HORIZON'S CALL by deadjolly

[raw]
made by deadjolly for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

HorizonsCallThumbnail_Halfres.png After waking up on a beach, a strange device guides you into a tropical wonderland. Will it point you to paradise? Or is there some other unworldly presence lurking deep within the jungles of this mysterious island?

Will you answer the Horizon's Call?! Headphones recommended.

LD59<em>Screenshot</em>04_1080p.png On a beach, somewhere...?

LD59<em>Screenshot</em>02_1080p.png A curious machine hidden in the jungle lies dormant

LD59<em>Screenshot</em>05_1080p.png The device lights the way forward, but best avoid whatever's causing interference!

Thanks for playing!

CONTROLS:

KEYBOARD: - WASD - MOVE - Mouse - LOOK - LMB - SCAN - RMB - VIEW - Shift - SPRINT - Space - JUMP

CREDITS: - Art, Design, & Sound FX _ _| @deadjolly - Programming, Design, & Sound FX _ _| @cody-raethke

KNOWN ISSUES: - Nothing at the moment, you tell us!

CHANGELOG:

4.20.26 | 1.0 - First version published

4.20.26 | 1.1 - Added missing textures

4.25.26 | 1.2 - Adjusted scanner indications - Adjusted glyph locations - Adjusted level layout - Fixed floating meshes (trees, bushes, suitcases)

Ratings

Overall 359th 3.655⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 483th 3.293⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 430th 3.379⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 238th 4.052⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 257th 4.067⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Audio 186th 3.845⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 250th 3.931⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 41🗨️

Feedback

OLEGATOR0270
Apr 21st · 17:36 UTC
Interesting interaction with the remote control. One of the main problems is not intuitiveness, it was not clear at the beginning how and why the interference occurs. + You didn't take any screenshots or description at all.
🎤 deadjolly
Apr 21st · 18:49 UTC
Screenshots are up now. Thank you for your feedback and for playing the game!
GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 19:10 UTC
Hi. Maybe add a cover image for display purposes to your game. You just have the default missing one at the moment.
🎤 deadjolly
Apr 22nd · 03:50 UTC
Cover image added. Thanks for the feedback.
Tappioca
Apr 23rd · 05:30 UTC
Really polished and the mechanics and design all work together to make it really intuitive. Would be fun to see more environmental storytelling.
fimiq
Apr 24th · 03:44 UTC
it looks interesting and there is a certain vibe, but I still haven't figured out what to do with the characters I found.
Matt Swieboda
Apr 24th · 04:13 UTC
visuals and models are all really nice looking! great audio, and feedback for the player breathing/running, i like the spooky vibe and the interference is cool. i keep getting like swallowed up by an invisible monster, is that the signal or the interference, it's hard to tell. pretty interesting though.
FuryOhFury
Apr 24th · 06:28 UTC
Didnt get it. I just go around, get interference and die. Go another way - the same thing. If i'm supposed to look for some items while avoiding interference - i cant really see them
Julester
Apr 24th · 07:28 UTC
Looks good and the audio design is great. I would tone down the heavy breathing in my ears a bit but besides that it sounds good. I couldn't figure out how to progres. So maybe add a bit more onboarding / storytelling to explain what the player is suppose to do.
VerttiXPertti
Apr 24th · 07:41 UTC
Ok I managed to beat the game but it wasn't easy. The enemies felt very oppressive but maybe I respected them too much and should have just ran through. Also after getting 4 dots on each piece I still took a long time to find them. Maybe there should be some hint as to what direction it's at, or there should always be some objects close by, like with the suitcases, although even those didn't necessarily help me find the third piece lol. I was actually about to quit the game but then I accidentally walked over the first one. Was it hidden in a bush? What would benefit the game most in my opinion would be a tutorial-esque first section, maybe on the beach, where the player easily gets to find the first piece so that the objective becomes clear for the player. The graphics and especially the device and its screen were very well made, and the twist on the story at the ending with the plane is cool, if I understood the narrative correctly. The game also was a little spooky with its audio and the monsters chasing so great job!
conduit.games
Apr 24th · 13:33 UTC
It took me long to figure out what was happening and what to do. However, when I figured it out, what a fantastic experience! I realize it's a narrative experience, but I needed a little more information about what was going on at the beginning. Visually stunning, mechanics are solid, sound/atmosphere fantastic. Honestly, reminds me of an Outer Wilds sort of experience. Well done. Cheers!
LDJam user 384829
Apr 24th · 22:29 UTC
Yeah like most others I didn't really know what to do. Even if you had just a small, basic cutscene at the start to explain it would've been much better. The graphics were great though and the mechanics that I did figure out were well done, and I did enjoy it. I'll definitely come back to try and beat it again, but good job!
Cody Raethke
Apr 24th · 22:50 UTC
Thanks all for the feedback so far!

The game is intentionally designed to be a bit of a mystery/puzzle, with the player discovering where they are, why they're there, and what the device they're carrying does. That said, we probably need to make it a little more obvious.

HINT: the device in your hand is the key. Try holding it up as you walk around, and pay close attention to what happens when you press the button while walking around, as well as what you see on the screen!
🎤 deadjolly
Apr 26th · 02:00 UTC
@fimiq We've updated the game, and would love if you gave it another try to see if it is more intuitive now! Thanks for feedback!

@matt-swieboda Thank you for playing! We've added another version that is hopefully more clear now, would love to get a second look from someone who played the 1.1 version.

