Lost Path by louis.denizet

[raw]
made by louis.denizet for LD31 (JAM)
Lost Path is a narrative game in which you play a red panda forgotten by his family after a gun shot in the forest during winter.

You can move with arrow keys.
You can sprint with space.

You will have to face 4 main dangers :
- Cold is the main one, if you don't warm up often you will die freezing.
- Wolves will try to catch you.
- Wolf trap are really dangerous.
- Don't fall into the cold water.

The way we interpreted the theme (we weren't sure what the theme implicated!) was that when you go out of the screen you always come back to the same screen which one evolves with your progression.

Usually we make games really focused on gameplay and this time we tried to make a game around emotions and mood.

We used to work at 2 with my girlfriend but this time we had a sound designer and musician with us that really pulled us to work on the emotional and mood size of the game.

He has a sister with good english accent (we are french ^^) so he had to idea to put voices with text and that achieved the idea of narrative for kids!

Thanks a lot to both of them for this great time !

The sound designer has been particulary imaginative to create sounds, nearly each sound has a really fun story ;)

We really hope you enjoy the experience as much as we did!

Team :
- Graphisms : Mélissandre Samson
- Sound and music : Benjamin Baldassini
- Game design and programmation : Louis Denizet
- With the voice of : Marine Baldassini

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.46 289
Audio(Jam) 3.98 43
Fun(Jam) 2.90 615
Graphics(Jam) 4.10 132
Humor(Jam) 2.19 707
Innovation(Jam) 3.18 409
Mood(Jam) 3.75 96
Theme(Jam) 2.85 918

Feedback

Victory Garden
09. Dec 2014 · 05:35 UTC
A cute game! It seems appropriate for kids. I love to see these sorts of games showing up in the jam as well. All of the art and music are very nicely done and professional, with a narrator to boot! If I was going to tweak anything, I would say chiefly that the level design and playing could use some refinement: most of the time, I felt like the controls and passages were sticky enough that I was struggling with them more than the puzzles itself.

However, it's just a minor amount of alteration that's necessary, I think, and then it would really be very nice. Thank you for the entry!
Alendro
09. Dec 2014 · 19:53 UTC
Good Job
bofink
09. Dec 2014 · 19:58 UTC
Wonderful game, love the atmosphere created by the sounds, graphics and the narration! :)
Yarek
09. Dec 2014 · 20:00 UTC
Nice game! The music and sounds are beautiful!
Demy
09. Dec 2014 · 20:08 UTC
It looks so good, thank you. It has perfect mood and image. Well, as for me it's a little bit too cruel for kids, but... It' beautiful.
tomdeal
09. Dec 2014 · 20:10 UTC
Relly good game, don't have any complaints or suggestions :)
AncientAvocado
09. Dec 2014 · 20:12 UTC
Undoubtly the best game I've played thus far! Everything about this is perfect. I also love what you did with the theme.
caryoscelus
09. Dec 2014 · 20:22 UTC
Brilliant cover art. Cool idea, but gameplay could use some variety and polish. Narration starts to feel patronizing rather quickly. One-screen thing doesn't add anything, except for pain in the ass when you start covering the edges. I get why it's done, it just doesn't seem very elegant.

lonely2012
Grindstorm
09. Dec 2014 · 20:25 UTC
Nice voice acting, nice graphics, it felt weird sometimes with half the screen active...
BtheDestroyer
09. Dec 2014 · 20:38 UTC
Quick note for OS/X Linux users: It is runable with Wine/similar applications but it's a bit laggy.
MechanicMoon
09. Dec 2014 · 20:50 UTC
The atmosphere is incredible, very good sound, graphics and narration. I think that the game is one of the best in this edition, congratulations! Lost path is a very personal story.. play it ;-)
Louisload
09. Dec 2014 · 21:19 UTC
pretty game. the narration is a very good addition and makes me interested in playing it. kids would love this!
my suggestion is for the movement of the fox, which is a bit mechanical, if some day you return to this, try to make it more natural (rotating in the direction its going instead of facing immediately) :D
lurumdurum
10. Dec 2014 · 09:39 UTC
Narrative games are not really my type of games, but I had to try it. I totally loved the art and the smooth voice telling the story! Nicely done! :D

