TheBlindMaze by Valon

[raw]
made by Valon for LD31 (COMPO)
This is my first Ludum Dare participation.

EDIT : A bit of rules might help you.

You have a robot friend that I named "Elmo" (not important) he is designed to find doors for you so when you ear a bip on your left ear it means you are left from a door, and right you are right.

You can't turn the arrow keys left/right are for strafing.

The hitwall behaviour is bugged and is game breaking don't listen too much to the sounds for it. It doesn't break your movement or anything, only the sounds are bugged.

Try to play with headphones and maybe eyes closed.



I wanted to improve my Wwise skill so I did an audio game. Sadly I think I took a project a bit too big for me, the thing works but it is really really hard to finish.
Let me explain :
This is a maze that you have to complete while starring as one screen (so it's kinda like you were blind). My idea was to guide the player with sounds, sadly I did not have time to polish it like I wanted which is what makes it really hard.


You can still finish it tho!

Here are the rules :

4 Zones.
You have between 5 and 6 minutes to complete one of them and retrive the magic object at the end.

At the end of this time, the maze will turn and bring you to a completly different zone. You'll have to wait for another turn to maybe restart the zone you failed.

There is also 4 AI patroling the maze, you can recognize how close they are with the sound design. Press H to hide from them until they go away. If they see you, you loose.

Ratings

Coolness 95% 2
Overall 2.53 1108
Audio 3.04 352
Fun 2.30 1103
Innovation 3.49 308
Mood 2.71 750
Theme 3.00 1049

Feedback

Mopz
08. Dec 2014 路 06:10 UTC
I admit never having played a completely sound-based game before. But it was sort of fun ... just wish I would've had some headphones. Great work!
MatthewHolland
08. Dec 2014 路 19:36 UTC
I really love what you were trying to do here, but as you say in the description it's _really_ hard and could do with more polish. I suggest trying more _kinds_ of feedback, whether that be extra sounds or something else.
馃帳 Valon
08. Dec 2014 路 22:23 UTC
Thank you for your comments.

The worst part is actually that the wall bumping code is bugged. If I could have made the collision and the sounds related to that work correctly it would instantly become way easier.
You should be supposed to tell "ok I hit a wall on the left" > you press left sounds of hitwall plays again. You press any other direction the footsteps play again.
But this doesn't work properly so you get lost really fast.
This bug correction + more sound and I think it could be fun to play.
DaRaziel
08. Dec 2014 路 23:08 UTC
Though this is a very interesting type of approach for a game, i think it lacks a something. i think blind people for example also heavily rely on their tactile feedback when navigating their surroundings. This is something very important.

I like the idea of it nontheless! Would be nice to see a more fleshed out version of it.
Asaratha
08. Dec 2014 路 23:10 UTC
I really like the idea! Same with what's been said, all it needs is more time and polish. Keep it up!
Spacemyname
08. Dec 2014 路 23:13 UTC
Interesting work, I never realized how no sights make a difference.
bobismijnnaam
08. Dec 2014 路 23:13 UTC
This wasn't really a success. The idea you have is really interesting and has a lot of potential, but the game is a little bit too buggy to enjoy. The arrow keys don't work sometimes, and it's unclear what they represent (do you move on a 2d grid or do the left and right arrow key rotate you?). It is also unclear what sound means what, making it hard to listen for something specific. Also, a message saying "read the rules to understand why you failed" is not really a nice way to talk to the player :p It did succeed in making me feel a bit eerie, the ambient is done pretty well.

P.s. Why does unity want to connect to the internet? It's suspicious.
馃帳 Valon
08. Dec 2014 路 23:15 UTC
@DaRaziel I agree with you for the blind people but maybe I should not have called it that. It's more like an Audio Maze.

I do think that the feels could be given by sounds tho, but that would need more work.

I should have done only 2 zones it would have devided my work by at least 2 and it would be probably better.
馃帳 Valon
08. Dec 2014 路 23:18 UTC
@bobismijnnaam Definitly not a success like a said on my description.

Sorry for the message I did the UI part in a hurry. haha
The world is in 3D and left/right are basically strafe.

It does lack a lot of explaining on top of the bugs but I kinda failed my game design. It's more like a one week project than a two day one.
Especially since it was my first Wwise to Unity implementation.

