hfsevans 2023-01-09 23:19
Loved the the really crunchy graphics! Great mood and tone
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD52 → They Hide in the Fields
By hawkin, tempest-smh and KingPotatoCannon
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 155 | 3.88 | 94 | |
| Fun | 230 | 3.65 | 91 | |
| Innovation | 344 | 3.39 | 90 | |
| Theme | 570 | 3.44 | 92 | |
| Graphics | 135 | 4.21 | 94 | |
| Audio | 18 | 4.28 | 89 | |
| Mood | 5 | 4.52 | 91 |
Loved the the really crunchy graphics! Great mood and tone
I really don't like horror game and yours hit all the mark ^^
I actually jumped out of my chair when a monster finally got me - awesome! This feels so polished, the art style, audio, and tone work perfectly together. Awesome job!
I went back to try again, I still haven't managed to find the kid - it scares the heck out of me every time the monster catches me π great stuff!
@herryfabien I'm sorry XD and thank you!!
@procrasteroid The difficulty balance is definitely something we tried to get right, but it's harder when you know the game so well, you know? Can I ask, were you playing in WebGL (because some features aren't available, which makes the game MUCH harder).
Have to try it again with headphones I think. Commenting here to keep it bookmarked
I really like those pre-rendered sprite graphics, 90's jank is my jam.
@hawkin I played the WebGL version, honestly though it was great even if the spatial audio wasn't fully functional (I didn't notice if so). I got close one time when I heard the kid crying out a few times, really enjoyed it!
Great environment!
@procrasteroid Thank you! If Windows is an option for you, you should definitely give it a try. In WebGL, you can hear that a sound is distant based on the volume, but it won't adjust the volume (left or right). So you can tell you are _close_, but not whether it's left or right or behind or in front. Definitely an unfortunate limitation that we didn't research beforehand!
Ok, this is seriously awesome. Huge fan of the pixel art, terrifying SFX, & general vibe. Checking out previous games you guys have worked on now :)
I really love the art style of this one. I would like it if there was a bit of a chance to get away when you get caught.
I was scared, there is proof on the internet now. As you know. WELL DONE on those sounds tho!!!
I did it.PNG
Good job bro, you did what I expect to do! I really like the atmosphere and the art expression. When I hear my footstep, Tom's speak and the monster's scream, I think I really in the feild of maize or any other farm. And you really need to make more level.
Really endearing experience, thank you! It's so atmospherically rich, especially with the excellent audio design, really great job @hawkin, it's been a real pleasure to play!
This is the kind of things I really hate in games: horror! π π But you did it well, the ambiance is oppressing and you can't see anything in front of you... Fun! Congratulations :)
Awesome game! I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to playing horror games so needless to say I got scared into quitting after i failed a couple of times but it was a great experience nevertheless.
@elflashor @schmalex we definitely took a risk with a horror game! Hopefully you still had "fun" XD thank you for playing!
@shores your choice of words made me chuckle! But in a way, the dialogue between the mother and son did come out endearing. Thank you both playing!
@bowen thank you! We were really happy with the atmosphere in the end. We were definitely nervous about the idea going into it, so we're glad it paid off.
We had an idea to introduce some level randomization, so maybe that's something you'll be able to see in an update!
The artstyle is amazing! I like that in order to find your target you have to take a risk. Very well made, awesome!
Controls are really tough, but it looks gorgeous! Very spooky.
@lerg Thank you for the kind words! I would love to hear more feedback. We might be able to improve the controls. What did you find tough?
You guys should be quite happy with what you made, it looks like you've set the scope just right for what you can do as a team on this particular weekend. The corn physics is well done in particular. Spotting an unaware baddie for the first time was a great experience ("wait, is this a star or..." mystery resolved when I made a sound and it started moving).
Damn that looks amazing. I entered a dark corn field and that's exactly how it should look like after running a horror-movie-filter to it. After walking around for a while, I find some monsters that block my travels, and I laugh like hell when I realize that the corn field is going to eat me and darkness keeps us awake at night for next 2 years.
