ScanR

gonutz 2021-04-25 17:06

Wow, how cool is this! I love this type of game where you play with lighting. I have yet to build something like this, I imagine it is kind of hard to do without an engine that gives you lighting for free. I see you use the godot engine, I have been wanting to try that out for a while now.

Very funny level sound effect, hardly audible that you did that yourself ;-) I actually love it when you notice these little things. This makes these LD games so personal and interesting.

Unfortunately I have to keep working on my game now but I will keep your game open an a tab and come back to it once we can vote. Nice work!

charliegray 2021-04-25 17:16

Thanks for the kind words, @gonutz

ironicnet 2021-04-25 17:33

Nice! I loved the sounds and how good it looked! Awesome job!

kro 2021-04-25 19:08

Cool concept. Good work with lighting and stuff. But you should have made lasers toggleable on LMB.

charliegray 2021-04-25 19:20

@kro Good Idea, have to keep that in mind should I make a post jam version. Thanks for playing.

liammasters 2021-04-25 20:05

The laser is satisfying to look at and hear, very cool. Some of the sound effects are a little jarring. Overall awesome game!

charliegray 2021-04-25 20:20

Thanks, @liammasters I'm glad you like at least some of the sound effects. It was a first for me to make all effects from scratch and not go the chiptune route with Bfxr. And apart from the boulders I'm happy with the results. :smile:

laurenloco 2021-04-25 22:41

awesome game! i really liked it :)

crazyrems 2021-04-26 00:25

Instantly reminds me of Scanner Sombre before seeing it in the credits. I really liked it and you managed to capture all of the aspects including exploration, playing with light and even some spooky moments.

Well done.

cavedens 2021-04-26 01:21

Very cool game. That growling is freaking terrifying! Nice job. I was so confused before I went into the cave why the particles were sticking to the wall but that is an awesome concept.

zevsehg 2021-04-26 04:55

Cool game. I like the mood.

hungryroy 2021-04-26 05:55

This one was great. Nice usage of the darkness+scanning to make the platforming different. That first growl in the dark is scary!

rhoff95 2021-04-26 05:56

Amazing visuals. This is a super cool idea. I would like to see a limitation on how much you can scan to make the decision of where to scan more important. A good strategy is scanning constantly everywhere and it eventually gets easy to see. Really cool and well done. Would like to see more on this.

charliegray 2021-04-26 07:58

Thanks for playing @laurenloco and @zevsehg, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

charliegray 2021-04-26 08:00

Thank you @crazyrems. I'm glad I could do Scanner Sombre justice, for a jam game at least. :smile:

charliegray 2021-04-26 08:02

Thank you for playing @cavedens, I'm happy to hear that my sound effects have the desired impact. :smile:

charliegray 2021-04-26 08:04

Thanks for playing and the feedback @rhoff95, I thought about some kind of limitation or reward for less usage as well. But for a jam game I decided to err on the side of the game being too easy, rather than being frustrating.

But that's definitively something to think about for a potential postjam version. Thanks again.

charliegray 2021-04-26 08:06

Thanks @hungryroy, nice to hear, that I managed to create an at least somewhat scary experience.

azakharov 2021-04-26 08:36

Oh, it's really cool game and idea!

charliegray 2021-04-26 08:55

Thank you @azakharov.

acdia 2021-04-26 12:47

I had this game on my list "seems like it could become a cool game", which I made while jamming and it was as good as expected. You did a great job on implementing the scan feature and if I saw that correctly the movement has some neat features for smooth and non-frustrating jumping (I think i missed a jump but did land on the platform anyway). So all in all, well done!

charliegray 2021-04-26 12:53

Thanks @acdia. I'm glad I could meet your expectations :smiley: The movement mechanic has not too much effort put into it but it at least has coyote time so there's that. It's good to hear that the movement feels good.

Thank you for playing.

nazorus 2021-04-26 19:58

Now that's a neat cave exploration mechanic, having to rely on the scanner to see things adds a lot of tension to the game and kept me on my toes the whole time. Sound design is also really good, especially the sound of enemies, pretty scary.

