me to death !!!
This game is incredible. I really felt the fear of being beaten by that terrific spyder. And the atmosphere is fucking great.
Fantastic LIMBO demake. The spider is so creepy brrrr
Great Game, the spider was a good addition! Very immersive. Loved the music and the splash sounds!
Very nice :)
I was expecting playing a game I already play long time ago but not at all the sound mechanic is very cool, it's a shame you couldn't make a longer and more hide and seek with no sound zone and moment when you have to trow rocks to send the spider on the wrong way.
Know for the mood: I get way to much emotionally invested for the 5 min of the game I'm still filling it in my chest will I writing this so you did a very good job !
I have mad respect that you finished procedural 2d leg movement on the spider, looked and felt amazing. The popping skulls was so satisfying. Well done. While the game was a bit short and simple, it was fun to play!
This game sets up its mood real well! It goes to show how much you can actually do with just squares, triangles and rectangles. I'll say that the dound effect for interacting with anything can be pretty tiresome after a bit, and I didn't know you could throw an object with E after beating the game, but otherwise very nice submission!
Thought the visuals were interesting, though I'll admit I wish there was more to it than just holding right. The spider was a nice thing to find, but there wasn't any difficulty in actually taking care of it, you can just throw one rock, jump up and down a couple of times, and then hop over the spider and basically hold right to get to the ending.
the atmosphere is awesome. the ripetitive sound when you hit a rock on the ground I think is pretty boring specially at the end.
A very cool idea, although I managed to glitch the light on the first try, great job!
Super spooky! The core mechanic is a super interesting twist on the Limbo spider scene - I really, really like the idea of a stealth game about controlling sound to get around giant monsters. That said, I did feel like I ended up just cheesing the spider, as I escaped it by abusing the respawn mechanic to spawn on the opposite side of it.
If there's a specific puzzle you had in mind with that, perhaps it'd come across better by resetting the spider too when you respawn?
Good job on the spider procedural movement, btw. I have tried that problem myself in the past and I'm really impressed you took that on in a game jam.
It of course reminds of Limbo but, maybe too much :/ The game is neat, the idea is nice, the sound design is well done, but I believe you could have done better with this ! I did not understand the utility of throwing an object, and I did not understand it was supposed to be played with sound until the end (I read game descriptions after I play them because I expect from a game to be self explanatory). However, it was a good experience!
I like to make lot of noise even if a big spider follow me
Mood was on point. The sounds were very earry especially when the spider appeared. Very nice.
What a cool premise! The graphics are beautiful, seriously, I love the style. And tricking the spider thing was sweet. Really great job, I loved it. :D
Very moody game, I was shitting myself on the last stage :sweat_smile:
Love the gloomy limbo style. Great job!
wow this game is .. great. The idea of the player making some noise walkig around, and be able to use this to distract your enemy is actually quite fun. I would genuinely play a game like that if it gets a more complete version, good job on the audio too, the athmosphere is quite imersive . Well done dude !
Very cool concept. I like the limbo-esk art style. Very fun the spider genuinely freaked me out. I do wish their was some background ambiance, however Well Done!
Very cool idea, I like how the game looked, lots of moody atmosphere.
It looks like Limbo, it's really that you managed to recreate this incredible mood!
Wow! I want more!
Nice Limbo style game. You did capture the mood!
Fun game. Liked the sound mechanic. Liked the spider and tension. Great mood and atmosphere. Great job!
The mood worked so nicely, Limbo vibes are so so good, loved the sound idea!
Cool. That was actually a pretty fun and innovative game. Everything is a puzzle and there's nothing I can say about the controls. I liked the background music although I think the sound effects could be more cave-like (ie. footsteps echoing in a cave). I liked each section and the way they're introduced. It was unfortunate when I got stuck in a forever death loop when the monster sat on top of my spawn. Aside from that, it really *is* quite scary going up against that guy. The graphics were clean and nice my only problem would be some of the deadly spikes/edges don't quite look the part (they look just like the ones on the ground you can pass through). Really nice game! A post-jam game would be exciting to try.
