Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD52 → Harvest Season
By drunkardwolf
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 6 | 4.31 | 24 | |
| Fun | 42 | 3.93 | 24 | |
| Innovation | 109 | 3.54 | 23 | |
| Theme | 20 | 4.35 | 23 | |
| Graphics | 6 | 4.52 | 24 | |
| Audio | 8 | 4.26 | 23 | |
| Humor | 56 | 3.59 | 23 | |
| Mood | 1 | 4.71 | 23 |
The mood was definitely the highlight for me. The TV static-y ripple effect was a nice touch. I did struggle a little bit with the sensitivity of looking around and wasn't too sure exactly how to progress at times. Still cool, good stuff!
*spoilers warning* You knocked it out of the park with the Audio and visuals, and i got a chuckle out of the "not today" ending too. That's usually the first thing i try in games :)
Excelent Job, very good game feel, visuals and game play. The amount of work done for this on in 48h is huge.
Reminded me of Redneck Rampage game I used to play as a child!
Yo this game is dope! I usually stay away from Downloadable games just because it's a hassle, but after seeing the pictures I knew I had to download it. The atmosphere is great, the 3D models are awesome. I love the whole vibe. It kind of reminds me of Doom/Quake, with some other games mixed in. I also like how you had a VHS tape of the game in the game lol, meta.
Only thing I will mention, is Windows gave me a Windows Smart Screen warning about "unknown publisher". I scanned on Virus Total and there's no issues at all, but maybe I would recommend adding some publishing information when exporting and maybe that'd help? Because anytime someone plays they have to click "Run anyway" and for non-techy people it's kind of sus. Amazing game though, good job!
@0xwavy thanks for playing, yeah, the maze can get a bit confusing at times, I tried to make is simpler and position the ammo pick-ups as a kind of guide, but even I was getting lost every now and then. And I play with quite high sensitivity, so I'm not a good judge for that kind of stuff and didn't get round to adding settings. :)
@noobman64 Thanks for playing, that ending was a late addition, I always try turning around in games so thought I might as well.
@MadR Thanks, I love redneck rampage, not the best of the build engine games, but has a special charm to it :)
A+ on the graphics! audio seemed to fit the game. hard but doable. I hid behind a silo and shot to kill. got ending 1/3 and 3/3
I loved the little details around the farm (like the cassette tape in the barn)
@forevertrash Thanks for playing, didn't realise adding publisher details prevented that problem, have had this issue with most of my projects and always have trouble with HTML5 builds.
With that title screen you had me immediately! Great entry, the mood is very cool. I generally don't like mazes, but since this is not really a maze puzzle, I think it adds to the tension not to know if there's a dead end around the corner. I eventually made it to the exit but played again to see what happened if it got me, did not regret. Well done!
Seriously, this is an incredible game on its own, more so if you made this in only 48 hours!
First fall, the atmosphere and sounds effects are just so good. If I didn't it's an LD game, I would think it's some kind of PS1 horror game demo haha. As a huge PS1 fan this was right up my alley. Great entry, in fact one of the best I've played.
I think the only thing that I would change was that VHS effect, it felt a bit too strong, but maybe that's just my bad eyesight.
Cool art & mood!
Whoa, very nice mood! Not just the post processing, effects and music, but it also plays smoothly with good character and camera movement. Got all 3 endings!
"Not today" was my first ending :D I like retro shooters, and this one is pretty good for The Compo.
- Pretty good mini-shooter, although lacks some additional enemies maybe - Wasn't obvious what to do at first, because no feedback from the Boss when you shoot at it a few rounds - Textures seem nice - Maybe too much camera effects, but it's a good way to achieve a special mood
You've really got these survival horror compos down to a science. :laughing:
Great design on the maze and visual effects, a number of times during the encounter I was wondering whether I'd backed myself into a corner. Yet, as many times as this happened, there was always an alternate route that was somewhat close if I _really_ picked up the pace-- something that kept the encounter tense and high-stakes without just killing the player in a slow and frustrating repetition. I do wish that ammo was scarcer as collecting close to 80 bullets by the time my first run was over severely diminished the challenge. All in all, most of my issues come down to Ending 3/3 as the harvester's slow turn speed and high health made for a fight-or-flight scenario that wasn't as rewarding as it could have been if you chose to stand your ground in a newly opened field. The fire effects were great, but the first few sparks were a little hard to see from a distance and the damage sounds didn't always trigger, so it took me a second to realize I could really go through with it. Having the option was a bit of a surprise as I never expected the shotgun to do anything more than maybe buy some time or fight a secondary enemy I'd yet to see.
