| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #135 | 3.354 | 3.750 |
| Innovation | #157 | 3.205 | 3.583 |
| Overall | #189 | 3.168 | 3.542 |
| Audio | #211 | 3.130 | 3.500 |
| Graphics | #216 | 3.354 | 3.750 |
| Game Design | #238 | 3.130 | 3.500 |
| Fun | #318 | 2.832 | 3.167 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
You collect a series of letters, recollecting the final moments of life, and discovering something new ahead.
Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
There are music assets from Dark Fantasy Studios, 3d models (LowPolyInterior) by Just Create, Letter and Note system from Speed Tutor, and skyboxes from the AllSkyFree pack by rpgwhitelock. If I missed any I am so sorry trying to get in during the last 10 minutes!
Nice Game! I really enjoyed the ambience and graphics! Though the motion blur was just way too high for me, so I couldn't finish the game. Another issue I had was that the notebooks were hard to see, maybe add a outline so it's easier or make them stand out some other way? But still, great job at this game!
(Also it would be cool if you could play my game too ^^)
I enjoy the game ambiance by including lovely artwork and peaceful music, creating a captivating atmosphere. Good job!
I really felt immersed in Paul's story as I walked through his house and read his wife's emotional letters. The dreamy art style really added to the atmosphere and the looping room at the end was a unique and creative touch. Great job!
Love the graphics and visual.The note u made were great,btw check my game also
Oh this is very helpful! Yeah I kind of forgot to remove the sprint from the testing. (I'll probably leave it but massively reduce the speed- feels odd to remove a sprint after it was in). Hmm- as for not being to tell that the game was over I was thinking about adding some kind of audio or catalyst that draws the player back to the front of the house (it seems a few people have gotten stuck here as well).
I really like the idea of changing Paul's handwriting as well, that seems obvious now that you mention it but should be a quick fix to add a lot more immersion and clarification as to who was writing it. I also quite like your idea for the world shift having post-processing and other effects to really sink in the uneasiness there- and you can probably expect to see a couple modifications to that hallway segment in post-release because it's been on our mind too how we could better deliver that atmosphere, and post processing sounds like a really good way to do that.
This was incredibly helpful and I really appreciate you taking your time to post this! I'm also very thankful to you for taking your time to play our game, and am glad to hear that you enjoyed our story! I know short-bittersweet narratives aren't everyone's thing and I was honestly decently worried about the reception of such a game. Also, we would love your feedback on anything we post in the future! You seem to have a very good head on your shoulders for game design and when we post our next projects, should you want to, we would love to have your input!
I'm glad you asked! Actually our team is currently comprised of myself, my partner, and a close family friend who we've known for years. We have a few other people we are going to be onboarding for specific roles and because of their areas of expertise- but we're pretty fledgling. This was the first game any of us have ever put out so we wanted to see our current capabilities. I will definitely say that I need to have someone with better optimization and "code cleanup" habits, which is part of us bringing in people with more technical experience. I tend to train myself as a bit of an all-arounder, but a jack of all trades is a master of none haha, and it shows in all the things I overlooked when I was finalizing the build. Other than that- we have limited graphical experience and probably will be looking that direction as well.
Finally get to play this game! I fell in love with the graphics and the dream look of the environment. The music is also a great choice. However, I am a bit clueless after reading the 3 notes and don't know where to go. I'll come play again and update my comment once I figure out!
I'm back! Sorry it took me a while.
I finished the game! Wow! I wasn't expecting the loop! The picture on wall turning white and the scene outside the window changing is subtle yet very powerful in terms of setting the tone. Even a little spooky. The story is sad but very beautiful, It portrays the struggle of dementia very elegantly.
Some suggestions I have are: throughout the story I still couldn't tell if I am paul reading margret's letter or margret talking to myself. But I think I am Paul... still not 100% sure. Maybe some more narrative at the beginning of the story would help?
When I walk into the study room the noise started which is really clever, but when I go back a few steps the noise stopped, so I mistakenly took that as a signal and thought I need to find the source of the noise.
Other than that, great job with your first game jam!! I know some of the imperfection are due to the short amount of time we have (trust me I feel it) Also I loved the notebook in the trash can.
I'm at lost of words, I kept on shivering while reading the notes, the story you wrote got me all emotional. That's honestly some amazing work you've got there, please extend this further, there's definitely something you can do with your writing skills.
Now that this is out of the way, why the hell are we smashing down the entry door ?
Well done !
Lol gonna be 100% real with you, we had a typo in the door rotate code that made it fall over like that, and we all got such a laugh out of it as a team that I promised our developers we'd leave it, haha. It's not a bug- it's a "feature" we say. Oh- fun fact, Paul's toothbrush can be found having fallen off the bathroom counter (and the trash can contains my soul, of course).
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! We had to scope it back quite a bit but I'm really hoping to eventually have a full story to expand on this- one of the concepts that we had was having the player go into multiple final moments and experiencing multiple short stories from that perspective, as separate chapters for different people's passing.
Cool game! loved the story and the art, although all the reflective stuff slowed down my PC and I think it would have the same beauty to it even if they weren't reflective, I think that some sound effects when opening letters and footsteps sounds would make the game more immersive
Oh honestly I didn't even think about footsteps oddly enough. It seems like an obvious one now that you mention it haha, plus I feel like the quiet section would have a nice atmosphere with the footstep sounds. Yeah we made the mistake of running the tests on a higher-end pc, but the minute I tested the game on my laptop I noticed the frame drops. I'll be giving that a few tweaks once I can for sure.
Thank you for playing Vale and thank you for your input!
Hi Folks. I saw this game and the low poly really caught my eye and I wanted to give it a go. I'll just the minor gameplay details out the way. The frame rate did drop a little, and the lack of tutorial controls was difficult at first but I found my way. But aside from that, this game should get some more attention. You've told a story here that I connected with deeply. My grandma passed away recently with dementia and it was really tough for everyone. But, I think it's always the toughest on the person that has this awful disease. I think you showcased this perfectly in the game. I read all the notes, cried a little, and then I felt lost, because there was nowhere to go. So I turned back to head to the entrance and find what I missed, and then all the painting disappeared and left this static image behind. I had somehow found myself looping in my own home. The sense of dread from this moment I think encompasses the feeling of dementia perfectly.
Thanks for the game! and for the tears ;) I think I needed that <3
Thank you! Yeah I'm excited to say I'll be putting out a bug fix and QoL patch after the game jam finalizes to address some of those issues, and add some final polish to the lighting hopefully.
And I'm really glad you could connect with the story! It's something that's hard to visualize or understand until you go through it with a close loved one, and I had recently lost a family member who had been suffering from it as well (Bless her heart though, she made it to triple digits). I always viewed death as a gentle thing- something that takes that pain away. I liked the idea of leaving letters for such a person for when they enter the afterlife, a kind of welcoming back of memories long forgotten or distorted.
Really, a big thank you from our little team, glad to hear that you enjoyed Vale and we hope to bring you other interesting experiences in the near future!
Tryed the game but can't interact with anything? Whats the exact controls?
Hi amazing game - my only problem is my frame rate gets so low in the house (it goes down to like 5fps) that its hard for me to apreachiate the game. But awesome submittion either way!
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