Mindlayers by ImNotVegan

[raw]
made by ImNotVegan for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

Mindlayers

A journey through the deepest folds of your own mind.

You were called by something within — a voice long ignored. Now, you've stepped inside. Each level is a layer of your psyche. Each step forward, a deeper understanding of yourself.

Mindlayers is a short, atmospheric first-person walking simulator about introspection, transformation, and uncovering hidden patterns of thought. Traverse surreal landscapes born of memory, logic, and abstraction, guided only by fragments of your inner voice.

Controls

Move: WASD or Left joystick

Look: Mouse or Right joystick

Interact: Left Mouse Button or West Controller Button (X on Xbox / □ on PlayStation)

Tools used:

Game Engine: Unity 6000.0.34f1

Code Editor: Rider 2024.2.7

3D Modeling: Blender 4.1

Image Editing: Paint.NET & Gimp 3

Audio Design: Cakewalk (sound effects), Udio AI (music), Audacity (Recording)

Ratings

Overall 770th 2.974⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 858th 2.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 688th 2.842⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 599th 3.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 654th 3.158⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 395th 3.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 575th 2.447⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 463th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 85🗳️ 26🗨️

Feedback

slow chaz
08. Apr 2025 · 15:47 UTC
hmm I'm having trouble accessing the download link! edit: was able to download it with the itch link!
xoudz
08. Apr 2025 · 15:49 UTC
good job
🎤 ImNotVegan
08. Apr 2025 · 15:49 UTC
Use itch.io link, for some reason ludum dare link doesn't work and I don't know how to fix it
🎤 ImNotVegan
08. Apr 2025 · 15:51 UTC
I added a second link, it works for me
un_kirik
08. Apr 2025 · 15:55 UTC
A long unskippable intro, tedious walking sections, and it's hard to figure out what to do or where to go with those slow-moving platforms.
Though the visual simplicity is appealing and the game stays true to its theme.
StupidHobbit
08. Apr 2025 · 16:27 UTC
Great entry! The segment with the space jumps was really good, despite it being a bit challenging for me personally. The first level felt a somewhat slow for my taste. It would be cool if players could move while reading the introduction text, rather than having to wait. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable experience!
Sam Gorman
08. Apr 2025 · 16:36 UTC
I like the idea of exploring abstract 3D dreamscapes, but I found the gameplay disconnected from the theme. The game is also really slow and tedious, which was made worse by some pretty significant performance issues. There's some potential here, but I think you'd need more engaging puzzles and much sharper pacing.
Sarah Upton
08. Apr 2025 · 17:46 UTC
i like your take on depths, its very creative
infecsean
08. Apr 2025 · 22:22 UTC
Mood feels good and it already feels established at the start. But for me the text was a bit weird.
![mindlayer.png](///raw/0b1/f3/z/6b8fd.png)

Also, idk if it's just me but the game seems to lag when i tried to jump off at the start there and respawning crashed my game.
Silas Reinagel
15. Apr 2025 · 03:03 UTC
I love the atmosphere! The music, sound and visuals set up a really cool world and mood.

The pacing of the game could use a little evolving. I like the concept of the puzzles, but the walking/jumping sections seemed to be very long without offering much experience or novelty. An elegant puzzle lets you, once you have solved it, move on swiftly to the next section/part with minimal entry. Here, even once the puzzle is conceptually solved, some of the puzzle required significant time to enter (jumping puzzle, four-color combination lock). My favorite puzzle with the four pillars with the symbols. I like that it contained everything needed to solve right there, and also that one of the natural first guesses, is not actually the answer. I liked that one. I also like the non-linear approach of requiring the player to counter-intuitively jump in a deep hole. That is a good kind of mental puzzle.

I love what you're started here. Would love to play an evolve copy of this. I'm a massive fan of first-person puzzle games... and the mood you've set here is truly unique and beautiful!
oeueGHa
18. Apr 2025 · 04:48 UTC
Too long distances here, i'd like to have a sprint.
HolyBlackCat
20. Apr 2025 · 14:04 UTC
Doesn't work in Wine sadly. Gets stuck with black screen on startup most of the time. When I get past that, the shaders bug out (see below). The text seems to be clipped by the bottom of the screen too.
![1.png](///raw/3d1/z/6c5a1.png)


I get a lot of the following warnings in the terminal:
```
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008B52230 needs 40 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008B6B550 needs 39 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008B80970 needs 37 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008B96060 needs 42 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008BAF890 needs 45 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
0214:fixme:d3d:wined3d_context_gl_bind_shader_resources Shader 0000711008BD0DC0 needs 42 samplers, but only 32 are supported.
```
🎤 ImNotVegan
20. Apr 2025 · 18:29 UTC
@holyblackcat linux build is in itch.io link
HolyBlackCat
20. Apr 2025 · 18:52 UTC
That works, thanks. Will take a better look at the game tomorrow...
Igor Korobeinikov
20. Apr 2025 · 19:35 UTC
Like the graphics of a first level
And the rest of the game too
benjamm
22. Apr 2025 · 06:54 UTC
Well done! I really like the atmosphere and visuals. Some sections felt a little long when you're running/walking but I must say this a great take on the theme.
I_POTS
24. Apr 2025 · 16:29 UTC
Interesting game! Very cleverly combined with the theme!
Joror
25. Apr 2025 · 19:42 UTC
Excellent visuals and mood, was drawn in immediately. The levels are pretty smooth and aesthetically very pleasing. Excellent job!
I can see people getting stuck and becoming frustrated a bit, but I was very zen through it all. 🙏 I'll take the next step.