Trailside Mycologist by klausklapper

made by klausklapper for Ludum Dare 58 (JAM)

Enjoy nature. Take some pictures.

I was far to ambitious with this. The original goal would have seen you explore a national park with lakes, caves, huts, and more, while you scout the country side for different mushrooms. The year is 1990, and you're sent by your employer to take a good picture of any mushroom you can find. Designs for 25 different mushrooms were made, but only 4 of them exist in the game today. Oh well.

Controls

WASD to move around
Right mouse to select objects and take pictures
E to bring out your camera
E or right click to put your camera back again

Versions

The Windows and Linux versions should run straight out of the box. I am unable to test the MacOS build.

Web builds are still very experimental in Godot, even more so when using third party extensions (like a Terrain system (͡ ° ͜ʖ ͡ °) ). I tried a few different approaches, but nothing worked so far, and I'm too worn out to keep digging at this for now.

Attributions

"Easy Lemon (30 second)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Windswept" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

WALKING IN FOREST - 3 by SamuelGremaud -- https://freesound.org/s/466069/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

winter forest NL Giersbergen 200228_0116.flac by klankbeeld -- https://freesound.org/s/508620/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

camera_snap1.wav by thecheeseman -- https://freesound.org/s/51360/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Polaroid Taking Picture by satanicupsman -- https://freesound.org/s/345906/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Original URL

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/trailside-mycologist

Ratings

Overall	242^th	3.708⭐	38🧑‍⚖️
Fun	618^th	2.958⭐	38🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	580^th	2.914⭐	37🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	55^th	4.486⭐	38🧑‍⚖️
Audio	94^th	3.97⭐	35🧑‍⚖️
Mood	12^th	4.5⭐	38🧑‍⚖️
Given		25🗳️	51🗨️

Feedback

hugohil

Oct 07th · 10:43 UTC

Amazing vibe !

evil23

Oct 07th · 10:45 UTC

I like the huge world but it lacks a goal I took some shroom photos but I could imagine something like "discover 10 species" or something. Other than that, the graphics style is consistent and I like the atmosphere. Well done!

Saering

Oct 07th · 11:28 UTC

Really like the mood here, the artstyle is very nice and fits the game perfectly imho.
I wish there were a bit more to do without having to walk a lot before encountering stuff to take picture of, and a smaller world as it's a jam game so I'm not sure a large world really fits the jam spirit. Also, maybe a way of seeing my pictures, zooming the camera in/out, etc. would be cool.
I know time is limited during a jam so it's way easier said than done, obviously, but just sharing my thoughts about what I think would have make it a better entry :)

Anyway, I had a great time! Congrats.

Bracula

Oct 07th · 11:41 UTC

Really nice vibe, and lovely relaxing experience. A few UX things that made it hard to play, but overall congrats on making this cool atmosphere.

knosvoxel

Oct 07th · 11:42 UTC

Very cozy vibe :) really liked the general concept!

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 07th · 11:48 UTC

@saering You're absolutely correct. I was aiming for a total of 15-20 minutes of exploration, but I underestimated the sheer size and effort needed to keep things interesting. I had plans for a progression system, and even a rating at the end. But ultimately I ran out of time. I definitely plan to downscale for the next LD.

Artificer

Oct 07th · 12:21 UTC

What a great atmosphere you've made here. Reminds me a bunch of firewatch. Impressive work for a jam and I see you with those details (nice distant waterfall). I was kinda expecting mushroom detection with the camera but even without in the screenshot and printing mechanic was very nice. The voicing also has no noticeable background noise and the music transition is great! As some notes the mac version does not run sadly, it freezes after loading as bypassing the signing check. As for a web version Godot's Forward+ (i'm assuming because of the bloom) doesn't support it so you need to use Compatibility which doesn't have such nice effects. I know this because my entry was also 3D in godot :upside_down: Nicely done mate!

fkeyz

Oct 07th · 13:20 UTC

really nice vibe and graphics :) cool idea, it still works but would have been even better with more content. more mushrooms, maybe some animals running around every once in a while. things to surprise you!

overall still really nice execution overall.

Ira Baciu

Oct 07th · 13:27 UTC

Camp is such a great vibe ^^

CaptainCorgistan

Oct 07th · 13:29 UTC

Love the sounds and an overall vibe!

Not in the jam size game, but I would like to see all shrooms in game and learn smth about them maybe from some journal of some kind.

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 07th · 16:29 UTC

@artificer thank you for the kind words! Yeah actually the problem with the Godot Web Export stems from the 3D Terrain plugin I'm using, which doesn't seem to play nice with web exports (yet). I can actually get a working web export, but then the terrain breaks. There's some ongoing discussions on the project's github around this, but nothing concrete brought any help so far.

@captaincorgistan There's drawings which were meant for a journal that you'd get to carry with you and that would teach you some things, but unfortunately it didn't make the cut before the timeline.

kolaz koleso

Oct 07th · 17:07 UTC

nice game

Trusty

Oct 07th · 17:09 UTC

Awesome game, this is the first one I didn't skip because no webGL and I'm glad I experienced it. Love a fellow mushroom game. The ambiance is amazing. Thanks for the game.

