LudumData

Richard Was Afraid Of The Dark by Atmospherium

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made by Atmospherium for LD27 (COMPO)
Hey,
Thanks for the feedback so far guys. This is my first time attempting to create a game, so I'm glad that the response has been this positive so far.

A few notes:

1) Concerning glitches - It sounds as though a few people are falling through the floors on a couple of the levels with larger drops. I've added the ability to reset a level (simply press the R key). This should minimize the impact of the bug while not altering gameplay in any significant way.

2) Concerning the theme (10 Seconds) - I ran out of time during development and was unable to integrate the parts of gameplay that tied into the theme. I'm as disappointed as you guys that I relegated the theme to just a passing reference in the text. I'll do better next time, I promise. ;)

3) Postmortem - I posted a postmortem blog on the game, and I'd genuinely like to hear people's perspective on what worked and what didn't. You can check it out here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2013/08/27/richard-was-afraid-of-the-dark-postmortem/

Thanks for the feedback so far. I'm liking most of the other games so far and I'm hoping to give feedback on as many games as possible over the next couple weeks.

-John

Controls:
WASD or Arrows to move;
R to reset level (in case of emergency)
Web (Unity) http://bit.ly/19TurzC
Windows http://bit.ly/17YEo9i
Mac http://bit.ly/17oO4O2
Linux http://bit.ly/1fhiZuL
Source http://bit.ly/14yceDs
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-27/?action=preview&uid=24518

Ratings

Coolness 88% 2
Overall 3.02 596
Audio 3.34 140
Fun 2.85 617
Graphics 2.98 495
Humor 2.06 660
Innovation 2.41 940
Mood 3.65 72
Theme 1.39 1188

Feedback

Vectorious
26. Aug 2013 · 13:21 UTC
I loved the music, and also Richards animation was nice. :) Gameplay was a little clunky, I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. And I think it didn't very much fit the theme. Other than that, I enjoyed it! :)
truiton
26. Aug 2013 · 14:30 UTC
It's fun, good idea, the controls can be fine tuned though :)
vani77a
26. Aug 2013 · 16:09 UTC
A bit floaty, but that was fun :)
i also liked the visual effect
plancien
26. Aug 2013 · 21:44 UTC
Loved the music, constructed loop after loop
Zuige
26. Aug 2013 · 21:44 UTC
Great little story driven game! The theme was kinda forced into it though, wasn't it? :)
Schwiggy
26. Aug 2013 · 21:45 UTC
The normal mapping was a smart use of Unity on the graphics side. When I got to the room that says it's the last one I fell and everything went dark, is that supposed to happen?
Omar_q8
26. Aug 2013 · 21:46 UTC
i really enjoyed this, reminded me of bastion with the live-narration, although the narration system is kinda funny now. The atmosphere is nice and the music really adds to the suspense. But i don't know how it relates to the 10 sec theme really :)
porglezomp
26. Aug 2013 · 21:50 UTC
Nice game, the narration reminded me a bit of Thomas Was Alone. The controls were a bit too floaty for me however, and the graphics felt a bit strange. Your normal map might be inside out? It would look more like stone flipped around.
Martin_Monosys
26. Aug 2013 · 21:53 UTC
Fun game, if a bit short...but that was okay. I liked the graphics, even though it looked nothing like a cave. :)
Sound was cool, building up tension, so I expected something awful to happen in the end. Well, everything went better than expected! ;)
kristof
26. Aug 2013 · 21:56 UTC
The progression of the music is a cool idea. The jumping and the movement felt a bit stiff and delayed. But other than that a cool little game.
kayupla
26. Aug 2013 · 22:03 UTC
great ambiance. I really like the graphics and the story telling. exellent!
BerdiNerdi
26. Aug 2013 · 22:54 UTC
Got all the way to the end :) I really like the atmosphere of the game, great job on the audio. The visuals were also very nice, and a fun little sketchy animation for Richard :)

The text coming down was a nice touch too, actually excited me/worried me when something bad was written (such as being scared of something ahead or knowing it was the last room).
anjack
27. Aug 2013 · 01:31 UTC
I really liked the combination of two different graphics styles (the level versus the character). The music really helped set the mood.
psychomonster
27. Aug 2013 · 02:27 UTC
Nice looking platformer... the controlls are a little bit to sensitive... and there are no enemies ;) Enjoyed it.
D-e-X
27. Aug 2013 · 04:35 UTC
It was alright, the mood was fantastic, but the lit sprite ruined it, too clunky lookin, luckily minimal time was spent in lit areas.
Entity2D
27. Aug 2013 · 15:36 UTC
Controls were a little slippery, but overall, the game was not at all bad, I especially liked the sounds.
TailyILoveYou
27. Aug 2013 · 16:49 UTC
The story and game feel are pretty dissatisfying since there was very little tension and not much in the way of mechanics. However, it goes without saying that the mood and sound were pretty great.
meszka
27. Aug 2013 · 17:19 UTC
I liked the slowly progressing music :) Doesn't really fit the theme though.
Jupiter_Hadley
27. Aug 2013 · 20:36 UTC
I really like the background as well as the game design, but I found the gravity to be a bit weird, as well as there really nothing to do with the theme. However, I did feature it in my comilation video of Ludum Dare 27 Games, if you wanna check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1UJ96l2scE
Cryovat
27. Aug 2013 · 21:36 UTC
I see you have a thing for normal maps. ;-)

The art style and music worked very well for the narrative. I agree that the controls were a bit floaty. It was only a problem in the open spaces though. In the narrow passages it felt fine. Music fit like a glove.

