Running Blind by Balloonsfor600

[raw]
made by Balloonsfor600 for LD29 (COMPO)
This is my first Ludum Dare and it was a blast. I think it came out pretty well. I spent last week creating a rough framework for a hex game in Phaser. I had a bunch of strategy game plans for many of the other themes.

When the theme got announced as Beneath The Surface my plans did a complete 180. I ended up going with Unity and absolutely everything was built this weekend.

This was my first time ever doing sound and music. I found it an interesting experience.

Anyhow, this is Running Blind, an endless runner set underground (beneath the surface). You play as a hapless amnesia-stricken adventurer named Erik. Press space to jump and left shift to brighten your lamp to ward off ghosts. Watch your lamp's oil level in the top left. It will recharge after a point, but there's a delay, so don't get caught by ghosts with a dim lamp!

Ratings

Coolness 88% 2
Overall 3.19 544
Audio 2.81 534
Fun 3.30 330
Graphics 3.60 297
Humor 2.67 400
Innovation 2.45 999
Mood 3.29 313
Theme 3.19 623

Feedback

tiffi_gaming
28. Apr 2014 · 02:26 UTC
Wow beautiful. Hard but beautiful :D I had fun!
SteveSalmond
28. Apr 2014 · 02:30 UTC
Love the atmosphere you've created! Definitely getting a subterranean vibe from this one. Nice work :)
MattV
28. Apr 2014 · 02:35 UTC
EAT FLASHLIGHT BLOBBY GHOST FIENDS!
PapyGaragos
28. Apr 2014 · 12:28 UTC
Hey congrats on your first LD!
What did you use for the music?
Covenant
28. Apr 2014 · 18:50 UTC
Very pretty! Good job!
🎤 Balloonsfor600
29. Apr 2014 · 00:21 UTC
Thanks all!

@PapyGaragos - I used Bosca Coil by Terry Cavanagh http://distractionware.com/blog/2013/08/bosca-ceoil/

Super awesome tool.
Artylo
29. Apr 2014 · 07:23 UTC
Really nice game, the music is a bit repetitive, but all in all a very nice piece of work.
Xeke_Death
29. Apr 2014 · 08:29 UTC
Looks good.. I liked the sliding after hitting something, thats a good touch...
Lizzip
29. Apr 2014 · 11:29 UTC
Nice game. I really like the visuals and how you took the existing premise of an endless runner and added the lighting aspect.
SIMON_SIMON
29. Apr 2014 · 12:16 UTC
Nice and fun little game ! It's a bit addictive :P

The music is a bit repetitive.
javifugitivo
29. Apr 2014 · 21:33 UTC
Yeah, great entry. The graphic combination is interesting and works very well with the lightning engine. Simple but fun, nice game!
IAmSpencer
29. Apr 2014 · 21:40 UTC
nice simple idea, lots of fun. The graphics were good, and the lighting was a nice touch. Would be fun to play on a phone, great job! :)
sP0CkEr2
30. Apr 2014 · 03:58 UTC
nice job on your first entry. i really enjoyed the game. it would be nice to have just a wee bit more light. nice job.
lukepilgrim
30. Apr 2014 · 11:59 UTC
challenging,simple and fun! I liked it!
raulincze
30. Apr 2014 · 12:15 UTC
Is there any way to avoid the ghosts? I could only find the jump button but that gets me nowhere.

Anyway, I love the graphics and mostly the colour pallet that you have chosen.

This was my first LD too, and while it was an interesting and fun experience, doing music and sound for the first time was really frustrating for me. so I ended up without a main theme song for my game.