@hawkin just unresponsive. Maybe though my computer is not fast enough.
We were sinking in this corn field while looking for the boy just with sound of his voice. Our GameDesigner started whispering too, this game made the atmosphere. Pretty nice, good job!
I enjoyed the hell out of this game. But as Tommy and I were trying to find our house, I considered just leaving him behind to save myself. Shut the hell up, kid, do you want to be eaten? The monster is 10 feet away and Tommy is shouting "Mom I can hear them!" loudly into the cornfield.
I had to download the PC version because the web version is almost unplayable without spatial audio.
@justin-c it really is, sadly!! We were disappointed, but I don't think we would have changed our design even if we had known about that limitation for WebGL. Thank you for downloading!
A really clever and scary game based on a very simple idea. Really enjoy it, well done! You can try to make a full game out of this idea.
Was very much into the whole idea of the game! I think it was executed very well, and it managed to not only make me tense up, but also scare me. I think the only downside is that once the creature gets you for the first time, it becomes a bit less tense to actually go find Tommy when replaying, but other than that the game was wonderful!
The mood is super spooky, good job! Art style added to it as well! Played a couple times but didn't find the kid, poor guy stuck with the aliens now :)
A nice little horror game! The atmosphere was wonderful and the graphics were nice and crunchy but without limiting the information I need to progress too much. The audio is very nicely done, and I deeply appreciate the extra effort put towards it (especially as I was listening to horror podcasts while working on my own entry haha).
Making a corn field is legit brilliant for working within the limitations of 72 hours. Makes for an interesting environment to explore without too many unique assets or building complex levels. It works super well.
Really nice work!
@rincs thank you so much for suffering through it! Would you be alright with us using reactions from your stream in a compilation video?
Wow this so good! Love the older game aesthetics and walking through the cornfield was so eerie! Admittedly a little jealous of this submission, I can see that there was a lot of effort put it. Prioritizing sound is something I tend to forget and its so important in horror.
ok, I have a short jumpscare moment :D but when I found out that all you have to do is sprint, I immediately got up to Tommy and home with him without being quiet once. Too bad. but very nice idea. If you play it the way it is intended it makes nice a little shaky . good job. And if you hold C and then want to run crashed the game.
Great retro horror vibes in this one! Mechanic ended up working better than I expected. Took a few tries to pull it off.
@cloughd Making sure to have good ambient sound and adding those tiny details to the steps and the voices were all @hawkin! Glad @hawkin was able to incorporate so much as without the sound, the atmosphere just wouldn't be complete. That combined with the lighting and the art style @tempest-smh was able to create really brought everything together.
Thanks for playing!
@hawkin Go right ahead. XD
@keip It sounds like you had fun!! Yes, we realized that there are different ways to approach the challenge based on the balance of a lot of parameters. So let's just say, great job discovering that ;)
As for the crash: were you playing in the browser? We realize that pressing Control + W closes browser tabs. I'm not aware of other issues with C and shift, though, so please let us know!!
A good horror feel and some fun audio mechanics. it got a little easy when I found I could avoid the creatures just by crouching but the mechanics were pretty fresh.
Thank you @avian ! It was definitely an interesting experiment to balance the mechanics. We discussed how we wanted to encourage the player to play. I can understand why released games take Soo long to polish!
Usually I avoid horror/horror-esque games but decided to check this out β and it was worth it. Great stuff!
Really like aesthetics and sound design.
OMG this is really scary!! Very well done π. I find the son but didn't manage to save him/us. I don't want to try again π π
@t90 I'm glad you checked it out! Appreciate the kind words.
@richard-jedlicka Tommy is lost forever to the aliens :scream: hahaha. Thank for playing!
Love the vibes! I'm a sucker for those PS1 spooky graphics. Great work!
The graphics and sound are really well made. I tried sneaking and staying away from the aliens for a few runs and almost made it back, but tommy was too loud. I found out that you can just sprint the whole time and the aliens can't catch up to you lol. Overall good game.
