LudumData

Shi no ganbo by Simon Rahnasto

[raw]
made by Simon Rahnasto for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

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[Introduction]

You wake up in a boat with no memory, drifting in the sea of afterlife. The deities that cover the sky watch you drift to shore, where your fate seems to be cemented as a soulless wanderer.

This is, until you find a small shard of yourself. With a slight sense of self you now try to find the answers to your emptiness

[What is "Shi no ganbō"?]

A side-scrolling platformer that tells a story about loss. Shi no ganbō translates to "Desire of Death", the rest you will have to figure out yourself!

[Theme]

We really took the theme to heart and tried to make the game revolve around the concept of "starting with nothing". We conveyed the theme directly through gameplay, starting the player off with nothing to defend themselves. We further hammered home the theme through the narrative, which I won't spoil here.

Controls

  • [W][D] / [Arrow Left] [Arrow Right] - Move
  • [Spacebar] / [W] / [Arrow Up] - Jump
  • [Left Mouse Button] - Trigger equipped item in slot nr 1
  • [Right Mouse Button] - Trigger equipped item in slot nr 2
  • [E] - Open inventory
  • [E] - Interact (Pick up, activate)
  • [Escape] - In game pause

[Credits]

  • Belle Rahnasto - [Art], [Director] - WindmillGames
  • Simon Rahnasto - [Code], [Producer] - WindmillGames
  • Eric Bernard - [Code] - ebernerd
  • Ben "langotriel" French - [Level Design], [Casting], [Narrative Design]
  • Daniel Docherty - [Music] - https://www.danieldocherty.net
  • Milan Kovarbašić - [Sound Effects]
  • Dianna Conley - [Voice: Wife]
  • Franki "Hankshaw" Garpeman - [Voice: Barbarian]
  • Zach Pokres - [Voice: Main Character]
  • Aiko Amami - [Voice: Child]
  • Humpten Frumpenshire - [Voice: General]
Youtube https://windmillgames.itch.io/shi-no-ganbo
Youtube https://windmillgames.itch.io/shi-no-ganbo
Youtube https://windmillgames.itch.io/shi-no-ganbo
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/shi-no-ganbo

Ratings

Overall 124th 3.963⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Fun 197th 3.743⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 492th 3.257⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Theme 381th 3.561⭐ 68🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 27th 4.515⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Audio 30th 4.179⭐ 69🧑‍⚖️
Humor 771th 2.237⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Mood 54th 4.154⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Given 100🗳️ 87🗨️

Feedback

Sir Galloy De Fierpâté
08. Oct 2019 · 19:16 UTC
What a game ! I made a pause but I love the beginning. Don't dare to change a thing, this is the best game I have seen so far for this Ludum Dare. Congrats !
mrerdalural
09. Oct 2019 · 06:31 UTC
Wow! This game is awesome! Graphics, audio and the mood are almost perfect.

I only have a small nitpick with jump mechanic. You could have added a grace time (some call it coyote time) period that when leaving a platform you get a split second where you can jump even though you are not touching the ground so it is easier to do the platforming and the double jumps.

Most good platformers also have this mechanic. Hollow Knight, Celeste, Super Mario, etc. They add this because there is a really small delay between what you see and the start of your reaction.

This was an awesome game to play! Thank you for making it!
🎤 Simon Rahnasto
09. Oct 2019 · 08:18 UTC
@mrerdalural Hey, there is a grace timer of 0.11 seconds. Maybe this was a bit too short? In any case, I appreciate your feedback! :slight_smile:
svipal
09. Oct 2019 · 09:29 UTC
Hey, I wanted to play this game but at least on linux launching the .love with Love2D just bugs out, and using wine crashes, lol. What version of Love2D are you guys using ?
vincentvincent
09. Oct 2019 · 09:36 UTC
Beautiful artistic direction (characters, colors, music, ...). Very "complete" for a jamgame. Well done!
🎤 Simon Rahnasto
09. Oct 2019 · 09:40 UTC
@svipa we use löve 11.2, sorry to hear that it crashes for you. We had a person test it on linux and he did not have the same issue.
Celdur
09. Oct 2019 · 09:59 UTC
Beautiful game, really liked the direction you guys went with.


