Delving by kakuremino

[raw]
made by kakuremino for LD30 (COMPO)
This is a game about identifying items. To play, download the zip file and extract the contents to the desired location. Run delving.exe.

To the people not using Windows: You might be able to run the game from source. What is needed is Ruby 1.9.3 (the game might also run in previous, or later versions) and the Gosu gem (see http://www.libgosu.org/), which is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Please tell me if it works (or if it doesn't).

The game was made using Ruby with Gosu and Ocra. Gimp and Paint were used for the graphics. Audacity and MilkyTracker for sounds and music.

Controls:
The game is completely mouse driven. When trying to match the melody, holding left mouse button raises pitch, and releasing left mouse button lowers pitch. To finalize the melody, press right mouse button (without pressing/releasing left mouse button). There is a short tutorial.




(Possibly not very) clarifying information about symbols:
When naming an entity, pay attention to symbols and the affinities of the entities you know. If you want to play it safe, always choose to disconnect when you are unsure. This way you will at least gain one point of knowledge. However, correctly identifying an entity will give you a much larger boost. You may encounter entities that you do not know (yet). Incorrectly naming an entity slows down learning (you lose one point of knowledge).

The numbers displayed in the lower right corner while serving customers represent current knowledge and the amount needed until some new information is gained. When not serving customers, the numbers represent the expected knowledge boost if you correctly identify an entity (including possible multipliers for good performance). It is a bit of a mess.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 2.78 964
Audio 3.23 265
Fun 2.35 1067
Graphics 2.78 766
Humor 1.92 832
Innovation 3.64 205
Mood 3.03 523
Theme 2.40 1032

Feedback

shasharala
25. Aug 2014 · 06:45 UTC
Very interesting! I had a very difficult time identifying objects, but I think the take on the theme was innovative.
midgard
25. Aug 2014 · 11:00 UTC
Didn't download it as the Chrome Virus Filter poped up :(
simileinchen
25. Aug 2014 · 11:07 UTC
"Didn't download it as the Chrome Virus Filter poped up :(" Same here!
alpha_rat
25. Aug 2014 · 11:07 UTC
Nice idea ! I took a bit of time to understand how it worked, maybe it lacks a bit of clarity.
The sound effects and the plot are good, the gameplay is original
Hoopsnake Games
25. Aug 2014 · 11:42 UTC
No matter what I do I just can't seem seem to get any sound, which I'm pretty sure is required to get anywhere in this game. Looks great though, but I'll have to try and get sound working before rating. Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1
Markavian
25. Aug 2014 · 12:10 UTC
I really struggled with matching the sounds, felt like I didn't have enough control over the starting pitch. I didn't understand the pattern matching or naming at all based on your advice. I didn't get a sense of purpose either.
alycarter
25. Aug 2014 · 12:13 UTC
i like the idea of matching the audio and the visuals were pretty too. i got lost with the symbols bit though
technocf
25. Aug 2014 · 12:31 UTC
The idea behind the game is good although I couldn't identify any of the objects.
Techblogogy
25. Aug 2014 · 12:33 UTC
Great game!
Foofur
25. Aug 2014 · 12:35 UTC
Like the idea of matching sounds, but didn't understand the symbol part...?
burgerdare
25. Aug 2014 · 14:45 UTC
Very strange and intriguing game. I had a lot of fun with this.
Hyoga-3D
25. Aug 2014 · 17:01 UTC
I like this kind of games that are very diferente, nic entry.
Tomker
25. Aug 2014 · 17:04 UTC
Like this graphic style, minimalistic but really fun to look at.
micdoodle8
25. Aug 2014 · 20:22 UTC
I wasn't getting any symbols, just the sound. Not sure if that's intended, but I couldn't get past "Let's try again!"
joylessSnake
25. Aug 2014 · 21:16 UTC
cant download it as Google chrome blocked it :(
John Drury
25. Aug 2014 · 21:17 UTC
Matching sounds is a great idea! just super confused on how to match the sound
dkkarate
25. Aug 2014 · 21:21 UTC
it was really hard to actually understand what I was supposed to do.
malf
25. Aug 2014 · 21:22 UTC
Chrome identifies it as a virus , Icould ignore it tho

But i couldn't play in windows 7 32 , after the "tutorial" i get a black screen , i press left nothing i press right some bars start to grow i press left a bar begins to grow and...."let's try again"

confusing
🎤 kakuremino
25. Aug 2014 · 22:09 UTC
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Chrome reporting the file as a virus is annoying, but there isn't much I can do about that except tell you that Chrome is just being overzealous and assure you that the file contains nothing malicious. I've seen similar comments on other entries.

Sadly it seems the game does not do a good job of explaining what to do. I've written some hopefully helpful tips in the description that might clear things up.