Really good entry! Nice job!
SoupWithBits
30. Apr 2014 · 12:29 UTC
The menu music is looped weird. But the in game music is perfect wouldn't even be able to tell it was a first time. Overall you set the mood perfectly and difficulty in light of flappy bird is decently frustrating. Well done!
Jupiter_Hadley
30. Apr 2014 · 23:06 UTC
Simple but fun game! I included it in part 4 of my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :) http://youtu.be/as-BlCZWXm0
Garris
01. May 2014 · 02:17 UTC
This was very well done. I'm a little surprised at how few endless runners I've seen so far this LD, and I love a good endless runner. Good job!
Thorig
01. May 2014 · 06:56 UTC
Love this game. Maybe it is a bit too dark for me, but fun to play.
Lucio
01. May 2014 · 19:05 UTC
Very challenging. Lovely visuals!
kirbytails7
03. May 2014 · 03:24 UTC
Very nice. Good first LD game!
(As it happens, I also made an endless runner, if you'd like to take a look.)
Sim00n
03. May 2014 · 15:05 UTC
The graphics are amazing for a 48 hour production. I love the simplicity of this concept and I genuinely played a couple of times instead of "moving on" to rate other games. The one thing I couldn't figure out is why does the play move back in the camera window and how to bring him back forward? Great job!
🎤 Balloonsfor600
03. May 2014 · 15:24 UTC
Thanks everyone!

@Sim00n - he does that when he hits the corner of a pit just right. It reduces his velocity for a few frames (unintentionally). Post-compo, I have a plan to fix this without removing it (I kinda like the stumble, but he needs to get his butt back on screen as quickly as possible).
BrothersT
03. May 2014 · 15:29 UTC
Lovely little game, after getting the hang of it, its quite addictive! Artwork is great, especially the background and lighting. Erik is quite endearing! Its a little repetitive.
BrothersT
03. May 2014 · 15:33 UTC
Nice simple game, got a big jumpy framerate at times, and I'm on quite a fast PC. Very charming :)
ElStevo
03. May 2014 · 16:00 UTC
The art is beautiful ! I like that the character is so big in the screen ! good use of the space :)
bebopbraunbaer
03. May 2014 · 16:08 UTC
haha, nice game! the dying sound sounds like a fart though : D and the background music is catchy but to short to be heard longer than a minute i think : D

still great work and a fun game! Looking forward to your next one
Cake&Code
03. May 2014 · 16:27 UTC
I definitely played it quite a few times to try and get further so you've got the fun factor down. I did feel like dodging the rocks was too hard because it was only a fraction of second of time you'd have before they messed you up. Maybe I'm just not very good at it :)
hbocao
03. May 2014 · 17:38 UTC
I'm not a fan of runners, but you made a good job. I really liked the art and lighting.
Gamepopper
03. May 2014 · 20:30 UTC
Like the designs. Good job!
GarethIW
04. May 2014 · 09:32 UTC
Simple, fun, hard. Nice visuals!
CoderMusgrove
05. May 2014 · 02:29 UTC
Wow this was a lot of fun! After ever loss I found myself replaying it, and not with any anger built up! The feel given to it was amazing. My favorite part were the visual effects. The music and sounds that you had in it just fit great! Great job!
Cambrian_Man
06. May 2014 · 05:16 UTC
I'm terrible at endless runners, but a good, solid entry.
JavadocMD
06. May 2014 · 17:19 UTC
A solid entry with some good artwork. I think it's tricky tying the difficulty of the game to screen brightness. I got the feeling that if I could crank the brightness of my screen any higher I'd do a lot better, especially dodging rocks. But darkness is kind of your theme, so I'm not sure of a good way around it. Perhaps having a very sudden fall-off in brightness at the edge rather than a more linear fall-off. Or perhaps putting a "calibration" screen in there to have some standard for the brightness setting you're supposed to play at. Anyway, just some thoughts for how to improve things, but overall well done!
PIXEL^3
07. May 2014 · 05:00 UTC
Takes a little getting used too and once you do it feels a little repetitive tbh. jump, jump, flash. The rocks are a little annoying to spot as well. Getting rid of ghost though was a rewarding experience and I wish it had more things like that.

~AlucardX60
Cirrial
09. May 2014 · 00:24 UTC
Nice little runner game here. Seems like the player character is a little big for the style of game but runner games are not my field of expertise. Atmospheric!
Pitoum
14. May 2014 · 18:41 UTC
Very hard but nice mechanic with the lamp :)
wschorn
19. May 2014 · 02:24 UTC
cool game, I had fun playing it and think you should do more LDs!