Few nitpicks though.
The menu opens and closes a bit slow, so it can get tedious when you try to pick up an item but miss. Also had a bug where I unequipped the double damage ring, but it still had the effect on.
Artyom Volkov
09. Oct 2019 · 14:22 UTC
This is a pretty strong submission with interesting mechanics and fine art, however, there are some problems with movement and level design. Firstly, the movement is very generic and character doesn't feel like a real character, and level design is messy and doesn't provide a smooth progression. Pay attention to it in the future.
Hare Software
09. Oct 2019 · 17:48 UTC
The graphics are amazing. Beatiful sprites with good use of color. The voicelines also make me want to keep going to hear what will happen next. Good use of different items giving you new abilities when you need them rather then giving them from the start. Well done to the team and I hope to see you ranking high once again!
Redimension Games
10. Oct 2019 · 12:57 UTC
Very nice visuals and sounds. The controls felt very responsive and solid too. I managed to get myself stuck by standing next to a wall and using the mist(?) bomb. The UI(equip items) did not feel too intuitive though. It's a very solid game with good variety of mechanics. Good stuff!
NachtWitch
10. Oct 2019 · 13:10 UTC
Really cool visuals and the story is fantastic!
Jam373
10. Oct 2019 · 14:07 UTC
This is really great! I love the narrative and artstyle and the music really places you in that sombre mindframe.
Koge
10. Oct 2019 · 14:19 UTC
Nice platformer and mechanics, i probably miss a dash
belug23
10. Oct 2019 · 14:35 UTC
From time to time you fall into gems when you play games from jams, this is one of the gems. Thanks!
AlphaDen
10. Oct 2019 · 17:43 UTC
Great game with a story. I love the powerups and the gradual increase in pase. But i feel like initially the enemies are too difficult. Sometimes it is difficult distinguish between the enemies and the background.
DaniE
10. Oct 2019 · 17:44 UTC
It is so nice and beautiful and even the sounds are well made, I wish I could play through it and experience the story. It looks awesome and I'm curious. However, I can't for the life of me manage these double-jumps. I always miss the platforms :(

I ragequit on the bit after the first health potion after half an hour. I know it can be done, but I just can't do it. Too hard for inexperienced players with slow fingers.
snesgaard
10. Oct 2019 · 17:51 UTC
Amazing art work! Though I would prefer the shooting to be bound to a keyboard key and the direction your character is oriented. Using both keyboard and mouse in this kind of precision platformer is pretty akward.
Alxertion
10. Oct 2019 · 18:46 UTC
This was amazing, really loved how we had more than 2 weapons so we had to choose between them, slightly increasing replayability. Truly a gem, well done!
BrokenMirrorMedia
10. Oct 2019 · 19:16 UTC
Absolutely beautiful game, I can see so much polish on this from the art, to the particle effects, voice acting, animations, animated menus, multiple items, it's really impressive! I did encounter a glitch, where I tried to unequip a ring (the double damage, half attack rate one) and it clipped into a wall, and the effect didn't actually seem to wear off. I also wish that the memories served as checkpoints so you don't have to go all the way back to the start when you die, but other than that this was fantastic!
Palemek
10. Oct 2019 · 19:19 UTC
I dont know what to say...
This Game is gibberish, awful and should never been made. WORST GAME EVER.
.
.
.
Just kidding, best game on LD45 yet
Steffy
10. Oct 2019 · 23:28 UTC
Very well done.
iojp
10. Oct 2019 · 23:46 UTC
Very polished. Was challenging and fun! I agree on the jumping mechanic needing more grace and the interaction/menu needs different mappings. My daughter loved the colors! Overall though, an incredible effort!
JosephGaiser
11. Oct 2019 · 00:31 UTC
Woah. That was amazing!
guoboism
11. Oct 2019 · 10:45 UTC
Realy beautiful graphic and the narration is good.
selkkie
11. Oct 2019 · 17:45 UTC
Really nice game! It was a cool way to tell a story, I was hooked on finding soundbites until the very end. The visuals were also really cool, nicely made, and the character designs were unique and colorful, I really dug it.
Great work, guys!
saintheiser
11. Oct 2019 · 18:42 UTC
I love the setting and game style. Inventory is delicious and reminds me how doors opens at Japanese houses.
Game is pretty boring because low amount of enemies and they're required similar patterns to beat them.
Xenoxygene
11. Oct 2019 · 18:46 UTC
This game feels very polished overall! I quite enjoyed setting up my characters the way I wanted!
Neon Glass
11. Oct 2019 · 18:59 UTC
Loved the narrative and graphics!

The controls took a bit of time to attune to (I wish they were a little more arcade-ish - slightly lower gravity and/or a bit longer grace period?), but afterwards it went really smooth... to the extent of accidentally baiting the second boss out through the left wall. :sweat_smile:
LandoSystems
11. Oct 2019 · 23:29 UTC
Really good UI work with the tweening and all, love the art style and music. Wish the text were a little bigger for descriptions, but that's a nitpick. Really bummed out that I had to start all the way back at the beginning after dying on the second boss. All things considered, this is a really great game. Some additional polish and tuning would put it over the top. Excellent work!
alexrose
12. Oct 2019 · 01:01 UTC
Nicely done. My only recommendations are the ones I said on speed: speed up the inventory transition. Otherwise great. Really beautiful graphics. Wish there was more of a reward for beating bosses too.
BoxedMeatRevolution
12. Oct 2019 · 01:44 UTC
Wow! This is a very polished game for Ludum Dare! I thought the art was beautiful, the sound fit, and the gameplay was fun. Great interpretation of the theme too. I climbed all the way to the top!

