Skip to main content

Browse GamesGame JamsUpload GameDeveloper LogsCommunity
Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

Themed Horror Game Jam #15 - Halloween Edition

Hosted by Beregon, raeleus · #ThemedHorrorGameJam
43
Entries
452
Ratings
OverviewSubmissionsResultsScreenshotsSubmission feed
A jam submission

Through the CatacombsView game page

A restless spirit that lurks in the catacombs needs setting free...
Submitted by Was A Horse, Estelle Son (@ellesvo), huaxiaojing, TurtleBox (@TheTurtleBox)
Add to collection

Play game

Through the Catacombs's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Theme#74.0004.000
Horror#83.5563.556
Gameplay#113.3333.333
Overall#133.6483.648
Story#143.4443.444
Presentation#144.1114.111
Creativity#213.4443.444

Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Which Theme did you choose?

Realm of the Dead

How did you implement your chosen Theme into your game?
You explore through a literal realm of the dead!

Did you implement any of the Bonus Challenges and if so, which ones?
1 -The Gatekeeper

2 - Pass Beyond the Threshold:

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

LoressaSubmitted1 year ago (1 edit)

Notes from gameplay:

- Nice range of menu options!

- Light reflecting in water looks nice

- Good use of footstep audio

- Font choice could be punched up a notch, feels "default"

- Pretty scenery! Very detailed and striking.

- Nice voice acting

- Ooh, creepy figure laughed and ran away, nice effect with the red eyes

- Good tutorial elements - chasing the figure and then crouching past the obstacle

- Flame physics are a bit wonky, especially when turning

- Lighting on tombs seems to be making textures flicker in and out

- I like being able to light torches! Helps with visuals and feels like it'll be a good way to keep track of where I've been. Visual effect looks great!

- Somehow I just got teleported from coffin section into catacombs? If there was a visual effect or sound explaining why, I seem to have missed it

- Ah, I see, it's the red-eyed girl jumping out at me. I guess I have to avoid her?

- Ah I need to turn the lighter off (useful tip, would be more helpful if I didn't have to die so many times to see it heh). Typo here, it reads "turing"

- Who is "that english bitch" the french guy mentioned? The ghost seems to have an American accent

- Ok, definitely don't listen to the ghost. Keep the lighter off... Would be nice if there was some cue here to let me know when it's safe to turn it back on. I seem to have triggered the same "look at me" sequence multiple times

- Seem to be missing something here, can't figure out where to go

- Ok, made some progress, found her crying. But need to approach, walking too close with lighter on upset her. Nice job adding a respawn here.

- I'm keeping lighter off as I enter the chamber, but she still seems to see me

- This scream is getting annoying...

- Well, I lit every torch in that chamber, that didn't seem to do anything. Maybe I need to extinguish them...Can I even do that? Doesn't seem to be a way.


Overall, this game looks very pretty and has nice voice acting and an intriguing start to a story, but I feel like I'm missing something vital.  Can't figure out how to get past the room where she's crying. Drop me a hint and I'll try again.

Submitted
Delve
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Sorry the hint gives it away but.. Try crouching too xD  

Reply
LoressaSubmitted1 year ago (1 edit)

Notes continued:

- Made it past the chamber, but I seem to be back in the "look at me" loop

- Come closer. Uh huh, not gonna happen girly...

- Eek, she's coming at me. Backing up and crouching seemed to make her stop

- Torches seem to keep going out when I turn off my lighter, makes it tricky to navigate

- Found a stairway! Uh oh, ghosts at the top

- Ghosts seem chill

- A pit! I guess I jump in? Collision is a bit funky, kept getting stuck midway down

- Oh I think I'm back where I started? Maybe just looks the same

- Ghost girl found me even with light off and crouching

- Ahhhh lots of ghosts. Retreating away though, guess I'm safe?

- Nope, ghost girl found me again. No matter which corridor I turn down, in the darkness, she's there... There don't seem to be any hints or clues from the gameplay about how to get past her, been reset back to the 2nd pit over a dozen times now

- I guess I'm supposed to dodge the other ghosts, but since I can't see behind me (as it's first-person perspective) I keep getting boxed in. And sometimes the red-eyed girl just appears out of nowhere anyways. Wondering if some of the white ghosts aren't showing up when they should be, that would explain why she appears out of "nowhere". Definitely noticed that the ghost in the left passage isn't always spawning but walking where she should be will trigger the red-eyed girl.

