LudumData

SPECIAL MEAT for a special boy by LethalTurtle

[raw]
made by LethalTurtle for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

Cover.png While working part-time at a local store the CULT sends you a letter telling you to take care of its special pet, do NOT let it die. You can get the monster's food by buying it from your computer OR chopping people up... just don't kill the whole village.

FROM: CULT
the monster has been placed in the back room and we left some meat in the vent, if you bought more you will find it there, just throw the food and he will grab it.

THE CULT HAS ITS EYES ON YOU.

CONTROLS

  • Movement (WASD)
  • Crouching (LEFT CTRL)
  • Picking up (E for left) (Q for right)
  • Using (LEFT MOUSE for left) (RIGHT M! MOUSE for right)
  • Interacting (F)

SCREENSHOTS

Images.png

CHANGE LOG:
- The COMPUTER can now be interacted with properly (it didn't work) - FIXED the game CRASHING on some old PCs when feeding the MONSTER - FIXED boxes getting stuck in the VENT
- Made the UI display the controls for picking up stuff (since most people don't read the CONTROLS)

(there are minor typos sorry about those... it was the CULT's fault not mine)

IMPORTANT!!!

(the SPECIAL MEAT boxes spawn in the vent on the opposite side of the monster's room, they are only spawned after interacting with the Computer or pressing the BUY button when in register mode)

Want a challenge?, make it past 05:00 (or you can't?)

Youtube https://spookto.itch.io/special-meat-for-a-special-boy
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/special-meat-for-a-special-boy

Ratings

Overall 154th 4.065⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 669th 3.597⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 218th 3.887⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 104th 4.274⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 169th 4.419⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Audio 782th 3.433⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Humor 433th 3.571⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 133th 4.172⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 17🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

MacDoom
21. Apr 2020 · 03:11 UTC
3:31, 9 citizens! At first I was really lost. Now the strategy is to chop the first customer and get the pieces near the monster. Worked for me for the first minutes.
Really fun concept. I love how the customers keep shopping between the chopped pieces.
I appreciate the simplicitybut a few touches of animation and audio would upgrade the games atmosphere.

And those bloody customers cant keep their products from falling! They deserve the axe!
Nice Work!
Jenny Bourke
21. Apr 2020 · 04:45 UTC
This game was awesome! I loved the concept and the visuals were excellent! I had so much fun playing this game
Brainloaf Studio
21. Apr 2020 · 18:13 UTC
Love the look/feel of the game (especially the "pet"). Nice work!
Si WToSL
21. Apr 2020 · 23:22 UTC
This game's atmosphere is top notch and I love the physics on the body parts. This game oozes style. I never did end up getting that special meat I payed for though.

I ended up getting a time of 14:21
🎤 LethalTurtle
22. Apr 2020 · 01:03 UTC
@si-wtosl the meat is inside the boxes dropped in the vent opposite of the monster's room.
also sweet time, I never thought it was possible.
Jake Marks
22. Apr 2020 · 04:14 UTC
I love this art style! Got 4:13 before losing on my best attempt. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty great chopping people up haha!

Played on stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/598996310
Qazikol
22. Apr 2020 · 11:35 UTC
One of the best submissions I've played! Love the look and feel of it, which is impressively cohesive. Was unsure how the different elements worked at first, but once I understood then it was a lot of fun.
herniewise
23. Apr 2020 · 02:51 UTC
Lovely color palette and pet <3

I want a full game out of this
TPZombie
23. Apr 2020 · 14:44 UTC
I slayed and chopped a client in front of the rest and they don't seem to care :laughing:

That was fun. Good job!
Rebecca Harrison
23. Apr 2020 · 20:28 UTC
Art style is superb! I was a little confused at first but it became easier the more I played. Love love love the spooky aesthetic.
Only critique is that it was tough to keep track of the monster hunger bar since it was off to the side. Maybe it could have changed the overall colors or begun to glow when the monster is getting really hungry? Otherwise, super fun game :)
EOShadows
23. Apr 2020 · 23:51 UTC
Nice! It's a really entertaining game. It took me a bit of time to notice the ax (at first I went around trying to punch people and hit them with their groceries) but I eventually got it and got a grasp of how everything worked. It's really challenging. I also enjoyed the impact of the ax...it's kind of satisfying. And the design of he monster is cool. It might have been neat for a sort of creepy effect for the monster all over the ceiling to only appear after a certain point, like when it is starting to get hungrier faster it starts to appear in more parts of the room. But yeah, really fun game!
(I can't do anything with the computer though. Still don't know what it is even supposed to do...)
🎤 LethalTurtle
24. Apr 2020 · 00:00 UTC
@eoshadows Glad you liked it, there is a vent opposite to the monster's door and it has special food boxes, when have enough money (30 or more) you use the computer (F to interact or press the BUY button when in register mode) and food boxes will drop in the vent, just grab em and feed them to the monster.
I would like doing a version that fixes all these unclear elements however I am not sure whether it is allowed or not so all I made were bug fixes (This is my first ludum dare).
samsdevlog
24. Apr 2020 · 05:08 UTC
This is a pristine aesthetic. Loved playing this game.
FallingFlatStudios
25. Apr 2020 · 01:33 UTC
Feeding the monster was the best part of the game, 10/10 would feed again (P.S The cult is not making me say this). But on a more serious note, This game has some pretty great visuals, with some solid mechanics, I would love to see this game expanded upon in the future maybe with some VR support.
Hellequinne
25. Apr 2020 · 04:33 UTC
Really stylish. I love the palette, screen shader... and the special boy, himself.