Also, I could watch the menu open and close all day... Same goes for the top-to bottom screen wipe when the game starts. So good!
wataru
12. Oct 2019 · 02:04 UTC
I loved the visual and story of the game. I really enjoyed the game play.
Momori
12. Oct 2019 · 04:37 UTC
Amazing graphics and audio! One of the most polished game I've played so far!
Danilo Freire
12. Oct 2019 · 18:01 UTC
Hey, nice presentation, the game looks and sounds amazing. Very nice job creating all these atmosphere. A had some difficulty on the platforming segment after acquiring the double jump ability. Congrats for the team! :D
Euler Moises
13. Oct 2019 · 01:13 UTC
Beautiful music, wonderful pixel art, well-placed sfx and a very clear interpretation of the theme. But these jumps made me lose a lot of hair !!!

Congratulations for the work
Rodrigo Denúbila
14. Oct 2019 · 02:51 UTC
Really good idea, and very well executed. The game is very polished, the art is amazing and the music and voice acting gives the perfect mood for the game. Good job!
Mr ChocolateSalmon
14. Oct 2019 · 03:37 UTC
Really nice game with beautiful 2D art and music. The movement felt a little off to me, especially in the early platforming section, and sometimes items I threw would get caught if I was still too close to a wall. But I enjoyed the game and the short narrative woven into it. Good job!
Tommislav
16. Oct 2019 · 19:49 UTC
This was a beautifully executed game, and I'm super impressed you managed to make such a huge experience in such a short time! The quality of this game exceeds most entries I've seen! I managed to complete the game in my first round with just 2 HP. Here are a few small nitty picky things, if I am to say anything other than just how amazingly good it was! All of these are really minor things! =D

1. When I met the first boss I just jumped right by and left. But feeling like I might miss anything I then spent a ton of time trying to get back to it (with the fire mist bomb ring), only to find I actually did not get anything.

2. The story did not manage to get me as engaged as I would have hoped. I mean, the fact that you even had a story, and the fantastic voice acting is mind blowing, but the actual story itself felt a bit... bleak.

I think that is all I can think of. Awesome job!!!
RedZ0ner
16. Oct 2019 · 20:21 UTC
Very nice graphics and mood!
SometimesGhost
16. Oct 2019 · 23:06 UTC
This one's good! Pretty and unique graphics, interesting character designs, and tight platforming.
JUSTCAMH
17. Oct 2019 · 11:46 UTC
That was definitely the most 'chunky' game I've seen this LD. There was just so much stuff, to an almost unreasonable level. The game was great, and the only thing that gave away that it was a jam game was that the player movement was lacking polish. Otherwise, it was an amazing experience, I still can't believe that that was made in three days! :heart:
Gleb Shishov
17. Oct 2019 · 23:08 UTC
very coooooooooooooooooooooool game/ fin this game a 4 times)
Balance686
19. Oct 2019 · 23:55 UTC
I really enjoyed this! Great visual style and the music and voiceovers were superb. You made great use of the theme and the narrative was interesting. I also enjoyed the platforming and combat. I killed the second boss without jumping down to actually fight him. As soon as the health bar popped up I stayed on the ledge I was on and shot downwards until he was dead. Also going fullscreen in settings caused a full system lock that I had to do a hard reset on. Very impressive to create this in 48 hours. Excellent job!
itsdanidre
23. Oct 2019 · 01:55 UTC
I..did not understand the end. But I thoroughly enjoyed this game.

It runs primarily on the GPU, which was lagging. So when I restarted it on the CPU instead, it moves fast. But. EVERYTHING MOVED FAST. Tap the movement once, the character FLIESSS! But I was able to complete the level at least. Though I did fly off and fall alot :^D

The art is so cool. Creepy because of the masks, and the alpha effect helped with the spookiness, but even the backgrounds. And the storyline..I'm not sure if I understand it mostly because of the end. But Nice game! :grin:
🎤 Simon Rahnasto
23. Oct 2019 · 17:00 UTC
@itsdanidre sorry to hear that you had problems. The game makes use of delta time to make sure that your performance does (or at least should) not affect gameplay. What kind of hardware (and OS) are you running it on?
itsdanidre
24. Oct 2019 · 01:57 UTC
A laptop. Windows 10. But maybe it's because I use an i5 in an originally i7 processor, mixed with an nvidia gpu? :thinking:
Jupiter_Hadley
04. Nov 2019 · 17:24 UTC
Lovely graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 45 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/98_o2aOM-SQ