Something you really nailed down with this game [as with many of your other horror submissions] is the retro artwork. Here in particular it feels authentically old-school and the filters cover most of the limitations of your grid-based approach to the level. Not only this, but the rain effect and the physical impact of droplets on stalks gives the walls more of a presence in the game. The fact that your sprint isn't just a "walk but super fast" but an actual left/right stepping motion is a kind of neat detail I rarely get to see in these types of submissions and, once again, goes a long way to making the player feel present and fully within evil-harvester range. I do wish there was some kind of hit impact on shooting stalks, but this is beyond nitpicking now.
Instead of walling off certain paths until the trigger occurs, the game actually manages to sell the illusion that there's choice to the encounter and gives you the right advice without forcing the player to go down a certain path. I appreciate the additional triggers and nonlinearity to how the main event plays out, something you don't really come to expect from jam entries due to the extra complexity.
Bonus points for Ending 1/3, which ought to be the only choice... if I see a field like that I'm not going anywhere near it. Despite that, I loved the entry and saw all three endings. Excellent work as always.
This game is really scared me and I think it is mini-masterpiece which could be popular on game-streaming platforms. :) Art and sound are beautiful, and idea is pretty descent. I don't really like this kind of games, so I couldn't finish it, but I appreciate your work. It is awesome!
LOVED the style. We think alike ;)
The visual and level design were spot on. The fog and the rain. Effect achieved. I especially loved the meta VHS "hidden" in the barn -- haha.
So many smart decisions about the gameplay: the combine clearing the field, as you effectively carve your own arena. The multiple endings ... great replay value! The sparks indicating a hit on the combine was a smart touch.
I personally would have gone less heavy on post processing. The effect was great in the main and pause menus, but I feel like it maybe held you (the designer) back in-game.
Great game! Despite the fact that the premise is so silly, I was very unnerved by the game's atmosphere. I also have a fear of heavy machinery, so it made this game the best horror experience for me :sweat_smile:
I loved it! The mood is great, the dread is real. I was very into the game when I figured out that the ominous machine in the barn is actually after me. I died because I didn't know that you could kill the machine with gun, only after I read the description again I realized that. The running cycle is a little wanky and was confusing while turning. But despite that I really enjoyed every second of it. The stamina mechanic is very important to the task and I love it, it challenges the player to menage their resources. Great game. โฅ
Great! We had more or less the same idea, but the execution is very different from ours! It wasn't very clear to me if the gun was hurting the harvester or not, so after a while I stopped shooting it and just ran for the exit. Good entry, bonus point for the mood!
Well here we have something. 3D Monster Maze/Duel/Killdozer combination with it's very own atmosphere. Not really anything bad to say about it, especially for being compo entry. Sure it is dark and riddled with smudgy post process, sure it is repetitive and there is no way to read maze other than getting general direction from buildings; but I do think all of this really plays to it's strengths.
Okay, I find that shells are bit buggy to pick up. Might be just that they have too small hit boxes.
I think part of charm is that it knows it's nothing more than little game about duel of man and harvester. Adding extra enemies would just take away from experience, adding multiple weapons too. Another level? But we already fought that harvester. Next time is not scary anymore, it is just nuisance.
Wow, this is really good! Love the atmosphere you built up. That harvester is horrifying, and the death scene, wellโฆ Not for me. But that's why I had to try and avoid seeing it again by doing well at the game instead and in the end I only died two times and got all three endings, mostly by being careful and camping around the silos ๐
At first I thought it was weird that I had to go find the harvester to really start the game and that I could just leave without even having to flee, but having it clearly spelled out that there were two more endings helped me get it and got me to keep playing, so that was good.
Audio and visuals are great and I'm very fond of the retro lo-fi look. The one thing that confused me was that the loudness of the harvester, despite the spatial audio (which was important), seemed to always be equally loud no matter how far away I was. The first time I found the silos I hadn't gone to the barn, which triggered a "what's that?" and the sound of the harvester starting but I never actually bumped into the harvester during that run, eventually reaching the door for ending 2.
Gameplay mostly felt good. I agree with the post above me that the hitbox on pickups seemed too small, but in a way I also think it added to the sense of panic; I feel like you'd struggle to pick things up in reality in a situation like this too, especially in the rain ๐ I don't know if it's easier on other controllers, but with the PS3 controller I used, it was quite hard to click the stick and push it at the same time in order to run, so I ended up pressing my pinky against the keyboard's shift key instead.
All in all very well done with just a few minor inconveniences or points of confusion! ๐ช
Hi! Delighted to share that Harvest Season is featured on the GitHub Blog in our [Ludum Dare 52 wrap up post](https://github.blog/2023-02-03-ludum-dare-52-staff-picks/).