LudumData

Alone in the night by Rakowu

[raw]
made by Rakowu for LD 39 (COMPO)

Play Game!

aloneInTheNight.jpg

My game! :)

You're a young boy in the night. Escape from shadow dogs and defend yourself with light. Craft lightboxes for a longer survival.

Link:

Browser: https://rakowu.itch.io/alone-in-the-night (Tested with Chrome)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameRakowu

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-71730301

Scirra: https://www.scirra.com/arcade/shooting-games/alone-in-the-night-20361

Edit: Hi guys, thanks a lot for your feedback! I'll start working on the issues which got addressed, if you have further feedback, please let me know.

ToDo's: - Enemies healthbar for feedback. - Better UI including settings like pause, mute and reset - ~~Adjust the controls for smoother gameplay~~ - ~~Quick shortcuts for items~~ - ~~Better colision detection (not being able to leave the stage)~~ - ~~Increase Hamster spawn rate~~ - ~~Increase damage with the flashlight~~ - More items, like a box for recharging - Adjust the level design, with more decals and maybe maps

Features which might get added later on: - ~~Adjusting Hamster spawn positions~~ - A lot more content - Highscoring - Story and lore

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/alone-in-the-night

Ratings

Overall 594th 2.724⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 615th 2.379⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 440th 2.862⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 436th 3.321⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 488th 2.786⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 256th 3.036⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Humor 438th 1.913⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 198th 3.286⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

Colestia
31. Jul 2017 · 11:38 UTC
Like the music! It gives off a Lavender Town type vibe. Would be good to add something to stop the player character going off screen :)
Bewelge
31. Jul 2017 · 11:43 UTC
The player should be stopped from leaving the scene.. I love the mood/effect of the music and art, but I wish everything was larger, I could barely read the font. Very nice work though!
Cynical Monkey
31. Jul 2017 · 11:45 UTC
i scored you the highest for mood as the game felt creepy

i think the controls need some tweeking its every easy to spin around in circles the way it follows the mouse, especially as the shadows don't let you keep still and you have to click on a box to build the lihtbox, had a couple of times where I went from no damage to dead in the space of being able to build a lightbox and building it as torch did very little to teh shadows.

the rng also caught me out maybe have it so the chance of something appearing increases the more something else is selected. like imagine you have a bag and you put in a battery, wheel, hamster and bulb and then pull one out. the next time rather than doing it all a fresh the undrawn items stay in the bag and you go from having a 1/4 chance to 2/7,3/10, 4/13, 5/16 etc ( i had a game where i collected 6 wheels and never saw a hamster.
Aterlamia
31. Jul 2017 · 11:51 UTC
Controls feel a bit wonky when you get to close to the mouse pointer you do a kind of loop what slows you down. And it might be better to add a hotkey for the lightbox as moving your mouse to the icon will change your directory (in my case to the shadow hounds). But a very good idea and the dark, folowing hounds and music gave it a creepy mood.
🎤 Rakowu
31. Jul 2017 · 12:03 UTC
I appreciate all your feedback. i'll improve the game and Keep in mind your tipps. :)
Virtual Turtle Studio
31. Jul 2017 · 16:06 UTC
I really liked the look and feel of this game, although it's still pretty empty (which I totally understand because it was made for this jam). The drawings (I assume they're drawings) are really great. I would love to see more of this style throughout the game's environment. As some others already pointed out, the 'hold w to walk towards the mousepointer' controls can be a bit weird to get used to, but isn't too big of a deal. One more thing: is it just me or are hamsters really rare? I was sometimes walking around for a few minutes without finding any. They would also escape super easily and be gone forever, leaving me with no way to defend myself. Anyway, nice job! Good luck and have fun working on this in the future :)
🎤 Rakowu
31. Jul 2017 · 16:22 UTC
Yes i configured that Hamster spawn in rare intervals(30,60,90,120) :D I should reduce it. Also i want to create something like a "bed room". The main idea was a child who is scared in the night while monster come out from under the bed etc. And when you focus i'll turn into a tree or cloth. I'll keep working on it :D
Sorry for my english :'D
Luis Garcia
31. Jul 2017 · 16:29 UTC
Nice work, I especially liked how the music, the graphics, and the theme fit together.
As others have pointed out, the controls could use some improvement, and the game would benefit from having more content.
Anyway, good job. :grin:
LiquidBrain
31. Jul 2017 · 18:41 UTC
Ye boy! I got a score of 21 in my first game, I don't know if it's good
but I'll keep playing until I beat my score.