My only complaint would be that it's a bit too difficult to see the position of enemies even with the scanner, so I ended up just running and hoping they didn't hit me.

One last thing, as a fellow french dev it's always good to be able to use ZQSD :smile: Good job on this entry :thumbsup:

charliegray 2021-04-26 20:07

Thank you for playing and commentig @nazorus Good to hear the enemy sounds are effective. And it's also nice that somebody got to benefit from the plethora of control options. :smile:

adamsmccall 2021-04-27 00:12

I didn't expect this game to be this creepy. The mood is great though, and the scanner system is an awesome idea !

cammin 2021-04-27 04:26

I like how you give the option to jump with either space or up arrow key, and that the tutorial text teaches me little things as I go instead of lots of information bombarding me all at once. Nice consideration!

The game's secondary mechanics that integrate with the main one feel fully explored and each mechanic is taught to the player in an inviting matter. I enjoyed that the checkpoints were forgiving, and that the walls remained painted even after death. Really fun game that explored all of the game's elements well, and a very decent game length. Really good game! I enjoyed this one a ton. Very unique. :smile:

charliegray 2021-04-27 08:03

Thank you @adamsmccall, I'm glad to hear that I managed to set the mood right.

charliegray 2021-04-27 08:05

Wow, thank you for the nice words and detailed feedback @cammin. I'm always happy to see that people enjoy my game. :smile:

wetburritosupreme 2021-04-27 16:38

Good platforming and mood, definitely got spooky at times, I think the sounds were a little loud, but well engineered. The laser idea is great!

charliegray 2021-04-27 18:27

Thanks for playing and for the feedback, @wetburritosupreme.

mockthebear 2021-04-27 22:03

Ok i have to say i rreally liked the idea and the aesthetics... but i quit the game when that thing attacked me in the cave XD not for me. But hey 5/5!

jafcraze 2021-04-27 22:11

At first, I tried climbing the mountain on the right :smile: The Snatchers were scary but I couldn't see them very well so I jumped over wherever I previously died. Also the Death Zones were unclear as sometimes you do need to fall down steep holes. (I fell down every hole in case I missed something) I was intrigued how you made the pixels so I had a look at the source code and it was pretty interesting to colour sprites across the map. Overall, I really enjoyed playing your game!

kevinworkman 2021-04-28 04:29

Woah, this legitimately creeped me out. I had a little trouble figuring out where the monsters were using the lidar, so I ended up mostly running through those parts and hoping for the best. But I managed to reach the end, and I felt like it was the perfect length. The sound was perfect, and honestly made my heart beat a little faster. Overall great job!

charliegray 2021-04-28 07:35

I understand completely, @mockthebear, I'm a wuss when it comes to creepy games as well (apart from those that I made myself :smile:). Thank you for giving it a shot, though. And I hope you had fun up to that point.

charliegray 2021-04-28 07:42

Hey @jafcraze, thanks for checking out my game and for the feedback. I see how the death pits could be confusing in that way, maybe it would have been better to not have that first drop in the game, as every drop afterwards is lethal... Don't know how I didn't see that fault in logic. :sweat_smile:

I'm glad my mechanic intruiged you enough to look at the source code. I hope you didn't have too much trouble finding your way around, for GameJam games I often forego the usage of folders for scenes and scripts. A bad habid I picked up from competing in Trijam, as you rarely have enough time there to think of a good folder structure. :smile:

charliegray 2021-04-28 07:47

Thank you @kevinworkman, for playing and the nice feedback. It's intentional, that the enemies are hard to spot and/or keep track of. In hindsight I'm not sure if that was the right choice.

But it sounds like you still had a good time, thankfully.

seebass22 2021-04-28 08:31

I love scanner sombre and you've really done it justice! Really liked how the mood changed once the cave became dark. The sound effects were great, really helped to scare the crap out of me when those enemies appeared! My one complaint is that those enemies were a bit annoying to deal with. The last segment took me many tries because didn't really have a good strategy to avoid them. Also kudos for MIT licensing your code! This is one of my favourite ludum dare entries!

charliegray 2021-04-28 09:22

Thank you for playing @seebass22. I'm glad to hear from a Scanner Sombre fan, that I managed to do it justice. :smiley: I'm also happy, that the sound effects did their job. I hope you weren't too annoyed by the enemies, ultimately they were meant to be scary but not too challenging.

