william-v-b 2021-04-27 03:37
Good Job my buds, nice to see you all doing some good work. I love the movement of the lamp mmmm NICE.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → The Miracle Mineral
By benjamin-l, waylon531, joshua-w and HailStorm32
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1590 | 3.05 | 21 | |
| Fun | 1911 | 1.94 | 21 | |
| Innovation | 1875 | 2.15 | 21 | |
| Theme | 999 | 3.57 | 21 | |
| Graphics | 1209 | 3.40 | 22 | |
| Humor | 1177 | 2.33 | 20 | |
| Mood | 432 | 3.86 | 21 |
Good Job my buds, nice to see you all doing some good work. I love the movement of the lamp mmmm NICE.
I think the lighting and texture is phenomenal for establishing this type of dark atmosphere, and it reminds me of the creepiness associated with blurry phone videos. I think the environment could use more visual interest and freedom of choice (it doesn't have to be true freedom, just something to add variety to the experience of walking through the cave). Also, I like the physics of the lamp, but it shakes so much that it takes away a bit from my immersion within the environment-- I think compositional considerations like these could help elevate the game to a really interesting experience.
It's a bit slow but it's a good mood game, it's a shame you weren't able to add music as that would have really added to the ambiance.
@wintergatn thanks for the feedback! As it generally goes with game jams, there were a whole bunch of things that we planned to do but then cut. One of those was props and events in the environment everywhere. I definitely agree that better composition would help a lot.
We also just realized a *huge* problem. 99% of the game's content is in these cassette tapes, but there's nothing indicating to the player that they should be clicking on the tapes. Lack of playtesting with unfamiliar people will do that :)
I can't seem to move and don't hear sound, I think the linux version might be broken.
@william-v-b thanks for the feedback! Yeah, the lamp physics turned out to be quite the time-sink, but the end result is fun. You used to be able to spin it around and do tricks but we decided that doesn't quite fit the mood.
@mmason thanks! I'm super sad about all the things we had to cut. Liam recorded himself singing this fantastic coal mining work song, and we were going to put it on some of the tapes and then distort it like crazy and play it in the giant room near the end. Ran out of time for the editing though.
@raptor851 Does it output any logs? This was mostly developed on linux, so it *should* work. Also, what audio system are you using (alsa, pulse, jack, etc.)?
EDIT: nope I actually just broke the linux build. lol. should be fixed soon
... and now it's actually fixed
it works now! I like the artstyle, minimalistic like it is it actually gives me some "Dungeon Keeper" vibes (the first person mode when you mind control one of your minions). Would have killed for a run button though, or at least a faster walk.
@raptor851 yeah, we ended up slowing down the movement a bunch in order to pad out the time in between tapes. The goal is that you finish one tape slightly before getting to the next one, but we didn't have time to really tune this. Ideally the level would be a lot bigger and more varied, and walking would be slightly faster.
The voice acting is so natural and good.
A very atmospheric experience, I loved wandering through the dark with my little swinging lamp and listening to the story told through tapes. I know you've addressed it above but I think I would have liked a bit faster walk speed, but obviously its very understandable in a jam! Very impressed, and kudos to the voice actors :)
I like that rick dude.
The lighting in this game is very creative! Nice job!
Good job on the voice acting, really helped with immersion. Its surprising how much simple footsteps can add to the atmosphere
Well done with the voice work and cool lighting effect.
Super moody and atmospheric!
The voice acting was nice, but there were a few times that I just had no clue what was being said. Some subtitles would probably help there.
Everything else though, I think has already been said, so, I'll just say +1 to all the other feedback haha
Excellent job guys!
So! you probably don't need me to tell you how good this is... but I'm gonna do it anyways.
The good: * I'm so happy that you didn't abuse the fact that I turn the volume of really high so I could hear the voices, aka no loud jump scare. * The mood is fantastic, I just wish I played this in the evening so I would be extra creeped. * Voice acting was really good overall, I espechially liked how you were able to make all the characters sound unique, that really helped me understand who was taking. * lighting effects where superb!
The stuff that could be gooder: * It would be nice if the tapes where named/numbers so I knew if I found them all in order. * The timing between tapes could be better, so the ended before you found a new one. * I'd love some more atmospheric sounds, like water dripping, wind blowing etc. I must admit that I perused the game files and saw that you have some samples for stuff like that, but it's not implemented? since I couldn't hear anything. * I'd love to see some more stuff in the cave, like abandoned minecarts, pick axes etc. preferably stuff that helps the world building, like guy's gloves next to his lunch box.
Now, I got to the end and got my neck snapped, it that the actual end, or did I lose? Anyways, this was a fantastic atmospheric game, and with just a little bit more work, this is the stuff I'd pay money for. really solid job!
Thanks guys - nice moody experience! Enjoyed it! I'm not a native speaker though and sometimes I had trouble to follow. I think subtitles would ruin it? And it would be nice to walk a bit fast or change the timing a bit between the tapes.
@simex yeah, that's the only ending. Numbering the tapes is a good idea. Our level ended up being entirely linear (and also almost entirely featureless), so it's pretty much impossible to find them out of order or miss some. I'm not sure players would necessarily recognize that though, so it makes sense to number them so that people don't worry about it. If we had gotten to do more interesting level design it would have been even worse.
@oc1d thanks! I definitely would like to have subtitles, but they would need to be optional. Accessibility is super important.
Interesting experience, the voice acting was awesome and the story was actually really intriguing. Having nothing but audio tapes throughout the whole game made it feel more like an audio book though, so adding some variation, maybe photos you could look at, could make it feel a lot more interactive. Going deeper into the caves felt really immersive, and even though I knew I was walking down a linear path I started to feel like I couldn't find my way back if I tried.
It's very refreshing playing through a narrative focused experience for a change, great work!
Quite the experience. Even if the slow walk is not my favorite activity, there is some good audio actor play within those cassettes. And the slow walking is mostly combined with the audio, so that you don't rush through the level and skip the audio parts.
There was a long corridor on the right after beginning, only to discover it's a dead end.
At the last tape I circled that area for 3 times (and listened to that tape 3 times :D), until I figured to click on something and a final audio, and the game closed itself.
Overall, an interesting audio experience.