Tenebrous Expanse by WubAlliance

[raw]
made by WubAlliance for LD33 (JAM)
-=Description=-
Drag & release to launch a ball of darkness to swallow up the world. Don't have a lot of time? Notable mechanics are introduced in levels 1 (obviously), 6, 10 and 12.

-=Controls=-
Click on the ball, drag and release to launch. Force varies with drag distance.
[Esc] or [P] can be used to pause the game during a level.
Sound can be muted in the options menu.

-=Music=-
All tracks composed during the jam by our artist Harris Nakajima.
https://soundcloud.com/wuballiance/sets/tenebrous-expanse

-=Programs=-
Tenebrous Expanse was created using:
[Java] -> Programming Language
[Eclipse] -> IDE
[LWJGL] -> Engine
[Ridhvl] -> Engine (https://github.com/osreboot/Ridhvl)
[GIMP] -> Art
[Spriter] -> Animations
[Musescore] -> Audio
[HVLevelEdit] -> Map Editor (https://github.com/AdamuKaapan/HVLevelEdit)
[JarSplice] -> Packaging

-=Authors=-
[Programming] - Adam Krpan / Calvin Weaver
[Art] - Conner Reddick / Calvin Weaver
[Animation] - Conner Reddick / Calvin Weaver
[Sound] - Harris Nakajima
[Level Design] - Adam Krpan / Conner Reddick / Calvin Weaver / Harris Nakajima

-=Post-Jam Changelog=-
[+] Added the ability to drag from any point on screen
[+] Added "Skip" and "Next" button to pause, win and loss menus
[+] Added lines to divide up health bar
[~] Balanced several levels
[~] Converted all audio to .ogg and equalized volumes
[~] Renamed a button in the loss menu
[-] Fixed a bug with level completion via bombs
[-] Fixed a graphical bug with dark tiles

===KNOWN BUG===
Older computers will have problems loading the .ogg files in the post-jam version because of memory issues. If this happens, the jam version uses uncompressed audio and should work.

-=Our Website=-
http://www.wuballiance.com/

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.66 186
Audio(Jam) 3.80 90
Fun(Jam) 3.27 363
Graphics(Jam) 4.00 222
Innovation(Jam) 3.36 259
Mood(Jam) 3.96 69
Theme(Jam) 3.00 830

Feedback

DruhinM
25. Aug 2015 · 06:36 UTC
Liked the style
wg_phancock
25. Aug 2015 · 06:50 UTC
This is a very polished game, great aesthetics and thoughtful gameplay. Was kind of odd starting with level select having all levels available.
nwdg
25. Aug 2015 · 07:05 UTC
Neat music! Liked the concept and the mood!
KhaoTom
25. Aug 2015 · 07:09 UTC
Beautiful.
van noctar
25. Aug 2015 · 07:48 UTC
Good job!!

Really good game, fun and very innovant!
tobbez
25. Aug 2015 · 08:33 UTC
Nice concept. Would have been nice if there was more of a progression.

Please consider using a compressed audio format next time, it's quite large uncompressed.
SeaMonster131
25. Aug 2015 · 08:43 UTC
Nice idea and graphics!
Rocketship
25. Aug 2015 · 10:39 UTC
Like the simple aesthetic of the game, it worked well with the game mechanics and made it feel clean and easy to understand. The audio was very nice, although at times felt somehow too grand against the simplistic style of the game.
raducumiczzz
25. Aug 2015 · 18:12 UTC
aesthetics wise this game rocks. Nice music and concept. Fun and very innovative. Congrats
yokcos700
25. Aug 2015 · 18:19 UTC
So, I like the concept and its various golf-like features. The notion of being some kind of incomprehensible darkness-spreading being is very appealing to me for some reason.