No idea about the Unity thing tho sorry.
Meta-link
08. Dec 2014 路 23:43 UTC
Wow, your game is really hard !
But the concept is reaaaaally cool and so is your game !
JayCee23
08. Dec 2014 路 23:48 UTC
It's hard to tell what sounds mean what, and I keep losing randomly. It's an interesting idea, but the poor execution of the idea makes the game not very fun...
callum.thepro
09. Dec 2014 路 00:32 UTC
I like the thought you put into this, this is certainly the first sound-based game i have seen. I can't say it's my type of thing but good work with the sounds mate.
bakudas
09. Dec 2014 路 00:43 UTC
i really like the ideia, but that is no entire original.
馃帳 Valon
09. Dec 2014 路 01:00 UTC
@bakudas I used soundbanks but they are allowed, I got official confirmation before posting this.

The rest is just shitty graphics.
馃帳 Valon
09. Dec 2014 路 01:02 UTC
(because they treat it as an instrument just like the music samples) > If anyone wanders why.
cxsquared
09. Dec 2014 路 01:50 UTC
I really like the idea. I wish the implementation was a little better but this is what the jam is all about. I'd love to see this fleshed out into something more.
馃帳 Valon
09. Dec 2014 路 08:33 UTC
@cxsquared Thank you. Since it seems like the general idea is : "great idea but needed more time" I am definitly going to continue this game.
tomdeal
09. Dec 2014 路 19:58 UTC
It is a very interesting concept. Unfortunately, I could not tell what I hit when I hit it, so I did not get far.
SpartanIceCream
09. Dec 2014 路 20:23 UTC
Nice
Ryusui
10. Dec 2014 路 00:33 UTC
I couldn't tell whether I was moving or hitting a wall, and "H" to hide didn't seem to do anything that I could tell. I've played a "sound maze"-type game before, but the sound design and presentation were much better there - this one looks like one of those badly-made fake virus warning popups.
CMWeissMedia
10. Dec 2014 路 00:36 UTC
Neat concept, however very hard to play. I think you could have benefited from offering examples of what each sound represents.
馃帳 Valon
10. Dec 2014 路 00:47 UTC
@CMWeissMedia I didn't have enough time for that sadly.

@Ryusui : Yes the hitting wall behaviour is the "game breaking" bug that I have. This is what makes the game too hard. Again I had time problems.

I wanted to do the compo so I had to do it in 48h.
whilefun
10. Dec 2014 路 03:58 UTC
Very neat and unusual idea. I did not manage to complete the maze, but this is really cool.
brokenbeach
10. Dec 2014 路 18:44 UTC
This was an incredibly interesting and ambitious idea and I don't think the execution did it justice. The sounds were incredibly confusing, and the lack of feedback made it incredibly hard to understand what you were doing right.

It is such a cool idea, and one that is quite hard to do-justice in 48 hours. I'd love it if you gave this idea the attention it deserves and kept working on it.
馃帳 Valon
10. Dec 2014 路 18:59 UTC
@brokenbeach Thank you. I do plan to work on it. It was more like a one week full time project I think.
floorman
10. Dec 2014 路 19:37 UTC
The game was definitely a good concept but needs more polish. Was definitely innovative though!
AMS
10. Dec 2014 路 19:39 UTC
This is a really cool concept for a game, good job!
taviandir
10. Dec 2014 路 21:27 UTC
I really like the concept of having only sounds as your guide! With some polish this could probalby be really great!"
TriSquare
11. Dec 2014 路 00:16 UTC
This game was really hard for me. . .maybe i just needed head phones or somethin. Really cool concept and an actually creative take on the theme :).
danidre14
11. Dec 2014 路 19:14 UTC
It had a lot to do with song, but great still. Unique idea!
ramoncb
11. Dec 2014 路 22:55 UTC
Really unique!

With some polishment in the UI, it will become a very powerful experience!

Good work! And sorry my bad english ^^'
Demy
13. Dec 2014 路 10:34 UTC
Very interesting concept but it needs to be more understandable (i mean, wich sounds you supposed to chase, how does monster sounds etc) and at least something (like small shakes or color change) should appear on screen to not make people be bored. Also, as for me countdown isn't a comfortable motivation to play it would be better if you wouldn't be limited in time, but for example was chased by monster or something else that makes you move.
馃帳 Valon
13. Dec 2014 路 22:40 UTC
Hi guys for the people who might still read this :

I have kept working on it and I fixed every bug + I added some features (like the UI)
I am about to improve as much as I can my current sound design.
benmcnelly
16. Dec 2014 路 05:19 UTC
Points for a great idea and almost getting there with it. With more time you have something really neat here!
greytram
20. Dec 2014 路 19:48 UTC
Very original concept. More feedback would be welcome though as most of the time I can't tell if I'm hitting a wall or not or if the monster is near...
maxmetallica
28. Dec 2014 路 02:57 UTC
nice works dude keep it up