A "Ding" In The Dark by yoko-san

[raw]

made by yoko-san for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

⚠️ Info for browser version: If the camera rotates automatically, switch to fullscreen mode! ⚠️

(And apparently the browser version doesn't work well on mac 😂)

A "Ding" In The Dark!

By: - Daniel Kilianski (Programmer & Game designer) - Florian Simon (Music composer)

"A Ding In The Dark" my first LudumDare game.

I think it turned out quite well. However, due to lack of time, I had to skip a few game mechanics.

I will add this in a future release :smile:

So, is this a horror adventure? Well, it depends! The real horror lies where you least expect it...

If you're ready for an everyday, open-ended horror trip, download "A Ding In The Dark" and leave me a comment! :grin:

But remember, sometimes the truth hurts a lot :stuckouttonguewinkingeye:

Controls: - Movement: WASD - Looking around: Mouse - Interacting: Mouse

Programs used: - Unity - Audacity - GIMP

Additional assets used: - For 3D assets: Simple Office Interiors (Synty Studios) - For soundeffects: Ultimate Sound FX Bundle (Sidearm Studios) - For character controller: Mini First Person Controller (Simon Pasi)

Icons: - Rubbish bin icons created by Freepik - Flaticon - Contact icons created by Freepik - Flaticon - Arrow icons created by Freepik - Flaticon - Save icons created by Freepik - Flaticon - Printer icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

If there are 2 files for download, please use: ADingInTheDaryLD51final2.zip

Link	https://yoko-san.itch.io/a-ding-in-the-dark
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/a-ding-in-the-dark

Ratings

Overall	817^th	3.278⭐	47🧑‍⚖️
Fun	971^th	2.922⭐	47🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	627^th	3.25⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Theme	592^th	3.636⭐	46🧑‍⚖️
Audio	383^th	3.489⭐	47🧑‍⚖️
Humor	295^th	3.395⭐	45🧑‍⚖️
Mood	305^th	3.739⭐	48🧑‍⚖️
Given		47🗳️	67🗨️

Feedback

Sofy

03. Oct 2022 · 23:52 UTC

Im so happy someone made a horror game :D

MarcoDeevil

03. Oct 2022 · 23:54 UTC

very nice, clean game!

🎤 yoko-san

03. Oct 2022 · 23:54 UTC

@sofy please don't expect too much :D

LDJam user 202408

04. Oct 2022 · 00:05 UTC

well that was... weird.. lol. the first and second part of the game are like completely different games lol, I really love the 3d models and how cute they look despite the horror vide, also didn't understand what to do with the emails at first, it's not obvious that you can drag and drop. anyway, great game!

🎤 yoko-san

04. Oct 2022 · 00:32 UTC

@marcodeevil thank you :)

🎤 yoko-san

04. Oct 2022 · 00:34 UTC

@0x-void-x0 yes, i know :) i wanted to present a twist ;) the real horror in life is repetition :)

thebmxeur

04. Oct 2022 · 13:02 UTC

I wish there was more challenge, it seemed pretty easy once I got the hang of it. I stopped playing because it didn't seem to change over time.

🎤 yoko-san

04. Oct 2022 · 13:57 UTC

@thebmxeur thank you for playing 😀

Yes, I had ambitious plans for this game, but there wasn't quite enough time.

As already mentioned in the description: I will soon submit an updated version with more game mechanics ;)

Sheepolution

04. Oct 2022 · 20:48 UTC

It's funny we made similar games! I'm not sure if I got the full experience? I answered the emails for a while but nothing else spooky happened. There were some mails about replying, and I wasn't sure what to do with those. I like the vibe though, and the many emails gave some stress. Good job!

🎤 yoko-san

04. Oct 2022 · 20:59 UTC

@sheepolution thank you for playing! :D

Yes, that's really funny! But that shows that many people have experienced such problems in real life. Our games are therefore socially critical! ;)

As mentioned earlier (description and other comments) I had to skip some planned game mechanics to finish at least "something" before the deadline.

I will try to update the game later this month :)

BougieBirdie

04. Oct 2022 · 23:19 UTC

The ambience is so moody and then the second part of the game is so cute, it's such a contrast to each other. Like, the office is so moody that it's making me anxious, and the cuteness of the emails made me think something spooky was going to happen.

I'm looking forward to see what happens next!

paloobi

05. Oct 2022 · 00:15 UTC

I really enjoyed the gameplay. I think could have used some in-game tutorial to explain that the emails could be dragged and dropped. Once I realized how it worked, I enjoyed it! I think it would be nice if there were some escalation in speed over time or difficulty ramp of some sort - maybe they could start coming in batches, or if you were able to reply you might get replies at the same time as new messages? Overall, really liked the tone and mood, and really loved just listening to the jazzy elevator music :) Great work!

milq

05. Oct 2022 · 11:26 UTC

Spectacular mood and setting, music also accompanies everything. The game is well-round made and I give my congratulations because it has had me absorbed. Maybe at first I got a little lost regarding what I have to do. However, great game!