It's Limbo meets Thomas Was Alone meets Dark Echo!
Very cool, and coherent feeling. I would like to see more puzzles, more careful movement, more in general! As a critique, it felt like the player is supposed to pay attention to the noise they make, but both staying on the ground and jumping made noise. The spider wasn't too smart. I liked the feeling and the concept. I don't think that it fit the theme especially well.
Very atmospheric. It could be a great sequel to Limbo.
It really felt a lot like Limbo! The mood is amazing too. The spider climbed the wall the first time I met it, and it stayed still at the spawn point where there was no way I could move right after spawning each time. Is that a bug?
Great looking game
Love the atmosphere and Limbo Vibes, I also got stuck in a death loop but I think it has a lot of potential, great job!
Wow Looks Great Contrill and Game play feels Great. Overall awesome. :v:
Nice work. i think you need to incorporate a wider sound palette for the intense atmospheric vibe you're going for. I love the visuals, especially the spider/monster! Would be great to see a more intense chase. It doesn't fit the theme, but that doesn't matter too much.
Love the sound mechanic, could you make so if you don't make noise the spider doesn't follow you and also would've been cool if the light kept following you for a longer period as that could be used in really interesting ways. All together though this is definitely one of the best games I've played so far well done :thumbsup:
Mood was nice and sound making system filled me with anticipation. Shame that it wasn't utilized more. Also that splashing sound was obnoxius, especially at that end escape scene. Good work for 72h.
Getting stuck the first time in the dark right after the begining, I tough light will follow you but no it's a trap ! Nice mood in this game, sound is little bit annoying at the end when you walk on ??? that do sound. Don't understand the throw mechanic tho. Nice game !
It makes me feel the same way Limbo did. Fear, anxiety but also courage and all of this because everything was well done, nice work!
i really liked the spider, is it made with procedural animations?
Nice Limbo vibes! The spiders animation and mechanic was sick!
Nice game, I really liked the ambience of the game. Good job!
I really like the atmosphere and graphic style chosen, but the game feels slow, and without that much to do. It does remind me of Limbo, but Limbo keeps the pace up by throwing some puzzles in the mix. Maybe you implemented that in the later stages, but I didn't manage to get past the creepy spider thing, as it stayed right on top of my respawn location. Also, the light source got stuck in random places a few times. Overall, still a pretty good entry, well done :)
The most atmospheric game I've seen at this ludum. The sound is amazing, it’s a pity that I can’t vote for it. I want a sequel!
Great stuff, that spider was spooky! Brave to take on procedural animation during a gamejam, but it looks like it worked well!
Pretty cool. Good use of simple graphics, and great mood. I beat it in one go though, and I never had to use the throw feature. Since my pickups were maxed I just bumped one of those little squares down the ledge toward the spider instead. Still gave me a bit of a scare when it started chasing me as I got further along!
A minor complaint would be that the splat sounds got a little repetitive.
Great idea! I would love to see the amount of objects I can throw somewhere and I'd suggest adding some cooldowns on sounds while you're running through noisy environment. :)
Super atmospheric! Final chase scene felt intense. It would be nice for the sound effects to have a bit more variation though.
I had my heart pounding in the end and like screaming in my mind "It's going to catch me!" Great game and great experience!
@tom-stephenson This was seriously frightening. My heart was racing while evading the spider. Nicely done! That said, because of the Limbo influence on aesthetic, you may want to consider imagining alternative villains to avoid the easy comparison OR tweaking aesthetic more to further distinguish the two projects; I think the contrasting game mechanic is a very good start to that end.
...not that Limbo OWNS the rights to giant b&w spider stories. ...nor was it the first.
The map is very expansive for the short time we had. It felt like a real exciting journey. I like that the game starts with us plummeting into the depths of this cave. That sets a great tone!
I also wish I knew when I was running low/out of objects to throw. There should be some instruction to start the game, not just below the screen, I think.
Alternating splats or having varying degrees of splats depending on velocity could be a good solution. And regarding a wider range of spider sound palettes, etc, feel free to contact me for music & sound fx in the future if interested.