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 07th · 17:11 UTC

@trusty Thank you so much!

kkh

Oct 07th · 17:48 UTC

Really comfortable vibe, relax game

vydra

Oct 07th · 18:04 UTC

Very comfortable and vibing game.

atsh

Oct 07th · 18:14 UTC

I really liked the fact the the graphics felt hand made - they were simple but very well done

The audio was superb - the voice acting was clean, the song was beautiful, and the sound effects really well done. - the only thing is that maybe the birds repeat too much

I couldn't figure out how to maximize the window, which is a shame in a game like this. Also I tried to figure out if I can see the mushrooms I found and press escape - and it quit the game and I lost my progress

But no bigie, I think I found all 4. Very well done!

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 07th · 18:23 UTC

@atsh Ah I'm sorry to hear that! I didn't realize that the window wouldn't start in full screen - it should have really, but then I realized I always moved it to fullscreen on my system... Still glad to hear you enjoyed it! :)

F13

Oct 07th · 21:35 UTC

It's a very vibe-friendly atmosphere, I wanted to get there.

florianCohen

Oct 07th · 22:12 UTC

Nice game, good job !

LDJam user 379026

Oct 08th · 01:45 UTC

I can see the roots of this but I struggled with loud audio and when I went to open a menu with escape it closed the game on me. I wanted a checklist of the mushrooms/plants to take photos of.

Ciphereo

Oct 08th · 07:32 UTC

The atmosphere is extremely comfortable. I really enjoy the experience this game brings to me. It's very relaxing and very interesting!

Tim Viter

Oct 08th · 08:44 UTC

Great job! It's a very good game.

skale

Oct 08th · 08:56 UTC

Very relaxing game, it gives me Firewatch vibes. The voice acting and all the little details, like the unfinished song near the guitar and tent, add so much charm. The graphics look great and fit the mood perfectly.

LDJam user 280509

Oct 08th · 08:57 UTC

Love the vibe. So great and unique to see a leisurely collector in a hurry game jam lol!

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 08th · 09:27 UTC

@f13 @floriancohen @leo115 @ciphereo @tim-viter @skale @xlores-liang Thank you all very much! 🙌

DazyLude

Oct 08th · 12:54 UTC

Nice and cozy experience, you conveyed the mood really well!

anete ainjärv

Oct 08th · 14:37 UTC

Love the cozy game vibes and the voice acting was immaculate :). I really wish all the mushrooms got added so there was more to do. Very great entry otherwise !!

Adrien Tremblay

Oct 08th · 14:57 UTC

For some reason i first read the game name as trailside misogynist

Ian - Marius Postica

Oct 08th · 20:35 UTC

A nice relaxing game )))

varenka

Oct 08th · 20:37 UTC

Great job! Loved the relaxing atmosphere and music.

BigTasty

Oct 09th · 02:23 UTC

So cozy and chill, very good

Kupnu4

Oct 09th · 11:51 UTC

this game feels like a start to something bigger! a great overall experience. Picture taking animation could be a little faster just to get back to exploring rith away, but it's not a big of an issue. Really love the atmosphere and graphics here, amazing job!

AQtun

Oct 09th · 14:43 UTC

Nice and chill game, I like how you have repurposed the mushroom concept art and used it as a ending screen background at the end.

I have noticed that the grass texture has enabled the texture repeat setting creating these lines above grass:

![ld58_2025-10-09_16-32-42.png](///raw/d59/56/z/6f16a.png)

I would try making a game with smaller scope the next time, I can see some things that could have reduced the scope without making the experience too much worse like replacing/removing camera animations with some simple UI overlays.

Very good game either way!

Discon

Oct 09th · 21:41 UTC

The game has a nice atmosphere, pleasant sounds, and a good concept.

YuRenHuo

Oct 10th · 12:43 UTC

美术风格让人感觉很舒服，很喜欢一开始的营地的场景，游戏节奏也慢慢的，和美术、音乐一样比较治愈

mahalis

Oct 10th · 12:48 UTC

This is almost frighteningly ambitious for a jam game. Lovely artwork and great choice of sounds / music—even without much to do but walk around, I had a thoroughly relaxing time just walking around. Outstanding work.

IRoRoI

Oct 11th · 08:45 UTC

A cool chill game, I made some pictures, it calmed me down better than glycine :)

🎤 klausklapper

Oct 14th · 09:54 UTC

@aqtun Thank you for pointing out the "bug" with the grass texture, I was wondering what was causing this weird behavior. I'll fix this with the first update.

@discon @yurenhuo @mahalis @iroroi Thank you all for your kind words and feedback!

I've started working on an upgraded version with less glitches and more features, but unfortunately work and real life has caught up with me. I'm not sure when I will have the time to produce a more polished experience, but I will notify in this comment section once it's out.

HaaYaargh

Oct 14th · 10:52 UTC

Very comfy game. Reminds me of a slower pace Firewatch game.

I hoped, after an interaction with song text papers, that the character would audibly comment on taking photos of different new mushrooms, or locations. But I understand you can't do everything during a jam :) Well done! :heart:

tinykidtoo

Oct 17th · 23:05 UTC

I really enjoyed this relaxing vibe. It was nice to walk around and take some pictures of mushrooms. I know time is so short in a jam, but I feel like this could go somewhere and want some more. You are great at creating a vibe.