Thank you for the kind words.

eugenik 2021-04-28 12:07

Wow, great game, I love the art and the concept

brendev 2021-04-28 14:13

The scanner mechanic was great fun, and the usage of lights to help as a tutorial in certain parts was great design. I'm glad the game was forgiving, because I died more than I'd care to admit. Great job!

charliegray 2021-04-28 14:33

Thanks for playing and for your comment, @eugenik.

charliegray 2021-04-28 14:35

I'm glad you had fun @brendev and that I managed to "tutorialize" the mechanics well enough. :smile: Thank you for playing my game and for your feedback.

impbox 2021-04-29 09:59

The scanner was very cool and I like the story about going to rescue the hikers. It was fun exploring the caves. The lever puzzles seemed kinda pointless to me as they were, it didn't seem to add much, except for the dropping the rocks, that was cool, more physics puzzles could be fun. I didn't really understand the monsters, or why I was suddenly dying without any feedback. (you shouldn't rely on sound-only cues since not everyone will be able to experience it), even when I knew they were there I couldn't really understand their behaviour or how to avoid them, eventually I guess I just got lucky getting past them.

charliegray 2021-04-29 15:37

Thanks for playing and the indepth feedback, @impbox. For the lever "puzzles" I agree, they aren't very interesting, but I feared more complex puzzles would be frustrating in the dark (notice how even the current, easy puzzles have lights) and since the main mechanic of the game was the darkness and the scanner I didn't want to have too much of the game take place in lit up areas. Maybe I was too careful with the difficulty here.

As for the enemies, the sole focus here was the sound of them. I agree an option for visual feedback would have been a good idea (and a released, non-jam game should have such a thing). I should at least have had a clear message, that sound is pretty much required. I will keep an eye on that in the future.

I hope you still had some fun, despite the frustrations.

ianthebee 2021-04-29 17:42

Wow! Love this game. I made a very similar game (I saw your comment on mine :smile:), but this was extremely nerve-wracking. I was swinging my mouse around, desperately trying to reveal my surroundings in such a dark space. This concept was extremely innovative, and the theme ties in well. The graphics look great, love the lighting effects! The audio could use a bit of work, but I understand the time limit was very restricting :). Great job on this game!

charliegray 2021-04-29 18:02

Thanks for checking my game out as well @ianthebee. It was my first time making sound effects with only my voice, so I still have a lot to learn on that front. :sweat_smile:

gonutz 2021-04-29 19:01

Wow man - holy Eff! You scared the Effing Es out of me! For real, these directional growling noises almost gave me a heart attack. How can a game this pixellated by this scary?!

No really, totally honestly. How shocking is this noise. I did not even see these creatures! I also died a couple of times but did not realize it at first. I guess I was still in shock!

Now to the technical review :-)

Really well done, as I said above, I love the programmer art, your door opening sound effect is hillarious :-)

I like the pixel style, I can project myself into that eight pixel high character very well.

The lighting thing is really cool and it works great. The level design is solid, you introduce things while in a lit area, like the moving platforms, then I know what is coming when I see the pixels go up and down in the dark areas. Really good way of introducing new mechanics.

I also like the tutorial as text in the start area. Although it does not make sense that there is a text hovering in the world for superior beings (us) to see. But it is OK, it gets the message across, use mouse buttons, save people. Spoiler alert, they were in my back pocket the whole time. I like this way much better than a large wall of text in a first pre-game screen or even worse, a list of controls outside the game area, e.g. on the HTML page below, which I never read before playing. Text in the game is fine. Concentrate on the game, you only have 48 hours, really good prioritization. Your game turned out awesome.

