Colors of the Universe by LDJam user 245333

[raw]
made by LDJam user 245333 for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

What does the inner world of a note look like? Explore a microscopic world of chords by diving into the infinitely small. You can wander aimlessly and get lost in the emerging harmonies. Or maybe there is a path to find, somewhere, leading into a whole new microcosm?

If you're wondering: yes, there is an ending! But you'll have to find it by yourself.

screenshot6.gif screenshot4.png

Assets

Sounds samples are from:

  • Stamperadam https://freesound.org/people/stamperadam/
  • Freepats Project http://freepats.zenvoid.org/
  • Philarmonia Orchestra https://philharmonia.co.uk/resources/sound-samples/
  • No Budget Orchestra https://github.com/ssj71/No-Budget-Orchestra
  • VSCO 2 Community Edition http://vis.versilstudios.net/vsco-2.html!
  • Karoryfer Lecolds https://www.karoryfer.com/karoryfer-samples

Ratings

Overall 297th 3.913⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1174th 3.175⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 32th 4.363⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Theme 3th 4.65⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1107th 3.513⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 207th 3.974⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 155th 4.184⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Given 44🗳️ 63🗨️

Feedback

JLMast
26. Apr 2021 · 22:56 UTC
Loved it! Very hypnotic and sleep inducing, if you focus on it, you almost get to a transe state. Bravo !
Kalendhos
26. Apr 2021 · 23:53 UTC
Salut ! Toujours une certaine ambiance qui fait encore plaisir, même si toujours un peu angoissante (Surtout parce qu'il est difficile de réellement comprendre ce qui se passe). Mais si les coups de caméra sont sûrement un peu bizarres (Et franchement je vois pas comment faire mieux vu le fonctionnement. Et c'est clairement pas grave non plus), l'aspect et les sensations de profondeur/infini sont bien là.

Un peu assommant quand on cherche la fin comme un taré, mais ça reste agréable à parcourir pendant qu'on se creuse la tête.

Difficile de vraiment parler de la résolution tant j'ai du mal à être sûr de moi. Par contre je voudrais qu'on en parle ça me rend TRES curieux, tout ça ! ^^
RedSorel
27. Apr 2021 · 01:32 UTC
Very relaxing. Netflix and chill is over, it's colors of the universe and chill now.
I would love a bigger cursor, it's sometimes a pain in the *ss to find it on my screen. The idea is very cool, overall i had a good time.
MrPouletBZH
27. Apr 2021 · 06:41 UTC
The idea behind the sound design is really great, even if sometimes I had difficulties to focus on the differents chords available (surely because of my shitty audition tbh). Pretty much hypnotic and it surprised myself how long I stayed trying to find the keys of this world.
DaF
27. Apr 2021 · 10:47 UTC
Really cool concept, it took me some time to understand what I had to do, but that is the point :v:.
The only thing keeping it back is the camera moving a bit too fast at the beginning while you choose and the harsh recenter when you are in the subcircle (resulting in zooming in a random note because it gets dragged under the cursor)
bellatrion
27. Apr 2021 · 10:53 UTC
It took me a while to eventually reach the ending, I was quite bad at finding the path. After a while, I was alternating between "puzzle solving attempts" and "free wandering just to relax until I decide to solve the puzzle again". And it's nice to have a game that lets us do both :D
Nice Gear Games
27. Apr 2021 · 10:54 UTC
Very cool and surreal concept, with minimalist graphics and a real sense of atmosphere. I do wish the cursor was a big larger, it was hard at first to find where I was and accidentally got sucked into the wrong notes by accident. Had a great time puzzling this one out!
Giordas
27. Apr 2021 · 11:01 UTC
I wasn't able to solve it but relaxed or a few minutes playing this game. It gave an incredible mood and I am surprised by how simple it meaningful this game can be
natpat
27. Apr 2021 · 11:10 UTC
A very interesting idea! I liked literally going deeper and deeper into this world. I found trying to solve the puzzles really challenging, especially with all the instruments changing - I found it very hard to compare the pitches. Plus you start zooming in as soon as you check what the note sounds like, which made it hard to compare to check if you got the right one. I managed to collect one star, not sure how many more there were.

Still, the mood was good, which I think is what you were really going for. Just sad that I couldn't complete it!
fiaKaiera
27. Apr 2021 · 11:12 UTC
It's really nice to see some soundscapes going down and down! I was totally lost for a bit but found the end, but I think being lost is the point. I do wish the cursor is a bit larger though.