In essence, the bulk of the game consists of two minigames, one where you are supposed to listen to a "melody" and then match it by alternating between holding/releasing the left mouse button for the appropriate amount of time and pressing the right mouse button when you have replicated the entire melody (remembering not to release the left mouse button before this if the melody ends on a rising pitch). After pressing the right mouse button, three sets of bars will appear, the purple bars represent the actual melody, the green bars represent your attempt, and the red bars represent the difference (i.e. errors) for each part of the melody (thus, in each set there should be an equal number of bars as there were rising/descending parts of the melody). The goal is to get a small enough total error.

The second minigame has to do with connecting symbols with entities. This part can be very confusing. I wrote some tips about this in the description. Short(ish) version: if none of the entities seem to fit the symbol (i.e. if the symbol does not seem to match any of the keywords mentioned under "Associated with:"), the safest bet is to choose the disconnect option. This will give you a point or two (see the numbers in the lower right corner while serving customers). An incorrect guess will result in losing a point. After your points reach certain levels you unlock identification options. The first unlock occurs when you have 3 or more points.
Tanser
26. Aug 2014 · 19:41 UTC
Guys, chrome is telling you that the program is malicious based on the lack of information about the downloaded item than anything specific as check or scan. You should't really trust Chrome. If you are not sure whether something is safe just scan it with real antivirus program before running it after downloading it. :)

Back to the game:
Really interesting concept. It was a bit hard for me but I still like it a lot. :)
Marcellus
26. Aug 2014 · 19:45 UTC
Can't play the game, it seems bugged. When I lfet click all small coloured bars goes down then diseapear, a big one with a number raises in the middle of the screen and when I release left click notng happends. If I click again, game says let's try again.

There is no music and right click seems to be useless as it does nothing.

I didn't rate the game and I'll be back later to give i a second shot.

FOR CHROME USERS : Download the game, go to personalize and control > downloads and there you have an option to keep the file you downloaded and therefore avoid the virus blocking system.
Robber
26. Aug 2014 · 19:47 UTC
this game is from another planet! some pretty cool ideas here..innovative concept
🎤 kakuremino
26. Aug 2014 · 20:37 UTC
Thanks for playing, everybody!

Marcellus: The game is definitely unplayable if there is no sound at the screen before the bars appear (or after the "Let's try again"). The sound is quite low (the pitch of it that is). Is the game outputting any sound at all (i.e. does the volume mixer in Windows indicate any sound being played)? If not, then there is definitely something wrong.
lkr
26. Aug 2014 · 22:31 UTC
Innovative and interesting concept :)
ShadowStryker
27. Aug 2014 · 00:26 UTC
My Anti-Virus BitDefender detected this as a malicious file. Game doesn't seem to be working as it should be, and if it is then it isn't explained what to do very well. Interesting concept with the sound though.
3CGames
27. Aug 2014 · 19:46 UTC
Strange game, I love trying to match the sounds.
Tom 7
28. Aug 2014 · 00:50 UTC
This was a pretty neat idea and the graphics are mysterious and compelling. I made it through the first part (though sometimes my score was surprisingly huge? Like off the screen huge?) and it seemed like I was doing okay, but I always failed to connect with every object, even though I tried for a while. I think there's something I don't get. I think the idea is worth trying, though, and it was weird enough that I enjoyed it even if my score was abysmal. :)
Toubib
29. Aug 2014 · 13:49 UTC
Even without understanding a thing, it's cool xD
rfgpfeiffer
29. Aug 2014 · 18:00 UTC
I have no idea what i'm doing but this is amazing.Also this runs fine under Linux. I have all the gems installed from the last LDs still so no idea how hard this would be to get to run from scratch
KingBolonzo
31. Aug 2014 · 18:32 UTC
matching sounds was completely original nice work most unique thing ive seen nice work
mocker
31. Aug 2014 · 18:36 UTC
Great concept but trying to play it I really had no idea what was going on even after reading your description.
rhaasken
01. Sep 2014 · 00:01 UTC
Very intriguing, but I could not match anything. The feedback you get when you are incorrect is not very helpful.
Ted Brown
02. Sep 2014 · 04:12 UTC
You succeeded in coming up with an innovative concept, but carrying that all the way into the interface is required to make it a game. :(
liquidminduk
03. Sep 2014 · 12:20 UTC
very confusing game but it definitely kept me playing. Interesting approach to the theme
DvanderAart
09. Sep 2014 · 14:25 UTC
Very cool to see people that try something different. Quite challenging and i will admit i didn't get very far whehe. Can i just say i am amazed so many people don't know how their browser works. Referring to chrome users of course. I like it and think this is one of the more interesting concepts. Needs some more taking the player by the hand though. Nice one though! Good rating