Ludum Dare 20
April 29th-May 2nd, 2011
Theme: It’s Dangerous to go Alone! Take this!
More Info: Ludum Dare 20 Has Begun! (Keynote), Theme Voting Results.
Don't Go Alone - pgil - Competition Entry
Finished just in time.
You want to visit Grandmother before she dies. However, the road is blocked, so you must take a detour through the woods. A stranger has offered to help you...
(if you download the source, make sure you copy "alone.xm" and "pgild.ini" from the windows build)
View pgil's journal. | View all entries by pgil
Ratings
![]() | Overall | 4.23 |
| #4 | Theme | 4.19 |
| #4 | Audio | 4.10 |
| #5 | Graphics | 4.42 |
| #11 | Fun | 3.87 |
| #25 | Innovation | 3.81 |
| #34 | Coolness | 14% |
| #69 | Humor | 2.95 |
| #69 | Community | 3.22 |
Comments
I just draw the entire screen to a surface, then draw it three times each frame. The first time I draw it normal, without interpolation. The next three times I draw them with additive blending and interpolation on, one colored red, one green, and one blue, each one offset one pixel from each other. I also cycle it so their positions and alpha values are slightly different every other frame. The scanlines and darkened borders are just a single image drawn on top of everything.
Nice! I love the CRT effect and the music added a great ambiance. The main characters movement was a bit jittery (which is odd, because everything else moved smoothly).
I found the game quite easy, but that didn't bother me at all.
Did you try going through the game without the stranger's help? You'll have to find a shortcut.
Amazing work of art. The scanlines were a nice touch. I felt that the Stranger was genuinely creepy, and chatter was unsettling (and a bit funny), his stealing the potions adds to his menace. Nice color pallet, music, sound, and gameplay variation (hidden paths, his upgraded shots hurt). Needs checkpointing. Did not make it to the end, still love it. Many stars coming your way.
Great game, love the visuals, the slightly haunting music, and the great use of the theme. The stranger was really odd, which really added to the atmosphere.
I really liked this game. The graphical effect is excellent! I must try it out some time. Didn't really understand the ending though
Really good idea, and excellent implementation! The stranger is getting damn creepy esp. when he tries to keep you from the potions and starts hitting you.
A checkpoint at the river would've been nice, I didn't really feel like starting over again after getting killed.
Visually stunning, very well executed and a nice take on the escort mechanism.
The twist was the kicker. Great work!
The art, sound and gameplay are all relatively simple, but what really brings it up is the fantastic presentation in terms of visual post-processing and filtering on the sound, lovely!
It was a perceptual experience!
Amazing game.. very simple but with the visuals, very attractive...
*spoiler*:
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.. I tried to run away from the stranger and he started going insane.. WHERTE DID YOU GO? I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!!
Amazing game.. very simple but with the visuals, very attractive...
*spoiler*:
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.. I tried to run away from the stranger and he started going insane.. WHERTE DID YOU GO? I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!!
ok I tried again and now I went with him and he just killed me instead:)
I think it would have been more dramatic if the stranger was death and you would be the one leading him to your grandmothers house:)
*spoiler*
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sorry about the double post.. How do you get the normal ending ? I tried searching for a way to avoid the stranger but the best I could do was run away from him?
I got 'there is no escape' ending.
How do you get the 'normal' ending?
It was cool, I loved the effects, and the music was suitably spooky. The concept was also pretty neat :)
I played this expecting that there would be some way to get away from him, but I couldn't find any shortcuts. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
Graphical style is very cool.
This is great! I love the screen-effects and the ambiguity of it all.
I did however only later saw I had a health-bar. It's gettting obscrued so small in the upper corner.
Nice graphics (especially the crt effect, felt like an old c64 game). Also good to see a couple of bosses. =)
Good job!
One of my favorites. Love the art and screen effect that remind me of 8bit games. Congrats.
loved the mood. great work, it's definitely one of my favorites so far!
Favorite LD game so far.
You absolutely nailed the aesthetic (both the retro bit, and atmosphere). Great execution. Having the shots slowly switch over was a nice touch.
Simple, solid atmosphere, nice little plot. This is the game I wish I would have made.
Excellent game. Great interpretation of theme, perfect mood-building. Graphics are simple but consistent. Love the mechanic and how it inevitably changes as you progress.
Magnificent screen-drawing as has been remarked.
I guess somehow I was hoping for the creepy stranger to either BE grandma or to become som Shyamalan...ian twist; the grandmother and stranger representing the ultimate within the domains of light and darkness, the daughter called hitherto to receive responsibility for the future of the balance of the whole of existence (count the of's; lots of them) and the stranger the dark presence of the world intending to stop it... and so on.
Regardless of my expectations, this went far and beyond anything I'd expect of a 48 hour deal. Very nice.
Ape head guardian statues are awesome. So is the presentation overall. Like it when there's a hint of tension in the relationship between player and companion, getting hit by friendly fire. I half expected that to escalate into some kind of showdown, but it was still enjoyable. Length is just right, doesn't drag on too much before it ends and has enough exploration and discovery to be interesting all the way. Gameplay itself is very minimal though, of course. If one were to expand on the game, I'd look into more actions for the player. Like maybe luring creatures in a more elaborate way. Or trying to pick a bouquet of Grandmother's favorite flowers/mushrooms while being harassed by all these spiders and snakes.
I like the twist on the escort mission idea. Nice job. I died a couple of times on the final two boss things, which was frustrating. I didn't seem to get much of the story either, as when I got to the house, I briefly got an image of inside the house, then the game exited. From the other comments, it sounds like you put some interesting story features into this, but I wasn't able to find them.
@elbowroom *spoiler
I thought the stranger was Death, and that's not really a spoiler but it kinda is so whatever
This was lovely. Music and visuals really did it for me. Some people have hinted at alternative ways of playing like avoiding the stranger? I can't figure out how to do this; he always starts following me. Any hints?
COMPLETE SPOILER!!!
Whether you make it without the "stranger" who is actually trying to kill you (likely to be death) he teleports, and both endings he is in the window ready to kill you and grandma!
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I love it. I would love to know how you achieved that graphical effect.