Vanitas I by ProgrammerPony

made by ProgrammerPony for LD31 (JAM)

Vanitas is the first game of the Vanitas Saga and is about collecting Gems while avoiding the inhuman enemy lurking in the underground while making use of your ability to become invisble.

WASD or ArrowKeys to move
Space to become invisible
Return to use ladders
M to mute/change music tracks (please listen to all 4 tracks!)
Other important stuff is in the Tutorial ;)

Language: VB.net
Source code may follow later on when it's cleaned up.

Note: Attached .gif is from an older version

Windows	https://www.dropbox.com/s/0yd1ecthvjwp670/Vanitas%20I.rar?dl=0
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=43889

Ratings

Coolness	74%	3
Overall(Jam)	3.02	674

Fun(Jam)	2.79	698
Graphics(Jam)	3.26	507
Innovation(Jam)	3.02	518
Mood(Jam)	2.98	547
Theme(Jam)	2.79	932

Feedback

Hellequin

08. Dec 2014 · 21:42 UTC

I like the concept! well done! ^^

Andrea

08. Dec 2014 · 22:21 UTC

Cute game! I wish we could see the map more clearly, at least the part we already visited, because it gets a little frustrating to find those gems when you don't see much of what's going on around you :(
Good work though!

🎤 ProgrammerPony

08. Dec 2014 · 22:36 UTC

@Andrea but then its may too easy :) you have to remember the ways , else it wouldnt be a game with the magic touch that let you keep it playing

borgi

08. Dec 2014 · 23:29 UTC

I liked the idea, it was a bit hard to contorl for me, maybe if I could see further a bit more. Cool music also! Good job! Very moody!

SpartanIceCream

09. Dec 2014 · 23:54 UTC

Nice

asobitech

10. Dec 2014 · 09:16 UTC

not too bad at all.

joppiesaus

10. Dec 2014 · 14:46 UTC

Cool game. I find it very frustrating that your view is so small and you need to find something, but that's just my opinion. I found myself longer searching than actual action, so maybe a little more action is good.
Very polished, nice music, good mood. Nice work!

Creative Sectors

10. Dec 2014 · 16:17 UTC

Well, I like the stuff, except the maps are painfully large. The sight range wouldn't be a problem if the maps weren't so painfully large without much variation.

On the other hand, the game stops working quite often. I'm not going to consider that as a bad point, it's obvious that a 72 hour project won't be stable, but it is a bit frustrating. I just couldn't finish the game in dozens of tries before it stopped working.

Keep up the good work and have fun!

🎤 ProgrammerPony

10. Dec 2014 · 18:02 UTC

For us the game always ran without bugs, can you tell us when they appear?

oskardevelopment

10. Dec 2014 · 19:30 UTC

Nice cartoonish art and a good start! Thanks for the game and Merry Christmas!

d3garcia

10. Dec 2014 · 19:51 UTC

It is a very good idea for the game. Personally I didnt like how it moves at the beginning I didint understand I was moving, but overall I like it a lot

cxsquared

11. Dec 2014 · 13:31 UTC

The limited vision was kinda cool but made things confusing sometimes. A map might have been cool. Overall nice work.

ViliX64

11. Dec 2014 · 18:53 UTC

It's complicated, yet still fun :)

Demy

12. Dec 2014 · 19:14 UTC

I like the atmosphere of an old-school rpg games. Cute graphics, it has nice details. But it becomes a little bit boring after couple floors, it needs some more mechanics.

peeweek

13. Dec 2014 · 13:25 UTC

This game is quite similar to my compo entry, and also very different, since the goal is to collect gems but the progression and rythm are opposed. A very interesing project since the strategy in order to progress through the maze seems rather clear at first by the shortsight really tightens the strategy to force yourself to explore every corner of each floor.

Very cool entry.

Vladik Plays

13. Dec 2014 · 17:12 UTC

Hi again.
I can't play the game on windows too. ;(

OctoTeam

13. Dec 2014 · 21:11 UTC

Good game idea and nice graphics :)
I want to see how this Vanitas Saga progresses, any twitter to follow?

🎤 ProgrammerPony

13. Dec 2014 · 22:01 UTC

sure @programmingpony

🎤 ProgrammerPony

15. Dec 2014 · 17:40 UTC

@Vladik: any errors or anything else when starting it ?

tudd

16. Dec 2014 · 00:42 UTC

I didn't really like it, sorry. The view was too limited for me to see what I was doing very well, and the gameplay itself amounted to walking around and hoping you stumble into a gem. Opening up the view (a lot, by like 5 squares) might help with that.

Nevertheless, the graphics, music, and story are really nice! I'm interested as well to see how this plays out.

istlemin

17. Dec 2014 · 20:11 UTC

Really nice game! Feels polished and the graphics are great. Don't know how well you followed the theme though, but I guess the whole game is on my computer screen :)

maxmetallica

28. Dec 2014 · 03:01 UTC

nice works