Took me a bit to figure out what to do, even after reading the description. It's nice that you added the prompts for how to pick things up. If you add more in the future, I'd consider not only tutorializing the controls, but also making sure the core loop is clear. But anyway, great job!
Frozen Spirit
25. Apr 2020 · 05:21 UTC
Really cool idea. A liked the colour pallet and concept. the eyes above the shop are a nice touch to ad to the creepiness. Good job. :D
Lestat
25. Apr 2020 · 05:58 UTC
Interesting concept. Well executed. It fits the theme. Good job!
Abyss
25. Apr 2020 · 06:38 UTC
This game was super hard, but I loved the art style and the whole concept! The monster eats humans, and we are told that it only eats "special" meat. Hmmm, wonder where the "special" meat we are buying online is coming from... :open_mouth:

Also I second @fallingflatstudios idea to bring this to VR!
Sean Park
26. Apr 2020 · 22:16 UTC
Overall one of the most fun games I played through this whole Jam. Took me a little bit to realize that the computer and the register were different entities, but once I realized that the game became super fun. I loved the idea that if the register gets too full items start to topple off and customers won't leave until you put the items back on and cash em out. Fun lil detail. If you do decide to expand upon this game more, I will say there needs to be more difference between human and special meat in terms of how it affects the timer. Around surviving over two minutes, by the time I fed and went back to the counter the timer was already about half way down. Otherwise super sick game!!
krakadushka
27. Apr 2020 · 06:54 UTC
OMG, awesome! The unique visual style and the pumping music together create a unique atmosphere. At first you think ," what the fuck?" But when you find a monster, you get a feeling of some kind of fear. This is an incredible feeling. Thank you for this game! Great job!
Emperor Eagle
27. Apr 2020 · 08:19 UTC
Really good graphics, and I like how the colours change a bit when you get close to them. The audio tone matching up with the timer's seconds was cool and the audio worked really well to create the creepy vibe. The eyes were a signature part of this game! It felt smooth to play as well. The core loop of the game wasn't clear to me so do ensure clear instructions are available. One time, it locked my mouse after I lost, but that was probably just a Windows or Unity glitch. Overall, great mood! This game excelled in the creepy category and is good overall! Nice job!
Palvel
27. Apr 2020 · 09:05 UTC
Cool game, very interesting idea, really
thebreakfast
27. Apr 2020 · 17:44 UTC
I intentionally do all of my first play throughs without reading first to be surprised by what a game has to offer and to see how intuitive it is. I did 2 blind plays on this one and figured it all out by the second play through, so I definitely think it was intuitive even without reading instructions! But the surprise of finding the weird monster in the closet was neat, and I must admit I'm glad I discovered it organically rather than reading about it first. The eyes on the roof were eerie too. I think a bitcrunched growl or something from the monster could add a lot. The audio left a bit to be desired to be honest.
Head Tilt Games
28. Apr 2020 · 00:25 UTC
This one is very fun to play! I found myself practically on the edge of my seat. The art style is fantastic, especially the monster design, and the increasing tempo of the music was a nice touch. Though I did find that it got a bit repetitive after a while. That gameplay was easy to get a handle on, and is pleasantly difficult. Awesome work!
jrap
28. Apr 2020 · 01:24 UTC
I LOVE MY SPECIAL BOY!!!
Nathalia Hohl
29. Apr 2020 · 02:42 UTC
A very solid entry and quite innovative ^-^

I had some difficulty to grasp the controls and had to re-check the instructions a couple of times.
Why don't both grab and throw with mouse buttons? What is crouching used for? (If I had needed it it would be difficult to use CTRL since my little finger rests more easily on left shift)

Keep up the good work and I hope you come back for more Ludum Dares!