This is an auteur-type game. You're dropped into the map informed only of the game's key bindings and then you have to figure everything out by yourself. For me, this was the project's greatest strength, but unfortunately (or not), you just know... this will filter multitudes. I'm not afraid to admit: my first response to the twin-stick control scheme was frustration. The same goes for the axe mechanics. But you know what? These episodes lasted for a few seconds only. The frustration went away in a flash, with clarity. The developer has a technical understanding of gameplay loops. It's now clear to me that he deliberately fine-tuned every aspect of the current demo to have a certain purpose. And I have reason to believe that he intentionally wants to filter certain kinds of pEopLe. Letting these enjoy your game may line the pockets but deflates the soul. I avoided discussing the gameplay mechanics until now because they're a spoiler unto themselves. Players do themselves a favor by going in blind and working stuff out on their own. The level of polish in this demo is an assurance that the developer's design decisions, though they may look counter-intuitive at a first glance, were all measured and intentional -- the aforementioned axe mechanic being the most prominent example of this. Connecting the dots and making sense of the progression is a bliss. Finding out how to sleep for the first time is such a joyful occasion! One only experiences it once. So far, this the DD55 game I've played the longest in a single session. I don't even have anything to add or suggest. The developer obviously has the next steps of his project figured out. And that terrifies me. I know we're getting a Husk mutant that eats your thorn bushes somewhere down the line.
Playthrough: Fortnite (14 days). That was probably 90+ minutes IRL. I was afraid that a save system hadn't been implemented yet, so I just kept pressing on with the session. As expected, my progress was wiped when I reopened the executable. Heart-rending. 30 Water secured by Day 15.
Nice progress since I played it last time. I got to day 15. Found some stairs, and a furnace. Not sure if they're supposed to do something? I assumed they're work in progress.
I encountered only 1 bug: when I picked up watered hedge and refunded it I did not regain material resource, I only regained water.
Interacting with the garden during the night feels like something you shouldn't be able to do. I tried to push back husks, but instead I unwatered a plant. Then I had to maneuver around the husks to water the dry spot again.
The game feels too easy. My tactic, which I came up on 2nd night, was to push husks until I run out of sanity, then close the door. Repeat when they tear it down. There's enough doors to repeat this move until the morning comes. Health and sanity seemed balanced, it's just too ease to hide.
I'm amazed at how this game defies common sense in favor of playability. When I first used the auto water function, I had too many crops, and the ones I didn't want got watered. Being able to suck water back was a very pleasant surprise.
I feel like water springs should require bringing them to base and integrating them with your water system to be usable. I'm not sure how that should be done exactly, it's just the vibe I get based on how things seem to work in the world. Like "*yoink* this water is mine now!", instead of just unlocking it by touching.
Shotgun feels very cool. Vaporizing horde of husks in front of you feels really good.
Controls get a bit of time to get used to, but they work. The purple bar mechanic is not obvious though, and the shotgun can still push the monsters even without ammo. Seems like a very promising start, but needs more "meat".
I downloaded the linux build but that did not work for me
I downloaded Windows build and tried with Wine, but that did not work for me
I added it to my Steam library as a non-steam game and used Proton Experimental, and that worked!
The game has come the long way. It can actually be played. There is game over and sense of accomplishment. It is finally more of a small game demo showcasing what it is going t be about, rather than just a tech demo.
I was wondering why I was getting damaged by the log, but it's the husk's gaze.
Since you are using purple to show the progress of getting damaged, I think you could also make your enemies' eyes glow purple whenever they are in range.
I got to my second water source on day 4.
It was quite a journey, but I did not get much use out of it, because I never got to day 5.
I think using the same resources for clearing the forest and potentialling melee attacks is going to push players into building more walls and using more pushes. I do not know if that playstyle is what you expect, but I think that is cool.
Good job on catching this
I thought I was clever here. It turned out enemies can enter through the table
I never figured out what Space does. I also thought the bell was going to do something during the day.
I found it fun, and I look forward to future demos.
I don't have linux installed so I just use the default Godot export for it. Maybe it will be fixed next time I upgrade engine version. Good suggestion on the eye glow.
This has sure come a long way since I last played it.
I was curious where it was going when you first started and this seems like a fun direction. The gardening aspect is nice. Cutting a swatch through the forest looking for springs is cool.
I wish there was an obvious way to NOT fire my gun after aiming it.
Fun game, managed to reach day 10 in around and hour before it started to feel repetitive. I pretty much just surrounded my entrance with thorns and kept swatting the husks away so maybe the knockback should be nerfed?
There were also a few things that took me a bit of time to figure out like
- Not realizing that enemies damage you by looking at you, some feedback there would be helpful
- Not realizing I could use the number keys to cycle through my inventory
- Getting weapons from crops was unusual but I think it's cool now
Other than that it was pretty fun, looking forward to more content dude. And sound effects pleaseee!
The game looks cute but the controls definitely take getting used to. Not sure what everyone else is talking about with fighting enemies at night- I spent some time wandering around but nothing seemed to happen. Setting down items was also a hassle in that I should be able to throw the gun or axe on the ground, and also I couldn't get it to place crafted walls or bushes next to me. It only allowed throwing them as far as possible.
