LudumData

Aorta by Cloughd

[raw]
made by Cloughd for Ludum Dare 52 (COMPO)

itchbanner.png Face your past after waking up in a mysterious maze. Navigate your way out and find your daughter. Aorta is a horror game inspired by games like The Backrooms, Outlast, and Slender:The Eight Pages.

How to Play

  • Manage your heart rate! The faster it beats, the quicker it starts to fail!
  • Harvest and transplant new hearts to stay alive.

Controls

  • WASD: Movement
  • Mouse: Look around
  • Shift: Sprint
  • E: Interact with objects
  • Escape: Close the game!

Change Log

  • Forced cursor to confine itself to the window.

Sources

  • Everything that is not the font was made by me during the jam.
  • Font: https://www.dafont.com/quikhand.font

Interesting Development Bits

  • Aorta Post-mortem: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/aorta/aorta-post-mortem
  • Your heart rate increases faster when sprinting. It decreases faster when idle.
  • The heart beat sound in the game is an actual recording of my partner's heart beat. We used an app that records and amplifies the sound.
  • I smashed up a piece of banana in my hand trying to record a juicy heart pick up SFX, just to run out of time before implementing it. Rest in peace.
  • Used an edited photo of myself in the obituary paper pickup towards the end of the game.

Aorta2.pngAorta3.pngAorta1.png

Link https://claytonwastaken.itch.io/aorta
Link https://claytonwastaken.itch.io/aorta
Link https://claytonwastaken.itch.io/aorta
Link https://www.dropbox.com/sh/obspuqgxtxyyset/AADH9pxrMJLIiCLqg2_wrMnKa?dl=0
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/aorta

Ratings

Overall 110th 3.636⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 173th 3.348⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 218th 3.136⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 198th 3.545⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 115th 3.788⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 72th 3.672⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 252th 2.087⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 9th 4.294⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Given 34🗳️ 47🗨️

Feedback

HypernoodleJon
08. Jan 2023 · 22:57 UTC
Absolutely nailed the mood, nice job. the shrine-like interactables were fun to seek out, and I liked how the heartbeat sound effect changed as an indicator of your current health status. Was holding my breath anticipating the spooking jump scare the whole time :smile:
agentparsec
09. Jan 2023 · 00:32 UTC
As the maker of Slender: The Eight Pages, I approve ^^
TiraBlazar
09. Jan 2023 · 02:02 UTC
Not too shabby. I don't know if you did this, but it felt like when I sprinted the heartbeat got faster a lot sooner, which was a nice touch if so.
🎤 Cloughd
09. Jan 2023 · 02:50 UTC
@agentparsec
Wow, thank you! It's an honor!

@tirablazar
Yes! It's designed that way on purpose. If you stand still your heart rate drops faster, while walking will slowly increase it to a certain rate. Thank you for noticing!
She Wrote
09. Jan 2023 · 04:07 UTC
The idea of harvesting organs is interesting, the idea of putting them in yourself is great, specially for a horror game. I didn't have enough time to read the notes, and the heartbeat could be a bit louder, but the game is creepy, and the story is intriguing, well done!
DzejPi
09. Jan 2023 · 06:17 UTC
Love take on the theme, gotta harvest some human organs from time to time as well, not just crops. Great atmosphere and well done with the heartbeat! Two little things - my mouse cursor was visible through the whole game, which was kind of disruptive, I recommend hiding it next time. And would be great if game paused when reading letters. I couldn't read the whole letters due to being chased. But that could be on purpose, when I think about it. Anyway, great job, loved it!
🎤 Cloughd
09. Jan 2023 · 07:56 UTC
@dzejpi I appreciate the feedback!

I believe if you "tab" back into the game, it will hide the mouse. This is an issue I did notice and should have spent a few minutes to figure out. Definitely one of those things going on my checklist before submissions in the future. I agree with the pausing the game to allow more time to read notes and papers. Thanks for playing!
jk5000
09. Jan 2023 · 10:41 UTC
Great atmosphere and the visuals is really good. More sounds would have been great, and perhaps also a bit more story. But anyway overall a pretty well made compo game. Well done.
streq
09. Jan 2023 · 12:52 UTC
I tried playing it with wine (windows emulator on linux) but couldn't get the mouse to capture (it would move off screen while looking around which made it impossible to turn more than 180 degrees). It's probably a wine issue and not a game issue since I don't see this complaint in the comments.

Good atmosphere! If it had a linux export I'd play it fully! currently I can't get too far in it lol.
🎤 Cloughd
09. Jan 2023 · 17:52 UTC
@jk5000
Glad you enjoyed the atmosphere. I think I could have definitely utilized more of my time for sound implementation. Sadly, a banana was harmed in the making of the jam. I recorded sounds of smashing up a banana in my hand trying to make a squishy heart pick up audio clip. Tragically I ended up running out of time before I could edit it and use it! I think in the future I'd definitely prioritize some footstep and interaction sounds. Thank you for the feedback.

@streq
I think this may be the issue with the cursor others have mentioned, it was an oversight not to hide and lock the mouse to the window by default. I believe it has something to do with the window focus.

