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A jam submission

Location DustView game page

Top-down survival prototype.
Submitted by lorporlem — 1 day, 7 hours before the deadline
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Location Dust's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Theme#1413.8333.833
Story#1443.2083.208
Sound#2363.2083.208
Overall#2743.4173.417
Aesthetics#2803.5833.583
Music#3143.2083.208
Fun#3993.0833.083
Mechanics#4402.8332.833

Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How many people worked on this game in total?
1

Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
Music from opengameart.org and sounds from freesound.org. Details in the game page.

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Comments

Viewing comments 22 to 3 of 22 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

Love the horror atmosphere! My first two attempts I rushed in and died very quickly but then I learned to take it slower and avoid enemies if I can, it felt proper survival horror in that regard. I think the restrictive movement adds to the fear and tension and gives it classic resident evil vibes. My only issue was colliding with my followers when I'm trying to backstep away from an incoming enemy. The follower mechanic was a really cool idea other than that issue, it was a great incentive to explore more of the map, even though they can get in your way their firepower is really helpful.

That dramatic camera pan out at the end was very effective. Perfectly fit the theme!

Developer

Thank you. You might be the first mentioning the end, so probably the only one reached it! Well done. I will try to improve the followers' movement to clear off your way, but yes, you need their firepower.

Submitted(+1)

This was a very atmospheric experience well done! The music set a tense mood and the intro with the first friendly coming to meet you sucked me into the story straight away. The sound effects were top notch and kept me listening closely for the claw scratching of the dustlings. Having a band of followers was a cool gameplay mechanic and provided the motivation to explore all the other floors and rooms as I made my way to the top.

Great game!

Developer (2 edits) (+1)

Thank you. You are the first to mention the claw scratching :-) I like details and I always try to add minor details here and there as I believe that details do make the difference. People though do not seem to notice or disregard them. Like the randomization of the toilet seats or made/unmade beds...

Submitted(+1)

Ahh I did not notice about the toilet seats and beds, but I'll look for that on my next playthrough! I do agree that many of the details go unnoticed or disregarded but I think the sum of them does make into players' subconscious and overall enhances their gameplay experience whether they are aware of it not. Keep up your style of including the details!

Submitted(+1)

This is a good survival game, I had fun playing it!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for trying it out.

Submitted(+1)

Very cool survival horror game, I wish the controls were simpler because once you enter a room it is very hard to get out alive if there's a monster. Or at least a way to pull the monsters by making noise. Did you use some kind of navigation mesh for the enemies path because they run on wall ^^ You have a great game here, a good idea an plenty of thing to improve, I'm looking forward to a next release :) Did you try our Zombie Trapper game? 

Developer(+1)

Thank you. Improving the controls and the automatic movement of followers (and now that you mention it enemies) are at the top of the to-do list. No, no path planning at the moment nor mesh.

Submitted(+1)

Good job. I needed a bit time getting used to the controls. But after that it was a good experience and I had a lot of fun.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for trying it out. Yes the controls are pesky.

Submitted(+1)

Nice atmosphere. Good pixel art.
As already pointed out, controls feel a bit weird.
But it is definitely a nice game. Couldn't make it to the end. I'm not good at this kind of games lol!

Developer

Thank you. Yes, controls... The weakest point, it'll be fixed :-)

Submitted(+1)

Great atmosphere and theme execution! 
For improvement:
- I would suggest changing the controls to enable strafing since every directional movement makes the player spin.
I think it's the game's weakest point and stops it at good keeping it from great!
- The interaction with the other survivors could also be tweaked, I'm not quite sure what's the correct approach but the feeling of them blocking the way every time I entered the room was quite annoying. 
- The sound effects of constant stepping of all the group is also a thing that could be improved upon. 

Developer

Thank you. Yes both of these are to be addressed after the jam. The walking sounds are annoying? Hm... I guess when it is all the time. I'll see what I can do about it.

Submitted(+2)

As others have pointed out, you nailed the tense, horror atmosphere with the lighting and the music. Amazing to see NPCs that follow you in a gamejam game! When I first saw survivors Im ashamed to say I fired upon them thinking they were guards.

I was a bit unused to the control scheme. Perhaps making use of the mouse as the directional movement, and WASD as forward/strafe might be more intuitive for players familiar with the topdown shooter genre.

Developer

Thank you. Yes, controls will change. I got a friendly comment the same day the submissions were coming to an end, but it was at work, so I didn't have time to change it. Is on the top of the list to do.