@tukisboolukis I'm glad we convinced you to try multiple times! To us, we were glad the mechanic allowed for exploration.
I did play test the speeds being more on par (even your being slower than their sprint), but it ended up being nearly instant loss at every sound! Balancing is interesting!! Thanks for playing :)
I couldn't succeed in finding the son, because I got too damn scared lol. Very immersive game with amazing art! Great work :)
@mrchickenboy appropriate username? You're right there with @theghostoftommy , since you left him in the field LOL
Thanks for playing and for the kind words!
Dude this was so great, I hate horror games and this one totally jumpscared me at one point. I totally won when I found the kid in the cornmaze, probably shouldnt have been outside at night without a chaperone anyways!
Thanks for letting me play this!
Here's the VOD, split into chapters so you should be able to find your section! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hMhAX_Rgg8
Really nice game with some awesome graphics! Enjoyed playing it on stream! Great entry, and a nice little horror game where the jump scare isn't too intense. Well done.
@dannyk1994 thank you for playing through! Would you happen to have the clip available to rewatch? We are wanting to build a reaction compilation!
@hawkin I get get VOD for you
Nerve-wracking! :see_no_evil: The difficulty of this is great - great AI and voice acting too! Managed to get him out of the fields on my fourth attempt
Wow what a game! Very interesting and scary! The graphics are charming. I liked the gameplay and the mechanics involving sound. I got a lot of scares with these gigantic aliens hahaha Good work!
very nicely done horror game. not a huge fan of the genre but still tried it with headphones and got my nerves pretty high very fast. the art style is amazing, the atmoshphere is on point, and the audio is one of the best in the entire jam. such great entry!
@fnkee so glad you stuck with it and rescued Tommy in the end! The mechanic was definitely a meat challenge, we thought
@bartalomew we really appreciate you checking it out and taking time to appreciate it, even if it's not your kind of game! That means a lot!!
@lerg there's a playthrough posted above by krassenstein. If you have time, could you give it a watch and see if it plays the same way on his as on your computer? I'd like to know whether it was simply a performance issue that impacted your experience, or if there is something to improve! Thanks!
Thanks for submitting your game on the stream! Hereβs the start of your game if you wanted to re-watch initial thoughts youtu.be/qbBq_nBKk5k?t=23814
Loved the mood of the game! Congrats on such a great entry!
sweet style, great mood, i got scared AF when getting caught for the first couple of times
very good entry, respect for putting this together in such a short time!!! everything comes together as a very neat horror package
one run i decided just to sprint like crazy eveywhere and it kind of worked - i managed to kite the monsters near the house but they would never go out of the field so they got stuck on the border
good to have a "safe" zone but it a was a little anticlimactic :D
when i found tommy his model without face was a separate horror element for me xD
NICE :heart:
I love that you have to harvest your son, and the monsters have to harvest you, that is a pretty clever use of the theme! The atmosphere is wonderful, but the font and the instructions on the screen damage that a little. It's REALLY creep, and that is great! I love the eyes of the monsters! Overall, an amazing entry! Well done!
@cannibalgirl Thank you for playing! We were really happy with how it all came together too. In the end, the mechanic needed some more exploration to figure out exactly the kinds of things you described, but we were still really happy with the "alpha" version. (Also, yes, Tommy's face is CREEP haha)
@she-wrote Thank you!! We're glad it created memorable experience for you. I had considered adding a button to hide the UI (at least everything but the sound meter), but that was just in the last bit of time before submission. Alas!
it's always really cool to come across a spacial-audio driven entry, nice work! getting got by "them" is especially scary, good job capturing the fear factor in a jam game!
Hands down one of the most unique experience I had playing a jam game. 10/10
This was a lot of fun, really fun unique idea and I loved the look and sound of the game as well. The stereo effect is pretty rough to get even with the windows download without headphones or widely spread speakers so I think an option for those who need it of a subtle visual indicator of which direction sound is coming from would be great for more people to play. Overall really enjoyed using my ears to find and ovoid things and great job getting this made!
