Solace by kazukishida

[raw]
made by kazukishida for LD26 (JAM)
Edit: Fixed framerate issues! It should be much more playable on slower machines now. The game is still identical to the last build. :)

Edit 2: Online web link up! You can play in-browser now!

Edit 3: Super post-jam version posted!
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For our first LD entry, Solace is our attempt to create a simple, first person, sound-centric game about finding solace in a world of noise. We wanted to experiment on very simple gameplay that focuses on sound, ambience, and music, and less on visuals.

Sadly, real life and work misestimation led to a severely crippled and extremely short game. (if anyone is kind enough to try out our game, you'll see what we mean)

Still, we couldn't take not submitting our hard work for the Jam (and by the gods I hope we make it), so here it is. Please have mercy on us! D:

Expect this game to be developed further after the LD, as we really had lots of fun creating this!

Please feel free to comment for any issues on playing the game! Any comment or rate would be appreciated. :)

Thank you! We love you all. <3

Developers:
. leafarz
. neegool

Sound Design:
. kazukishida
. neegool

. music by kazukishida


[Credits:]
. ambience and sound effects from freesound.org
. Tascam CVPiano VST (http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=382)

. our supervisor, Sir Jeff, for helping out on framerate issues even though this is outside of our work. Thanks, Sir!

Ratings

Coolness 66% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.15 266
Audio(Jam) 3.72 66
Fun(Jam) 2.64 374
Graphics(Jam) 3.79 119
Humor(Jam) 1.71 374
Innovation(Jam) 3.15 222
Mood(Jam) 3.68 68
Theme(Jam) 3.72 111

Feedback

SaintHeiser
30. Apr 2013 · 09:36 UTC
Oh. The visuals somewhere similar with my entry =)
I like outlined style, and I found the "Solace" =)
stromchin
30. Apr 2013 · 10:56 UTC
Interesting concept. Reminds me a bit of Devil's Tuning Fork. Perhaps a bit too short to fully demonstrate the potential of the concept.
Merkoth
30. Apr 2013 · 13:19 UTC
I liked the concept and the looks. Maybe a little too short.
Gremlin
30. Apr 2013 · 15:33 UTC
Nice.

I'd have liked it to be a little longer, or to have a little more to explore, but the concept is solid. The soundscape is very effective in conveying a sense of place...if you do more with it, you could easily have the player walk through a whole host of environments entirely defined by their sounds and little suggested glimpses of geometry.
evilDan
01. May 2013 · 01:29 UTC
Nice little game - I really dug the aesthetic and the mood of environment. Would like to see where this goes if you continued to iterate on the idea.
Andrew Shouldice
01. May 2013 · 02:33 UTC
This feels so nice, and it leaves me wanting more.
r3d5
01. May 2013 · 02:44 UTC
Dig the visuals!
savethejets1
01. May 2013 · 04:10 UTC
Cool stuff, I dug the art style :D
Super Hamster
01. May 2013 · 04:13 UTC
The game was too easy as I completed it very quickly and felt like there was no challenge, but it has potential. Good luck for the future ludum dares.
CherryNukaCola
01. May 2013 · 04:14 UTC
Love the concept and the aesthetics fitted it beautifully. Thanks!
Alec Von Arx
01. May 2013 · 04:15 UTC
I felt like a ghost wandering around a city of living people that I couldn't see, only hear distantly. Strange game but I really really liked it. Nice job!
CrazyGage
01. May 2013 · 04:18 UTC
I like the audio and visual style. Interesting concept
Taro Omiya
01. May 2013 · 04:18 UTC
Loved the game. The general mood is excellent and thought-provoking. I would love to see more.
Julian Ceipek
01. May 2013 · 04:24 UTC
Great concept! I'm glad another team decided to make an audio-based game (although you took it in a completely different direction). This is a solid tech demo of the idea, with a neat visual and audio style, but it lacks consequence beyond that which the player assigns it (which, I admit, is an interesting concept in and of itself, but maybe deserves to be its own game -- who knows?). Nice work; I'd love to see where you take this!
PabloAlexandre31
01. May 2013 · 04:27 UTC
Pretty Gameplay. I Like the way as game occurs. Great Job!
Martin_Monosys
01. May 2013 · 07:54 UTC
Cool idea, I likes the visuals and the soundtrack, really good. But the game is awfully short, I guess you really ran into trouble that weekend that you cound't expand on the ideas... what a shame! Still cool! :)
xdegtyarev
01. May 2013 · 10:07 UTC
Nice little game. Sound effect were superb. Stylish!
🎤 kazukishida
01. May 2013 · 12:46 UTC
Everyone, thank you. No, really, thank you. <3 Your responses and comments make our hearts overflow with gratitude. Our last-minute decision to push through with joining the LD Jam despite real life telling us to give it up feels worth it. <3