I was just waiting for the spider to show up after seeing it in the small clip so I was on the edge pretty much the whole time. I know the keep it alive part was about you but man. I wanted to keep those spider eggs alive as the sound of them popping was so disgusting (in a good way :D). Haven't ever played any games with the mood/atmosphere being a major part of the appeal but after that small experience I really want to try some. So you could say I really enjoyed my time, good job!
The games is very nice, I love the atmosphere and mood of it. The music is also very good, but IMO, the sound effects need some work, since they are quite loud and unpleasant at the moment, especially in the part where you run away from the spider.
The game looks great, loved the Limbo like atmosphere.
I really liked the atmosphere, was a bit lost about what I was supposed to do but good job :)
uuuu! Scary it was! Absolutly amazing graphics, music gameplay and idea!
OH wow, awesome game atmosphere, very Limbo like. You could get stuck if we wait for the spider to come to your re spawn location. Very thrilling at the ending run. Also, I didn't realize you can throw object, and there wasn't much indicator on how many thing left you can throw. But overall, I think the game is still very enjoyable! Good job !!
I loved the mood! Felt kind of like Frodo in Shelob's lair I imagine! = ) I didn't expect from me to empathize that rectangle so much!
Was really cool seeing the Limbo vibes from this. Hated having my light source get stuck early and become difficult to lure. I wonder if keeping that with you would be easier with a clap mechanic? The procedural animation of the spider is obviously amazing, especially in such a short time, and while some extra polish and variety on sound would be nice, this is a great proof of concept.
cool game but i cant help but feel like the game visual style, idea, and procedurally animated blind lumpy spider are all taken from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgLSOymeeOI (go to around 14:00 to see what i mean) i like what you did but id like to see something more original. there is of course the chance its all a coincidence but i cant help but doubt that.
Visuals and background, for me, plain stunning. It felt really easy and nice to play, pretty immersive.
great game. It had some great moments in it for example watching the little stone fall into the spiders nest war terrifying. The sound design was a bit aggressive in my opinion especially on the crumble parts where a rapid amount of sounds where triggered. But overall great entry + made a lot of fun playing it.
Think I had a panic attack in that final section :O. Really fun idea and I can't wait to see more.
Great concept,i hope you'll be able to continue your game :) I see someone else find the same bug as me (when the character keep spawning and dying in the same spot). sorry for my broken english ;-;
Seemed to take a lot of inspiration from limbo (not a bad thing), with the added mechanic of audible footstep detection.
I really liked the idea, but the way the game is laid doesn't let it use its mechanics to their full potential. Otherwise, great job ! The ambiance is nicely setup, sound design does the job and the spider thing is perfectly creepy ^^
Cool game, great atmosphere, as others said, definitely has Limbo vibes :) Good use of tools too! Well done! I particularly liked that I thought I was safe having cleverly given myself a big lead and then... nope :) haha :)
How did you do the procedural animation of the spider?
Pretty good, the atmosphere was good. What anon said, it looks a lot insptired by the 4 dev jam. I'd take the art in a more original direction if you continue this post-jam.
Cool idea and atmosphere. I also thought of Limbo after those spiders and black and wait scary graphics
The splatting went too intense near the end of the game, but the concept is great, I would definitely play the full version. Thanks for the game!
Pretty good Game. Thank you for the game and for the Tutorial on the Spider! Very Helpfull! :thumbsup:
This is a really cool concept that seems like it would make for a great game with a longer development cycle! What you made in 72 hours is impressive, but I think you could take the concept a lot further than you were able to in that short of a time period. I absolutely love the mood and the spider animation! Excellent job!
Really interesting mechanic with the sound. I'd like to see what else you come up with for future level in terms of incorporating that within the gameplay/puzzles. Great job, really liked the art style! Really reminded me of Limbo
Really a great atmosphere! Get a feeling like Limbo. I should definitely checkout your webpage to learn something with procedual animation!