Overall my highlight so far, really cool, keep up the great work!

duvey 2021-04-29 19:08

I love the concept and I thin k you executed it well. All of my suggestions are really just products of only having 48 hours. I would love to see more added to this especially seeing it as a mechanic in a larger game. Maybe you are a team of rescuers and this is one of the tools you use?

re-lo 2021-04-29 19:17

I almost got a heart attack, nice Job

karo 2021-04-29 19:19

Just wow. I already was scared when the music started but by the time these f****** growling noises came around I just wanted to quit.

But I didn't! I am proud to announce that I made it to the camp. Phew.

I just can say that I am impressed by how a game with such simple graphics can be so scary. Very well done!

testudor 2021-04-29 19:24

That scanner effect is super pretty! And your sound design is also great, it genuinely creeped me out a little.

swen 2021-04-29 19:28

Found them! This game has a really neat mechanic. The growling scared the living crap out of me.

Awesome entry, keep up the good work!

deepinthewoods 2021-04-29 19:56

AWESOME! I loved everything about this. Great mechanic, great monster/enemy design, I love the checkpoint system that didn't make me replay the entire game. Maybe could have had a bit more story. Well done!

bicheste 2021-04-29 20:14

That was spoopy... good job! ScanR.png

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:24

Wow, just wow. Thank you so much @gonutz for the high praise. :blush:

I can't express how happy it makes me to hear that somebody enjoyed my game that much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :heart:

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:27

Thanks for playing and the feedback @duvey. That's a cool idea for a larger game. Maybe some metroidvania style of game focues on caving and finding lost people.

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:29

I'm glad you survived @re-lo :smile: Dead people don't vote on games :wink:

Thank you for playing.

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:30

Good on you to keep going, @karo I'm glad to hear I managed to create a spooky atmosphere.

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:31

Thanks @testudor Good to hear I could create somethin nice looking with just a few pixels :smiley:

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:34

Yeah! Another group of hikers saved @swen, good job!

Thank you for playing and the positive feedback. I'm so glad to hear I could make my weird mouth-noises sound scary. :smile:

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:37

Thank you @deepinthewoods, good to hear the checkpoints did their work.

Yeah, a bit more story would have been nice, but at the time I didn't manage to come up with anything that didn't seem like useless fluff and would actually enhance the game.

Thank you for your feedback.

charliegray 2021-04-30 07:38

Congratulations for finishing and rescuing those hikers, @bicheste.

Thanks for playing and commenting.

meritcoding 2021-05-01 09:51

Feedback - Really cool - I liked the scanner function - Liked the sounds

charliegray 2021-05-01 09:57

Thank you for the kind feedback @meritcoding. :smiley:

azagaya 2021-05-01 14:46

Wow, cool mechanics and great mood! congrats! Solid entry

charliegray 2021-05-01 19:19

Thanks for playing @azagaya!

felo07 2021-05-01 19:44

Hey, very nice game, simple but engaging. Loved the sound effects, very consistent. About the mechaninc, for me it was a kind of innovative. I got jumpscares with the dogs(I dont know if were dogs, but) congrats for the game =) 7

charliegray 2021-05-01 19:55

Thank you for playing and the nice comment, @felo07.

While the enemies do have a sprite it's very hard to see anything when you encounter them. It's intentional that the player's imagination comes up with the type of enemy they are encountering. So if you imagined dogs, then they are dogs in your playthrough. :slight_smile:

kroltan 2021-05-02 15:32

> It’s intentional that the player’s imagination comes up with the type of enemy they are encountering.

I imagined the enemies were a extendable version of the [Eater of Worlds](https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Eater_of_Worlds)! Eek.

A picture of Terraria's Eater of Worlds boss, a giant brown segmented worm with pincers and an eye on every segment

Frankly I think the scanning concept works much _better_ in low-res 2D than in Scanner Sombre, at least for the intent of suspense and fostering the unknown. In SS the point density is so high that it becomes just a fuzzy rendering, but in this game, since perimeters are way visually smaller than areas, most of the screen is totally obscured, which gives a much darker tone.

The sound effects were awesome, and you tell me your mouth made all of them? Well, congratulations to your mouth!

