Conversion by Spiridios

[raw]
made by Spiridios for LD26 (COMPO)
Minimalism in this case is minimal senses. This is a sound-based game and the only visuals are messages telling you what your tactile senses would tell you. You need to locate things based on their sound until you get close enough to feel them. You will need stereo headphones or speakers in order to locate items.

NEW! There is now an HTML5 build thanks to Kevin Gadd adding support for panning to JSIL so quickly! I have only successfully tested it in Chrome. It may work in Safari. It does NOT work in Firefox due to Firefox not yet supporting the Web audio API. I put a bit of detection code in the page, so if the audio API isn't supported you should get a big red message saying so.

Note, the initial sound is supposed quite loud, and you should be able to hear every sound thereafter. If you hit a point and can't hear the next goal, your sound is probably turned down too low.

Hints:
There are two endings, you can decide if either is a "win" or not.
The controls are first-person - left/right rotates you, up/down moves forward/back.
Sounds are slightly quieter when coming from behind.

It's much shorter than I had envisioned, but the core idea is there.

Tools used:
Visual C# Express with XNA
JSIL
Tiled (there is a map behind the game. If you get really frustrated you can make it visible by editing the map.)
Audacity
A Belkin TuneTalk stereo recording adapter for my iPod classic

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.38 352
Audio 4.00 23
Fun 2.82 700
Graphics 2.19 1165
Humor 2.32 487
Innovation 4.25 10
Mood 3.86 46
Theme 4.25 46

Feedback

manabreak
29. Apr 2013 路 04:50 UTC
This was something quite unusual. Kudos!
badlydrawnrod
29. Apr 2013 路 19:51 UTC
You have the beginning of something really, really good. This would be a great game to play on a phone, in the dark, with headphones on, but rather than pressing keys, you take steps to control your character.
馃帳 Spiridios
29. Apr 2013 路 21:21 UTC
@badlydrawnrod I'm planning on trying a monogame port which opens up the possibility of an Android port. Though I can just imagine people falling down stairs trying to play it in the dark though. :P
hgouveia
30. Apr 2013 路 00:04 UTC
it reminds me the all text adventures game :D
Cheshyr
30. Apr 2013 路 00:04 UTC
Excellent.
Pitzik4
30. Apr 2013 路 00:15 UTC
This was great, proves the importance of audio in video games. Was I supposed to die at the end? More importantly, was I supposed to shoot everything that breathes? I'm not really sure, but I think that not quite knowing if you could have made a different choice is a good thing in games.
Furyhunter
30. Apr 2013 路 01:51 UTC
Spent a lot of time rather confused, but nevertheless was able to complete the game. Interesting concept to play by the idea of sound.
Bevilacqua
30. Apr 2013 路 01:57 UTC
I liked this, it was very different i liked that.
nathanj439
30. Apr 2013 路 02:00 UTC
Really unique idea. Nice job.
lightnarcissus
30. Apr 2013 路 06:07 UTC
Unique concept that goes surprisingly well along with the theme.
dark_hunter
30. Apr 2013 路 07:48 UTC
Very interesing idea!
Cosine
30. Apr 2013 路 21:00 UTC
Sounds like a great game. Won't run, complaining about Direct3D. Either way, like the originality.
馃帳 Spiridios
30. Apr 2013 路 21:51 UTC
@Cosine - what is the exact error message and which OS are you trying this on? Is the XNA 4 runtime installed? (second link above). Hopefully either I or the JSIL developer will make some headway on getting panning support in JSIL so I can have an HTML5 version up.
nintendoeats
01. May 2013 路 00:33 UTC
I've seen one other game that was along these lines (ON the XBLI a couple years ago), but I think this one gave much better feedback. Assuming that you came up with more mechanics I think that there is a full game in here.

I'm not really sure what was going on at the end or why I was expected to do what I did.

I do really wish that it was full screen so that I could have full sensory deprivation. I was closing my eyes, but it would have been nice to have my screen go completely black so that I could see the text when it came up.