It was a great game and had some awesome physics, but I felt like I was just walking and falling the whole game. Also the light gets stuck sometimes.
Thanks for the explanation of the spider's movement! It's always very cool to see procedural animation in action, and it works really well for insects and stuff like this. Having the spider be procedurally animated also added to the spook factor I think as well, more than it would have been if it were just traditionally animate. You picked an interesting visual style, clearly reminiscent of Limbo, and did well with it. Having the visual for how far your sound traveled was a good touch. Nice work!
great game. i love the art, the light (mostly at the beginning), and the audio is top notch - too bad you didnt make that yourself, would have pushed the rating even a bit more. the "puzzles" and gameplay show a lot of potential, but (certainly due to time) i was waiting for more mechanics and ways to play. still an awesome submission. please make it a full game (as hinted at the end).
Idea is super. I like the graphics and audio in the game. But I think the mechanics and level design must to be polished. The game is not so fun now because the mechanics is not applied correctly. But the game has real potential. Great respect for the Spider work. Good job!
Well, the animations were quite bland and since it was made in unity I'll just say to use animation curves more. Also I went by the spider by dying 3 times and jumping over him. Now, dying feels more like a mechanic to solve puzzles and not as a way to punish the player of doing something wrong. This being a sound game it makes dying feel out of this place, since there's no way to actually die with consequences. Also, this game was based on sound, but I can't really see any point of it. I just walked and ignored the light that was following me, because I had to jump and wait for it, because if I start moving it will just stop. The spider chase was cool, but again, it was just walking, there was no tension. But actually seeing him go in many places was the best thing I saw on ludum dare. Talking about the art, the player is just a cube with eyes and the light is also pretty boring. The ground was made out of black squares and some were angled, which I thought were spikes, but they weren't. There were spikes later for 5 seconds, before they were never found again in this game. Spider was very cool looking, but the part, where I bump into him was anticlimactic, since I already saw him on a screenshot. As a first entry, you've done quite well. The game isn't boring and it ends before you want to close it. Well done.
Interesting take on the theme. Gameplay-wise I think it's fairly good, but you should adjust the sound when we are walking on multiple rocks, and also it seems that if the Spider gets into the spawn point and I respawn then he not at the same spot where he used to be. Not sure if that was intended. Nonetheless, it's a good entry, well done.
I loved the fact that you must do sound for the light to follow you... it was so scary to move forward in the dark ;) I checked your tutorial it was very nice
Does have potential indeed. Feelt alone and even a bit scared as I moved around through the cave.
I think it would be better to not to hear too many sounds there though, since constant clacking just breaks the mood for me. Maye, a bit less of those clacky things in groups that you step into all the time?
And then, all the underground creatures that dwell around would hear you well and you'd need to stay still to pretend you are not there, perhaps?
Nicely done!
what a cool mechanic and tension with trying to move fast but also not make a lot of noise. The suspense in the game was awesome. And the spider, lighting and sound scape definitely led to the scare and thrill factor especially at the end. Would love to play this again as you add more. Awesome work in such a short amount of time.
The game has a very limbo-like vibe. It is cool. Good visuals and mechanics. Nice jam entry. Would be better if the character was more than just a square, but we all know how much time we have to make our games. The game is a bit imbalanced. You don't even need to use the "throw" mechanic. Just die and respawn a few times and finally, you would switch places with the spider.
very nice game. it was very tense at the end. i was not sure if the light was supposed to keep following but i lost it at the water part. thanks for making this.
Wasn't entirely optimistic going into this, was very "Wow, looks like another Limbo," and holy guacamole, the amount of crow I ate in the next few minutes made me regret it. This game has an incredible sense of ambiance, and while the sound mechanic wasn't fully explored, I still nearly shat myself running away from that gargantuan behemoth of a spider. Excellent work.
The sound mechanics and representation are really interesting and the Limbo-like graphics and atmosphere match this mechanic. Great job!
Great game, very polished. Well done!
Not sure if it was meant to be like this, but I managed to reach the end just by running.