@bloodfin great comment. I have noticed that we have missed a few audio ratings (around 5 people didn't rate that category), and we are suspecting it's for reasons you describe. Honestly, if that's the case, we appreciate people not rating if they know they aren't getting the full experience.
We briefly discussed accessibility options, and I think adding visual indicators either for the hearing impaired (or for the "technically impaired") players would be a great addition!
Five stars for Mood, Audio, and Graphics! I wasn't sure what to expect from the screenshots, but after about 30 seconds I was totally immersed in the world. The visuals are fantastic and chunky, and the spatial sound is perfect. I love how you can hear exactly where every set of footsteps is, and how close an alien is getting. This is such a simple premise, but executed so well that I was simultaneously creeped out and enthralled the whole time. Excellent work, you guys!
score50.PNG
This game was freaky!! xD The first time they got me I jumped lol The graphics and atmosphere in this were soooo good! Sound design was really well done too! Really fun, polished and overall amazing work! :D
You've nailed the atmosphere aspect of the game. Not only the audio and visual effects, but the gameplay itself immerses you in this creepy cornfield atmosphere. Good job!
A really cool take on the theme and a very original idea in general. I love the claustrophobic feel you created when in between the corn. The spacial audio also helps a lot. Really well done!
I just got jumpscared... Well done mate, great atmosphere, nice sounds!
@chase-of-bass @hayricakir It may not be an enlightened form of horror, but it's definitely an effective one! I hope it was fun :D
@annie-owl @andidebob thank you so much! Your words are very kind.
Nice Audio and genuinely well established atmosphere, very fun to play. (:
I had forgotten about the nightmare I had last week where I was a mother living next to a cornfield trying to find my son before he was abducted by aliens, but this game did such a good job of recreating it that I don't think I'm ever going to sleep again.
@alex-garbus I suppose that's a convenience. I'm glad I could help? Or maybe, I'm sorry? 0:)
Everyone's scared of the snatchers, but Timmy's model ain't for the faint of heart, either, I've got to say.
I had a real easy time crouching my way to him, didn't even have to call out. The way back wasn't so fruitful, if only I could stuff a sock in his mouth! Spiking the difficulty naturally like that, is well designed.
Fantastic mood, well done!
@poshdan LOL I know, right? Going to have to have a looong cornversation with that kid about "wrong place wrong time".
Crouching there is definitely viable if you're patient enough (or lucky enough with the randomized patching). We honestly were on the fence about forcing the talking at the end. I pushed for it because I wanted to increase the intensity, like you said. I'm glad you caught on!
that's reallya awesome scary game ...i like those sound you implemented>>>Good art ,which suits the game..good work!!
I don't know if this is what I was supposed to get outta this, but parts of that struck me as hilarious (:laughing:)! Something about the voice acting made me laugh; I think it was Tommy's scream that got me, it really shouldn't have, but it did (;P). Other than that (the actual *game*, I mean), it was really nice, I love the graphical style -- I'm not sure exactly what to compare it to, but it made me happy to look at, I need to find more examples of the art. I don't think I got much of the intended experience unfortunately, though; I found that when the snatchers group together their AI can't find you (for some reason or another they forget you're there), and otherwise it's completely possible to outrun them. So I ended up just sneaking around until I ran into Tom, and then sprinting my way back to the house! xD
I *really* loved it, I congratulate you three; I personally didn't find it at all scary (I usually don't find games terrifying even if they try), but it was still nice to play through, I enjoyed it! :clap: :clap:
@sephowepho Haha it was a pleasure to read your comment! You definitely made your own experience there. Sorry we couldn't scare you ;) and you are not at all alone in finding Tommy's scream in the intro hilarious. Unintended lazy VA in compressed time by "yours truly" XD
The AI can definitely be cheesed, as you found. There were limitations to its first implementation, and we also didn't want to risk ruining the balance of the speeds. These are two areas we are digging back into now to see what kind of gameplay emerges.
