FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD48 → They Told You

They Told You

By spaghetti-inc

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall17082.9130
Fun18892.1730
Innovation19012.0329
Theme16972.8230
Graphics17062.5730
Audio8993.2128
Humor14221.7321
Mood10843.3628

Comments

mero 2021-04-26 20:37

i'm sorry but im not going to install the game :/ this is literally an installation. exe file

plz the game so i can just turn it on.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-26 21:26

@mero Here is a Html 5 version! I would update the page but I worked with someone else so I can't. Also the HTML 5 version has a really bad camera but I hope you can play it and read all the notes! https://spaghetti-incorporated.itch.io/they-told-you

mero 2021-04-26 21:35

thanks I'm not sure if you should have audio enabled if you didnt make the soundtrack?

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-26 22:23

@mero The soundtrack was made by my friend for the game.

mero 2021-04-26 22:25

than it is rly nice! i didnt think it was made by someone cuz it stands out with the quality 4 stars for audio!

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-26 22:34

@mero Thanks! I know when I heard the music for the game I was like this is perfect!

jedemac 2021-04-26 23:44

Waow this was great. I was just moving around reading all the notes, and halfway through I was like: this is a shitty day, I wonder what will he do. Then I turned around and I saw the starting house in the sky and I realized, oh right, I jumped.

After that the ending felt a bit stale, I think it was great to make the player jump in the start, maybe instead of having an ending screen, bringing him back in his house in front of the jump somehow -> he might be reading all the notes over and over again trying to find a solution, he always gets to the same conclusion.

But overall a really good experience, I was sure this theme would bring some nice "deeper into the mind" games, but this one was the one that worked the best for me.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-26 23:47

@jedemac Thank you so much!! Also your idea for like the endless cycle for the game is amazing! I might add that and thanks for the feedback!

nuclearchair 2021-04-27 02:49

The mood was great, the somber piano music fits the story well, but I felt a little bored while walking between each note since they are so far apart.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-27 04:03

@nuclearchair Yeah I should have increased the walking speed

iman 2021-04-27 06:08

The textures on the mountains and the ground were pretty nice and added to the mood of the game (along with the audio). Although the level was designed well and guided me to the next note perfectly, I wouldn't have minded either a little less walking or a skybox and some other art and audio to experience. It's a nice short experience, reminded me of some great titles like Dear Esther.

codeforjoycaro 2021-04-27 07:35

I liked the landscape and the mood. The mouse look was a bit too sensitive. It would have been nice, if you could speed up with shift, so the player can adjust the pace of the game.

wbertrand 2021-04-27 15:04

Really liked the music, and the initial fall was pretty cool, definitely agree with the suggestion above to allow the player to sprint as well to make it a bit quicker.

patrikherman 2021-04-27 15:04

Good game! The mouse movement was a little too sensitive, but I got used to it after all. The music was pretty simple, but I think it delivered the story very well :)

eugenik 2021-04-27 17:44

The graphics are absolutely amazing! well done!.

binaya 2021-04-28 02:42

Game is not starting for me. Or does it take a long time to load.I am stuck on They Told You Screen.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 02:52

@binaya if you are using the HTML 5 link try the game in full screen or try reloading the page.

binaya 2021-04-28 03:25

@spaghetti-inc do i need to press something in 'They told you' screen? Game is not starting on windows build too 😢.

image823.png this keeps on forever.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 03:30

@binaya That is the title screen and there is buttons below that. I just tried it and it worked fine so I have no idea what's going on for you :(.

binaya 2021-04-28 03:47

@spaghetti-inc looks like there is no button for me 😭. Looks like UI anchor problem then.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 04:03

@binaya I am so sorry that this is happening to you :( !

tengusheath 2021-04-28 06:00

Can't get past the title screen on the web version, there is no UI to start.

keithswanger 2021-04-28 06:11

I appreciate the effort in creating a narrative-based game!

morricore 2021-04-28 07:53

> @binaya That is the title screen and there is buttons below that. I just tried it and it worked fine so I have no idea what’s going on for you :(.

This is happening for me too. Problem with configuration of responsible UI. In full screen it works.

Tbh I like such games. But music in the end started sounding more annoying than atmospheric. Walking distances same thing. Spawn room so poorly eliminated that I didn't even realized for some time, that I'm in such room, and game is working. And ending. I don't think that this is acceptable to show. Please add content warning. Imo, open ending like in "Tomorrow's Joe" would be less anticlimactic and more acceptable.

But I'm happy that you created narrative-based experience, with some interesting level design moments.

steve-dragon 2021-04-28 08:26

As a whole, I think the way you told that story was fairly compelling. The small vignettes painted almost in an epistolary form. I think that is the strongest part of the game. The music is good, but it gets a little repetitive. It needs more variation, maybe escalation as the game escalates.