🎤 yoko-san

05. Oct 2022 · 23:42 UTC

@bougiebirdie Thank you for playing! :D I wanted to create a contrast between booth parts of the game. I'm glad you liked it! :)

🎤 yoko-san

05. Oct 2022 · 23:46 UTC

@paloobi Thank you for playing! :)

Apparently some players are having problems with the drag and drop feature.
I had mistakenly assumed that this would be totally obvious...

Well, I'll definitely add a little bit of information about this game mechanic.

After the next major update the game should be more varied and challenging :)

🎤 yoko-san

05. Oct 2022 · 23:49 UTC

@milq thank you for playing! :D

I'm glad you liked the mood I created. I really like making the environment feel alive :)

macs

06. Oct 2022 · 03:16 UTC

Really nice mood you've created with the camera and lighting, and the fantastic music ties it all together.

I found myself wishing I could interact with the cool environment more by doing well or slacking off at the email game, but I understand you didn't have time to implement all that you planned. Looking forward to seeing your updates.

You're right our games are quite similar at the core. Funny so many people chose to relate to this topic, each with quite a different mood though!

WobbleBlocks

06. Oct 2022 · 08:40 UTC

Was pretty awesome! I got fired pretty much immediately on the first try! Great entry!

Demigiant

06. Oct 2022 · 17:53 UTC

Brilliant concept. I would've loved to discover some mystery hidden in the [half-spoiler] things you move around, and I guess that would've probably be the plan if you had more time, but for a 48h game this is great and, most of all, surprised me.

Guilloteam

08. Oct 2022 · 08:04 UTC

Brillant! I love the fact that the start of the game sets you up in a horror-ish mood with clever use of the genre's tools. And then, it gets even more scarier hahaha (for me who is afraid of all this mailing thingy, this is litteral hell xD ). Good job on the entry!

Tero Pulkkinen

08. Oct 2022 · 15:18 UTC

nice lights and tons of different 3d models in the scene. I managed to just walk around, dunno what you can do other than walk around. But the office printer seems to be running out of paper.

Akkara

08. Oct 2022 · 15:42 UTC

Really cool idea, I like it!

dxk2294

08. Oct 2022 · 16:36 UTC

Haha I was waiting for the ball to drop and something horrifying to happen in the second half. You did a great job setting the atmosphere :slight_smile:

fosf0

09. Oct 2022 · 17:36 UTC

I like the mood and atmosphere of this game! Only have some issues in the HTML version :(

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:17 UTC

@macs Thank you for playing! :)

I'm already working on the next update and today I added the first elements to interact with :)

I hope this will make the game a little more varied!

Of course, the jam version (for the rating) remains unaffected.

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:19 UTC

@wobbleblocks Thank you for playing! And congratulations on escaping this hell ;D

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:24 UTC

@demigiant Thanks for playing and the compliments! ;)

Yes, I would have liked to add more features, but unfortunately as a solo team you have to make compromises somewhere.

But, I'm already working on an update with new features! ;)

P.S.: Thank you for DOTween! The plugin is really a big help! :D

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:29 UTC

@guilloteam Thank you for playing and for the feedback! :D

I'm glad that I was able to implement the atmosphere I had in mind in such a short time :)

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:33 UTC

@tero-pulkkinen Thank you for the feedback! :D

Didn't you try to interact with the turned on computer in the corner of the office? :sob:

If not, I would be happy if you would try it again! :D

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:34 UTC

@akkara Thank you very much! :D

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:35 UTC

@dxk2294 Thank you so much! :D

I have done my best to create an authentic office atmosphere! ;)

🎤 yoko-san

09. Oct 2022 · 20:38 UTC

@fosf0 Oh nooo! :(((

Yes, the browser version has a few flaws. That's why I actually prefer the download version...

What problems did you have exactly?

Ehon

11. Oct 2022 · 19:26 UTC

To everyone's surprise: it worked all well and smooth in the browser for me (using Firefox). Really moody and interesting take on the theme, the gameplay was also nice and the e-mail text was both real and funny :D Really cool entry and congrats on solo jamming!

epeachyband

13. Oct 2022 · 04:07 UTC

You made really good job finishing game on the weekend!
Lovely sound design and visual make me feel comfortable in your game.
Even if it is mail man simulator:)
Awesome submition, thank you for publishing!

🎤 yoko-san

13. Oct 2022 · 10:48 UTC

@ehon Thank you very much for playing! :)

Yes, I was a bit shocked at first, because the game is running so well as WebGL build!
Never tried it before, but it seemed quite necessary for getting some ratings :D

About the email texts:

I had planned to pay much more attention to the email content, but unfortunately didn't have enough time.

To my surprise, I didn't find any emails in my spam folder that I could simply copy & paste into the game! :(

🎤 yoko-san

13. Oct 2022 · 10:51 UTC

@epeachyband Thank you very much, and thanks for playing my game! :)

It's really amazing how much atmosphere a few sound effects can create! Never underestimate SFX and BGM! :D

Douwe_Ravers

20. Oct 2022 · 11:58 UTC

Crazy how you built an entire 3D environment just to end up playing a 2D email game. Cool concept!

LDJam user 263763

20. Oct 2022 · 22:43 UTC

I like the graphics and sound effects, I get some points working with the inbox lol, very bussy job, maybe need some other tasks with more action, I enjoy it, nice work!