@furyohfury As mentioned we've updated the game with a second version that hopefully addresses some of your feedback, and would love if you gave it another shot! Thanks for playing!

@Julester 1.2 version has addressed some of the early feedback, would love if you gave it another go. Thanks for your feedback!

@verttixpertti Awesome that you finished it! Thanks for persevering! We've updated the game to try and take your feedback into account. Thank you for the detailed breakdown and we're glad you enjoyed the narrative loop!

@conduit-games That's some high praise, thank you for the kind words! We didn't want to rush the player at the beginning and let them figure out what was going on. Hopefully the new version is more apparent. Thank you for playing!

@pixel-studios We've updated the game 1.2 to address some of the early feedback. Would love if you were able to give it another go! Thank you for the feedback!
Allax
May 04th · 09:22 UTC
Like many games at the jam, this one refuses to communicate what it wants from me. It provides no goal or motivation at all. All I found in five minutes of wandering around the island was pitch black darkness.
BloodCat8090
May 04th · 09:45 UTC
fun game
CiaranW
May 04th · 14:29 UTC
Cool, very moody game! I think I reached the end (there is a cutscene then the game starts from the beginning).

I played the 1.2 version, so I don't know if you changed anything, but I found the game to be quite intuitive. There was a period at the beginning where I was trying to figure out what was going on, but I thought it was quite clear when what I was seeing through the scanner didn't match what I was seeing on the rest of the screen.

I think that you pulled off the atmosphere/horror-esque vibes quite well. It was quite tense. Good length of game too, the core mechanic didn't get stale (but I think if you had more levels without new mechanics it probably would).

I wonder if there should be some reason to not always have your scanner out though, I was almost entirely looking at its screen, and not much else, since that allowed seeing the goals and the enemies.

Great entry though. The sound through my headphones sounded great, the mechanic was fun to discover, and the world was very pretty!
Leophyte
May 04th · 14:59 UTC
Very cute game, I was worried I would be lost but you can deduce how the scanner works easily enough, which is pretty cool. I thought it was a horror game for a second when the first "thing" spawned lol, good thing they're slow
LDJam user 430897
May 04th · 16:48 UTC
Ah, great idea! I liked the setting and the sound, they fit together very well. Regarding the gameplay, I got confused because I walked all over the scenery, dodged the anomalies, but nothing else happened... where am I going wrong?

And if you could rate my game, I'd appreciate it, it has very similar mechanics to yours, haha.
Tetrergeru
May 04th · 20:41 UTC
Wow, insanely cool for a jam! I'm astonished that you managed to do all that assets and audiodesign all by yourself. Cutscene was also quite cool

It's certainly kind of counterintuitive at first. I was relieved that death does not revert all progress though.
SID37
May 04th · 21:04 UTC
I liked the graphics in this game! And the sound design is very well done. But I still haven't figured out why I need a compass.. It is clear that a lot of work has been done!
Alexandr Gerya
May 05th · 14:00 UTC
everyone says this game explains nothing and yeah theyre right but theres something fun about just failing until it makes sense graphics are clean too just wish the monsters werent so quiet
tinykidtoo
May 06th · 21:10 UTC
This is a really pretty game. And thrilling when the "signals" get near. I like the concept, but feel it might be more interesting if the map was smaller. Maybe a boulder or two to block the running straight to the objective. But I really liked the effects on the little screen. It was very clear once I understood what to do. Maybe add a tutorial block right in front of the portal? Overall this is a really well polished game!
🎤 deadjolly
May 07th · 01:27 UTC
@allax Thanks for playing, it was supposed to be a 'discover as you go' kinda game. Played your game, it was good!

@bloodcat8090 Thank you!

@ciaranw Only benefit to putting the scanner down is that you can run away faster ;). Thanks for playing!

@leophyte We'll call it horror-adjacent. Thanks for playing!

@valb-soares The scanner will lead you to where you need to go, and there's something about that portal...Thanks for playing, I will check your game out!

@tetrergeru We get more efficient with every jam :). Sometimes I surprise myself. We didn't want death to reset any progress made, so glad you appreciated that! Thanks for playing!

@sid37 The compass is more flavor than useful, but it does show the way North...Thanks for playing!

@alexandr-gerya Glad you appreciate the discovery aspect to it. We tried to make it as intuitive as possible. Thanks for playing!

@tinykidtoo Yeah we wanted to add more props to the scene but time was a constraint and we did what we could. The tutorial glyph is something that keeps coming up, we'll have to consider that for next time! Thanks for playing!
Itero Proto
May 07th · 15:57 UTC
The graphics are cool and I liked the mini monitor, but I was bored. I don't like walking in games 😊
Alex O
May 07th · 20:02 UTC
nice game, liked it
Shram
May 07th · 20:56 UTC
For me, this game was somewhat reminiscent of *Outer Wilds*—I’m not even sure why. To be honest, you guys are incredibly talented. I loved everything about the game, from the music to the core concept. And the fact that it features such a cinematic ending is simply incredible. I played through the game twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything! Keep up the great work—you guys are doing an amazing job.
Arlius
May 08th · 22:52 UTC
Great game! The visual effects on the handheld device were amazing. Especially the static effect when the enemies(whatever they were) were nearby. The little bit of cutscene at the end had me asking questions and since it leads directly to the beginning of the game again, I guess it's a loop? My only hangup would be that once an enemy is close enough to you, it seemed like running away did nothing but prolong the inevitable. Would jump into a portal again, BOING!