LudumData

Amazing! Beneath The Surface by nonentheless

[raw]
made by nonentheless for LD29 (COMPO)
TUTORIAL:
On introduction screen choose "Dive!"
Use your arrows to move the sphere to the hole in the ground on the right side of the screen (near the rectangular trees with berries) and avoid lighest shapes.


My first ever finished (let say so...) game and debut on LD. I'm not a programmer so this was The Sunday of Terror for me. Nonentheless, I'm happy I decided to try this.



The game is simple but believe me, there lies a huge and dark story underneath basic gameplay. What do berries do? Why we cannot just go through the forest? Who is the old man and why he changes color? Well, I wish I knew. Nevertheless I'm sure there's something evil going on and I'm determined to investigate it further after the Ludum Dare finishes.

Cheers!
Web https://googledrive.com/host/0B54eWCk5eSFdSlRkbHVuMWs3TFE/BeneathTheSurface.html
Source https://googledrive.com/host/0B54eWCk5eSFdSlRkbHVuMWs3TFE/BeneathTheSurfaceLD29.zip
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=36254

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.24 495
Audio 2.89 472
Fun 2.89 668
Graphics 3.75 217
Humor 2.63 421
Innovation 3.44 299
Mood 3.39 257
Theme 3.28 545

Feedback

PaperBlurt
28. Apr 2014 · 08:38 UTC
I like the eerie graphics.

Good job.
Shire
28. Apr 2014 · 08:48 UTC
I liked the mechanic a lot, that noise though - ouch!
pereubu
28. Apr 2014 · 08:52 UTC
Nice concept, wanna play more :D
allurious
28. Apr 2014 · 08:54 UTC
I really loved the mechanic and the stylized graphics, the game runs on a neat idea.
conormn
28. Apr 2014 · 13:03 UTC
Super interesting mechanics here. Would agree that some of the audio is a little ouchy. Might be some subtler ways of doing that. Overall you got a neat game on your hands.
Clinthoney
28. Apr 2014 · 13:04 UTC
For me I couldn't find out what I was suppose to do. But overall I still love the look of its and the graphics.
Franklins Ghost
28. Apr 2014 · 13:06 UTC
Impressive entry and interesting mechanic with the audio which is great. Love the audio and the design :)
goerp
28. Apr 2014 · 13:23 UTC
This game has a good mood. Nice idea to have sound beneath the surface.
'Trial version', so you're planning to expand on this?
CustomPhase
28. Apr 2014 · 14:14 UTC
Really nice visuals. Not so nice gameplay.
Text is sometimes hard to read, and i couldnt find a way to start a game for like 30 seconds :)
🎤 nonentheless
28. Apr 2014 · 15:14 UTC
Yeah, I'm familiar with these issues already :) Sound can be ouchy sometimes. Text is hard to read as I was working on HD version of graphics and didn't manage to change it properly for smaller res. Trial version is from Unity I guess, still I'm thinking about making it bigger and nicer, also there's a story I didn't manage to put in :D. Thx for all the opinions!
nesis
28. Apr 2014 · 15:30 UTC
The graphics and idea are pretty neat, though I've gotta agree with the sounds being ouchy. It'd be good to know what direction hits are coming from, though I guess that's part of the challenge.
Custard Games
28. Apr 2014 · 18:18 UTC
Fantastic use of sound. I wish there were a different sound for collisions from different directions. On the narrow spaces, it's hard to tell if I am too close to the top or bottom. Fantastic art work.
Nition
29. Apr 2014 · 08:36 UTC
Great art. Level 5 was my downfall.
hexagore
29. Apr 2014 · 10:50 UTC
Cool mechanic and gorgeous presentation. Got to level 4 before I couldn't get any further :)
Oddly Shaped Pixels
29. Apr 2014 · 10:51 UTC
Really great concept! Besides it's a great game to see if your monitor is properly calibrated XD
Couldnt beat level 5 though... :)
jayhof
29. Apr 2014 · 10:53 UTC
I really like the concept of your game, nice work!
Jeremias
29. Apr 2014 · 13:00 UTC
Interesting concept (could be a game for blind people). The sounds are a bit disturbing :D
ccglp
30. Apr 2014 · 10:03 UTC
Love the abstract games like this, and the use of the music is very smart.
GamerTaters
30. Apr 2014 · 10:50 UTC
Cool art style! Enjoyed the look of the game. Not a big fan of those sounds though.
Kragnir
30. Apr 2014 · 11:04 UTC
Like the idea, well put together mechanic that is used pretty well. Like the ending message although I would have liked some answers about the berries and forest. Navigating with sound turns out to be really really hard.
🎤 nonentheless
30. Apr 2014 · 11:15 UTC
@Kragnir Did you actually beat the game? :D I was aiming to put in the background story of forest, berries and a home village of a hero that needs to be saved, but you know, you dont always get what you want ;)
Jeffalisk
30. Apr 2014 · 11:56 UTC
Really like the idea and there's great potential in this. But for the love of all that's holy you need to swap those alarm noises out for something more ambient! Good work, hope you keep at it.
camlang
30. Apr 2014 · 12:01 UTC
Solid entry. I really enjoyed playing it. It's tough but rewarding on later levels.
🎤 nonentheless
30. Apr 2014 · 12:04 UTC
@Jeffalisk Dear Sir, on the burried bones of my childhood turtle I swear I will change them after the LD. They were placeholders for test purposes and they brainwashed me and stayed :)
Lrnk
30. Apr 2014 · 19:20 UTC
Very clever mechanic! Love the art too (One of the few games I've played so far that have led to me the word 'art' before 'graphics'!). Well done.
🎤 nonentheless
30. Apr 2014 · 19:24 UTC
@Lrnk thx :)
badlydrawnrod
30. Apr 2014 · 21:41 UTC
Excellent use of sound, and I like the art style.
terraco
30. Apr 2014 · 22:47 UTC
Like those games where you move the hoop along the wire and try to not get zapped. Except the hoop is a ball and the wire is a light grey cave on a white background and there's no electrocution. Needs more electrocution
Custard Games
01. May 2014 · 04:47 UTC
Hey, thanks for trying my game. Sorry about the performance issues. I removed all the particle effects, water effects, clouds etc on the low quality version to get it working on more computers. I was hoping you might be willing to try it again? Thanks!
Thorig
01. May 2014 · 07:29 UTC
I like your graphics, but why the bells? Still enjoyed it.
praporomsk
01. May 2014 · 12:02 UTC
it took some time for me to get what I should do.. good job though!
InfectionTeam
01. May 2014 · 18:02 UTC
Good REALLY IRRITATING game. I hate you. You are an evil person. Jk... No, really, no jk. Ok.. But I really do hate you.
hadesfury
03. May 2014 · 10:51 UTC
Really great ! I love the title screen and the setting.

