FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD52 → The Dark Forest and the Memories of Harvest, of One Autumn's Days

The Dark Forest and the Memories of Harvest, of One Autumn's Days

By tygrak

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall983.6826
Fun2523.0226
Innovation543.7926
Theme1593.7026
Graphics284.2226
Audio244.0626
Mood34.5026

Comments

goldenmagnus 2023-01-09 08:24

Loved the art design you used.

catfort 2023-01-10 01:05

Love the art style! Have been thinking about doing something similar. The audio matches the atmosphere very nicely

danmerey 2023-01-10 22:06

Feel the vibes of Inscryption here because of the moody music. Also some Return of the Obra Din touch because of the visuals.

Unfortunately the game is pretty much unplayable due to extremely high sensitivity of the mouse, so the camera is rotating like crazy even if you change my mouse DPI to the minimum amount. I'd suggest you to fix that somehow probably (I think such a change can be allowed even after deadline – maybe pressing buttons 1-2-3-4-5 to change mouse sensitivity).

P.S. as creator mentioned below, you can change sensitivity with K and L keys, it's mentioned in the description (I just missed it)

tygrak 2023-01-10 22:18

@danmerey the K(decrease)/L(increase) buttons mentioned in controls didn't work? :( there definitely is some weird stuff there, when I made the windows build it was all fine but when first testing in the browser it was suddenly going insane so I added these buttons as an option

danmerey 2023-01-10 22:21

@tygrak > the K(decrease)/L(increase) buttons mentioned in controls didn’t work? :( there definitely is some weird stuff there, when I made the windows build it was all fine but when first testing in the browser it was suddenly going insane so I added these buttons as an option

Will try those, didn't see them for some reason – I don't always read the description, but it's understandable that a lot of games don't have tutorials and settings inside the game that is made in 48 hours :)

P.S. Yes, it worked, thanks

exofrenon 2023-01-10 22:28

I loved it. It was something different. 10/10 for the mood. As good as it gets for an LD game on that perspective. The visuals were quite striking, obviously inspired by the Return of the Obra Dinn. The music and the sound effects also really helped with setting up the atmosphere.

The gameplay could have been a little bit more involved though, but it was not focus I guess. Also, the graphics were a little bit too much at times. The noise effect could be toned down a bit to make it easier on the eyes. Also the story was maybe a little bit incoherent. I feel like I missed some story bits (maybe a bug?).

Also, some small issues with the camera (turning to the right was blocked if I turned more than 180 degrees, sometimes the look direction was acting up).

Really solid entry though, especially for a Compo game. 5/5 overall.

secrt101 2023-01-11 06:10

Loved the mood. Very atmospheric. Reminded me a bit of When the Darkness Comes. Amazing job!

annie-owl 2023-01-11 14:39

What an atmospheric game! You've done a great job on the Audio and Graphics front. The blend of noisy black and white visuals and distorted banjo music playing in background creates a melancholic mood that fits the overall story of the game, and makes the whole experience very relaxed.

The only complaint I have is the harvesting mechanic. As soon as you reach the otherworldly sceneries it feels unnecessary and distracts you from enjoying the views and music.

Nonetheless I've enjoyed the overall experience, great job!

tygrak 2023-01-11 20:49

Thanks everyone for the nice comments! :)

@exofrenon I actually didn't play the Return of the Obra Dinn yet, but I heard great things about it and loved Papers, Please so it's definitely on my to play list, I even managed to dodge spoilers until now :D The camera issue sadly also happens only on the web build, I think it's due to the game not getting focused properly sometimes somehow and then the mouse cursor somehow hitting the edge of the screen. I thought about taking the web build down due to the issues it has but I'll leave it up because of how convenient it is for everyone.

moosey 2023-01-12 22:53

Whilst the gameplay itself wasn't anything groundbreaking, it's clear that wasn't the focus. The music, the unique visual aesthetic and the atmosphere achieved by these two things is incredibly potent. This is a very unique and thoughtful take on the theme, and you did a fantastic job!

zbugba 2023-01-12 22:59

Atmosphere of the game is great. The visual style though really hurt my eyes, it's really hard to look at the screen and focus on anything. Might be just me though. It also feels like the harvesting part of the game is only there because of the theme, doesn't add anything to the game itself which is a shame.

Otherwise, nice entry :)

qooorti 2023-01-12 23:54

Unique, abstract game. It's an "experience" game and it was an experience.

jormarysky 2023-01-13 19:45

I see why you might have loved our visuals, having same palette and all. Lovely out of tune banjo there. Goes high on mood rating.

parkuhrmd 2023-01-14 11:18

This is how I imagine David Lynch would grow his potatoes. Seriously, this had some amazing visuals! The sequence where the sun roamed across the long walkway? Amazing!

tricky-fat-cat 2023-01-14 11:21

I love the mood of the game, texsts, sounds. Talking about the shader, it looks stylish, but a little bit too much, to a degree that it was hurdle to navigate around.

amkingtrp 2023-01-15 18:32

Technically extremely impressive; the shader was extremely well done (but I did find it quite hard to see things) and coupled with the audio did manage to evoke a weird autumnal feeling. Got to admit, the the plot was confusing to me; felt as lost here as I did watching the original Twin Peaks and the end of 2001 Space Odyssey :)

binney 2023-01-15 18:39

Love the banjo/lyre/sink combo :)

f1krazy 2023-01-15 20:16

Everything in this game comes together to create a really unsettling atmosphere, from the eerie monochrome graphics, to the minimalist banjo-playing in the background, to the increasingly alien landscapes, and even the way the "level complete" text goes from a terse but polite "enough harvesting" to frantically screaming "ENOUGH. DOOR. DOOR." at you. The sequence with the extremely lengthy hallway dialled it all up to eleven, and I must confess, it rather reminded me of when I had a mental breakdown in college. Which I think is a good thing? I'll applaud you for it anyway.

I made it to the final level, with the hills and the rivers, but I keep getting stuck on the level geometry and I'm not entirely sure where I'm supposed to go or what I'm supposed to do, if anything. But I don't really mind, because I think it would be entirely fitting if there *was* no final objective except to stand there, watching the pixelated sun creep across the sky, forever...

Well done. I really enjoyed this.

hayricakir 2023-01-19 21:14

Interesting art design, I liked it!

cat-lab 2023-01-27 00:20

Wow. Truly just wow. My favourite by far. Well done.