I appreciate you giving it a shot through wine! I probably should have tried to build for Windows, Mac, and Linux since I didn't have a WebGL option. This is my first entry for Ludum Dare, is it too late to make a Linux build and add it to my page? This was my first time building for Mac and would be interested in learning the process for Linux as well. Thank you.
streq
09. Jan 2023 · 18:20 UTC
@cloughd the rules state "Porting (especially to Web or Windows) can happen after the initial 48 hours. The longer you wait though, the less time participants will have to play your game." As long as you are transparent that the build has no new features compared to the ones already up I guess it's allowed!

EDIT: it also says "Certain Bug Fixes are allowed. You can’t add new features, but if something broke or didn’t work correctly as you were finishing up, you can fix this after the deadline. You are asked to highlight the changes you make in your submission (a short change log). You probably wont get a 2nd chance with some players, but at least it wont be a problem for future players."

Maybe the mouse capture falls into that category?
🎤 Cloughd
09. Jan 2023 · 19:13 UTC
@streq Thanks for the info! I didn't see the old rule page that went into more detail... heh. I've attempted to upload a Linux build as well as a small fix for the mouse capture issue hopefully. I have updated the page to indicate both. Thanks again!
streq
09. Jan 2023 · 23:25 UTC
Finally got the chance to play the linux version! that was stressful, in the good sense! I like horror but I rarely play horror games because I get scared too easily lol, beat it on my third try I think, I really really liked the amorphous monster (and the lack of a jumpscare, thank god lol), the light at the end, the background noise, the different lighting and color when your heartbeat gets higher (which happens gradually enough that it's really only noticeable once reverted by harvesting a heart). My only criticism is that most of the text in the notes and the ending sequence disappeared before I could fully read it, I did read enough to catch the story though, which had a pretty interesting twist. All in all it was a very atmospheric game, and the sound effects were spot on!
🎤 Cloughd
10. Jan 2023 · 00:01 UTC
@streq One thing I learned from making this game is that horror works best when its also intertwined with an interesting story. It keeps players motivated enough to push through. If I could redo things, I would put a lot more emphasis on the story elements and clues. Including more time to read the notes they find. I really appreciate that you've come back to play and enjoyed yourself. You gave a lot of solid feedback to work with. You're awesome!
PassbyKamenRider
10. Jan 2023 · 03:21 UTC
Great vibe and graphics! Sound effects are a bit low to me, I can barely hear the heartbeats, would be better if I can adjust volume. Love the idea of trying smashing bananas for SFX, would do that on my next jam.
🎤 Cloughd
10. Jan 2023 · 06:17 UTC
@passbykamenrider I agree, a simple audio slider or two in a simple pause menu would have done a lot. Not everyone has the same audio setup as I do. Thanks for playing, glad you liked the vibe. :)
Tevin
10. Jan 2023 · 18:25 UTC
Really nice an fun little horror game. I didn't notice that i beat it after the police report, so i played it twice
🎤 Cloughd
10. Jan 2023 · 18:31 UTC
@tevin This is something I had not considered. I wanted it to loop to indicate that the character is in a afterlife loop. Next time I will have the game start again, but have the dialogue change to hint at the character recognizing that they recall being there before and then fading out to a main menu. I am grateful for the playthrough!
Fabian Denter
11. Jan 2023 · 00:11 UTC
Mood and atmosphere are on point, creepy! Well done!
Elgin Ciani
11. Jan 2023 · 02:42 UTC
Very disappointed that you went through the effort to dirty your hands on a squishy banana and I didn't get to hear it due to time constraints. Other than that, nice job!
Fnkee
11. Jan 2023 · 02:59 UTC
Getting lost in long, dark hallways with an unknown entity chasing you? This is backroom alright. Man, I was stressed out from beginning to end. Wonderful work with both sound-effects and overall atmosphere. I would love to get a better look at some of the pages, as it seemed to contain parts of the story (though I suppose it's connected to the epilogue). And not least a great take on the theme.

truly gave me bad flashbacks to playing slender(I see you already got agentparsec's blessing!) and silent hill 1.
Leon Oost
11. Jan 2023 · 10:06 UTC
Liked the creepy mood and the story plottwist was really cool and dark. Well done!
Ale
11. Jan 2023 · 15:19 UTC
Great job on the atmosphere! I actually started feeling tense as the heart rate increased. The papers were hard to read in the short time they were shown, but they definitely added to the experience, along with the dialog. The ending also did a good job of tying things up. Overall, I enjoyed this.

One thing that confused me was that on my first play through, I found the white light almost immediately, then the game restarted. I played it again thinking it was a second level, and then encountered the dark enemy thing, and died, then the game restarted and I realized it's just looping. Idk if the maze is randomly generated, or if I just got lucky on the first playthrough, but restarting the game really threw me off.
astridgoesgamedesign
11. Jan 2023 · 18:35 UTC
Good work! Especially for one person alone, it must be so much work... I love the Heartbeat and the dark theme.
🎤 Cloughd
11. Jan 2023 · 18:45 UTC
@fabian-denter Thanks! Glad you liked the atmosphere.