Although I must say that I found the game itself rather boring. After skipping to the last level, I discovered that there weren't too many game changing mechanics added, sadly. That's a pity because I think that with some more stuff there; some more variety to what I'm actually would be doing would be nice. Or maybe all the variety is outside levels 1-4 and the last level, I don't know. I must say that although the menu was slow to respond for me, the animations in the game itself were delightful, and filling in the screen with darkness was really quite satisfying, despite the mundane way in which I do so.
oskardevelopment
25. Aug 2015 · 18:48 UTC
Sweet music, nice art and great mood! Took some time to learn, though was great when you did! I loved that you were able to select the level to play yourself! :)
pixzleone
25. Aug 2015 · 20:02 UTC
wow well done!
awesome music and graphics, well done for 48h!
Jacob123
25. Aug 2015 · 20:16 UTC
I liked this. It was very polished. Didn't look like it was made in only a few days :)
FireTwin
25. Aug 2015 · 20:29 UTC
I really like the idea of a golf-type game collecting dots. This could be pretty fun multiplayer where players compete to get the most amount of dots. It could be quite tactical to take certain dots to screw up your friends :) I also liked how the graphics faded when you collected the dots. Good effort on the music too!
Zerkruemler
25. Aug 2015 · 20:30 UTC
Nice game. However I don't see how this is related to the theme. Okay in a abstact way somehow...
Very cool music full of variety. I would like to advance automatically to the next level and don't get the level select in between. I also don't really see too much of a progress through the levels. Maybe I haven't completely understood the scoring...
Vladirien
25. Aug 2015 · 20:46 UTC
Nice game, loved the art-style and the mood. Good job!
wavegunner232
25. Aug 2015 · 21:29 UTC
very interesting style and very good game
johnhattan
25. Aug 2015 · 21:45 UTC
Very nicely done and playable game. Like the look. It oddly reminded me a bit of "World Of Goo", with the black-n-white graphics contributing to the overall style. Like the music too. The music kept reminding me to keep this one at a slow pace.

Not sure how this game makes me a monster, though :)
MortalWombat
25. Aug 2015 · 22:26 UTC
Nice game!

Presentation wise the game is excellent, but mechanically I think it is lacking.

- There are not enough consequences for bad play. In fact it is really hard to tell when a move was good.
- The mechanics are too simple even when going for a "moody" kind of game. The whole "creating shadows" really should have some gameplay consequences.
- It doesn't really make sense that you have to click directly on the dot to move it when you could start dragging everywhere, really.

I think gameplay wise you guys could have made some bolder decisions and put a little more direction in.

As I said at the top, the presentation is really good. Not much to nag about there.
You should have compressed your audio, over 200 MB is pretty unacceptable.
🎤 WubAlliance
26. Aug 2015 · 00:27 UTC
@tobbez @yokcos700 @Zerkruemler @MortalWombat
Thanks for the input! I apologize for the uncompressed audio. We didn't even have time to equalize the volumes of the songs as we were working right up until submission hour >_> . We are currently working on a post-jam version that will include:
-Equal volume audio
-Compressed audio
-"Next" button on win screen
-"Skip" button on pause screen
-Fix minor level design flaws
-Fix certain level par balancing issues
Mathieu Muller
26. Aug 2015 · 10:27 UTC
Loved the mood of the game. I'll leave a question for the philosophers here: can darkness be a monster? :D
guoboism
26. Aug 2015 · 14:01 UTC
Decent style! A game based on pool? All the details are very polished. The arrange of level numbers are designed. Picked by GB!
qkerguelen
26. Aug 2015 · 17:26 UTC
Very cool Mood, graphics and music! It was relaxing :)
Linus123xbb
26. Aug 2015 · 21:28 UTC
Very fun game, it was interesting to play and I enjoyed the both the graphics and the music. I didn't really find how it fit with the theme but it was a very innovative game! I'd love to see this as a mobile game :)
peecestudios
27. Aug 2015 · 02:26 UTC
Nice Game!
crucknuk
28. Aug 2015 · 00:53 UTC
I love the art direction! The gameplay is aslo great, this is a great entry!
nomand
30. Aug 2015 · 14:03 UTC
the dropbox link doesn't work for me
🎤 WubAlliance
30. Aug 2015 · 14:32 UTC
@nomand Strange... it seems dropbox.com is down right now. D:
superfreak
30. Aug 2015 · 23:04 UTC
Amazingly polished game with a great feel and structure - felt as though there was a sudden jump in difficulty but overall the music was absolutely to die for and the style was breathtaking too.
Drunkteam
31. Aug 2015 · 09:40 UTC
Good idea. A game a little slow for me. Good atmosphere!
LeoM
31. Aug 2015 · 10:11 UTC
The Post Jam doesn't work for me.
The previous one is already looking really nice, but maybe a bit to hard sometimes.
Nice work.
ManuelGF
31. Aug 2015 · 10:26 UTC
Very polished game and nice concept. Good job
Biruts
31. Aug 2015 · 15:15 UTC
Very nice project guys, i really love it, please check our game too and if you liked it give us a vote. Look for Road to hell and enjoy.
walsh9
31. Aug 2015 · 17:43 UTC
Great twist on mini-golf. Loved the music!
Mach60KAS
02. Sep 2015 · 19:55 UTC
Very very long, but a nice golf game (even if I never managed to finish it). I made it up to level 13 before I had to tap out. I really like the art direction and music, and the gameplay is pretty solid. The only thing I really dislike is the use of Par as a hard limit, instead of using Par as the guideline and setting a more lax limit - in a few of the levels, it seemed the par equated to perfect play. I don't see too much connection to the theme, but I really like this game nonetheless. Great work!
Omiya Games
04. Sep 2015 · 00:25 UTC
Felt like another Pool or Mini-golf game. I'm completely unsure how the game related to the theme. I didn't *feel* like I was spreading darkness, or even consuming light. It just felt like another Pool or Mini-gold game with a pretty hard puzzle angle.

