FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD49 → CalmR - Rock Skipping Mindfulness

CalmR - Rock Skipping Mindfulness

By eli-delventhal, brendan-milos, yodoG and Ivy Ngo

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall2723.8842
Fun4623.6642
Innovation2513.7842
Theme8143.4742
Audio714.1541
Humor1983.8542
Mood654.2342

Comments

ultrarat 2021-10-05 04:19

FYI I had to copy paste the link rather than clicking on it, doesn't seem to be downloading immediately.

Human voice and SPLUNK sfx is very relaxing.

dalep 2021-10-05 06:17

Ran fairly badly on my computer (AMD Radeon Pro 5300M GPU, MacOS 11.6, non-VR) although it ran smoother if I looked up a little, but seeing as how I’m apparently the most mindful person in existence I finished it anyway. Off to go live like a monk!

!> For some reason I always love games that let you feel like you’re rebelling against the game in some way.

eli-delventhal 2021-10-06 04:32

Thanks for playing @ultrarat and @dalep ! Hmm unclear on what the deal with the download is. Dale, I had some more time to take a look and turns out I just needed to lower the quality settings in Unity (they were being published on "Ultra" quality, oops). Made a new build after knocking it down to medium if you want to give it another try.

elazulus 2021-10-06 06:18

Hey, this is a pretty interesting submission!

Definitely a unique concept haha it had me chuckling :)

I don't have a VR set, so the rock throwing probably wasn't as satisfying as it could have been, but I still enjoyed figuring out the mechanics.

One bug (?), I dragged a rock underneath myself, and it pushed me off the platform and I fell into the lava, and the void.

Again, cool submission, the voice of Sira was well done and the other SFX were very clean and nice to listen to.

Nice work!

zvyaga 2021-10-06 06:20

Tested it on oculus, very cool, you're great)

mediflect 2021-10-06 06:47

Very interesting take on the theme! I really like how the game subverts your initial expectations - I thought it was a little weird and on-the-nose at first, and was glad to see it go in a different direction. The audio was great; very soothing and relaxing. The presence of real VA definitely sets the mood.

My biggest frustration was with the controls - I was on mouse/keyboard and I struggled to get the rock to go where I wanted at first (it almost always went way farther than I wanted). I eventually settled on the second control scheme, which felt a lot more consistent. The easy mode toggle was very much appreciated.

One thing to call out is is that I found a game-breaking bug - if you select a rock with the mouse, and then look down at the dock, you start to collide with the rock and it bounces you off the dock, causing you to fall beneath the map.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit! I also used an AI character in my game, so it was interesting to see another take on the idea. The ending was pretty funny :)

cloistered 2021-10-06 07:29

Nice game~ Maybe there can be a stone that always in my hand?I'm so lazy lol.

yoss-iii 2021-10-07 03:17

+1 to @ultrarat's comment: I also had trouble downloading, but that fixed it. Also, on my first attempt, I accidentally threw myself off the platform. Turns out the rocks let you rocket jump if you look down with them, lol. Bugs aside, it was a fun little experience with a nice atmosphere!

sandra-martinez 2021-10-07 06:15

The gameplay is easy to understand. Beautiful graphics, the water surface is smooth and satisfying, and so is the rock skipping effect. It starts to get funny as I start throwing rocks to the towers and the ship, nice humour you got there, thought I really expected more jokes coming.

chillertyp 2021-10-07 07:33

Reminds me of the Wind Waker... but with water reflections.

eli-delventhal 2021-10-07 17:53

@sandra-martinez would have loved to put more jokes in! Time didn't allow, unfortunately. :smiley:

kyboon 2021-10-07 19:35

Not gonna lie, the game got me in the first half :)

Also I really appreciate you put in effort to make a VR version of it. And you nailed the feel of throwing!

One little bug in the end, if the player is not in the origin, the end screen won't be in sight (it does in PC version, not in VR version). Maybe reset player's position after destroying the last piece.

Great job, I like the humor!

stroe-andrew 2021-10-07 20:48

Great Job. I really love the concept & I'm sure the "relaxing" part was cool for most of the people :) the graphics is outstanding, congrats.