Also, multi-channel support! I have 4 speakers, I want to use them!
Nezzhil
01. May 2013 路 21:11 UTC
Incredible use of the proposed theme. 4/5 overall score.
dapierce
02. May 2013 路 05:52 UTC
Awesome idea and executed really well. The sound effects tell enough of a story to carry it, and require you to fill in a lot of blanks, and it made me feel very tense through part of it. Well done!
Armix
02. May 2013 路 07:40 UTC
It was quite a unique experience and haven't played any game quite like this one. Excellent consideration of the theme. It would be awesome to have an awe-inspiring quality of audio design if you choose to develop a post-compo version. Otherwise, very nice!
Prelucid
02. May 2013 路 21:09 UTC
Strange game. Not in a bad way.
Ryusui
03. May 2013 路 03:27 UTC
Excellent. Short, but made great use of its premise. By any chance, is there more than one ending? Because "Game Over" suggests I screwed up by shooting the guy at the end.
zatyka
03. May 2013 路 04:11 UTC
That was pretty cool. Definitely a very interesting experience.
馃帳 Spiridios
03. May 2013 路 04:45 UTC
@everyone who asked about the ending, I've added a hint to the entry description that mentions that there are two endings. Thanks everyone for the great comments!
little_polygon
03. May 2013 路 04:58 UTC
Echoloco! :D
dick_claus
03. May 2013 路 05:02 UTC
Perfect idea, but really hard to play.
Jesse111
03. May 2013 路 05:09 UTC
That was slightly creepier than I thought it would be! Very inventive take on the theme. Very high rankings, I give!
@SamPotasz
03. May 2013 路 21:15 UTC
Immersing and difficult :)
Super Hamster
04. May 2013 路 04:03 UTC
Interesting concept.
dalbinblue
04. May 2013 路 04:23 UTC
Interesting game and excellent use of sound. I'm unfortunately not too good at this game (found some items, but had difficulty interacting).
BlennosoftGames
04. May 2013 路 04:43 UTC
Cool idea and definitely takes the Minimalism theme to an extreme. One thing that might be helpful is to let the player know if the movement is top down or FPS-style. For example, when I hit a wall, do I hold left to turn around then hold up to walk forward for awhile, or do I hold left instead of up to walk left instead for awhile?
Ragzouken
04. May 2013 路 08:28 UTC
It's really fun playing all the different games that did limited vision - everyone has a different take on it. Yours is the most similar to mine that I've played so far, your sounds are much nicer, but I can't tell what kind of movement scheme is being used (left/right to turn or to move?).
Dir3kt
04. May 2013 路 14:26 UTC
That's very funny how you create a mental representation of the surrounding. Good job!
馃帳 Spiridios
04. May 2013 路 17:45 UTC
Thanks for the comments! I took it for granted that the controls were obvious. :P Movement is FPS-style. I added two more hints to the entry description to help with this.
_Ziemowit
04. May 2013 路 20:40 UTC
Cool idea (maybe because it's similar to mine ;P), but on headphones i hear the same sound in both left and right ear ;)
馃帳 Spiridios
05. May 2013 路 02:40 UTC
@_Ziemowit - which build did you try (Web or Windows?) If web, which browser and version so I can test it. The Audio API code that the web build is using for panning is bleeding edge, so it might have some issues. It's only known to work in Chrome 26 or better and it's known NOT to work in Firefox.
Cybearg
05. May 2013 路 21:36 UTC
Very well done!

This isn't the first blind game that I've played in this LD, but this is the only one that I enjoyed. The implementation of sounds that you're drawn towards with written feedback is a superb and elegant implementation.

Still, I'd like to see the idea expanded upon somehow so that there's more to it. Something to consider after the Dare is done.

In any case, well done!
HD408
06. May 2013 路 01:00 UTC
Quite a fearsome experience. First I shot someone, and then I just lost. The game flow is very short, but intriguing and interesting.
tankete
10. May 2013 路 03:52 UTC
Unique idea. Not easy to play, but fun. Great job!
davidwparker
14. May 2013 路 21:10 UTC
Didn't see to run on OSX Chrome.
Cosine
15. May 2013 路 00:16 UTC
Really great game, really creative. 5 stars for Innovation, Theme and Mood.
馃帳 Spiridios
15. May 2013 路 05:49 UTC
@davidwparker I'm not quite sure what you mean by "didn't see", but you could try it in Safari - it's supposed to have the Web Audio API that's being used for sound. I don't have access to a Mac to try it in.
Brassawiking
19. May 2013 路 17:36 UTC
I found the sound, but kept hitting a wall, so I did not know how to continue. The stereo sound worked quite well.
馃帳 Spiridios
21. May 2013 路 22:03 UTC
Thanks everyone who voted me up to #10 in innovation!