Cool atmosphere and idea. I didn't really get to use the sound mechanic much, but it felt like an interesting take on a horror game.
very solid for a jam game, great controls and physics!
Procedural animation was definitely worth the effort as it gives the spiders lots of life!
I really like the procedural walk and mood, I only wish the game had a little more depth!
That spider is so good.
Overall feel of the game is good as well, but I love the spider best.
Though not really chalenging game, the atmosphere is top-notch, I see the spider and I feel a chill.
the screenshots alone were enough to make me want to try the game, atmosphere is good, seems a good concept. that being said, I'm not sure I understand what the game is about.
LOVE the vibe of this game haha, congrats!
Loved that IK spider, it feels so alive! The atmosphere is so good and the physics platforms are amazing! It's actually really satisfying to pick the balls in the ground! Some random pitch for the sound when collecting them would be great so it doesn't feel monotonous. Overall it's awesome, great work! :ok_hand:
Oh man, this ia beautiful! Really nice mechanic and the atmosphere is spot on. Shame it was so short, but we can get the idea... So, I basically jumped over the spider and ran for it. Would have been nice to have a few more places that I could have paused and maybe required me to throw things in order to distract teh spider and get to the next 'safe' area. There's so much potential with this though. Hope you do something with it.
Beautiful game with a lot of attention to details - i love the physics, the visual feedback when you make noise, the lightning, the music with it's "leaving a party at 1 in the morning while it's still going and ending up in the street on your own" mood :) great work and thanks for the article
I love the Limbo-esque graphics and atmosphere. Really well done! The cave sounds where perfect.
Would love to play more of it with puzzles and story!
Nice and creepy. As mentioned, very limbo-esque. Also, thanks for sharing the procedural animation bits!
Nice game. Immediately reminded me of Limbo. Very nice procedural animation on spider. I've tried doing something similar for my submission for spider like robots but it is far less polished. Good job overall.
Oh this is limbo
Graphics are obviously beautiful, but I just felt like I was playing Limbo
The graphics are good for a jam for sure, the spider is really well done (kind of looks like its body is a brain, like a Spider Mastermind in Doom). This is well executed. Your game also has a similar opening to the first dungeon in our game so there was a bit of a "hey cool" moment there for me. I do like the idea of later areas having some challenges where you MUST make noise, and it's hard to get something like this right in a jam game, but it would have been cool if there were creative ways to mitigate that noise. By the end it started to feel more like a chase scene than a sneak scene, and I think the intent was to make a game about avoiding noise, not a game where you have to run as fast as possible.
the sound system is really cool, and with some more art/sound design polish it could be a really cool game!
Limboso.png
Análise...
1 - Mecânicas, Aprendizado e Fluxo: Ao que entendi você é um cara super resistente à queda, mas extremamente frágil ao toque de espinhos e criaturas das trevas (hahahahah, achei isso divertido e engraçado, não é uma crítica). A mecânica é muito interessante, personagem de jogador (PdJ) com controles de plataforma e efeito colateral de movimentação na geração de som que permite outras entidades reagirem ao ambiente e ao movimento do PdJ. Infelizmente a luz parou de me seguir e me seguia apenas por conta do som, então eu tive que avançar sem muita iluminação. Talvez eu perdi alguma coisa no caminho (passei por lugares escuros) por conta de não estar com a luz até o fim. Aprender a jogar foi bem simples, fazer o personagem já cair fazendo barulho e (assim) mostrar a mecânica, foi algo muito bem aplicado. O fluxo de jogo desafia um pouco por conta do estágio, mas se torna fácil (só sair correndo loucamente no final). A aranha não ressurgir no ponto inicial dela após você morrer para ela foi algo que me deixou pensativo. Será que foi planejado para ser assim? Fiquei pensando que se for, então não teria como passar de primeira o jogo (não sei, vou jogar mais uma vez para fazer alguns testes). PS: Gostei bastante da água também (o efeito de boiar das toras de madeira).
