Land of the Dead by Mathieu Muller
Post-jam version
- Adds a title screen and the asked retry menu when losing
- Fixes the fireball bug (see below).
Post-jam version 2
- Adds some sounds and ambience, thunder and lighnings effects. Just for fun :).
- Fixes the NPC floating in sky bug.
Synopsis
You are a ghost, returning from Hell to avenge yourself. Possess your enemies, consume their soul and return their powers against themselves! To win, locate the exit of the level. But do not spend too much time as a ghost, or you'll end up back in Hell again!
Installation
Windows
This game has been made with MonoGame 3.5 and Framework .Net 4.5. If you have XNA 4.0 or MonoGame 3.5 installed on your computer, the game should run out of the box.
You can find the XNA 4.0 redistributable here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20914
Linux
The game requires the following packages to be installed:
- libopenal-dev
- mono-runtime
For Ubuntu/Debian based Linux systems, you can run:
sudo apt-get install libopenal-dev mono-runtime
Controls
- Arrows to move, space or arrow up to jump.
- Left shift to consume a human (in ghost form) or to use the possessed human's power (fireball for the mage).
- Left control to possess an human.
How to play
As a ghost, you are invulnerable to enemy fireballs, but it's costly to stay in a ghost form. You'll need to possess an human to be able to move around without loosing your substance. To gain a temporary life boost, consume the soul of your enemy by staying over them and hit the consume key.
About the game development
I immediately thought about possessing enemies when I heard that the theme was "Shapeshift". I wanted to add a lot of classes: soldier with a shield, skeletons that arent consumable, exorcists. I even tought about destructible items that could only be destroyed by the mage's fireball.
But as always, I end up with almost no feature finished because I spend a lot of time testing gameplays. The first version of the game should have been a puzzle game, where using the right possessed human in the right place would allow the player to progress through the level. But the level design was too hard to create, so I ended up with an action platformer game.
Notes / Known bugs
The game is in a very unfinished state. I worked alone, and due to a complex family life, I couldn't get the time to add neither audio, nor a start screen. I'll try to add a post-jam version that will be more finished.
A bug also exists where sometime, a fireball comes out of nowhere and shoot at the player.
Other bug found: When a X52/X55 joystick is plugged in, the game crashes without warning. This is due to a bug in the OpenTK library. Solution: disconnect the joystick before testing the game.
- Adds a title screen and the asked retry menu when losing
- Fixes the fireball bug (see below).
Post-jam version 2
- Adds some sounds and ambience, thunder and lighnings effects. Just for fun :).
- Fixes the NPC floating in sky bug.
Synopsis
You are a ghost, returning from Hell to avenge yourself. Possess your enemies, consume their soul and return their powers against themselves! To win, locate the exit of the level. But do not spend too much time as a ghost, or you'll end up back in Hell again!
Installation
Windows
This game has been made with MonoGame 3.5 and Framework .Net 4.5. If you have XNA 4.0 or MonoGame 3.5 installed on your computer, the game should run out of the box.
You can find the XNA 4.0 redistributable here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20914
Linux
The game requires the following packages to be installed:
- libopenal-dev
- mono-runtime
For Ubuntu/Debian based Linux systems, you can run:
sudo apt-get install libopenal-dev mono-runtime
Controls
- Arrows to move, space or arrow up to jump.
- Left shift to consume a human (in ghost form) or to use the possessed human's power (fireball for the mage).
- Left control to possess an human.
How to play
As a ghost, you are invulnerable to enemy fireballs, but it's costly to stay in a ghost form. You'll need to possess an human to be able to move around without loosing your substance. To gain a temporary life boost, consume the soul of your enemy by staying over them and hit the consume key.
About the game development
I immediately thought about possessing enemies when I heard that the theme was "Shapeshift". I wanted to add a lot of classes: soldier with a shield, skeletons that arent consumable, exorcists. I even tought about destructible items that could only be destroyed by the mage's fireball.
But as always, I end up with almost no feature finished because I spend a lot of time testing gameplays. The first version of the game should have been a puzzle game, where using the right possessed human in the right place would allow the player to progress through the level. But the level design was too hard to create, so I ended up with an action platformer game.
Notes / Known bugs
The game is in a very unfinished state. I worked alone, and due to a complex family life, I couldn't get the time to add neither audio, nor a start screen. I'll try to add a post-jam version that will be more finished.
A bug also exists where sometime, a fireball comes out of nowhere and shoot at the player.
Other bug found: When a X52/X55 joystick is plugged in, the game crashes without warning. This is due to a bug in the OpenTK library. Solution: disconnect the joystick before testing the game.
| Windows & Linux (zip) | http://www.mathieumuller.fr/ludum-dare-35.zip |
| Post jam - with bug fixes - Windows & Linux (zip) | http://www.mathieumuller.fr/ludum-dare-35-post-jam-2.zip |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=40544 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 48% | 1201 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.00 | 751 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.05 | 602 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.75 | 308 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.91 | 662 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.24 | 436 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.32 | 574 |
You have the maximize the possession time. When you have a new host available (switching from the old man to the mage, for example), unpossess it (ctrl key again), consume its soul, and possess the mage or the other old man.
Restart is available in the post-jam version.
Ghouls'n'ghosts and Shadow of the Beast were my primary inspiration for the graphics.
- Have you used the jam or post jam version?
- Do you have XNA 4.0 Refresh or Monogame 3.5 installed?
- Do you have OpenAL installed?
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description
Cool concept otherwise.