Submitted(+1)

Very atmospheric game with an interesting story with potential. It could be a personal preference, but I feel handling movement with the mouse would have made the game better to control, A/D turning became more of a battle with obstacles than anything, and the first guard who rescues you trapped me in the room until i could slowly push him out the way. That aside interesting, and spooky looking entry

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you. Yes, the mouse is the first to do after the jam. The followers blocking you is another thing I have to figure out. Bit yes pushing them out of your way is the way to go at the moment.

(+1)

Great Job :-)

I think you could reverse the use of the shift... You normally walk fast and when you need go slower.
Every other comment I had has already be given. The game is super atmospheric and even by being so simple it gives you an adrenalin rush that makes it re-playable.

Developer

We'll talk and I'll show you why that is probably not a good idea, though a "run lock" could be a solution.

Submitted(+1)

Nice job on your game. You really nailed the horror elements well and made it a very tense experience. I do wish that the movement speed was just a tiiiiny bit faster, but that might just be my personal preference. Nice job!

Developer

Thank you. You can always run! I think I might need to tweak the speeds nevertheless. I'll keep it in mind.

Submitted(+1)

Climax is really strong in this game! I really liked these horror vibes. Having so many helpers really brightened up the mood! Steering was a bit funny - probably going mouse + WSAD would make things easier! Great work!

Developer

Thank you. Of course it will. I will change that after the jam.

Submitted(+1)

Cool game! I also had some difficulty with the controls, but I enjoyed the tense atmosphere and its really nice to get a little army going. I wasn't able to get all the way through, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Nice job!

Developer

Thank you. Will get improved.

Submitted(+1)

I really liked the vibe and atmosphere of the game. Art style is amazing and everything just fits perfectly in the game. 
Great job on this submission. I really had fun playing it. 

Developer

Thank you for checking it out.

Submitted(+1)

I enjoyed it. Having mouse control might make it even more fun. Worth a try. Well done.

Developer(+1)

Thank you. Yes, I will plan that after the jam. I am not allowed now ;-)

Submitted(+1)

Liked the art style, for me its hard to navigate because you cant see close to the playe sprite, maybe adding a circle light thats always in the player could help. Some friendlies seem to get stuck on doors but besides that they are very fun especially when you get a bunch!

Developer(+1)

Thank you. Yes, the follower behaviour is listed under the known issues. I will have to do something about that eventually, maybe path planning or something. The flashlight not showing you, is somewhat realistic. Before uploading though I was trying to see if I do light the player a bit, but I didn't get somewhere satisfactory. I will try again given time.

Submitted(+1)

It was cool that you implemented a story in the game that's pretty cool. I'm not a big fan of tank controls in general I think it's very hard to control. but I did eventually get up to the 0th floor and there were just soo many enemies I wasn't able to get all the way through. But it was very cool. Also, I'm unsure where the bullet or raycast was starting from because there were a couple times when I thought that I should've been hitting an enemy but it just wasn't. 

But still a cool solo project to go through.

Developer (2 edits)

Thank you. Are you talking about the broken up group inside the yard or the outer swarm? (see last screenshot)

The controls need improvement :-)

Submitted

So another thing is that followers get in the players way. Overall, the game was amazing, though!

Submitted(+1)

I like that you have an actual story and vibe to it. Great idea and execution.

I agree with people before me about the controls. I think the issue is that’s it’s hard to react to things happening to you. I see two options.

Either you enable mouse movements, but then it would be less “hardcore”.

Or you could try zooming out a bit more and make the light cone bigger. This way, you could plan out your actions a bit more instead of having trouble steering your character out of danger that suddenly appears.

Otherwise great game job, I can see that you put in a lot of stuff in it in such a short time.

Developer

Thank you. Well, if I zoom out it will lose the atmosphere. I'd rather try with mouse first and see.

Submitted(+1)

I see you fixed the rotation speed, nice it became much more enjoyable.

Developer (2 edits)

Hi, yes, thank you. You tested the "pre-release" version didn't you?!

Submitted

Yeah.

Developer

Btw, what kind of rar did you use for uploading yours? Lucky! It was only 30MB and could convert it to zip online... WinRAR 3.51 cannot open it. I came across those kind of files but never had a chance to ask about it.

Submitted

Winrar 6.11 64 bit version.

Developer

It seems that it can be extracted with 7z as well. I do not have a newer winrar, so that will do. Thanks.

Submitted(+1)

The addition of friendly npcs is great. I think the controls could be refined a bit more, nice visuals though!

Developer

Thank you. I am planning to add a mouse for smoother controls.

Viewing comments 22 to 3 of 22 · Next page · Last page