- Found a dead body and gave her a ring. Aww :(

- Q, E, Shift no longer working after that cutscene

- After I'm told "thank you" and look at my hands, the game quits out. Crash?

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Nah after "Thank you and the screen goes to white that's the end! Just didn't have enough time to put a "The End" video or something.. Might do that later! Thanks for playing through though :)  

And thank you for all of the feedback haha!  The final ghost scene is basically as I'm sure you figured out if you touch the ghosts you see the main ghost spawns and kills you (Same happens just before the pit drop with the passive ghosts if you touch them, it's meant to be a subtle hint not to touch them later). It's meant to be a panicky moment when you have to deal with them walking towards you and the random haunts happening where you have to turn off your light. I made sure to reduce the haunt talks down to just one though so you can have escape time still but it is meant to be a little tough! 

"and sometimes the red-eyed girl just appears out of nowhere anyways. Wondering if some of the white ghosts aren't showing up when they should be" - Did this happen if you turned your lighter off but torches were turned on?  

"- Q, E, Shift no longer working after that cutscene" - That's intentional, it's meant to be a slow somber scene! 

Anyway thanks again for playing I think I might go make some final adjustments later on haha! 

Reply
LoressaSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Yes, lighter was off but torches was on. I basically got used to the pattern of seeing where they grey/white ghosts were, but sometimes they wouldn't show up but the red-eyed girl would still spawn as if I had walked into them.

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Ah I know the issue, I'll fix that a bit later xD  Basically the ghosts visibility is tied to the lighter being turned on or off (This was so they couldn't be seen when the lighter is deactivated since they have a emission glow on the shader material. I'll get that and some more stuff fixed later!  Thanks for the help :)  

Reply
LoressaSubmitted1 year ago

Unfortunately, it's hosted on a 3rd party website, so I can't use the itch app's sandbox to play it :(

Submitted
Delve
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago (1 edit)

Hello Loressa, there is two different downloads, one is the itch io link and the other is the google drive link!  I have had the google drive link there since a few days ago when downloads were not working properly for multiple people on the the site. 

Is the itch io link not working properly?  

(*EDIT* Weird just checked the app, only shows the google drive link but if I disable the google drive link then the main itch link appears in the itch app) 



Reply
LoressaSubmitted1 year ago (2 edits) (+1)

Yes, I can select the itch download from the app, but it still says it's hosted by a 3rd party. I'll go check again now!


Edit: working now for download!

Reply
Jacob MigneaultSubmitted1 year ago (1 edit)

Unfortunately, I'm getting an error while trying to run the game. Actually, I first get errors while trying to extract the zip ('Unexpected end of data'). Then, when I try to run I get: 

Game files required to initialize the global shader library are missing from:
<install-path>/ThroughTheCatacombs_V1_4/ThroughTheCatacombs_V1_4/ThroughTheCatacombs/Content/
Please make sure the game is installed correctly.

Might be on my end if no one else is having problems. Or maybe only the most recent build got an incomplete/corrupted zip file?

Looks spooky and interesting from the screenshots so hopefully this can get resolved!

Submitted
Remote Access
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

Oh dam wonder what happened :/  I re enabled version 1.3, any chance if you get some free time could you take a look and see if that has the same issue please?  I'll try and troubleshoot on my end later! 

Reply
Jacob MigneaultSubmitted1 year ago

Hmm, seeing the same thing with the 1.3 zip. If things are fine for most people then maybe there's something weird going on with my computer.

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago (1 edit)

Nah, not just you I got a friend to check on his computer too and he is also having the same issue with both versions... It's weird though if I re downlod the file it works still *I think I know the issue though.. I'll try to get a working version up in a few hours!  

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

Sorry to be a pain again Jacob but what would the file size be for the zips that you downloaded?  

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

Sorry again Jacob but try the google drive link I've added to the downloads :)  

Figured out the issue appears to be with itch itself for some reason ... ( Tested on multiple computers and devices but for some reason the download always stops early before the whole thing is downloaded ... Hence the zip archive error... But downloading the zip from behind the scene on the page for me works... so weird... ) 

Reply
Jacob MigneaultSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

The google drive link worked! Thanks for looking into this. I should get a chance to give it a play later tonight.

I see multiple threads of people complaining about this issue all from the past day. Seems like a pretty bad bug so hopefully itch fixes it soon

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

Glad I'm not the only one suffering so hopefully they fix it soon! 

