Yggdrasil by stevens_studio

[raw]
made by stevens_studio for LD30 (JAM)
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology, in connection to which the nine worlds exist. (wikipedia)

Jarl is a Viking, he has to find his deceased brother in other worlds, first in Helheim, the equivalent of hell, but after that he will have to go to explore the 8 other worlds of Yggdrasil.

Our team :

Paul Rudy (programming)

Emilie Jouet (graphic design)

Jacques Milou (sound)


Controls : arrows <- -> to move and shift to jump
We recommend to use Firefox or Chrome, music doesn't play in Safari or IE as they don't support OGG format.

We are really sorry for the lack of gameplay, in another version fighting will be possible, for the moment you can follow the story by wandering and admiring the landscape

And pardon our english :)

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 2.61 710
Audio(Jam) 3.21 315
Fun(Jam) 1.75 762
Graphics(Jam) 3.87 190
Humor(Jam) 1.92 552
Innovation(Jam) 1.91 752
Mood(Jam) 3.21 319
Theme(Jam) 2.80 528

Feedback

SojaBird
26. Aug 2014 路 12:13 UTC
When I'm at a piece of water I fall of the first rock and get stuck :(
馃帳 stevens_studio
26. Aug 2014 路 12:18 UTC
Can't you use the Shift button to jump ?
I experienced some case were your character could get stuck against some platforms, but I thought this was removed in this "final" version. Tell me.
Yoni
26. Aug 2014 路 12:20 UTC
Nice graphics and music, wish there was more actual gameplay...
Horridgames
26. Aug 2014 路 12:21 UTC
Well... Gameplay seems to be a bit lacking. Pretty much a long cutscene. But I liked the mood of the game and the minimalistic artwork with parallaxing. ;)

-GV
馃帳 stevens_studio
26. Aug 2014 路 12:43 UTC
Thanks for the comments.

Actually, we didn't figure a proper gameplay that would fit this game, and could be done in 72h. We prefered (rather we revised downwards our ambitions for this jam) to concentrate on the athmosphere, graphics and story, rather than make a simple (and probably buggy :p ) gameplay that might ruin the rest.

For the future, I want to redo all of this with a new engine that could give me more freedom. Emilie might try Spine to do more fluid animations.

Take this as some kind of teaser :)
LeafThief
26. Aug 2014 路 12:58 UTC
Well... the graphics are good.
But unfortunately there is no gameplay.
Also regarding controls: I think that putting the Jump key on [SHIFT] isn't the best idea since Windows will trigger 'Sticky Keys' if [SHIFT] is pressed repeatedly.
chipcaramel
26. Aug 2014 路 13:23 UTC
Strong Graphics and Audio. I really liked it, though I would love to see more! Good work.
kibertoad
26. Aug 2014 路 13:23 UTC
Controls seem to lag horribly for me. Playing it in firefox. Is there supposed to be no animations, or it's a bug? Well written into though and pretty graphics as far as I can get.
Polona
26. Aug 2014 路 13:26 UTC
The concept of Norse Mythology fits the theme "connected Worlds" really well. I really like the story's settings and the art style. It is a nice Story so far. (by Alvar)
LuisDC
26. Aug 2014 路 13:27 UTC
I like the visuals and sounds, but yes, it needs some combats or something else.

BTW, I got a black screen for a minute or so before entering the cave.
Joseph Roque
26. Aug 2014 路 13:27 UTC
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the game, the music fit well and although it wasn't much more than just a long walk, it put me in a good mood. It'd be cool to see this get finished up a bit more.
馃帳 stevens_studio
26. Aug 2014 路 13:38 UTC
@LuisDC : There should be an animation showing Yggdrasil (the tree) before entering the cave. It lasts for 30sec or so. Could you see it or did the black screen occur later ?