As for the graphics, all kudos go to @tempest-smh. He was an avid Playstation player growing up. If you search "PSX graphics" (or even just PS1), I think you'll find what you are looking for! The visuals were heavily inspired by the limitations of those early platforms.
Been wanting to play this one since I saw it on the front page and finally got around to it! Unfortunately it was also the first game I wasn't able to finish, but I still really liked it.
That freaking kiddo making noise and not crouching alongside me tho π« I actually didn't get caught at all during my first attempt before finding him, and only a single time after, because I was so careful to be quiet, but he gave us away every time π Tried just running for it instead with him but no luck.
Not on Windows so could only play web but I read the notice and got nice audio in Firefox. Unfortunately too laggy in fullscreen so I didn't quite get the full experience, but I did wear headphones and enjoyed it a lot.
You really nailed the atmosphere with the darkness broken up by the lights from the ship and from the aliens' eyes, and of course the sound design. Voice acting was good too! Tommy did sound a lot younger in the intro than during gameplay tho, was he gone for years? o-o
General gameplay was really good and tense. Like I said as long as I was crouching it seemed almost impossible to be caught, so I suppose Tommy not crouching forces you out of that comfort zone is actually good, fully raising the tension back up? π
Overall really good, super well done!
@ava-skoog thank you for coming back to play!! That means so much. I'm sorry the performance wasn't good for you, but thank you for doing everything you could to get the full experience :)
You've made some great notes! I'm glad that Tommy being loud at the end didn't feel too unfair. We meant it to force the challenge, and it sounds like it did! We expected people to resort to running at that point.
Thank you again for playing!
Wow!! I jumped so hard every time that monster caught me. What an unnerving experience - definitely one of my picks of the jam!
Interesting project. It's sad that it's can't be played properly on chromium browsers.
Great game! It was a bit too stressful for me and I bailed out after a few failures but I'll definitely go back to it in a few hours once my heart rate goes down a bit :laughing:
Loved the mood and the art style! Audio was incredible.
Here is my playthrough: https://youtu.be/NRoDYQUyQFg
@matank thank you so much for sharing your playthrough! That was so fun to watch :D I'm sorry that we stressed you out haha
You were very good at finding Tommy! You were definitely right about being careful about calling out, so that they don't hear where you are. Once you find Tommy, though, we wanted to challenge the player by having Tommy keep talking.
By the way, the house is right behind you when you start!
Since I'm not good (too scared to play xD) at horror games I wasn't really able to play much but I did walk around a bit before being too stressed and exiting! The sounds, mood and vibes overall are definitely spooky, you did great on that! It also looks really nice and walking through the corn was satisfying (:
@sarah aw! I appreciate you jumping into it, even if only to confirm, "Yes, too spooky!"
A little too late, I got the idea for a tutorial scene where you are playing hide-and-go-seek in the field during the day time. What would you think of that @sarah? Or does it still have "cornfields are creepy. period." vibes?
Screenshot 2023-01-26 224250.png
Spooky! Great game, everything was very cohesive in making an immersive experience! When we get home, I'm removing Tommy's vocal cords for ratting me out when I almost saved him the first time xD
EDIT: Wanted to add I loved the flying saucer ominously chillin above too. I got a picture of it with my handsome baby boy, so cute! Smile for the camera Tommy! (Gonna post this in my FB group: Pictures of my handsome son Tommy)
Fields2.png
@itsboats sending thoughts and prayers for your handsome baby boy Tommy.
LOL thanks for playing!!
@hawkin: Realised in retrospect I could probably have just lowered the resolution on my screen before starting full screen too, not like that's a bad option for this game anyway, plus I already do it for other games, just didn't think of it while playing LD games for whatever reason x-x
Also I watched the gameplay video posted earlier in the comments now and realised I definitely missed some stuff. I didn't realise the in-game aliens' eyes actually changed colour too and not just in the "caught" cutscene because I never looked behind me when I was chased, nor did I learn they only pursued in short bursts and that you could actually outrun them besides getting to the house π
DUDE! Congrats on 5th in Mood and excellent ratings all around! Well done!