2 - Gráficos, Áudio e Narrativa: O estilo visual fez muita referência a jogos como LIMBO, incluindo a aranha e outras escolhas. O personagem (ao meu ver), fora do tempo de Ludum Dare, mereceria uma nova aparência, mesmo que não mude tanto. Para tempo de game jam está bom (ao meu ver). O áudio tem pontos positivos e negativos, creio que seja um barulho que estresse, caso se repita sempre (o som que faz quando pisa em algo). Talvez mexer um pouco nesse som possa deixar ele mais confortável (seja abafando ou criando diversas variações, para não ficar repetitivo). A narrativa é simples, parece ser: você caiu em um buraco, saia vivo daí e corra por sua vida. Creio que poderia ser melhorada em caso de continuidade do projeto por parte da produção.
3 - Cultura: O jogo conversa com outros jogos do mesmo gênero e faz bem muitas coisas que já estão consagradas (ao meu ver). Poderia ser polido e incrementado, distanciando de suas referências de base, ganhando características mais próprias/únicas.
4 - Monetização: Com o jogo polido e estendido, creio que seria uma boa vender em stores como Steam.
Analysis...
1 - Mechanics, Learning and Flow: As I understand it, you are a super resistant guy to fall, but extremely fragile to the touch of thorns and dark creatures (hahahahah, I found this fun and funny, it is not a criticism). The mechanics are very interesting, player character (PC) with platform controls and side effect of movement in the generation of sound that allows other entities to react to the environment and movement of the PC. Unfortunately the light stopped following me and followed me just because of the sound, so I had to move on without much lighting. Maybe I missed something on the way (I passed dark places) due to not being with the light until the end. Learning to play was very simple, making the character fall down making noise and (thus) showing the mechanics, it was very well applied. The game flow is a little challenging due to the stage, but it becomes easy (only run wildly at the end). The spider not resurfacing at the starting point after you died for her was something that made me thoughtful. Was it planned to be this way? I was thinking that if it is, then there would be no way to pass the game first (I don't know, I will play again to do some tests). PS: I really liked the water too (the floating effect of the wooden logs).
2 - Graphics, Audio and Narrative: The visual style made a lot of reference to games like LIMBO, including the spider and other choices. The character (in my view), outside of Ludum Dare's time, would deserve a new appearance, even if it doesn't change that much. For game jam time it's fine (in my view). The audio has positive and negative points, I believe it is a noise that stresses, if it is repeated all the time (the sound you make when you step on something). Maybe tweaking this sound a little can make it more comfortable (either drowning out or creating several variations, so it doesn't get repetitive). The narrative is simple, it seems to be: you fell into a hole, get out of there alive and run for your life. I believe it could be improved if the project continues with the production.
3 - Culture: The game talks to other games of the same genre and does a lot of things that are already established (in my view). It could be polished and increased, moving away from its base references, gaining unique characteristics.
4 - Monetization: With the game polished and extended, I think it would be a good sell in stores like Steam.
At the first spider appearance it moves to my respawn point, so everytime i respawn i died instantly.
Very good atmosphere, shows how you can make an intense experience with minimalist graphics.
Wanted to play more of it, but more content would have meant less polish, so I think you made the right call to keep it short.
wow awesome, theme is like limbo, and the idea is amazing, dude your are good :)
** Aesthetics**
The reason why I'm here. Really caught my eye. the game has it's unique vibe. Reminds me a limbo ofc ;)
* * * ** Mood **
I like games with good mood and also trying to create game with good vibe, so I really like it. I'm also inviting you to rate my game :)
Good entry
I remember LIMBO, sometimes the light did not tell me where to go and the spider was fun, the free fall great because it does not die but the thorns and the water kill you
Lost the light source from the beginning but finished the rest :smile:
Wow, incredibly moody game. Kept me on my toes and even though it was really short, I was very scared. Great job!
I thought this was going to be somewhat of a Limbo copy but I think the clicky footstep audio and visual effect from stepping on stuff gave it its own identity. The mood is really good and I had fun even though it's pretty easy.
Awesome! I love the sound-attracts-things mechanic. Congrats ^^