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A jam submission

Dread SpaceView game page

My submission for Synty Spooky Jam 2024.
Submitted by Zeppern — 1 day, 3 hours before the deadline
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Dread Space's itch.io page

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

This is a pretty well done and entertaining experience.

I personally like to have an finish line, but I get that it's not always needed.

I really like the idea of Sparky just following you slowly.

I also like the random "freak out" moment where the screen zoom and static happens, I feel like the maze changes when that happens, but I am not 100% sure and I really love that uncertainty.

Good job!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the kind words! 😊

I chose to interpret the theme as an infinite maze with no 'finish line'. Endlessly navigating through twists and turns, encountering strange phenomena along the way, with no clear conclusion in sight.

Submitted(+1)

It seems to work and play well. I didn't work out what the blaster was for. I felt like I was just walking around nameless corridors. In the end I assumed the exit was not literal and just 'exited' the game :-)
The  Sci-Fi Worlds pack is huge, so it would've been nice to have had some interesting things in the hallways to see. I've not used Tessera but I know setting up WFC algo tools can be a frustrating time-grab, esp the first time round. Still, +1 for getting it to be different on each playthrough.

Developer (2 edits)

The blaster is there to add a false sense of security. The only 'exit' is death, but if you have a good flow going, you might be able to keep oxygen up indefinitely. The asset pack is pretty large, but it was hard to 'design' a lot of clutter.

Edit: Actually I'm using Sci-Fi Space, which is less huge. I accidentally wrote the wrong pack.

Submitted(+1)

Good game, I enjoyed playing it. I don't know if it was intentional but the characters were black, maybe there was a problem with the material/shader?

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks for playing and the kind words. I used a completely black, unlit shader on some stuff to hopefully help create a creepy atmosphere.

Submitted(+2)

Died to Sparky, and the Died to lack of oxygen. My biggest concern was I didnt know what "the way out" looked like, so no idea if I was even close or could have walked right passed it. Seemed interesting and the liminal space concept is pretty popular right now. 

Developer (1 edit)

Sounds like you DID find a way out! 😆

Submitted

Touche

Submitted(+1)

The use of WFC for procedural generation was really cool. Well done on an interesting game. Good job

Submitted(+1)

The spooky component is def there, for me it felt like there was no chance of getting out at all. I wouldve liked some sort of possibility sign that I might be going the right way even if it was a lie. :D Nothing worse than false hope. 

Developer

Added some door signs. Just for you.

Submitted

Ouh! Gonna hit it again soon!

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks for checking out my submission for Synty Spooky Jam 2024.

  • No jump scares, so don’t worry about those.
  • The game works with both controllers and keyboard + mouse, but I don’t really recommend one over the other.
  • Please play with audio on.

Assets Used:

  • Tessera Pro by Boris the Brave from the Unity store for wave function collapse procedural generation
  • Sci-Fi Space Pack by Synty Studios
  • Audio from Owani Sound and Ambiences Sounds Vol.1 from GameDevMarket

Game Concept & Development This game draws inspiration from Dead SpaceSilent Hill, and The Backrooms. My main motivation was to try out Tessera WFC, which took some time to get working for infinite generation. I learned a lot from this process, and next time I’d probably use a different tile-based approach with Tessera.

The game isn’t deterministic, so each playthrough will be different. Survival time will vary, and you might get stuck and need to restart.

I built this on Unity’s FPS tutorial template but stripped a lot out. The jam was 10 days, but I didn’t have much time to spare, so getting a proper gameplay loop with Tessera’s limitations was a challenge.