And oh yay awesome tell me how it goes :) 

Reply
Jacob MigneaultSubmitted1 year ago

Whelp, now DirectX is crashing right after the opening monologue. It seems the universe does not want me to try this game :( This probably is some sort of bad interaction with something in the game and my GPU/drivers. Probably non-trivial to debug so maybe not worth it, considering other people have been able to play fine.

Regardless, here's the error in case you're curious:

Fatal error: [File:D:\build\++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\D3D12RHI\Private\D3D12Util.cpp] [Line: 873] 
PresentInternal(SyncInterval) failed 
 at D:\build\++UE5\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\D3D12RHI\Private\D3D12Viewport.cpp:633 
 with error DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

Dam just can't win at all xD  
Well here is this if you want to try, but thanks a lot for trying multiple times! I know it must of been a pain xD  

https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/dxgi-error-device-removed.html

Reply
Terry0808Submitted1 year ago(+1)

Interesting entry I really enjoyed. It was paced well and well presented. I really liked the waking/blinking animation that played after fall into the hole, subtle but effective for immersion. Also the rain effects and voice acting was also very good. Really liked.

Some of the points that bugged me a little are the invisible wall that stopped me from entering the building on my left after entering an area. It really stood out as something to enter and the wall stopped me. The lighter when it is first turned on was very bright although I was in a dark room with a largish monitor and the jump scare sound effect was a little friendly, my son heard it said it should be scarier. 

Enjoyed the playthrough.

Submitted
The Street With Four Doors
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Oh yeah that building is very pretty xD  It's a 3D scan of a Church at the Quinta Da Regalia in Portugal! It's just meant to be set dressing sorry haha!  If I re patch the game ill make the collision box closer to it so you can get closer haha!  

Glad you enjoyed the play through :)  Did you get to the end though?  

Reply
Terry0808Submitted1 year ago

Just offering a further suggestion if you did make the collider closer to the building after clicking on the door a message could pop up hinting at the real life building. Would be cool especially if it used the voice acting. 

Not quite sure what the ending is! once I got to the skull walled area I followed the right hand wall and came across the scare and reset. Followed the left hand wall and was scared again and figured I had came to the end. Was there more?

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Yeah there is more and an actual ending xD  Which scare was it?  I think only the ghosts voice actor managed to get to the end without any hints so far haha!   Oh wait...  I might need to add in a hint system xD  so when you hear "I see you" what would you do in a dark room when your light is turned on to hide yourself?  

Reply
Terry0808Submitted1 year ago (2 edits) (+1)

I've gone back and played again and I have to say I enjoyed it more this time around. I knew the way to go and what to do and the experience felt more cohesive. I caught more of the first time the entity ran out of sight the animation is really good. 

The extra dialogue is really good in the last section. Is that the end?

Just noticed your entry to scream jam 2021 Halloween night 1999. That was my first game jam and submission. I’ll be sure to check out your entry.

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Awee glad you liked it a lot more the second time around :)  

If you got to the white light scene then you got to the end! I always try to make sure my game jam games have some sort of end or a "To Be Continued" scene. Although that Halloween Night 1999 I have been wanting to do a sequel to for ages haha!  

Scream jam 2021 was my first game jam too! I will have to play your Escape To Daylight later too :D 

Reply
clonedkittySubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I really like the intro and how the figure with red eyes kind of "guides" you in. One of the jumpscares definitely got me and I had to take a break XD.  There were a couple times where I couldn't use my lighter or light a torch but if I waited a bit I could, so not sure if that was intentional. One suggestion I'd have is have an option to turn off the head bobbing when walking/running...I didn't notice it in the catacombs but up in the graveyard I did and it gives me motion sickness. Very spooky game, I like how it fit the theme!

Submitted
Something in the Water
Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

No not intentional with the lighter and torches not working xD  I have to do some glitch hunting I think haha!  Thanks for pointing them out! :)  I'll also have to look into a head bobbing toggle! 

Awee happy one of the jump scares got you xD  (Sorry haha)  But thank you for the feedback :)  I was aiming for spooky so glad we managed it!  Thank you so much for playing :) Did you get to the end out of curiosity?  

Reply
clonedkittySubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I am terrible with mazes and jumpscares so I haven't reached the end yet...but I will try again later and let you know how I go!

Reply
Was A HorseDeveloper1 year ago

You poor thing x  Awee just always stick to the Left for the maze sections worst case xD  I made it once you get past a certain point in each one it blocks the path going back at least xD  

Reply
AboutFAQBlogContact us
Copyright © 2025 itch corp · Directory · Terms · Privacy · Cookies