ghost-wave 2021-04-26 16:05
Started out as a cute mushroom collecting game and got a bit creepy. Love the music, the art and the chill atmosphere. Good job!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → Little Shade's Big Adventure
By paul-merkamp
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 3.16 | 8 | ||
| Fun | 2.00 | 8 | ||
| Innovation | 2.66 | 8 | ||
| Theme | 2.83 | 8 | ||
| Graphics | 4.08 | 8 | ||
| Audio | 3.83 | 8 | ||
| Humor | 2 | |||
| Mood | 4.50 | 8 |
Started out as a cute mushroom collecting game and got a bit creepy. Love the music, the art and the chill atmosphere. Good job!
Very nice little game. The art and music are good, and they really help in setting the mood
@ghost-wave Glad you liked the atmosphere! That's what I was hoping to accomplish!
@roboolet I'm especially glad you enjoyed the music!
Thank you both!
Nice entry!
The atmosphere and progression are definitely strong points. The first area definitely feels like "ah, I'm setting out on an adventure," and things get colder and more uneasy from there.
The graphics are nice, and you do a good job of distinguishing each area with your color and lighting choices. I like how there are enough tree variations that you don't notice them repeat unless you're really paying attention. I did notice some "seams" between textures in the backgrounds sometimes, especially when the camera was moving, but they were few and far between. The multi-layered background and parallax effect were really nice, especially starting out when the title scrolls away. The protagonist reminded me of [the wood spirits in Princess Mononoke](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-J8A0ofBvk9s%2FVcJZLKENmTI%2FAAAAAAAAAmU%2FNIavIQ8U0WA%2Fs1600%2F0082.jpg&f=1&nofb=1). It may have helped to have smoother animations on him, but it is a game jam and animation really drains time.
One graphical choice that was slightly jarring was the scaled-up light circle in the final scene; the rest of the game has a consistent pixel size, so it was noticeable when that texture was chunkier. The final moment was still very satisfying with the music and the animation.
The music was nice and definitely added to the atmosphere, especially as it grew more mysterious as the game went on. There were a little bit of popping in some places where the music started, stopped, and repeated --- I'd recommend using short fades in and out if you notice this, especially in places you're starting or ending a track in the middle.
The gameplay was pretty basic --- pick up mushrooms to move forward. It was appropriate for a short moody game like this but would obviously get tedious for a longer game.
Great work for 48 hours, and hope to see you around for LD49!
@jeremy-ryan Thanks so much - the seams in the background textures, the popping of the audio tracks, and the light circle at the end are all details I really wanted to iron out, but ultimately decided probably weren't worth the time investment (instead I made all the music in the last 2 hours!). And you're right, this definitely isn't the best gameplay loop I've come up with, but I'm glad you were able to vibe with the atmosphere.
I'm graduating college next week, and I've had time to pick up more hobby game dev, so I fully intend on participating in every LD for the foreseeable future! Thanks again for your great remarks!
Really charming pixel art! Really enjoyed the way the art and music came together, and built a ton of atmosphere, where the story and mood felt like they were getting deeper as it went on. Great job!
Very moody game. I like the backgrounds and the music made for a very eerie game.