I see you guys found a good solutions to the theme this time, because I haven't seen many games which use the theme to create something unique. :)

You should check out our solution to the theme this time, you might like it.
SoulGame
10. Dec 2014 · 09:45 UTC
I got stuck after the first shelter, in the wolf traps part, no way to find out what I was supposed to do, I had to abandon my little red raccoon in the cold :( Nice entry! Animations and mechanics are not perfect but the work on the narration is a very pleasant and engaging touch. Voice volume is a bit low though.
SoulGame
10. Dec 2014 · 09:47 UTC
Oh and what about the theme guys ? :D (sorry for double post)
Submundo Games
10. Dec 2014 · 09:54 UTC
Nice art dude!!!
🎤 louis.denizet
10. Dec 2014 · 10:00 UTC
Thanks for the positive feedbacks guys!! We were really uncertain of the appreciation of this type of game during Ludum Dare and we are soooo happy it's positively welcomed ^^

@SoulGame on each screen you have to go on the path on the side to get back to the beginning ^^ and this is how we dealed with the theme : each time you go out of the screen somewhere, you come back at it the opposite side.
Half black screen increase this feeling we felt =)

Hope it answers! :D
🎤 louis.denizet
10. Dec 2014 · 10:10 UTC
@caryocelus and
@Grindstorm : about the half screen, it's really, to our eyes, the reason we are into the theme! ^^
We wondered about making a graphism for it like a page from a book but finally we decided to not to be more into the theme for us!

@Demy : We never said it was for kids even if it fits well ;) but remind that red hood and are much MUCH more violent and most of kids story of this time were like this ! ^^
OttersDen
10. Dec 2014 · 10:34 UTC
The dynamic narration was a great touch. Music, sounds, and visuals tied together really nicely. I was a little confused on where to go at times, but I enjoyed playing this. Really well done!
qristofer
10. Dec 2014 · 10:43 UTC
Seriously adorable in all channels. Pas mal!
Sartemis Smart
10. Dec 2014 · 10:48 UTC
Great work !
The sound design and the graphics are so well put together, it's really cool. Nice scripting and level design.
The atmosphere is really well put together and the game design really revolves around the environnement with full coherence between everything :)
PlasterPhantom
10. Dec 2014 · 10:57 UTC
Story driven games are really hard to pull off in such a short period of time. You need to create a mood that fits the genre to translate that to the players' mind, and I think you did it pretty decently. GJ.
Yaroslav Kravtsov
10. Dec 2014 · 11:18 UTC
So cute ^_^
Story-driven game for 10-15min is exactly what needed for Ludum Dare. Short narrative expirience that brings something new in you.
Rodaja
10. Dec 2014 · 11:39 UTC
It's a beautiful game. With a good animation it would be one of the most beautiful i've seen in LD31. I had to read the description of game to know that i had to warm in caves to survive, i didnt know there was caves to hide in game. I even tryed to hide under the bushes XD. Finally i found them and could finish.
Nice job.
piotrevic
10. Dec 2014 · 11:41 UTC
Yes, the mood is great, but I'm stuck in that screen at begging after going through ice on water, i don't know what to do.
🎤 louis.denizet
10. Dec 2014 · 11:53 UTC
@piotrevic you have to follow the paths on each screens ;) We tried to put a lot of graphisms on them to make them more easy to find, I'm sorry you didn't find :/
jrap
10. Dec 2014 · 12:24 UTC
A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E
Hellequin
10. Dec 2014 · 14:22 UTC
Awesome game! Really fun to play !
BretHudson
10. Dec 2014 · 14:55 UTC
You had me at red panda. Interesting game, don't know how well it fits the theme, but it's a solid game with a lot of atmosphere and a simple to follow story to keep you engaged from start to finish.
theFireman
10. Dec 2014 · 14:58 UTC
Gameplay could be better, but i really liked the mood and the art style :)
BubbleChien
10. Dec 2014 · 15:02 UTC
Great ambiance, and Bastion like narration is well integrated. Bravo à tous les 4 :D
Axel_Kay
10. Dec 2014 · 15:10 UTC
Really good mood! The art, sounds, voice and narration are great and the game is really cute!
cyrus
10. Dec 2014 · 16:11 UTC
What a beautiful game. And really well-polished. I especially liked the art style and the way the story was told. Some of the controls very bit clunky, but the mood of the game more than made up for that.
goodbadokay
10. Dec 2014 · 17:52 UTC
хорошая работка
Domicuc
11. Dec 2014 · 14:26 UTC
Nice graphics and sound/music x) i like it.. Also check my project if you have some time x)
renatopp
11. Dec 2014 · 14:34 UTC
Great game, I would like a post-compo version with better movement to the fox. Good job guys,
indie4fun
11. Dec 2014 · 15:16 UTC
The atmosphere and the graphics are really stunning. But the gameplay its a little bit annoying. The narrative parts at the end are repetitive.
Night
11. Dec 2014 · 16:31 UTC
Wonderful meditation. I like this game. Maybe I'm a little bit a kid :) I only suggest you to make burrow more noticeable. I have spent several minutes, trying to find it for the first time and dying from cold each time. But I didn't give up)
Mechamew
11. Dec 2014 · 18:27 UTC
Mac/ Web build please! This looks awesome!
oh_andrej
11. Dec 2014 · 18:44 UTC
A charming journey with beautiful graphics and a soundscape that really makes you feel the cold. I love the little details, especially how the screen freezes if you don't find shelter; a health bar (or something similar) would have detracted from the game's atmosphere, so that was a great solution.

