The Child Spirit by Oneiric Worlds

made by Oneiric Worlds for LD34 (JAM)

Wouhou! My first Ludum Dare :)

The "Child Spirit" is a simple non linear runner game where you play a fox. You must find animals and get back the Forest Spirit who is leaving.

GOAL:
Find as many animals you can and get to Moo, the forest spirit before he leaves. The goal is more or less in line with the "growing" theme, as you're supposed to grow a herd of the forest animals.
Beware, the game is bit difficult, and you may have to play it a few times to find the best path to catch enough animals to save the forest.

CONTROLS:
Two button controls:
SPACE or S : jump
RETURN/ENTER or D : change direction
You can change controls if you want to in the downloads for Windows, MacOS and Linux, but not on the Web version.

I made everything from scratch except for the soundscape.
I had many projects to complete this week end, so I could "only" work 25h on the game... I wish I could add more animals, more sounds, better music...
Anyways!
Development in C# with Unity
Graphics with Blender & Krita
Music with LMMS

For the curious guys, don't hesitate to check the game I'm currently developing: "A Thief's Melody" is a 3D cartoon adventure/stealth game with a contemplative atmosphere. Check it out on http://www.oneiricworlds.com

EDIT: Just fixed a few display problems for 5/4 screens and made a more readable HUD.

Web	http://www.oneiricworlds.com/demos/theChildSpirit_Web/theChildSpirit_Web.html
Windows	http://www.oneiricworlds.com/demos/20151214_theChildSpirit_Win32.zip
OS/X	http://www.oneiricworlds.com/demos/20151214_theChildSpirit_MacOSX.zip
Linux	http://www.oneiricworlds.com/demos/20151214_theChildSpirit_Linux.zip
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=66192

Ratings

Coolness	57%	3
Overall(Jam)	3.63	231

Audio(Jam)	3.70	154
Fun(Jam)	3.53	231
Graphics(Jam)	4.13	153
Humor(Jam)	2.61	542
Innovation(Jam)	2.97	631
Mood(Jam)	3.79	134
Theme(Jam)	3.83	360

Feedback

dustyroom

15. Dec 2015 · 10:00 UTC

A bit hard to get used to space / enter controls. Maybe make jump an up arrow instead of Space. And rotate with space. Apart from that, it's a beautiful and fun game.

manabreak

15. Dec 2015 · 10:01 UTC

This was really awesome! I enjoyed every last bit of it. The controls were done really well, and the graphics are breathtaking. I just couldn't save the forest. :(

dustyroom

15. Dec 2015 · 10:01 UTC

A bit hard to get used to space / enter controls. Maybe make jump an up arrow instead of Space. And rotate with space. Apart from that, it's a beautiful and fun game.

commodoreKid

15. Dec 2015 · 10:15 UTC

Placement of animals breaks the run but the game works overall. I think I cannot get back to the second animal if I miss it. It lacked a little bit of feeling of grip to be honest, felt like hovering more than running. It is probably because of animation. I think it would be also more interesting if there were more interactions other than running around but I know, no time. Don't forget to save the forest!

SidewalkSleeper

15. Dec 2015 · 11:52 UTC

The art is really well done. I liked it.

maunovaha

15. Dec 2015 · 11:55 UTC

Runs pretty smooth, but took a while before I understood what was the point of the game.. Then I noticed that there is time running at the bottom of the screen. :D. All in all, good graphics+smooth running game, but I would modify the game goal to be something other than the time + collecting.. :) ! this could work easily as a good platform game.

jamaster96

15. Dec 2015 · 11:57 UTC

BEAUTIFUL

tyrants.not.found.team

15. Dec 2015 · 11:57 UTC

Fabulous, really good graphics, really smooth controls for me - they fit with the theme well, despite what the others said, quite the impressive work for one man.
If I am to be picky indeed I would also say that SPACE/ENTER is a bit of an odd choice since they don't go well together. Any other two close-by buttons would've done better.

Other than that, well done!

Cheers,
Ionut(Tyrants.not.found team)

Reccy

15. Dec 2015 · 12:17 UTC

Fantastic game! I love the art and the music is great! The gameplay was fun, but the level design made the game a bit too hard. I just couldn't save the forest :(

🎤 Oneiric Worlds

15. Dec 2015 · 12:32 UTC

Thanks a lot for all your comments :) I might add other controls (like S & D or up & ctrl, or whatever) to make it easier as many of you seem to find it cumbersome.

qwetro

16. Dec 2015 · 05:18 UTC

5-star! Love the art and the atmosphere you've build, great game. But just couldn't save the forest, really wanna know the end.

Yword

16. Dec 2015 · 09:34 UTC

Wow, this is really polished and relaxing! The control is very smooth and the graphics is very beautiful too. Well done!

Kuality Games

16. Dec 2015 · 10:14 UTC

I liked it a lot, but I found myself caught up in collecting animals instead of paying attention to the time, so I ended up losing.

DrFallos

16. Dec 2015 · 10:21 UTC

Had pleasure from cute hares and fox! Thx a lot!

Warboys

16. Dec 2015 · 14:04 UTC

Gorgeous art style, it's wonderful! I liked the jump and turn mechanics quite a lot, despite not being a big platform gamer. I couldn't find Moo in the end, but I collected like 20 animals. It was weird they were blocking the screen but hey, I don't understand the spirit world ;)

OwT

16. Dec 2015 · 16:31 UTC

The forest will die... I couldn't save the forest, Moo isn't taking responsibility of it, I can't trust him. It was fun to play, graphics are really beautiful and making a mysterius, forest mood.That game is quite hard and the screen is too slow, or the fox is too fast, it isn't coordinate very well. But very nice idea and gameplay!

Ryusui

18. Dec 2015 · 05:40 UTC

Absolutely beautiful - and just as unforgiving. XD

I think the game could benefit greatly from some kind of "animal radar" - like an arrow pointing to the nearest one. It would cut down greatly on the annoying trial-and-error aspect. Also maybe a more intuitive, platformer-friendly button combination than space and enter?

PieChronicles

18. Dec 2015 · 23:01 UTC

nicely done runner, enjoyed the graphics

Ybalrid

22. Dec 2015 · 21:28 UTC

This is awesome. I LOVE the graphics!!

Didi

25. Dec 2015 · 00:38 UTC

Clever Cute And foxy! Noce work nice overal game, hope u talk more about dev later. cy@

Christina Nordlander

01. Jan 2016 · 17:55 UTC

A nice little runner, with good graphics (the animals in the herd are a bit too cartoonish and colourful, in my opinion, but Moo and the background graphics are great) and excellent audio. The plot is kind of cheesy, but the gameplay is very good. I think this game could be a hit with kids.

I'd like it if the rabbits ran after you rather than hovering (the birds hovering makes sense, after all). Also, a bug: some of the animals appear to be invisible.

I can't really figure out how to win (if I try to ran fast, I don't collect enough animals, while if I backtrack, I lose Moo). Still, one of the most enjoyable games this LD in terms of gameplay.