Cthulhu Writer by BjarkeAL

[raw]
made by BjarkeAL for LD 40 (COMPO)

A Horror Typing Game. Learn all about the Old Ones you could ever want. Mind your soul.

Tools used:

Unity 2017.1. Code is C#

Audacity

All sounds are recordings of my voice, my fingers, or a pan lid (with some "light" processing in Audacity or Unity ;) )

The text is taken from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CthulhuMythosdeities#GreatOldOnes

Ratings

Overall 225th 3.579⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 460th 3⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 72th 3.816⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 356th 3.421⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 451th 3⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 22th 4.056⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 545th 1.75⭐ 16🧑‍⚖️
Mood 20th 4.079⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 4🗨️

Feedback

conk
10. Dec 2017 · 13:33 UTC
Huh, an interesting take on a game, can't say I've played many where I have to type fast or suffer loud creepy whispering :stuck_out_tongue: The farther I got into it the more it got to me, genuinely built up tension and it really goes to show how annoying to type most of those names are!

My only gripe was the volume it got to (could be almost painful) and some information that appeared after moving between nodes would cover up names that you're trying to read to type/spell, which is more annoying than difficult.

Anyway, good job on making a different experience to most submissions :grinning:
Grentacular
10. Dec 2017 · 13:51 UTC
Great atmosphere and sound design! I wish there had been a little more substance to the gameplay (and that Lovecraftian horrors had easier names to spell, but that one's not on you), but you did a really good job of creating tension with mostly just sound, and that's amazing. Great work!
Rialgar
10. Dec 2017 · 14:26 UTC
That was a horrible experience. Well Done!

The whispers, the difficult names, the whispers, the fact that the connections become obscured over time, the whispers, the rising volume combined with the static when loosing, and THE WHISPERS.

Truly amazing how much can be achieved with such small things.
Sibi
10. Dec 2017 · 14:58 UTC
Interesting take on the theme.
The dark mood was really well building up. I kind of missed an intro to the game which would give me a motivation to play it. Everything was quite cryptic but it fitted the genre quite well.
I enjoyed the art style and creepy noises :)
Marius
10. Dec 2017 · 15:05 UTC
Intresting game! The sound is awesome! I would like to have more intuitive gameplay! The graphics look good overall, but there are some moments where look a little buggy. Nice work!
Zirrrus
10. Dec 2017 · 15:06 UTC
Oh, good one. When that whispering kept getting louder and I kept misspelling Their names I actually got kind of freaked out. Excellent work on the sound design!
Samuli
10. Dec 2017 · 18:10 UTC
Great take on the writer game genre. Definetly one of the more unique ones.
HuvaaKoodia
11. Dec 2017 · 12:30 UTC
Lost my mind at 52 it seems.

I do enjoy the occasional typing challenge. The Cthulhu inspired setting is well realised, moody and quite a novel mix. Everything works about right too, no bugs.

A few complaints. The **massive text** popping up after inputting a correct name does obscure other names most of the time. The random generated levels are neat, but occasionally it is hard to see which names are connected to which other names as the lines overlap quite a bit. Of course you can take your time figuring it out before starting, so that saves it. Thematic too, I guess.

Good work in all. A typing challenge is not the most exciting prospect, that is a limiting factor here.

Overall: *Good (4.0)*
Fun: *Above average (3.5)*
Innovation: *Good (4.0)*
Theme: *Above average (3.5)*
Graphics: *Above average (3.5)*
Audio: *Good (4.0)*
Humor: *Nonexistent (1.0)*
Mood: *Great (4.5)*
olddadou
12. Dec 2017 · 19:10 UTC
Unfortunately, I don't have windows so I cannot test your game. The great old ones is a great subject, however.
If you are interested, you could check our game too (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/rlyeh-survivors), it takes place at Rlyeh ;)

Greeting!
piscythe
13. Dec 2017 · 20:54 UTC
Interesting. I'll admit I wasn't terribly excited about a typing challenge, but the ever-increasing distortedness of the text I was trying to type kept it interesting and the over-loud audio at the end only enhanced the effect of escalating madness. And bloody old god names aren't exactly easy to type to begin with. It seemed that at times the strategy was to just pick a couple of gods and alternate between them - almost like some bizarre form of worship, I suppose. I went mad at exactly 69 points. Make of that what you will.
Raven
13. Dec 2017 · 21:28 UTC
I shouldn't have executed your game at AM 5:26. The atmosphere make me feel I could really go insane :(
dodormeur
13. Dec 2017 · 21:33 UTC
This game looks really interesting, but it doesn't seem to work on my computer :/ I try to type the names on the screen, but nothing happens; I tried pressing enter or clicking the input, but it doesn't seem to do anything :s
vfabien21
17. Dec 2017 · 15:14 UTC
Whouhaou. This is definitelly my favorite game in the jam so far (but I have a sweet spot with text games). It really made me fell in an invocation game, where I had to call creatures in a judicious order and quick enough before they devour me.

The text which gradually gets bigger the more you play is a nice touch. It made me fell, that the more we progress in the game, the closer and better understanding we have of them (hence the text which we can read), but the more exposed we are.
🎤 BjarkeAL
22. Dec 2017 · 10:51 UTC
@dodormeur Hm that sounds strange.. Can you provide a bit more info? It should just work from the get-go, and words should appear in the bottom when you type as soon as you launch it. When you press enter does it remove the text? Or does literally nothing happen?

@vfabien21 Thank you so much! Those are really kind words. That was exactly what I was going for, so I'm very glad it worked :D
vfabien21
23. Dec 2017 · 13:45 UTC
@bjarkeal haha, thanks ! I am pleased not to be totally wrong about it :)
Somnium
27. Dec 2017 · 13:05 UTC
Interesting take on the Cthulhu mythos, combining it with a typing challenge, with all the extra difficulty that entails (considering the names of the Old Ones).

Especially the names makes this quite refreshing compared to other typing challenges. The biggest obstacle to the current gameplay, is that the player is punished for being successful. The large obscuring text when you enter the name usually obscures the next step in the level. A different dramatic effect when successfully typing a name would probably be less frustrating.

The node traversal is an interesting variation as well, since you then need to plan your route through the words. And hope that the lonely node which was hidden from view at the start, do not turn out to be the longest and most obscure name of them all.

The game is quite atmospheric, with the gradual increase in strange whispers culminating in a quite scary noise. The various lore in the screen, competing for attention with the names themselves, were also a nice touch.

It was an interesting take on the theme as well, with both the number of names, as well as the number of characters within each name.

>Whispers of madness,
>await those who dare to seek
>the names of Old Ones.

*Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn!*