I don't usually tell people what I rated them as, but you get all 5s!

The only things missing are polish things, which are understandably absent in a jam entry:

- Why do you need crates for the lights? Also they kinda looked like vents or a control panel or something like that; - Would have been nice to not have to hold LMB all the time; - The jump grounding detection is a bit harsh, or possibly bugged? A couple times playing I attempted to jump off an edge but the jump failed. Most of the time it worked, so no big deal. If you ever continue this, consider looking into that, and adding a little bit "coyote time"!

charliegray 2021-05-02 18:59

Hey @kroltan, thanks again for playing on stream yesterday. And for rating as well as the feedback.

In response to the polishing things: - The crates where just set dressing for the light. A better sprite would maybe help with the confusion. - Yeah, a toggle for the scanner seems like a good idea. - I actually have coyote time in there, but I agree that the jump sometimes feels sub-optimal. I think the problem is that I used a capsule for the collision shape of the player character. And the coyote time is the only thing why the jump feels decent.

minibetrayal 2021-05-03 04:49

Love the take on scanner sombre, if only this lasted a little longer!

charliegray 2021-05-03 07:16

Thanks @minibetrayal that's great to hear.

I was afraid the game was already too long, glad that's not the case. :smile:

togis 2021-05-03 11:16

We played your game in multiplayer two days ago during our stream. Here is a link to the exact place in the video archive if you wish to see it again: https://www.youtube.be/watch?v=aC3sZsRjx5g&t=4964s

I really enjoyed this game, the game mechanic was really innovative for me.

charliegray 2021-05-03 18:13

Hi @togis, thanks again for playing and thank you for the link. It's always nice to watch people play your game.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

8bitcharlie 2021-05-11 12:07

Great idea with scanner. Feedback: Actor could jump even if you press jump button before you hit the ground (when you hit the ground and still holding it). Great entry!

charliegray 2021-05-11 18:33

Thanks for playing and the feedback @8bitcharlie. I really should look up how jump buffering works, I always forget to include that in my games...

ditam 2021-05-11 20:55

Wow, amazing! Kudos for mentioning Scanner Sombre in the credits as inspiration, I've not heard of it before, so I was blown away. After some deliberation, appreciating your transparency in citing an inspiration I still went with a 5/5 innovation score on this :)

The ray casting mechanic is really cool and it works really well. I also loved that the caves were actually pitch dark, and not just sort-of dark, it made for a great atmosphere. I also couldn't figure out the monsters (so I just bunny hopped myself through those areas), but that just made them all the creepier. Well done!

chrissimas 2021-05-12 17:41

I liked the unusual take on a usual theme! And I laughed so hard at the sound of using levels omg 10/10 tottaly worth it

tero-pulkkinen 2021-05-12 21:40

its pitch black!

charliegray 2021-05-12 23:15

Thank you for playing my game and for the kind words, @ditam. It's nice to hear that the transparency for my inspiration was appreciated.

charliegray 2021-05-12 23:16

Thank you @chrissimas. I'm happy you liked the weird sounds I made.

charliegray 2021-05-12 23:17

Indeed it is, @tero-pulkkinen. I hope you found your way through the caves nonetheless.

kostya 2021-05-13 05:45

Cool mechanics and this sound from the dark!

vuvuzela80 2021-05-13 08:06

Very Good game! nice mechanics. i enjiy playing youre game

charliegray 2021-05-13 09:04

Thanks for playing @kostya. I'm glad you enjoyed my game.

charliegray 2021-05-13 09:05

Thanks for the nice feedback, @vuvuzela80. It's good to hear that you had fun.

der-finski 2021-05-16 12:27

Love playing it even tho im a jumpy guy. Hated that i loved it.

charliegray 2021-05-16 12:29

Thanks for playing on stream and sticking to it @der-finski. It's always nice to see that the scares in your game land :wink:

hypp 2021-05-16 18:57

Really well done! I have not seen this type of game before. Very clever!

charliegray 2021-05-17 08:54

Thank you very much for playing and the kind feedback, @hypp!