The fact that it is 3d is impressive, but still it needed more in terms of visuals to make the walking bits more interesting. It got kind of same-y, not really engaging, because of how little there was to do except make a beeline to the next orange tree. There were not enough trees to make it feel like the forest, the mountainside didn't have the same kind of depth that it needed to feel ominous. It just needed more work and polish. The gameplay gave way to narrative, which I can respect, but a little more focus on UI and polish would have made it feel much better.

Still, a good entry. One can see the work that has gone into it.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 16:37

@morricore I have now changed the ending to make it better and less anticlimactic!

igor-oblomov 2021-04-28 17:10

I like music and narrative, but mouse sensitive a little bit crazy.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 18:44

@igor-oblomov Yeah I need to fix the mouse sensitivity on the HTML 5 build. Also thanks for the feedback!

morricore 2021-04-28 20:35

@spaghetti-inc oh, I wanna see it. But don't ready to walk to it. Although changing game so much against rules.

spaghetti-inc 2021-04-28 21:12

@morricore I kept the old one too. I just made I new version for who ever wants to play it

ismael-rodriguez 2021-05-01 02:16

Not sure how to rate this. I wish there was more to do, a puzzle to solve or something. I also wonder if it would have been better in a more confined space. Maybe after each letter, one of the trees in a smaller area changes from green to red, and so after each letter you look around looking for the red tree. Especially because there isn't really anything to do along the path.

The music started out okay, but got a little too repetitive over time. I think it needs a bit more variation. For a game this mellow, I think BOTW's approach would have worked well.

I played the original ending, it was very abrupt, and I didn't really understand the meaning or follow the story.

Good job on your first game jam entry! Not a bad start!!!

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-01 04:08

@ismael-rodriguez Thanks for the review! You make some fair points and I wish I had included more todo but it was my first time making terrain so all of it was a learning process. I hope to make something better for the next game jam! :)

ismael-rodriguez 2021-05-01 04:14

Definitely a good start! I just started learning 3D and Terrain so you probably know more about it than I do!

Keep working on it 💯

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-01 04:44

@ismael-rodriguez Will do!!

ismael-rodriguez 2021-05-01 18:00

I was thinking about the feedback I left you, and realized I may have overloaded on the negativity. I should mention, I liked how the tree with the letter was red, that was a nice touch, because once I landed I was like "where do I go", and the red tree stood out as a good waypoint, so good job there.

There was some anticipation while taking the trips to the red trees, like "what am I going to find next". Even when reading the letters there was that build up to the event.

The controls worked well, although I wish there was an option for sensitivity, and movement was a little faster, maybe a sprint button? I thought jumping out of the room to start was a fun and interesting way to get going too.

Again, good job on your first jam entry! There's a lot here to be proud of!

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-02 01:32

@ismael-rodriguez Thanks again! I do agree that a sprint button and a sensitivity option would have been really good to add! And thanks again for the great feed back! Also I really like your game as well!

dobrila 2021-05-03 18:21

I liked the mood at the very beginning but it got ruined a bit with the really short music and a bad cut in the loop. If you just manage to make the track loop seamlessly it would be much better. I see what you were trying to do with the story but I believe the walking distance what a bit too slow and the notes were further a part so I believe you could have built a smaller level with a bit more content rather than doing a really big level with one type of tree and terrain. Quick tip: increase the render distance for the shadows, it seems a bit trippy like this.

All in all, nice game, good job!

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-03 20:53

@dobrila Thanks for the feedback! I agree I should have made a smaller level with more detail. I will also pass the tips for music over to my friend who made the sound track! Thanks for commenting!

blubberquark 2021-05-10 08:48

I get it. It's a "walking simulator". It could really have benefited from some polish on the __walking__ and __opening the notes__ parts. There is a reason why games like Dear Esther and Bioshock use audio. This way you can hear the story _while walking_. It's really unfortunate that the comparison to Dear Esther is the first thing that comes to mind (spoilers) orpnhfr Qrne Rfgure unf gur fnzr raqvat.

The other big area for improvement would be the writing of the notes/letters. Some of them felt really flippant/terse/jarring, given the serious subject matter. I guess you wanted to keep them short in order to not interrupt the flow of the game.

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-10 15:22

@blubberquark Now that you mention it audio would have been a better choice. Also you are correct with why the notes are so short. That and the fact that originally the person that did the music was going to wright the story but then just didn't. I did just have to scrabble to get the rest of the notes written. Overall I agree the game needs a lot more polish. Thanks for the feed back!

invixel 2021-05-15 10:04

I really like this take on the theme. Diving deeper and deeper into Davids psyche and learning about him. I am not the biggest fan of walking simulators but i like stories, and I have to admit that walking between the notes gives the story more time to sink in. Good job!

spaghetti-inc 2021-05-16 08:20

@invixel Thanks that means a lot! That's one reason I had trouble fixing the walking speed is I wanted people to have time to think about each note!