{"author_link":"\/author\/sydan\/","author_name":"sydan","author_uid":"50347","comments":[{"author_name":"shyupuff","author_uid":"34906","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:02am","epoch":1429498620,"text":"Wow this is fantastic! I love the art, the hearing mechanic, the enemies, the level design. Awesome job!"},{"author_name":"sharpcoder","author_uid":"32080","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:04am","epoch":1429498740,"text":"Whoa! That was such an awesome, creative idea. I made it to the end and had a lot of fun too! Excellent excellent entry."},{"author_name":"K1llercake","author_uid":"50980","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:14am","epoch":1429499340,"text":"Awesome graphics, art and sounds AND level design!\r<br\/>Only thing I did not enjoy at ALL was the character movement, felt really sloppy and slippery."},{"author_name":"stuffedgravy","author_uid":"50139","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:16am","epoch":1429499460,"text":"This is super high quality! The mechanic is both inspired and super fun to play with. The animation for the tiles coming in and falling out looks absolutely beautiful! Levels were decent, enemies had some scary moments (the rushing thing freaked me out the first time haha).\r<br\/>\r<br\/>The only issues I had were that the movement was a bit too floaty, and the health indicator bugged out a bit so it wasn't very clear to me when I was about to die or if bandages worked."},{"author_name":"NIGIC","author_uid":"24803","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:22am","epoch":1429499820,"text":"Real fun game, and good concept. Demon AI was a bit wonky at times, making it hard to pull them to wherever I needed them to be. Otherwise it worked great.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>I dig the art style. Audio is great. Great atmosphere overall. Makes me wanna play some MegaTen. Which is... Actually, I'm not sure whether that's good or bad... Oh well. Good job!"},{"author_name":"ehtd","author_uid":"11246","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:55am","epoch":1429501800,"text":"Really cool, everything was amazing, just the controls need more work."},{"author_name":"nicotuason","author_uid":"21669","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 4:54am","epoch":1429505340,"text":"Love the story you created with this! The mechanics feel cohesive with the story too. The 2D art on top of the 3D map looks surprisingly good, and I love the design of the &quot;final&quot; boss."},{"author_name":"Muffin","author_uid":"3633","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 7:03am","epoch":1429513080,"text":"Very good artstyle and concept!, but the controls feel a bit floaty which makes it hard to play sometimes. Also when I play in firefox and rightclick, the popup menu shows up, which is annoying. Not sure if that's just me?"},{"author_name":"Madball","author_uid":"8370","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 7:55am","epoch":1429516200,"text":"Hi again! I forgot that this game has slippery movement and didn't notice it during the game at all. I also didn't have any problems with daemon path-finding.\r<br\/>The thing I like about this game is damage bar. It surprising that, instead of decreasing your health, enemies increase your damage.\r<br\/>The ending was great. Couldn't ask for a better story, except that you don't do anything epic.\r<br\/>As for graphics, they could be a bit more various. It's plain dungeon all the time.\r<br\/>Well, that's a great idea and a great implementation. I wish this game had more levels. And still, it lacks epicness."},{"author_name":"aaronjbaptiste","author_uid":"19914","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 11:17am","epoch":1429528320,"text":"Brilliant, loved the story driving it. The visuals are awesome.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>For me the web player crashed my mac twice when loading. Switching to the app instead it played fine."},{"author_name":"nknauth","author_uid":"32759","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:13pm","epoch":1429542480,"text":"The player movement control felt a little loose, but overall a very enjoyable game :)"},{"author_name":"tripleVisionGames","author_uid":"12495","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:43pm","epoch":1429544280,"text":"I love 2d characters in a 3d space! Looks pretty nice here too. I really like the mechanic you've got too. I'd focus on the controls if you're going to work on it a little more now the jam is over."},{"author_name":"KedumeBits","author_uid":"24253","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 3:59pm","epoch":1429545240,"text":"Awesome game. Nice scenario, very cool graphics. I like the player sprite, and the voice as a &quot;weapon&quot;."},{"author_name":"Celt","author_uid":"35130","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 5:49pm","epoch":1429551840,"text":"Yes! This could be a &quot;regular&quot; game if its development would be continued without any problems. Top notch for 48h. Would have been awesome if her voice would differ, matching to the background music!"},{"author_name":"hercludes","author_uid":"14310","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 9:03pm","epoch":1429563480,"text":"Pretty good idea and very nice mechanics with the level loading but I think it needed a little extra to make it pop out and make it clear that you are blind."},{"author_name":"Fanttum","author_uid":"42108","time":"Apr 20, 2015 @ 11:43pm","epoch":1429573080,"text":"Really great game, and fun art style. Interesting ideas, even if the character is a bit slippery."},{"author_name":"Tomcat94","author_uid":"52422","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 12:23am","epoch":1429575480,"text":"The game looks great, has a dark tone, and the mechanics are great! Gotta say, you showcased excellent level design as well. Showing the player how to &quot;see&quot;, then introducing fire pits, then making the first enemy walk into it was perfect.