**Concerning the graphics**, it works very well together and is good looking!
It fits well together with the music, completing the mood.

If I have to complain about something it would be about the player being able
to walk of the screen, it was kind of annoying.

**Overall** this is something I found very enjoyable because
of the aesthetics and the mood.
Thank you so much for this experience and good luck in the future!
Have an awesome day, and I hope to see you in the next jam!

// Isak (one half of [LiquidBrain](https://ldjam.com/users/liquidbrain/))
AdroitConceptions
31. Jul 2017 · 19:42 UTC
music matches the theme.
it was unclear why you needed your flashlight? does it hurt the creatures chasing you like the lamp does?
Needs some bounding/clipping boxes to keep you from ending up way off the screen.
🎤 Rakowu
31. Jul 2017 · 21:41 UTC
Yep flashlight hurt the Monsters:)
drtizzle
31. Jul 2017 · 23:15 UTC
Very atmospheric! Really like the music in combination with the visuals. The controls are a bit wonky, because you have to use the mouse to control the player AND to click a UI element. But everything has been said about that in the comments above.

I would suggest to use a control-scheme like Hotline Miami. The player looks at the mouse, but you control him with WASD, and you can bind an action (like placing a lamp) with your keyboard.

Overall well done :slight_smile:!!
Kingethaniel
01. Aug 2017 · 04:50 UTC
Nice work! I quite liked the music, and I thought the visuals did an admirable job of conveying the game's tone. The controls were a bit awkward at first, but eventually I got the hang of it. Good job!
acoto87
01. Aug 2017 · 05:03 UTC
The mechanics to move the character a little difficult for me, always find out pointing towards the wolfs. Also couldn't find many hamsters to place more than a couple of lamps. That's just me, I'm a crappy player ;)

Well done with the game!
Xsior
01. Aug 2017 · 13:06 UTC
Controls are really hard to get used to and hammster are tricky bastards ;). Besides that game was fun even if difficult.
zedutchgandalf
02. Aug 2017 · 08:46 UTC
The controls are pretty hard to get used to. But once you do, it's a lot of fun and can be pretty tense at times. I maybe would've liked for the monsters to die a bit quicker to the light since it's already difficult to hit them. But overall, this is a solid entry :smiley:
🎤 Rakowu
02. Aug 2017 · 08:52 UTC
Thanks:) And yes it is One point in my list to optimize.
Johngun
02. Aug 2017 · 09:36 UTC
The music fitted the atmosphere well, but I had a hard time getting used to the controls and since the monsters a pretty hard to kill, it makes the game pretty difficult.

Since you are addressing these issues I will come back later and play this again :slight_smile:
🎤 Rakowu
02. Aug 2017 · 09:54 UTC
hey thanks for you feedback. i'll make these changes once ludumdare is finished to keep it fair for other game creators. But you can follow my progress in twitter. also i'll post information once it is finished.
Reggnos
02. Aug 2017 · 10:47 UTC
Fun concept, i just think it would be better if you could place more lamps on the map, because this way it just feels useless to make more, or maybe have a mechanic where the placed light slowly dies off so you have to hurry and make a new one. The music is very nice and i like how the movement is unconventional.
PavelSovushkin
02. Aug 2017 · 14:56 UTC
More dynamic want`s
Brandon Diaz
02. Aug 2017 · 15:44 UTC
Interesting, I liked the light mechanics. I think it would help if enemies also had health bars, I didn't have a concept for how much damage I was actually doing relative to their HP pool. I also think that when you take damage, it should be a number as well to keep it consistent.

Good job overall, best hamster wrangling game I've seen in a long time.
🎤 Rakowu
02. Aug 2017 · 15:59 UTC
Thank you :). yes the healthbar is a good point. i started to work on it but ran out of time. I almost forgot it. thanks for reminding me it :D. I'll add it to my list
ToadieTechnika
09. Aug 2017 · 22:07 UTC
The enemies take a lot of effort to kill. The mechanics are alright, glad I got the hang of it at the second game. The controls and graphics are inconsistent, they don't blend well. I would mention that the controls are more on a racing game than a top-down shooter. Still has fun factor :)
Jupiter_Hadley
14. Sep 2017 · 13:08 UTC
Interesting game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eXpztmcl_M