I really love it

jonathan-alderson 2021-10-07 21:14

This is absolutely terrifying, I'm just on edge after playing that, I feel like I've downloaded a piece of haunted software. I'm deeply unsettled and found it hard to skip the rocks. Good stuff.

t-c 2021-10-08 03:15

Haha, awesome stuff! Very cool. I would have loved for something to happen different if you start up the game after beating it. Either way, the idea and execution were very good. Great game!

jane-wei 2021-10-08 16:25

Polished VR game! The voiceover + script were fantastic, and the rock skipping challenges were fun to master. Had to have quite a few goes at the cruise ship, but it was worth it in the end :) Soundscape was fitting at first, and then humorously ironic

I'm lucky enough to have an Oculus Quest - the throwing feels pretty good in there!

It was a bit surreal for me because our team has made a VR game with a bed (of sorts) floating on an ocean before (not for LD49) https://dreamteamaus.itch.io/dreamboat

nebrazif 2021-10-08 19:05

Good work, very cool game, the art was great ! 😁

eli-delventhal 2021-10-08 19:52

@jane-wei LOL wow your Dreamboat game has a lot of similarities to ours! Brilliant minds. :-)

nratcliff 2021-10-08 21:01

Controls were pretty tough on PC but the writing was excellent! It reminds me a lot of William Pugh's stuff.

eli-delventhal 2021-10-08 21:13

@nratcliff we were definitely using The Stanley Parable as inspiration. :smile:

0x-void-x0 2021-10-08 21:40

oh man Im so into this game, I wouldn't mind paying for a full version lol, amazing work definitely one of the best I've player, I really love this so much thanks for making this game!

zachsbutt 2021-10-08 21:52

i think i achieved enlightenment. thanks!

214.gif

eli-delventhal 2021-10-08 22:00

@0x-void-x0 thank you so much, we really really appreciate it!

@zachsbutt hahaha well done! Maybe I should make a post-compo build where I turn off gravity for the player!

rufson 2021-10-08 22:08

I would just cuddle to the sound of a stone falling close to the player - it sounds like inside a toilet. I like the symbol part the most :) Very immersive experience. Thank you

yodog 2021-10-08 22:48

@rufson hahaha it was actually a big spoon in a full bathtub, but I also hear a toilet plop when I hear it.

rufson 2021-10-09 01:26

@yodog I was so close to enlightenment and it distracted me a bit. It's great that you recorded this sound :D

jpatchz 2021-10-11 07:37

The sound effects are amazing! I wish I had occulos so I could test it on VR. The mood of the game really calmed me down. The water and ocean sound almos made me feel the breeze. That was a great experience for sure! One thing that bother me is that when I'm holding shift and then loose de mouse button to throw a stone, the camera is auto unlocked and my canvas goes crazy, and then I can't see the beginning of the stone percurse. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, maybe.

eli-delventhal 2021-10-11 18:34

@jpatchz Thanks for the feedback! I'll look into the camera glitching. Smells like a true bug.

bloodycoin 2021-10-13 08:04

Very well aesthetically done. At first I was really calm, then as I started trying to hit targets got increasingly frustrated :D Good meditation subversion. Played on PC with mouse & keyboard, so I am sure I am missing throwing motion experience. Was mildly disappointed, that intro dialogs were same after finishing the game and running it again :upside_down: But overall - good job.

eli-delventhal 2021-10-13 18:54

@bloodycoin well I suppose you wanting to play the game again is a good problem to have! Would indeed be amusing in a post-compo entry to have her yell at you and then just force quit the app.

sleepystudios 2021-10-14 17:30

Really well polished and really well designed. Feels like one of those perfect short VR experiences that doesn't try to overcomplicate things which I really appreciated. Nice work!

harmadillo 2021-10-15 17:38

This was a lot of fun. Enjoyed the rock skipping and the humour. Having the alternate control schemes help with playing on PC. Would be interesting to try the rock skipping in VR.

abdul-zakkar 2021-10-19 04:12

I am the most mindful person to ever live. Great stuff, love the writing in the commentary!

mrknd94 2021-10-20 23:21

A lot of fun. People need this game in their lives. Well done! :)

python-b5 2021-10-21 02:33

Really fun (and funny!). Haven't had the chance to play in VR yet but I might try that sometime soon. Nice work :)

riper 2021-10-21 19:54

Good work, it was fine!

sam-gorman 2021-10-21 19:54

I am equal parts amazed and questioning what I just played It was unironically difficult and fun. Incredible writing.

never have I been calmer