\r<br\/>The movement felt less than enjoyable, only because I kept fighting with the corners of the one-block-wide corridors, but that's just a minor complaint.\r<br\/>Great job!"},{"author_name":"dvdfu","author_uid":"51259","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 1:59am","epoch":1429581240,"text":"The mood and concept for this game were very good. I enjoyed this one!"},{"author_name":"Team-KwaKwa","author_uid":"32076","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 7:24pm","epoch":1429643940,"text":"Nice innovating game. I record myself playing and commenting it (as soon as it is uploaded): http:\/\/youtu.be\/qERDSUJUZZ0"},{"author_name":"scorched","author_uid":"48268","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 7:29pm","epoch":1429644240,"text":"Amazing, I'm surprised that it's made by one person in 48 hours. You should though make graphic effects for 2 songs more different (or even just merge them in one). You could also steal some ideas for the game from Aquaria's sing system. 5 stars for all expect humor"},{"author_name":"gruhn","author_uid":"50323","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 9:54pm","epoch":1429652940,"text":"Beautiful game with an interesting mechanics of illumination. Good job."},{"author_name":"nassi","author_uid":"45156","time":"Apr 21, 2015 @ 11:11pm","epoch":1429657560,"text":"Nice atmosphere but as others have mentioned the corners and walls hindered your movement somewhat (I guess that's how it is for blind people...). Also had some difficulties trying to gauge when to sing while inside the &quot;glyph rectangle&quot; to destroy the enemies. Solid entry though."},{"author_name":"RyanNielson","author_uid":"13891","time":"Apr 22, 2015 @ 2:05am","epoch":1429668000,"text":"Beautiful games with some interesting mechanics that could make for some fun puzzle solving and exploration. The player control needs some work though, it's a bit floaty and much too easy to get stuck on walls. Well done!"},{"author_name":"Zener","author_uid":"12819","time":"Apr 22, 2015 @ 6:49pm","epoch":1429728240,"text":"Fastastic game!! The design is great, graphics and sound are very good too. Everything is very polished, big congrats!"},{"author_name":"ChronusZ","author_uid":"10652","time":"Apr 22, 2015 @ 11:18pm","epoch":1429744380,"text":"I feel like you could have used the concept further or in a better way, but it was still pretty enjoyable."},{"author_name":"chikun Dev Team","author_uid":"29857","time":"Apr 23, 2015 @ 3:42am","epoch":1429760220,"text":"Incredible work. This is very high quality and super impressive."},{"author_name":"SonnyBone","author_uid":"1365","time":"Apr 23, 2015 @ 1:43pm","epoch":1429796280,"text":"I agree with Tomcat94 on the level design. You did a good job of introducing everything and I never ran into a problem of being confused or unsure of what to do. Awesome core concept, great use of theme, interesting character design, and an engaging story. It's everything you want in a 48 hour game. Oh yeah, and good job on the ambient music! Congrats!"},{"author_name":"Jan Peter (jpdev)","author_uid":"34367","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 7:25pm","epoch":1429903200,"text":"really nice, I think it's one of the best I have played this ludum dare. Rated accordingly :)"},{"author_name":"Midnight Creators","author_uid":"26722","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 7:25pm","epoch":1429903200,"text":"Impressive game, in ALL aspects! Pretty polished, really amazing! Congratulations for this great game!"},{"author_name":"GarethIW","author_uid":"20364","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 8:22pm","epoch":1429906620,"text":"This was really great, played all the way through. You crammed a lot into those 48 hours!"},{"author_name":"Jeasonfire","author_uid":"29941","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 8:25pm","epoch":1429906800,"text":"What an amazing game. The graphics are beautiful, the sound effects are really good, and the gameplay is good. One of the best entries I've seen."},{"author_name":"Geckoo1337","author_uid":"35835","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 9:01pm","epoch":1429908960,"text":"This is really interesting - maybe one of the most innovative concept for LD32. I like aesthetic and all mechanics seem to be good enough. It's very good entry. Thumbs up ++"},{"author_name":"Skiddings","author_uid":"15697","time":"Apr 24, 2015 @ 10:37pm","epoch":1429914720,"text":"Excellent!"},{"author_name":"Drauthius","author_uid":"52478","time":"Apr 25, 2015 @ 1:25pm","epoch":1429968000,"text":"Great game. Colliding with walls was a bit annoying, but otherwise superb game."},{"author_name":"jmborden","author_uid":"42811","time":"Apr 25, 2015 @ 5:11pm","epoch":1429981560,"text":"Well done! If you have to wait to sing, there should be some kind of indicator that lets you know when you can sing again (if there was, it wasn't obvious to me). There should have been some other game play mechanic other than hurting yourself every time you sing to destroy demons. I should be able to get through a game without taking a single hit of damage without relying on bandages to increase my life. Other than that, high marks from me. It was pretty fun to play all the way to the finish! Even more impressive that this is a Compo entry!"},{"author_name":"oparisy","author_uid":"50996","time":"Apr 26, 2015 @ 9:50am","epoch":1430041500,"text":"Thanks, I very much liked the audio ambience and the general graphics. Lighting is subtle and graphics are sharp, very pleasant. The daemons are interesting with their dash movements and fighting mechanics. Thanks for the checkpoints and bandages, which enabled me to get to the end of the game.