Once More, Through the Desert

forgeronstudio 2020-10-06 20:56

Wow, this was a really beautiful game. I've seen lots of other games today that use the idea of building up gameplay over multiple lifetimes in some way, but never a story.

I thought the narrative told through the deaths was really persuasive and intense, clear enough to keep making sense but always mysterious enough to push me to the next death. There's a constant balance between wanting to see the next message and wanting to get better at the game.

Great work. I look forward to seeing your future jams!

oliver-richmeier 2020-10-06 21:07

A simple shooter with light story elements that uses its repetition to turn the desert into a symbol of the player's choice. Some may be turned off by the simplicity of the mechanics but I feel it helps to serve an artistic purpose. I think the ambience should be a bit louder and fullscreen would be nice, for immersion and because the text is quite small

frecklebars 2020-10-14 22:12

holy shit i got shivers at the end i loved it so much it was so simple yet so beautiful i think its my favorite entry by now it genuinely made my night

coryru 2020-10-14 22:48

Wow! Just wow! A shockingly beautiful game and using the death mechanics to further to story!!!! Well done! A great work of art here

adhesion 2020-10-14 23:35

Nice! Really cool integration of the theme & gameplay with the vibe & story. Very evocative. Gameplay was pretty basic and the pacing drags a tiny bit after the first 10 or so loops, but I suppose that might be part of the point :) Also would've liked for a fullscreen option to make it a bit more immersive (I actually didn't notice the HUD or pickups until pretty late in my playthrough, ie probably a bit after they appeared, but I guess that didn't really make a difference in my choices or experience honestly.) I kept trying to understand if there was some specific metaphor here, which given the ending I couldn't quite put together, but it was still pretty thought-provoking and interesting regardless. Great work!

sli 2020-10-14 23:38

Very beautiful. I played it trough. Good Job!

peterfonts 2020-10-15 06:31

Great game! Original idea around the topic, the vibe and the atmosphere are unique. Maybe you can improve this atmosphere doing the game with a full-screen mode. The effects when one loop is ended are brilliant, simple but effective. Congrats! Well done!

mediyaz 2020-10-15 09:01

I thought this game was at its best when the gameplay would change slightly to reflect the story - I think that's when this game's concept is at its strongest, otherwise you're just playing a very simple game and reading some little bits of text - if there's some integration there then the experience is much more rich as the gameplay makes you feel the story more and the story helps you understand the gameplay and the elements feel more connected.

I applaud the bravery in attempting such an ambitiously high-concept game - it kept me playing all the way to the end.

cdunham 2020-10-15 09:08

Cool game, I liked how the story was incorporated with the theme. After looping a long time I realized that I was dying of thirst(doesn't help that I can't make the screen bigger so I can hardly see anything.) After that I kept trying to not die but after about a dozen tries I gave up. Nice work overall!

arron-fowler 2020-10-16 15:33

NIce use of story telling and simple but useful graphics. I liked it

random-storykeeper 2020-10-26 08:50

While I do enjoy narration based games, I found this one difficult to get into. I think using the desert as a setting to evoke the feeling of desolate endlessness was perfectly chosen. I love the idea of having narration in between the gameplay aspects. The intertitles were generally well done and paced. I just didn't feel the gameplay was quite up to par with the narration, and sometimes made the story feel too tedious for me.

There were aspects of the gameplay that worked well. I like the part where you get the companion, and the quickly scrolling sand was an effective way of adding the right amount of disorientation while not being completely overwhelming in the game. I was never sure if there were specific goals that had to be achieved or if I could just allow myself to be insta-killed by enemies every time. It was hard to tell with the narration, but mostly, I just moved left or right and shot enemies that got too close.

The graphics and text are also way too tiny, so it was difficult to tell where the narrative was being directed when in the gameplay screen itself. I think that had an effect on my experience with the game because I didn't feel as close of a connection with the character on screen as the narrative portrayed the character to be. I guess keeping the sprites tiny does allow for the area to seem huge and desolate, but I think that could still be portrayed effectively even if the sprites and text were bigger.

I also think the gameplay could have helped to guide the narrative to some extent, where the player completes a particular goal in order to reach the next part of the narration. It just felt like the game didn't even need to be played in order to experience the narration - perhaps this was part of the intention, but at the same time, it also feels less engaging as a game.

Nonetheless, I think the narration carried the mood, and the little bit of ambient sounds helped as well. If the gameplay and narration were more closely intertwined, it would have allowed for a more personable gameplay experience.

ellladee 2020-10-26 09:39

I don't know if comment can up your rating, but still I hope you'll get your 20th

thegreenworm 2020-10-26 10:03

A short little narrative. I don't think the overall gameplay added much, after like 15-20 death i figured the game was going to advance wether I played or not, I just had to wait. Pixel art and text is tiny, makes it hard to read. Sound design and overall mood is great !

totteriludum 2020-10-26 13:12

@forgeronstudio @oliver-richmeier @frecklebars @coryru @adhesion @sli @peterfonts @mediyaz @cdunham @arron-fowler @random-storykeeper @ellladee @thegreenworm

Thank you everyone! This is our first Ludum Dare project, and I myself had fun both creating this and playing others' games. OMTTD is certainly not perfect, but it is perhaps the beginning of something. Thank you for your comments and ideas, it means a lot!

-N, Totteri

cyberfrank 2020-10-26 13:30

It's an interesting concept! I really like the writing and flow of the game. Although, I think the font sizes are too much on the small side. But I agree with all other commenters, this is a beautiful game and well executed theme-wise.

hawkin 2020-10-26 23:04

I felt that through the narrative, you really embraced the theme. And you asked the player to embrace it along with you: stuck in a loop. It wasn't a slick mechanic, or an objective, it just was: you are in a loop. Very early on, the player must accept this. It is inescapable.

I think you really delivered on an experience here. Thank you.