Soul Harverster by MarcoMing

[raw]
made by MarcoMing for Ludum Dare 52 (JAM)

This game was our first attempt to create a game using Unreal engine, we tried to enable the online multiplayer feature using the free gameId from steam: "SpaceWar", but we couldn't test it. Therefore we are not sure if this entry support multiplayer correctly.

Intro:

This Project was inspired by the Irish Folklore faerie "The Sluagh". These creature are said to hunt only during the nights and collect the souls of hopeless people are are usually seen with and sometimes confused with crows. In this Game, you take control of the King Sluagh and the shoot your underling from a cannon trying to harvest all the souls in the park before dawn.

Screenshoot 1.png

GamePlay:

WASD / Arrows to move the King Sluagh

Left click / E / SpaceBar to shoot the Sluagh

Mouse Position aim the cannon

Credits:

MarcoMing -> Programming coordinating the project

Gab3Disaster -> 3D models and animations

Maxuleny -> Music and sound effects

Screenshoot 2.png

Ratings

Overall 750th 2.821⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 757th 2.5⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 724th 2.643⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 629th 3.286⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 681th 2.724⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 352th 3.19⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 504th 2.643⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 718th 2.81⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

lucisaurus
09. Jan 2023 · 20:02 UTC
Well done, looks great! :D I love how goofy all the characters are
Riesyeti
10. Jan 2023 · 12:32 UTC
Cool game! Would like to try out the multiplayer with others :D

Was it intentional that it starts up SteamVR? Does this have a VR mode?
🎤 MarcoMing
10. Jan 2023 · 16:41 UTC
@riesyeti thank you so much for the feedback :) actually it wasn't ahahah no idea why that happened :P
Cez02
10. Jan 2023 · 17:04 UTC
Very goofy little game, pretty fun, although the controls feel more like controlling a tank rather than a riding devil.
alekhoz
10. Jan 2023 · 17:21 UTC
Pretty good, I liked the character models and the music is cool! I did not read the description before launching it and was very surprised when steam offered me the "remote play together" function :D
dod108
10. Jan 2023 · 17:24 UTC
Honestly, it's not fun. But thats ok, given the fact that it's your first attempt with this engine. I'll give you some feedback, I hope it will be helpful. (I played singleplayer only.)

First of all, I'm not sure if I understood it correctly, but you have to collect all souls in order to win, but they disappear and never come back. If that's the case, then it's not a good design: you lose when you miss your first soul and then what's the point of playing after that. But I could be wrong with this one, maybe it works slightly differently, please correct me if I got it wrong.

The movement is too sluggish in my opinion and the projectiles have far too short range to be satisfying. Try different settings to get it right. It's not easy, but making movement and shooting satisfying is very important (and rewarding if you get it right!) is such a games.

The graphics is generally nice, except the weird lighting. But the "default-looking" GUI makes it much worse and it looks just lazy. Try to draw even very simple HUD (seeing your 3D models i know you can!), experiment with different fonts etc. and I guarantee that the game will look much prettier.

The audio is nice, I don't have any issues with that.

I noticed a bug: shooting using mouse works only once or twice and then stops working. There's no such issue with E or space. Sometimes camera glitches too.