Futhermore, the game is really innovating !
Chris Mondok
03. May 2014 · 13:23 UTC
Pretty neat idea. The sounds got a little annoying, which is only really a problem since they're the star of the show.

Very cool art style.
Snoother
03. May 2014 · 16:44 UTC
Interesting entry with good use of audio. And the art style is rather nice too. (The cover art vividly reminds me of Kentucky Route Zero, which automatically places it on the upper echelons).
petey123567
03. May 2014 · 19:47 UTC
Pretty!
ZYXer
06. May 2014 · 00:30 UTC
Quite an interesting game concept! Good job! Though it is a bit on the hard side.

It would be nice to see where the ball ended up on the death screen. I gave up after I failed a level ten times because I had no idea how much progress I was making or how close I was to the berries.
🎤 nonentheless
06. May 2014 · 07:15 UTC
@Snoother thank you, Kentucky Route Zero is one of the greatest looking games ever and I definitly had it somewhere in the back of my mind. Nevertheless I realize of course how far behind Kentucky my small entry falls :)

@ZYXer thanks for suggestion, you're not the first one with this idea and maybe indeed it's a good way to make a life little easier and give a feeling of progress :)
JavadocMD
06. May 2014 · 23:27 UTC
Very tense and a very innovative concept. I love the graphic design: all the elements make sense together. And the use of directional audio is very cool. The difficulty of actually playing the game, though, comes from knowing how close you are to an obstacle but not which direction. Perhaps different sound cues could be combined for different directions.
edibletoaster
11. May 2014 · 21:48 UTC
The audio was a bit painful, but the artwork was fantastic. Liked the mood and concept. A bit tricky but nothing wrong with hard games!