There is one thing though that irks me, and sometimes sounds just cut off out of nowhere and breaks the feeling for a small bit before I go down into satisfactionland again.
Shin0nome
27. Apr 2021 · 11:42 UTC
Bonjour ! Un grand moment avec un sound design qui est au top ! J'ai eu un peu de mal à voir le curseur parfois mais c'est vraiment la seule chose que l'on peut reprocher au jeu. L'ambiance est juste
hypnotisante, un grand bravo super expérience !
BrokenMatcha
27. Apr 2021 · 12:35 UTC
La mécanique de base est simple et pourtant ça marche tellement bien ! J'adore ce jeu franchement c'est du super travail !
ErkaNec
27. Apr 2021 · 12:48 UTC
I like the idea. Great job.
arista
27. Apr 2021 · 16:40 UTC
Super interesting concept and the resulting music is awesome. Sad that the pointer is so hard to see for my tired eyes :(
Oxalotte
27. Apr 2021 · 16:53 UTC
Ces fins toujours aussi cryptiques à avoir >u<
En tous cas bravo c'est du bon boulot ! (°u°)9
fractalsunrise
27. Apr 2021 · 17:36 UTC
The infinite zooming in was a great fit for the theme, and I enjoyed the process of discovering what I was supposed to do. I appreciated being able to work on the puzzles or relax and explore interchangeably. Great job! I was able to get to the end!
Diotins
27. Apr 2021 · 17:48 UTC
Very interesting experience! Found myself immersed and really focused on trying to understand what was going on! Extra points for creativity, sound design and general feel of the game :)
PatteDeCanaard
27. Apr 2021 · 18:16 UTC
Super mécanique le zoom à l'infini, l'ambiance calme rend très bien (même si à mon premier essai, la musique s'est arrêté au bout d'un moment^^). J'ai pas vraiment compris comment mais à force d'explorer j'ai réussi à atteindre la fin :) Bravo !
Icehunter.wm
27. Apr 2021 · 18:16 UTC
An interesting concept. I wonder if it's possible to make the "camera" more smoother.

If you can, it will make the game feel better, wandering deeper and deeper, i guess.
LDJam user 244504
27. Apr 2021 · 21:54 UTC
Un bon jeu d'ambiance, à la recherche de la suite musicale(?) pour sortir de cette hypnotisation sonore infinie. :smile:

J'aurais bien vu un petit ajout de musique de fond, en mode très léger pour que les transitions de notes se fassent plus naturelle à l'oreille. Les notes jouées actuellement s'arrêtent assez brutalement si la souris est mal placée.

Good job on this game ! :tada:

(ps: Et je n'ai pas trouvé la fin malheureusement :crying_cat_face: )
Fractal Flower Girl
28. Apr 2021 · 00:55 UTC
This idea was unique! I got to the end, after switching between wandering and trying to find a path.
Solweak
28. Apr 2021 · 11:16 UTC
C'est agréable de trouver des jeux originaux comme le tien, y'a une super ambiance apaisante et hypnotique. On a aussi l'impression d'avoir le contrôle grâce aux effets sonores mais en même temps on est complètement perdu, j'ai erré pas mal de temps avant de valider une étoile. C'était super, bravo !
Shoc
30. Apr 2021 · 06:23 UTC
Game is nice, but it's kinda dizzy.
I've got dizzy because of not that smooth movements of the camera.

But it's good you can polish that later ^^
kuviman
01. May 2021 · 13:43 UTC
Very interesting, got to an end but im still not sure how I did it LOL
Gaming Night
02. May 2021 · 21:12 UTC
Very nice input on theme, really liked the chill mood :)
pyrofoux
05. May 2021 · 08:36 UTC
I cannot explain how the game works, but I can definitely feel it. I played with my instincts and I managed to get to the end, while enjoying the whole atmosphere along the way. That's... That's genius
wizard sino
07. May 2021 · 21:16 UTC
I'm not sure what just happened, but i think i enjoyed it.
Twaerd
09. May 2021 · 15:58 UTC
J'ai trouvé la fin mais un peu au pif je sais pas si il y a un réel sens pour la trouver en tout cas bon boulot c'était agréable :thumbsup:
Jack Lance
12. May 2021 · 19:10 UTC
So creative! I've never played anything like this before!
I like that you can solve it based on the sounds, or the colors, or try to use both together.
Honey Pony
12. May 2021 · 19:41 UTC
I did manage to reach the end although I'm not quite sure how :sweat_smile: but my strategy was, essentially, to explore the game along some arbitrary axis for a while and see if anything happened.

However, this is actually really cool. The game does not give any real direction from what I can tell, it just says there is a puzzle and leaves the player to try exploring and see what they can find. I think that, chasing notes that fit some pattern, and then switching patterns some time, is a method of exploration that the game essentially incentivizes, and this is very cool because it results in the player having to just, try random things and see where it takes them.

One thing I enjoyed trying in particular was hitting several of the notes before traveling deeper. Creating these little non-rhythmic melodies along with the rest of the soundscape was cool. And even though it didn't lead anywhere in a *game* sense, I still enjoyed it--and I think that's the point.
Brice Mahier
17. May 2021 · 02:51 UTC
Still wandering in an endless infinite zooming life, trying to get the real meaning of life... just kidding, nice game!
DoctaDragon
17. May 2021 · 18:54 UTC
Quite an enjoyable experience, rummaging through the different circles trying to find the green "stars" was really entertaining. The sound design was also very well done, so props.