I was honestly expecting an ending where Cthulhu would eat Richard, so was good to see a happy ending. Or was it? ;)

For being your first game, this is a strong showing. Great job! :-)
Kragnir
27. Aug 2013 · 22:53 UTC
Nice graphic and mood. Although Richard does not seem to be very afraid of the dark.
Jason
27. Aug 2013 · 23:19 UTC
I thought this was a pretty solid entry. Like you said, its too bad you didn't have time to incorporate the theme.

I found the jumping a bit too floaty. And it would have been nice to have a sprint or something for the longer passage ways.
Anachron
28. Aug 2013 · 00:06 UTC
Fun little platformer that could definitely be the start of something great!
atgaubatz
28. Aug 2013 · 02:38 UTC
Other than the theme fit, this is great! I loved the way you used lighting/bump-mapping and (unless I imagined it) the escalation in the music.
Diptoman
28. Aug 2013 · 09:50 UTC
I loved the smart narrative in this! Plus the music building upon itself was a neat idea.
Great job on the game. I enjoyed it. :)
Nick Weihs
28. Aug 2013 · 11:32 UTC
The music was a little repetitive initially, but I liked how it the other instruments came in slowly. That was pretty sweet. Also liked that you could go backwards and the previous text would appear!
antonijn
28. Aug 2013 · 17:36 UTC
Very nice game, liked the look of it a lot. The story was quite good as well, it's just a shame that you couldn't integrate the theme, it should be your no. 1 priority really...
nddrylliog
28. Aug 2013 · 18:45 UTC
Very nice experience. Wish you had time to make the fire harm the player - also some work on the controls/jump would have been nice.

Otherwise, enjoyed playing it through, it was a relaxing experience. Thanks, and keep it coming!
Wertle
28. Aug 2013 · 22:27 UTC
Nice use of normals and dynamic lighting. The contextual narration text added a lot. Good job!
Vile Smile
29. Aug 2013 · 02:45 UTC
I feel as though the theme wasn't strongly conveyed. But I really like the lighting affects and the background music was good, too.
angrygeometry
29. Aug 2013 · 03:09 UTC
that had a really nice vibe to it.
L0gicaL1nsanity
29. Aug 2013 · 11:41 UTC
Music was really moody and went a long with the fun lighting. I also liked the narration!
zzForrest
29. Aug 2013 · 17:45 UTC
Interesting game. I liked the music, and the sort of fish eye effect around Richard. Also the text was a cool effect. I wish that the controls were just a bit tighter.
dcolgan
29. Aug 2013 · 18:05 UTC
Very nice storytelling and very moody. You might consider increasing the friction a bit on the character but nicely done for 48 hours!
xrm0
30. Aug 2013 · 12:06 UTC
Nice music. Didn't like how the character moves slides a bit after you stop pressing keys, though
tigerj
30. Aug 2013 · 17:55 UTC
I really like the visuals going on, I couldn't read much of the text that was coming down though. maybe it was me.
Antidote
03. Sep 2013 · 01:45 UTC
Good job :) Simple concise game, too bad you didn't have time to tie it to the theme xD
naufr4g0
04. Sep 2013 · 11:08 UTC
Love music and the strange animation of Richard. :)
The metallic cave looks weird, but give the game an interesting visual effect.
I really appreciated live narrative.
Richard needs better controls.
Jarcas Studios
07. Sep 2013 · 02:25 UTC
Love the buildup in the music over time! Also very nice atmosphere. A lot of times Richard didn't seem to move very fast though. I hold Right and he's barely walking, but I hit jump and he starts zooming along like it seems like he should. Input issue?
Mironix
07. Sep 2013 · 20:04 UTC
Thanks for showing me it - it was an experience! something limbo or cosure ;)
Joror
10. Sep 2013 · 22:40 UTC
Nice platforming / exploratory gam! A bit short on challenge maybe. Good mood, and use of lighting effects to get a special 'look'. Jumping was a bit fidgety at times. Narration was nicely done and placed, but could use some more content, by talking about the things which cannot be seen, or somesuch.
kirbytails7
11. Sep 2013 · 03:31 UTC
Very nice atmosphere
cardboard
16. Sep 2013 · 07:18 UTC
I really like the game's atmosphere. The controls felt a bit laggy at times, but not too laggy to where I couldn't finish the game. The story was very cute, and how the text was displayed was unique. The music fits the mood well, and the jumping sound effect fits the music well. Great work! :)