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>The levels discovering mechanism became a little bit tedious after a time, since it was just &quot;spam click to reveal the current room&quot;. Perhaps some gameplay mechanism (your song attracts the daemons, or your memory of rooms fades after a while) would have made this more rewarding.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Oh, the mood\/story is good and rings true too."},{"author_name":"Evergreen Games","author_uid":"47043","time":"Apr 27, 2015 @ 6:03am","epoch":1430114280,"text":"Wow Great! good concept, good execution. love how the pieces of the level sort of float up when you discover them. its really exciting every new level because you don't know whats gonna be there and you reveal it bit by bit. the only problem is that the character and health bar stay onscreen at the end. nice touch on frying demons with fire, although sometimes they got stuck on corners and it was hard to lure them in. also it was a little hard to gauge the AoE of the power squares."},{"author_name":"tmpxyz","author_uid":"39382","time":"May 6, 2015 @ 5:35am","epoch":1430890200,"text":"The floating block reminds me of the Bastion, well polished game!"},{"author_name":"siryakko","author_uid":"49920","time":"May 6, 2015 @ 10:47am","epoch":1430908920,"text":"Just fantastic"}],"images":["ld32\/50347-7584259deb6b8338f062fa722dc88836.jpg","ld32\/50347-c3fcde63afe53dd18f45319645e90047.jpg","ld32\/50347-3fcce8544835b5acb380de8dc13b9839.jpg","ld32\/50347-2a4d3b03fb698170b4b00b71517af037.jpg"],"links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.sydan.co.uk\/ludum_dare_32\/TheSongOfAriaWeb012.html","text":"Web"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sydan.co.uk\/ludum_dare_32\/TheSongOfAria012_Win64.zip","text":"Windows"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sydan.co.uk\/ludum_dare_32\/TheSongOfAria012_Mac.app.zip","text":"OS\/X"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sydan.co.uk\/ludum_dare_32\/TheSongOfAria012_Linux.zip","text":"Linux"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.sydan.co.uk\/ludum_dare_32\/Assets.zip","text":"Source"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"12721","g_author":"50347","g_event":"LD32","g_eventkey":"27","g_subevent":"COMPO","g_urlkey":"12751","g_title":"The Song of Aria","g_status":"UCHK1","g_place":"36","g_commentcount":"39","g_site2_node_id":"0","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":[],"node":null,"orig_images":["http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/444368\/50347-shot0-1429493609.PNG-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/444368\/50347-shot1-1429493609.png-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/444368\/50347-shot2-1429493530.png-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/444368\/50347-shot3-1429493609.png-eq-900-500.jpg"],"text":"The Song of Aria is a game about a Songcrafter; a girl called Aria who can craft magic with her voice. She is also blind and uses her singing to listen to echoes allowing her to 'see' the world around her. \r\n\r\nAria finds herself trapped in the ruins of an ancient power and must use her vocal talent as an 'unconventional weapon' against the dangers that she finds there.\r\n\r\nControls:\r\n[NOTE: For web player go full screen to use right mouse button properly, otherwise it just ends up being a context menu.]\r\nSpace - Advance story text\r\nWASD - Move\r\nRight Mouse - Sing to hear echoes\r\nLeft Mouse - Sing to freeze enemies (due to time constraints you can do this from the start of the game, despite story telling you otherwise. If you wish to play properly try to ignore the Left Mouse button until the game tells you to use the ability.)\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nDisclaimer: I do not know anyone who is blind, nor was I able to get any first hand experience of the lives of blind people while making this game. If you have been offended by this game, its events or any content within it, please contact me with your concerns. I delved into this challenge knowing fully that I am the least equipped to create a game around this topic but I did it because I wanted to explore a character who's experience of the world is very different to those you usually see in video games.\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nZips: I've uploaded everything in .zip folders for now, I'm aware this might hinder some people but not certain. Too sleep to fix it, will do in the morning if it's a problem. I've also not tested Mac or Linux, let me know if they don't work!\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nTools:\r\n- Unity3D 5\r\n- SAI PaintTool\r\n- Paintshop Pro \r\n- Notepad++\r\n- Visual Studio 2012\r\n- git\r\n- LMMS\r\n- BFXR\r\n- Wikidpad\r\n- TexturePacker\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nComments:\r\nWow, thank you for the lovely comments! I'm really pleased you're enjoying the game! My apologies for the slippery character motion, I made a dive late in development from Unity's CharacterController to my own physics based character which obviously still has some bugginess.\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nUpdate:\r\nI've made one tiny change to only the webplayer: I've added the 'alternative input methods' to the help text so that players can more easily pick up the game while playing in the webplayer. The buttons are effectively K and L mapped to LMB and RMB respectively. All desktop versions remain completely unchanged if you still want to see the game as it is intended. \r\n\r\nUpdate 2:\r\nType and bug fix: The boss battle was broken so that it was not properly completable. Now the final barrier fill not lower until you have defeated him, mostly this change is unnoticeable. \r\nOne of the text passages has been change because it was nonsensical and potentially offensive, the meaning and implication is the same.","title":"The Song of Aria"}