@elgin-ciani I was a little disappointed too, but I can laugh about it now. Frantically smashing a banana much too close to deadline time was pretty hilarious.

@fnkee Yeah I would definitely change the way paper notes work, and have the player decide when they are done with it rather than a timer. They broke at some point and this was my quick fix to get them displaying again and not remaining on screen for forever. Thanks for the feedback and kind words.

@leon-oost Thanks Leon!

@ale Yeah no true ending is really confusing people from what I have seen. Definitely an oversight in that choice, I would have it load with different dialogue the second time and then have it fade to a main menu or something in the future. The player spawn is random, but the maze is not. Sometimes there's a lucky spawn point where people find the exit without reading the story or facing the monster. I would make it a static spawn point if I could redo it. Thanks for playing!

@astridgoesgamedesign Thanks! The heart beat is one of my favorite parts of game. Happy to hear it did its job well.
John Gabriel
11. Jan 2023 · 19:47 UTC
Quite tense! I didn't play it to the end, but you've certainly captured the vibe of the games you're trying to emulate.
nullval
11. Jan 2023 · 21:05 UTC
really tense and scary, I loved the soundscape. Really nice framing for a horror story that also incorporates the theme :D
Hawkin
12. Jan 2023 · 02:09 UTC
Hey there! Another spooky title!

You had the right idea going in there (mood lighting, mystery, ambient noise). For me, the pacing and wandering didn't sustain the vibe for long. Managing player emotion throughout the story is a challenge (I'm not sure I know how either. Our game was very short!), but maybe making the level a little smaller with a little more detail (so that you had less to decorate) would have kept it up?

I believe I understood the metaphor of the darkness. The problem is that the only way to defeat it (that I understood) was to move slowly, which in this scale of maze, decreased the fun for me. I'm sure any recommendation would mess up your metaphor, though. Still, something to think about!

Thank you for sharing this!
picross
12. Jan 2023 · 05:02 UTC
Really nice graphics, mood, and audio! I got realllly lost tho because I'm kinda directionally challenged lol

Made my way in the end! It would help if there were more "landmarks" throughout the halls to help me orient myself. Nice work!
WitchGF
12. Jan 2023 · 15:40 UTC
That game disturbed on some inner level. I was actually questioning, if my heart beats the same rate, haha
Liked it
🎤 Cloughd
12. Jan 2023 · 23:30 UTC
@john-gabriel Out of curiosity, what was the reason you didn't make it to the end? Was it just the maze concept itself? Gathering feedback and would appreciate it. Thank you.

@nullval I'm glad you had fun playing!

@hawkin A lot of great feedback to work with here. I intend on revisiting this project and making it from scratch while applying the feedback I get from here. I think that would be the best way to capitalize on this learning experience. I am happy that you got the darkness metaphor, I think you're the first to mention it. I might go about it a different way to be less anti-fun. I think I'll aim to upload a new version on itch after the rating period ends. Thanks again.

@picross Landmarks were one of those things on my trello board that didn't get moved to the complete section. I think I would aim to make rooms that have some environmental story telling and having those serve as anchor points for navigating. That and some wall or floor decals hinting at different directions would be cool. Thank you.

@witchgf Thank you. Would have loved to put more time into the heart rate and heart beat audio. Was a lot of fun.
HayriCakir
13. Jan 2023 · 17:25 UTC
Even Among Us is way too tense game for me but still I played this one and got a jumpscare when I turned my head and saw the heart to harvest... Very impressive atmosphere tho. Good job mate!
🎤 Cloughd
13. Jan 2023 · 19:25 UTC
@hayricakir amogus. Thanks for the kind words.
Gabrimer
13. Jan 2023 · 22:44 UTC
Very nice entry! I'm a big fan of the horror ones, and this one was pretty fun to play. The atmosphere was what mostly made me tense up, alongside the fear of being caught by the unknown shadow-y figure.
🎤 Cloughd
14. Jan 2023 · 00:42 UTC
@gabrimer Thank you so much! I'm glad I nailed the atmosphere for a lot of people.
Adrien Tremblay
15. Jan 2023 · 03:00 UTC
Nice first game. I feel like you thought of a good idea here. There is something uneasy about a heart beat going off in your ears. And it's something my team and I used for our LD51 game. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's a jam. And you were working alone so you're not going to be able to implement all the things you want to do. The heart and paper models were nice. I felt like the floor was too bright though. And an actual monster chasing you would have been scarier. Also the maze gets a bit monotonous after a while. Cheers
Echo GameWorks
15. Jan 2023 · 22:49 UTC
Loved the ambience and tenseness of the game! The heartbeat really took it up a notch. Nice work!
island-jam-2-group-3
24. Jan 2023 · 21:14 UTC
Awesome atmosphere! I also was fearing a jump scare during all the time that I played :-P I don't know if you are "safe" while reading the pages and so I didn't take the time to really read them, and I missed a "press to continue" for the the text in the end, so I ended watching a video and pausing it ^^U
JustMars
26. Jan 2023 · 19:07 UTC
Solid horror game, always nice to see them! More jumpscares would have been appreciated, but the lore was decent and the darkness chasing you was well done. Good job!