JOHN by LPGhatguy

made by LPGhatguy for LD26 (COMPO)

In the spiritual successor to UNBOUND, JOHN, you play as as young boy caught in a terrible dream. You must escape the nightmare you have formed around yourself or lose yourself there forever.

This game is a very short story game, spanning around 2 minutes. Stereo headphones with deep bass are recommended for the best audial experience.

Additionally, the game runs at 1024x768. I may release a version with a wider aspect ratio, but lack of sleep and time have prevented it in time for the compo.

For Mac and Linux users, head to love2d.org to download LOVE 0.8.0 to run the .love file.

Windows (ZIP)	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/85a2bnsrsjegfat/john-release-3-win32.zip?token_hash=AAEvvvfm4qGmTLMe8H3uyhKFGc0r5ca8tKnlqr3tsOKFZQ&dl=1
Mac/Linux (LOVE2D)	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ld3t72nuqvdlxu9/john-release-3-others.love?token_hash=AAEjVuP_yuXAScGuBRZ3iogfeYXS1UFRw5dv1EF35GDoGw&dl=1
Source	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/1rplxzegk0rp4cz/john-release-3-source.zip?token_hash=AAGwmPNHr0kRnMnbJG6IZMqVVJD4Aa3g4oC2_wd25AnWVA&dl=1
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=14296

Ratings

Coolness	45%	1411
Overall	2.86	888

Audio	3.74	57
Fun	2.26	1141
Graphics	3.33	352
Innovation	2.79	811
Mood	4.12	17
Theme	2.96	1053

Feedback

johnste

29. Apr 2013 · 07:03 UTC

Unfortunately very short, almost felt like it ended where it should've started.

I like the presentation and the horror/insanity stuff was well done!

billknye

30. Apr 2013 · 05:32 UTC

Pretty well done for a relatively short game. The spooky ghost thing with the sound effects was a nice touch.

Cybearg

30. Apr 2013 · 05:36 UTC

I really enjoyed the visual style and I've not seen a horror top-down game like this done before. It's certainly an interesting thing, though, as johnste says, it does feel like it's over just when it's about to start.

William Bundy

30. Apr 2013 · 05:38 UTC

I didn't notice that it was a dream before I played the game. The mood and atmosphere is all there, but to make it simply a nightmare, and not someone's life detracts from the experience.

s0ulcrusher

30. Apr 2013 · 06:04 UTC

As a John those voice clips were especially creepy, nice work!

Ysty

30. Apr 2013 · 21:50 UTC

Fantastic. As others have said, a bit short, but it manages to create a really creepy tone very well.

Nanolotl

01. May 2013 · 02:37 UTC

Interesting. A lot of the fade-outs were just an annoyance rather than having any atmospheric effect.

peaveyj

01. May 2013 · 02:44 UTC

Nice ambiance and audio. The feel of this game is really well established. It reminds me Alan Wake for some reason. Good job!

TehSkull

01. May 2013 · 04:03 UTC

Creepy. GREAT mood. Bugged like idk what though. Definitely fix that movement bit, whatever's causing it.

Alec Von Arx

01. May 2013 · 04:08 UTC

I jumped at one part haha if this was the prequel to some larger epic game, I'd buy the game hands down! Great start!

Goodlookinguy

01. May 2013 · 04:30 UTC

MadMichaelofMetal (using my brother's account)
Short but sweet. I played this game my Ludum Dare Relax Stream and really got into it. Review on the stream.

Phase

01. May 2013 · 12:00 UTC

Wow, creepy! I like it. Audio was very nice. One thing that bugged me a little was the control scheme... maybe I'm just used to WASD but it seemed like I should have been able to move sideways.

🎤 LPGhatguy

01. May 2013 · 23:30 UTC

@Phase:
I had originally had support for strafing, but ultimately removed it in an attempt to keep the player moving the direction they're facing. I'll consider it when making another game with a similar movement scheme.

BarrensZeppelin

02. May 2013 · 09:12 UTC

Very moody, I liked it! (;

TeamEagle

02. May 2013 · 10:32 UTC

I just keep getting gameover and having my movement being stuck in a room, it's the only way to go though. Am I doing something wrong? Or is it a bug.

🎤 LPGhatguy

02. May 2013 · 20:27 UTC

That's the end of the game.

Prelucid

02. May 2013 · 21:58 UTC

Kinda bugged for me a few times. Kept repeating the first thing I looked at multiple times. Don't know why. Seems like some kind of queue was registering presses a lot. But it was really cool with the sounds, screen effects and scary black thing running after you. Etc... Very effective.

acro

02. May 2013 · 22:47 UTC

Creepy and atmospheric, shame it's so short I'd like to have seen more. Good use of audio.

SuperDisk

05. May 2013 · 00:43 UTC

You can play the .love file in browser with the LOVELINESS chrome plugin! Didn't need to download the windows exe at all :)

As for the game: I actually got kinda spooked, and the circle made me flinch. Good work!

Covenant

05. May 2013 · 13:11 UTC

Excelent mood, too bad it was so short, awesome otherwise! :)

little_polygon

07. May 2013 · 05:57 UTC

Spooky!

zkenshin

07. May 2013 · 16:07 UTC

Really good mood. But I did feel you shouldn't be able to keep walking during fade outs (which others have mentioned, may have been a bit long). Nice job though. :)

vrld

11. May 2013 · 11:42 UTC

Wow.

alts

19. May 2013 · 08:19 UTC

Eerie game. Really enjoyed how the audio manages to make you afraid of a blurry round shadow. Very effective sound use. Well done. I was confused at the end. I wasn't sure if I'd done something wrong or if there was a bug.

Puzzlem00n

20. May 2013 · 20:11 UTC

Definitely way too short, but that's a compliment, it's well done. I appreciate that you opted for mouse control to choose a direction. The title screen feels like it should have been typed rather than crudely drawn- you're allowed to use fonts in the LD! Also, there were parts of one level that appeared as if floor, but I couldn't walk to them. Invisible walls aren't fun.