I hope it's helpful and not too harsh.
LDJam user 252856
11. Jan 2023 · 07:38 UTC
The concept of a multiplayer pvp arena for a party type game would be fun. I imagine the gameplay would fit the style well. But the game is not complete. It is very janky and the gameplay is not enjoyable. While being multiplayer would incentivize competition you have to give the player more drive as well. Like adding obstacles or parkour to get some ghosts or even puzzles. It could be an enjoyable game but needs a lot more work. The music is enjoyable.
osh.studio
11. Jan 2023 · 12:05 UTC
Good job for making something in the unreal engine, I always find it a bit tricky since I'm very used to Unity now. Im inspired to make an unreal game myself. Well done :)
LDJam user 276121
11. Jan 2023 · 12:11 UTC
Nothing that hasn't been said before above. Ambitious concept and the art/music assets are good but the finished product feels unpolished and the game feel is very unpleasant/janky.
🎤 MarcoMing
11. Jan 2023 · 15:46 UTC
@dod108 Hi! thanks a lot for the feedbacks! unfortunately I am aware that the game is lacking in different aspects, it was my first time using unreal and spent more time that I would like to admit in understanding/ find the right documentations pages, however it was a good learning experience! don't worry I really appreciate your constructive criticsm and hopefully with some practice the next entry will be better! regarding the disappearing ghost, I apologise if it wasn't clear, but if you move away from them they reappear :)
🎤 MarcoMing
11. Jan 2023 · 15:49 UTC
@osh-studio it's very different, and I have to admit that trying to work in Unreal C++ for the first time with such a short deadline was a little crazy! ahaha
Exezur
11. Jan 2023 · 17:06 UTC
the graphics are awesome!
smashcrate
11. Jan 2023 · 17:54 UTC
The music and models are A class. Wish the controls and gun were little more polished. There are some bug like hidden collision boxes and gun rotates to left/right randomly, but that's just due to small time frame during jam. I only played the single player, but multiplayer could be fun with this concept, you guys might have to add different types of weapons, a few good maps etc. But it is a good start, really enjoyed :smiley: .
Blueanoli
11. Jan 2023 · 17:57 UTC
Nice concept, I really like the sound design. Controls are a bit wonky and left click to shoot only works the first time.(E and Spacebar always work)
DzejPi
11. Jan 2023 · 17:57 UTC
Interesting take on the theme! And impressive that you were able to pack the multiplayer into it. I think dod108 said everything that needs to be said. But I have to say that you're very brave to try to tackle a beast that is Unreal on your first try. I was unsure about using 3D in Godot, and I've been familiar with that engine for quite some time, so your bravery definitely inspires me. Keep going. :)
fullmetal_automaton
12. Jan 2023 · 02:00 UTC
Hey, I finally found the other soul harvester.
The music here goes pretty hard and I like the models.
Xeke-Death
12. Jan 2023 · 10:21 UTC
Left click for shooting didn't always work, but I found spamming e/space worked really well. Needs some more polish in the graphics/level design area. Didn't try multiplayer.
Diana Shuke
12. Jan 2023 · 18:24 UTC
the graphics,animation,music and character design is amazing and unusual.
Althou the controls were confusing, need some improvement for sure, but overall -very promising game <3
Sarah Alexa
14. Jan 2023 · 14:51 UTC
Nice entry! Multiplayer is a very ambitious thing for a jam, let alone online multiplayer! A nice and simple concept for gameplay that's easy to understand and I liked the audio!

I did have a few issues with the aiming not working for me and left click only working occasionally. I had to centre my mouse cursor just above the player character and then only aim with movement keys and space to fire. With aiming, I noticed the ghosts disappear every time the projectile character hits them from the side but dead on it worked perfectly!

For the level I think I would like it if the level was a little more condensed but with 20-30 seconds less time but tbh, not really an issue and it was quite relaxing to play. Well done!
Mickxe
14. Jan 2023 · 16:25 UTC
Overall, good job! The collisions on the trees could use some tweaking, I'm guessing it's the basic collision UE makes on import, so it made a big capsule/box around the whole tree model, which makes you get stuck in thin air around them.
Altron
15. Jan 2023 · 13:39 UTC
Nice! I did like the general vibe of the game! The 3D models are great, just the lightning felt a little off. Also the sounds were really good and fitting. As to the game, I have to admit I didn't understand well what was happening - some souls required multiple shots, but disappeared after the first shot with the same effect as the ones requiring just one shot - because of that I at first thought that I got them after the first shot, which wasn't he case.
sergio_nikol
15. Jan 2023 · 15:36 UTC
Nice game. But I stuck sometimes near trees. Also you need to do something with lights.
jk5000
15. Jan 2023 · 18:33 UTC
The gameplay is okay, but I wish there was a bit more to do. The visuals is okay, and the sound effects is pretty good. I liked the games atmosphere and humor. Overall an okay jam game.
DFaouaz
24. Jan 2023 · 14:13 UTC
Cool game! I had a pretty good time playing it! Great job!