I also appreciate that you have to figure out the game for yourself. I have to admit that it took me a while to figure out how to get around the first wolf but when I did it felt great. Telling the player what to do would have destroyed the atmosphere I think.

Since gameplay wasn't the focus in this project I won't criticise it, but there is one small thing I noticed: I think when you walk diagonally down-right, you cannot run using the Space bar. That really became a problem in the last screen :D

Anyway, this is a great and unique game. Great job!
🎤 louis.denizet
11. Dec 2014 · 19:38 UTC
Thanks a lot for the great feedbacks!

Sadly I worked with a software I don't have mac/web exporters :/

We agree that gameplay is not perfect and we focused a lot on the mood aspect ;)
hollowspecter
11. Dec 2014 · 20:07 UTC
First: I died freezing at the respawn over and over again. Unfortunately very unfair. And the wolf right in front of my shelter was unfair, too.. I do love the atmosphere and music and overall alot!
Kuality Games
11. Dec 2014 · 21:39 UTC
Really nice narrative experience. Very well done guys. Cheers.
H-Bomb
11. Dec 2014 · 21:58 UTC
Nice game idea, the art is super cute and the music adds a lot. However, the gameplay itself doesn't do the story a favor, the try & die mechanism makes it pretty tedious while we do want to be involved in the story (how can I care for the character if he dies ten times in a row with no consequences?).
I also had a bug after a few screens (yeah, that also, the theme was "one screen" ^^") when the panda had only a split second to live, so I could not finish the game...
hypnoticbytes
12. Dec 2014 · 12:31 UTC
Wow, what a beautiful experience!!! Thank you very much for your game!!!
runvs
13. Dec 2014 · 08:59 UTC
Beatiful Game! Music is especially good, as well as voice acting (wow, something like that for an LD Game!)
Also very good narration.
I Like it very much!
Stending
13. Dec 2014 · 14:11 UTC
Amazing mood and cool little story!
You made a really good work in every domain. :)
Keep up the good work!
ynots
18. Dec 2014 · 16:47 UTC
nice..