@kibertoad : So far, Firefox had the best results for me (didn't try Chrome though). But the game might need a quite powerful computer to run properly. It laged a lot on a celeron powered laptop (7 year old).
馃帳 stevens_studio
26. Aug 2014 路 13:41 UTC
BTW: there won't be any audio if you use Safari or IE as they don't support the OGG format which was used in the game.
Techblogogy
26. Aug 2014 路 19:12 UTC
I love this game
villhest
26. Aug 2014 路 19:17 UTC
I love the art style and music! Nice job!
Takashy87
26. Aug 2014 路 19:39 UTC
Like the art style and focus on story.. just wondering why you went with "shift" as jump.. really odd choice considering what it does on Windows platforms >_>
馃帳 stevens_studio
26. Aug 2014 路 19:58 UTC
That was the default input in the software I used (i.e. Game Develop) which I found also weird.
I will change this and allow using "space" as well when I have access to the FTP. I think it's considered as a minor fix by LD rules.
rejooh
26. Aug 2014 路 21:22 UTC
Loved the two moons :D
Maxium
27. Aug 2014 路 01:19 UTC
I really like the art and music, combat would have been nice too see though :(
Lacaranian
27. Aug 2014 路 02:18 UTC
As others have noted, not so gamey, but good art!
Rage Paint
27. Aug 2014 路 02:19 UTC
Extremely beautiful, obviously a great story since you're basing it off Norse mythology, but I have to admit I got bored part of the way through. Exploration games are fun to an extent. I feel this game would extremely benefit from more clickable objects you can interact with, or some smaller side stories. I hope you continue to work on this. I want to see the rest. =)
Miziziziz
27. Aug 2014 路 03:16 UTC
the graphics and audio are nice, and the story is cool.
That's about it; I got bored after 3 minutes of holding the right arrow and quit. Either need to speed up walk speed, or lessen distance between interesting areas.
ninjascript
27. Aug 2014 路 05:29 UTC
Really pretty graphics. I have to admit I kept the "shift" key held down the whole time, just to keep myself entertained :P
mactinite
27. Aug 2014 路 05:37 UTC
Nice scenery and characters were interesting. The animations could use a little work and maybe some more in the way of gameplay, but an interesting story nonetheless and a scenic setting.
Hyoga-3D
27. Aug 2014 路 12:34 UTC
Nice game, just the intro is too long, maybe you could add a skip button.
TautNerve
27. Aug 2014 路 13:29 UTC
I liked the backgrounds and environment design, would
love to see some more interaction available with the world.
Halfbus
27. Aug 2014 路 16:06 UTC
Really atmospheric.
ChrisGaudino
27. Aug 2014 路 16:07 UTC
Love the art style. The blurry trees in the foreground give a great sense of depth.
mechabit
27. Aug 2014 路 16:08 UTC
nothing wrong with an adventure game without combat
would pay money for a full version of this game as the art and theme are lovely
Victory Garden
27. Aug 2014 路 18:39 UTC
Using Yggdrasil was an inspired touch! I liked the writing, too. The end cutscenes went on a little bit too long--moving limited player control all the way down to zero player control kind of stung--but it was nicely played out. I almost would have preferred the nihilistic ending in which the gods win, but I imagine that would not make the most satisfying game... ah well.

I also thought that you might be able to characterize the player avatar a bit better by upgrading the jump and movement animations in the post-compo version, as they're a bit stiff and don't seem too Norse Warriorish.

Anyway, the parallax scrolling worked really well. I've done some studying of Norse mythology myself and liked how much effort you put into making things accurate. Gorgeous scenery!
sandbaydev
27. Aug 2014 路 19:29 UTC
Nice to see another viking themed entry ;)

Shift = sticky keys problem here too.

Like others said, there wasn't much gameplay... but the art and story seemed cool. Ambitious entry.
John Drury
27. Aug 2014 路 21:05 UTC
Beautiful graphics and audio. Narrative was lovely!
savethejets1
29. Aug 2014 路 01:03 UTC
Graphics were amazing.

Might change the pacing a bit though.
disease
29. Aug 2014 路 01:15 UTC
Great graphics obviously, I'm just not sure this is a game.
Otrora Games
29. Aug 2014 路 05:43 UTC
Fantastic work on the art. But maybe it can benefit from more action. A little too contemplative? The story is interesting and I specially loved the little details on background ImI rock on!
MechanicMoon
29. Aug 2014 路 14:42 UTC
Nice graphics and very well fx sounds and music. But the gameplay is a bit boring, try improving it and nice art!!
Franklins Ghost
30. Aug 2014 路 06:31 UTC
Liked the art and the way you used layers but as mentioned a bit more gameplay would really help.
pikkpoiss
02. Sep 2014 路 04:21 UTC
I loved the atmosphere created by the opening monologue, artwork, and music. It's a shame that you were not able to take your idea all the way to where you wanted it in the time limit of Ludum Dare, but I'm looking forward to what you do next time.
Ted Brown
02. Sep 2014 路 04:45 UTC
A pretty start to something grand.
yodamaster
03. Sep 2014 路 16:08 UTC
Hm, veah, looks very nice, but it's not a game actually. Nothing to do except walking forward.
EndingChaos
03. Sep 2014 路 22:57 UTC
Like others said, fantastic atmosphere and sound, no gameplay.
H1S2
05. Sep 2014 路 13:03 UTC
cool graphics and music. unfortunately i was a little bored by the gameplay. if you add some more pace it could become a great game.
SecondDimension
07. Sep 2014 路 10:44 UTC
Nice art and mood, just need to add some game mechanics and it could be great.
Snicklodocus
08. Sep 2014 路 22:21 UTC
A nice story experience - I think that's fine. Every game doesn't need action. I liked the music and art! I think a some of the art could use some polish, and the font was missing characters, but I did enjoy it. Great job!
Frankus
11. Sep 2014 路 20:42 UTC
Pretty linear, like a story. The jumping helps to advance at some points but it's not challenging. Some parts are long. But overall, really nice graphics and mood :).