I also thought the game mechanics for spreading out the darkness further was cool, but hard to distinguish from one to another. This makes it hard to plan out a strategy, and often boils down to trial & error.

The presentation is awesome, and the music's great! Like the graphics, too. I think sound effects is in order.
Mantlair
07. Sep 2015 · 08:00 UTC
Cant open the zip file on linux for some reason. I'll try on windows in some time i hope.
Geckoo1337
10. Sep 2015 · 06:09 UTC
Great aesthetic and fun game. I liked the concept and the mood. I focused on the music because you showed me MuseScore and it's great. A good entry which I like. Thank you ++
DrZanuff
10. Sep 2015 · 17:14 UTC
Very polished game. Sound it is very good and the effects of the walls really caught my eyes. Good job!
Mantlair
10. Sep 2015 · 22:55 UTC
Very very polished game for LD. Music and graphics were nicely done. If i was the one doing it there would be no cool blackness effects. I guess i enjoy billard lol. (that means gameplay was good) Also background effect took my attention. I think thats called Voronoi Diagrams. On non-grid spaces. Anyway, Well Done!
Wertle
12. Sep 2015 · 22:07 UTC
Resident UI expert in my group when we streamed this really liked the spiral level select menu :) (Extra points for instant retry option). I really liked how you gave this game a lot of character and mood with the visuals, the little touches like the idle sucking in of particles and how the darkness expanded made it feel ominous. It made it feel like it had some story to it and not just a minigolf game. I wish there was feedback to tell me that I couldn't grab the character while it was still moving, some visual change on it or whatevs. I think the mood could have been pushed even further with some sound effects, especially in the spreading of the darkness. There was a lot of content for a jam game, so I appreciated you calling out which levels introduced new mechanics, it ramped up fairly nicely to the point where you started to have to make perfect shots. Nice work!
Divitos
13. Sep 2015 · 18:28 UTC
This was a surprisingly polished entry. Congrats on that for sure. As for the gameplay I really liked it, but it did seem to get a little monotonous after a while, though I never found it effected my experience that much because the concept behind the game kept me hooked.

Overall a very good entry!
Dining Philosopher
13. Sep 2015 · 22:47 UTC
Very nice and polished entry! The music is great and the gameplay is clear, fun, zen and addicting. :) Well done!
Erkberg
14. Sep 2015 · 11:00 UTC
A very nice take on minigolf. I love the atmosphere, the smooth and beautiful visuals and especially the music. A great game overall!
Jupiter_Hadley
14. Sep 2015 · 11:50 UTC
Love how smooth the game feels. I included it in part 30 of my Ludum Dare 33 Compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/aghqdpQgwgA