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@SaintHeiser, we tried your game out, you did much better than us! Thanks for playing :D

@stromchin, thank you! The Devil's Tuning Fork is much more awesome than ours -- and we have to admit, we only discovered the title because of your comment. :'D We hope our game didn't feel as dark, though D:

@Merkoth, thank you! We hope to find the time to develop this concept further. :'D

@Gremlin, thank you! <3 That was our initial development plan, actually -- to create rich soundscapes, making the player imagine the place rather than see it. We will definitely take this to heart in this game's future development. Thank you!

@evilDan, thank you! :) We hope we'll we able to deliver a more complete experience the next time around. <3

@Andrew Shouldice, thank you very much! <3

@r3d5, thank you <3 <3 we initially thought it would be disorienting, but we're glad the response has been positive overall :'D

@savethejets1, thank you! \:D/

@Super Hamster, we feel that too, and we'll strive to address that in our game's future development. :'D Thank you, and hope to see you in future Ludum Dare's! We'll definitely be in the next one <3

@CherryNukaCola, thank you! <3 <3

@Alec Von Arx, yes! that was one of the things we were aiming for <3 we wanted the player to feel as if he wasn't completely part of the city, that the visual and auditory noise dulled and reduced his senses and feelings of self worth. In a way, we wanted the player to feel like a ghost -- just like you did! Thank you very much! :D

@CrazyGage, thank you! <3

@Taro Omiya, thank you! :D We wanted to create a thought-provoking experience, and we're glad we had some success at doing so :'D

@Julian Ceipek, thank you very much! <3 We tried out your game too :D though we didn't have an Oculus Rift, the experience was amazing and immersive. <3 You're right about the direction of our games, though -- we wanted a more soothing experience with ours. And you're also spot on with describing our game as a tech demo, as it still lacks solid direction and intent. We'll be glad to share our game once we get to develop it more, though! Thank you once again! :)

@PabloAlexandre31, thank you very much! <3

@Martin_Monosys, thank you! <3 <3 yeah, we did ran into quite some trouble during the weekend :( we weren't able to meet, all collaboration had to be done online. The Internet connection in our country sucks in general as well, so voice and video collab tools won't work effectively. Match that with conflicting schedules, and a theme we fought hard with, and we weren't able to do much. :(
Still, we're very glad the LD community has been so nice to us. It's a really heartening experience. Thank you Martin! <3

@xdegtyarev, thank you! :D <3
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To everyone who commented, we'll try our hardest to play and rate each and every one of your games as gratitude. <3

Once again (and we don't think we'll get tired of saying this), thanks a lot guys! We love you <3

-- kazukishida, leafarz, neegool
Roan Contreras
01. May 2013 · 13:24 UTC
This game reminded me of "Devil's Tuning Fork" as I play...
It has a nice concept and gameplay... I like it :D ... Great 3d game...
GranaDa
01. May 2013 · 14:26 UTC
Digging the art style, also the sound was great!
ddionisio
03. May 2013 · 02:48 UTC
Wow really cool! Best atmospheric audio I've experienced thus far! Plus the visual style fit so well! I wish it didn't ended too soon.
little_polygon
03. May 2013 · 20:54 UTC
Less intimidating than Antichamber ;)
MinionStudios
08. May 2013 · 14:55 UTC
Wow! great work! the audio and the simple edges make this unique and awesome.
Sylvain.p
15. May 2013 · 18:40 UTC
Nice sound design and nice post process. A bit short, because it's cool.
🎤 kazukishida
25. May 2013 · 13:25 UTC
hey guys i think it's a bit [reaaaallllyyyyy] late to tell you this but the group and i very much appreciate your comments especially trying our demo/sample/sub-mini-half-demo-sample [whatever you call it :))]!

it's our first joining here and i'm sure this won't be the last! we will get back to this game once everything calms down on our part and try to consider the things you guys said to improve the game.

i also enjoyed the audio LOLOLOL. i thought it was an open source i didnt notice the "music by kazukishida" part :))))). just sayin :))

btw we tried the games you told us they were realllyyy cooollll especially antichamber (didnt play just watched lol). very mindblowing.

we also tried your games and they were awesome too!

hope to see you guys again next ld event!
thank you guys again! gg!

~leafarz [i used kazu's account btw lol and im the one who rated some of your games too with this acct. he told me to let you guys know]