You can place down items by single-pressing the button. I'll probably remove the ability to throw blocks, as it has little practical use and is confusing as you noted. This isn't the first suggestion for being able to drop weapons, so I'll implement that in the next version. For night time, did you actually trigger it by sleeping?
Alright, I was the journalist who got filtered by collision.
graphics are cute and flash-like, definitely good enough. no sounds is a huge bummer, horror sets its atmosphere with sounds. a shotty without a sound? heresy. interaction/picking up inputs are configured fine after you explained them. I tried blocking enemies with the axe rack at night but it didn't work. misplaying day 1/2 could have definitely shortened my possible survival by a few days. why do I have to fight enemies at night? what if you could build traps or an incense to distract them? I did kite enemies since I ran out of ammo but it has limited effectiveness.
The base game feel is solid, I can see it becoming quite interesting in the future - with more enemies and mechanics in place(and an end game goal that's not survival until death)
Controls are a bit odd but make sense when you get a hang of it. I thought it was weird that you can't see what stuff you have equipped when swapping with the number keys until I realized it's a debug thing... Picking up and dropping water with your hands, digging it out of the ground, is pretty odd too. What use does the bucket have if you can do it all with your hands? Carry more water? Didn't seem to be that much you can do yet, I mostly strafed infront of the door pushing the zombies until daytime - crops didn't seem to bloom fast enough to get much use of the shotgun or to chop wood.
The control scheme took a while to get used to it but the game’s fun. Unless there’s something wrong on my side, it doesn’t seem to have any music or sound in it. There’s a tiny bug where, if you use the shotgun then sheathe it, the cone will still be there until you release. But that’s kind of a nitpick.
I enjoyed fighting the zombies at night, but the shotgun made it a bit too easy for me to fend them off. Switching between the axe and the shotgun is nice. There are a few too many buttons that switch to full-screen, which kind of threw me off. Because I like searching for secret buttons and interactions.
Overall, an enjoyable experience, I like it. Couldn’t figure out the poison timer, or what caused it, but I think it was one of the zombies touching me.
Comments
Max Stern's game.
This is an auteur-type game. You're dropped into the map informed only of the game's key bindings and then you have to figure everything out by yourself. For me, this was the project's greatest strength, but unfortunately (or not), you just know... this will filter multitudes. I'm not afraid to admit: my first response to the twin-stick control scheme was frustration. The same goes for the axe mechanics. But you know what? These episodes lasted for a few seconds only. The frustration went away in a flash, with clarity. The developer has a technical understanding of gameplay loops. It's now clear to me that he deliberately fine-tuned every aspect of the current demo to have a certain purpose. And I have reason to believe that he intentionally wants to filter certain kinds of pEopLe. Letting these enjoy your game may line the pockets but deflates the soul.
I avoided discussing the gameplay mechanics until now because they're a spoiler unto themselves. Players do themselves a favor by going in blind and working stuff out on their own. The level of polish in this demo is an assurance that the developer's design decisions, though they may look counter-intuitive at a first glance, were all measured and intentional -- the aforementioned axe mechanic being the most prominent example of this. Connecting the dots and making sense of the progression is a bliss. Finding out how to sleep for the first time is such a joyful occasion! One only experiences it once. So far, this the DD55 game I've played the longest in a single session.
I don't even have anything to add or suggest. The developer obviously has the next steps of his project figured out. And that terrifies me. I know we're getting a Husk mutant that eats your thorn bushes somewhere down the line.
Playthrough: Fortnite (14 days). That was probably 90+ minutes IRL. I was afraid that a save system hadn't been implemented yet, so I just kept pressing on with the session. As expected, my progress was wiped when I reopened the executable. Heart-rending. 30 Water secured by Day 15.
Nice progress since I played it last time. I got to day 15. Found some stairs, and a furnace. Not sure if they're supposed to do something? I assumed they're work in progress.
I encountered only 1 bug: when I picked up watered hedge and refunded it I did not regain material resource, I only regained water.
Interacting with the garden during the night feels like something you shouldn't be able to do. I tried to push back husks, but instead I unwatered a plant. Then I had to maneuver around the husks to water the dry spot again.
The game feels too easy. My tactic, which I came up on 2nd night, was to push husks until I run out of sanity, then close the door. Repeat when they tear it down. There's enough doors to repeat this move until the morning comes. Health and sanity seemed balanced, it's just too ease to hide.
I'm amazed at how this game defies common sense in favor of playability. When I first used the auto water function, I had too many crops, and the ones I didn't want got watered. Being able to suck water back was a very pleasant surprise.
I feel like water springs should require bringing them to base and integrating them with your water system to be usable. I'm not sure how that should be done exactly, it's just the vibe I get based on how things seem to work in the world. Like "*yoink* this water is mine now!", instead of just unlocking it by touching.
Shotgun feels very cool. Vaporizing horde of husks in front of you feels really good.
Good feedback.
