FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD57 → Kelp (unfinished)

Kelp (unfinished)

By peppersalt07

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall6353.2733
Fun6703.0133
Innovation3613.3533
Theme5563.4634
Graphics2234.0934
Humor2773.2431
Mood1993.9534

Comments

willby 2025-04-08 02:22

I simply can't play this game, the exe gives me an error saying "This app can't run on your PC" and the web version just freezes the browser and doesn't work.

peppersalt07 2025-04-08 02:26

@willby argh i figured the exe issue might happen. I don't own a PC so the only testing I could do was via wine and it ran for me. As for the web embed, it works for me on chrome. I made the mistake of using godot Forward+ graphics instead of compatible, and I didnt realize there was a big difference till exporting

peppersalt07 2025-04-08 02:32

@willby if it's freezing during the dialogue, I think web inputs are handled differently; pressing space a bunch might get past it (?) I'm still not sure why it happens

willby 2025-04-08 02:58

Oh yes pressing space seemed to work!! I like the atmosphere and despite the compatability dead shaders it still holds up pretty well. The giant eye made me jump when it first appeared hehe. You made quite the ominous void to hang out in

dubiousduck 2025-04-08 06:01

Love the atmosphere! The eye lowkey scared me. The controls are also pretty smooth. I'm also pretty curious about how the story will unfold. Keep up the great work!

xorfe 2025-04-08 07:02

eye was dope, liked it.

javasaurus 2025-04-08 07:10

Very nice prototype. I really enjoyed it, but I had some trouble finding the "5 seconds of fun" here. It's definitely interesting and the art is amazing, but it didn't give me the instant "oh... this is why I'm doing this" revelation :) Would be great as a full fleshed out game !

harvmori 2025-04-08 07:15

I really want to play this... BUT IT CRASHED((( .exe don`t work without .pck....

peppersalt07 2025-04-08 07:23

@harvmori OOH THAT'S WHAT THE FILE IS FOR hang on i've uploaded a zip including the pck thank you so much I would've never figured it out ;-;

peppersalt07 2025-04-08 07:24

@javasaurus Yeah I honestly agree, originally planned for this to include puzzle game mechanics and much more context, but I realized I'm really bad at making puzzles and decided to just focus on learning how to implement the visual aspects this time

javasaurus 2025-04-08 07:30

@peppersalt07 And that is completely fine and ok ! That's why I love Jams, they're experimental playgrounds !

gaspar 2025-04-08 08:32

The web version didn't launch (tried both Firefox and Chrome). The Windows version started, but after picking up the fish and the note, I couldn't figure out what to do next. Nevertheless, the graphics are truly original and distinctive.

harvmori 2025-04-08 09:01

I played! Artstyle very cool, love school of fish in the end! I hope to see full version in the future!

indiealesha 2025-04-08 12:18

Took a few tries to launch, but so atmospheric! And the art style is absolutely praise-worthy. Really great game!

2025-04-08 12:37

Very great mood

igorekkedziorek 2025-04-08 12:41

Very cool art style

keith-wang 2025-04-08 12:52

I picked up the fish and walked around thought that might just be it since it is unfinished. And then I got suprised. Really good atmosphere.

peppersalt07 2025-04-09 00:14

@gaspar ah, there is an event that triggers if you look around the right places, maybe I should've made it more explicitly the result of player input

apt-prose7 2025-04-09 03:26

Visual style BOMB

arenavgust 2025-04-09 06:25

The mood of the game is so nice!

antonin-granados 2025-04-09 16:00

The art is really good and I like the sound design that goes with it. Very beautiful concept.

goiaba-games 2025-04-09 16:19

The atmosphere and graphics are really nice. Did you make the font yourself? The font is a nice touch. The game has a scary mood overall, it could become something really interesting. Nice job!

peppersalt07 2025-04-09 18:22

@goiaba-games Thank you! The font I'm using is the Magnetic Drawing font designed by GGBotNet. I slightly modified what the "G" looked to differentiate from the "E" a bit. You can find the font here: https://ggbot.itch.io/magnetic-drawing-font

peppersalt07 2025-04-09 18:30

@antonin-granados Thank you! The audio consists of foley that I found online / dug out of other stuff i recorded previously that I layered and processed a bit. I don't think I actually put in a lot of audio work this jam, so I opted out of the audio category.

dinosaur065 2025-04-10 02:46

loved the atmosphere on this game, is the eye descending supposed to be a whale eye? did you model this or was it a picture, because it was hauntingly beautiful! i'd love to see more from this game in the future

peppersalt07 2025-04-10 05:42

@dinosaur065 The eye descending was modified from a viral photo of an eye of the humpback whale calf 'Sweet Girl', who gained Internet fame late last year due to it -- However she was brutally killed by a reckless speeding boat just days later. I wanted to use that famous image of her and make her look judgmental and otherworldly-powerful, so I projected the image on the inside of a flattened dome to leverage the hollow face illusion to make her look bigger than possible (making the model follow the player's horizontal position also helped). I had originally planned for the game to have an environmental theme, but sadly little of the storyboarding was actually implemented in time. I'll be sure to revisit this project someday when my brain decides it would let me.

sayeg 2025-04-10 14:34

Finish this game. I loved it from the moment I saw the fish on the table. FINISH THIS GAME

lev-ramburg 2025-04-11 14:18

Honestly, didn't get it first time... but, even unfinished, I like the vibe. Something about the way it flows just makes it feel real.

neeck-kola 2025-04-16 12:49

Even unfinished, visual and audio effects create a very mysterious vibe. Like for "be not afraid" moment. Hope finished version will be released)

yuriscat 2025-10-08 09:36

Very interesting! I know this is one of your past works, but I came here to leave a comment and tell you, bro, your personal page is really cool. Your drawings are awesome too, and I love your "Fishloft Airship." Nice to meet you! 🐟🐟🐟

peppersalt07 2026-04-09 07:00

@yuriscat nice to meet you!