Controls get a bit of time to get used to, but they work. The purple bar mechanic is not obvious though, and the shotgun can still push the monsters even without ammo.
Seems like a very promising start, but needs more "meat".
I downloaded the linux build but that did not work for me
I downloaded Windows build and tried with Wine, but that did not work for me
I added it to my Steam library as a non-steam game and used Proton Experimental, and that worked!
The game has come the long way. It can actually be played. There is game over and sense of accomplishment. It is finally more of a small game demo showcasing what it is going t be about, rather than just a tech demo.
I was wondering why I was getting damaged by the log, but it's the husk's gaze.
Since you are using purple to show the progress of getting damaged, I think you could also make your enemies' eyes glow purple whenever they are in range.
I got to my second water source on day 4.
It was quite a journey, but I did not get much use out of it, because I never got to day 5.
I think using the same resources for clearing the forest and potentialling melee attacks is going to push players into building more walls and using more pushes. I do not know if that playstyle is what you expect, but I think that is cool.
Good job on catching this
I thought I was clever here. It turned out enemies can enter through the table
I never figured out what Space does.
I also thought the bell was going to do something during the day.
I found it fun, and I look forward to future demos.
I don't have linux installed so I just use the default Godot export for it. Maybe it will be fixed next time I upgrade engine version. Good suggestion on the eye glow.
the controls are kind of weird, and the lack of sound is disappointing, but the game itself seems neat.
i can see it becoming a solid 2d crafting/farming survival game eventually
This has sure come a long way since I last played it. I was curious where it was going when you first started and this seems like a fun direction. The gardening aspect is nice. Cutting a swatch through the forest looking for springs is cool.
I wish there was an obvious way to NOT fire my gun after aiming it.
Spacebar is the cancel button. Need to think of a way to teach the player that.
Fun game, managed to reach day 10 in around and hour before it started to feel repetitive. I pretty much just surrounded my entrance with thorns and kept swatting the husks away so maybe the knockback should be nerfed?
There were also a few things that took me a bit of time to figure out like
- Not realizing that enemies damage you by looking at you, some feedback there would be helpful
- Not realizing I could use the number keys to cycle through my inventory
- Getting weapons from crops was unusual but I think it's cool now
Other than that it was pretty fun, looking forward to more content dude. And sound effects pleaseee!
Do you mind posting your thorn setup? I'm curious what you came up with.
It was something like this basically, just a corridor of thorns and just kept pushing the ones that survived away, kept me alive for a while.
The game looks cute but the controls definitely take getting used to. Not sure what everyone else is talking about with fighting enemies at night- I spent some time wandering around but nothing seemed to happen. Setting down items was also a hassle in that I should be able to throw the gun or axe on the ground, and also I couldn't get it to place crafted walls or bushes next to me. It only allowed throwing them as far as possible.
You can place down items by single-pressing the button. I'll probably remove the ability to throw blocks, as it has little practical use and is confusing as you noted. This isn't the first suggestion for being able to drop weapons, so I'll implement that in the next version. For night time, did you actually trigger it by sleeping?
Alright, I was the journalist who got filtered by collision.
graphics are cute and flash-like, definitely good enough.
no sounds is a huge bummer, horror sets its atmosphere with sounds. a shotty without a sound? heresy.
interaction/picking up inputs are configured fine after you explained them. I tried blocking enemies with the axe rack at night but it didn't work.
misplaying day 1/2 could have definitely shortened my possible survival by a few days. why do I have to fight enemies at night? what if you could build traps or an incense to distract them? I did kite enemies since I ran out of ammo but it has limited effectiveness.
The base game feel is solid, I can see it becoming quite interesting in the future - with more enemies and mechanics in place(and an end game goal that's not survival until death)
Controls are a bit odd but make sense when you get a hang of it. I thought it was weird that you can't see what stuff you have equipped when swapping with the number keys until I realized it's a debug thing... Picking up and dropping water with your hands, digging it out of the ground, is pretty odd too. What use does the bucket have if you can do it all with your hands? Carry more water? Didn't seem to be that much you can do yet, I mostly strafed infront of the door pushing the zombies until daytime - crops didn't seem to bloom fast enough to get much use of the shotgun or to chop wood.
The control scheme took a while to get used to it but the game’s fun. Unless there’s something wrong on my side, it doesn’t seem to have any music or sound in it. There’s a tiny bug where, if you use the shotgun then sheathe it, the cone will still be there until you release. But that’s kind of a nitpick.
I enjoyed fighting the zombies at night, but the shotgun made it a bit too easy for me to fend them off. Switching between the axe and the shotgun is nice. There are a few too many buttons that switch to full-screen, which kind of threw me off. Because I like searching for secret buttons and interactions.
Overall, an enjoyable experience, I like it. Couldn’t figure out the poison timer, or what caused it, but I think it was one of the zombies touching me.
WASD/Arrows = Move
IJKL = Interact
IJKL [Hold] = Use Tool
E = Confirm
Spacebar = Cancel
Spacebar [Hold] = Sprint
Escape = Pause
Controller support included.