SEMILUCID by curtamyth

[raw]
made by curtamyth for LD35 (JAM)
In SEMILUCID your goal is to remain asleep while being tormented by nightmares in a procedurally generated dream world. To do this you must collect items within the dream which will eventually allow you to become lucid and consume the nightmares. Check the readme for more details!

Controls:
Enter to start game.
Arrow Keys to move.
S to toggle sound.
Double ESC to quit.

Please play with caution if you are photosensitive.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.37 415
Audio(Jam) 3.67 151
Fun(Jam) 3.26 438
Graphics(Jam) 3.44 476
Innovation(Jam) 2.89 683
Mood(Jam) 3.72 140
Theme(Jam) 3.04 759

Feedback

Ryan Kline
19. Apr 2016 · 03:04 UTC
I loved this game! I loved the backgrounds and the gameplay was very solid. It had a really defined mood and I liked that. Good enemy design with the different types of enemies. Great job!
Geti
19. Apr 2016 · 03:08 UTC
Interesting enough, but not something i was compelled to play a lot of. I enjoyed going around and "cleaning up" the maze after collecting the trinkets.

Probably no fun for anyone with epilepsy or similar.
02fc.exe
19. Apr 2016 · 07:43 UTC
Holy shit, I love this game! Really like dope graphics and audio :3
Ayawaska
19. Apr 2016 · 17:01 UTC
Cool pacman game with different types of ennemies and some exploration. Nice background visuals and audio.
Jimbly
19. Apr 2016 · 17:12 UTC
On my second try I got through a couple dreams, once I realized which weird symbols I should be walking over and which I should not =). Most enjoyable part was the clean-up at the end. Rather trippy background graphics!
Blobo
19. Apr 2016 · 21:24 UTC
Wow this was trippy! It was quite an interesting game.
Drusilla
19. Apr 2016 · 21:36 UTC
Wow, this is gorgeous!
samlo
20. Apr 2016 · 00:32 UTC
Solid entry! I played 3 levels or so. It's hard, but I really like the visuals and the psychadelic-yet-eerie feel you've got going on. 5/5
Skruffye
20. Apr 2016 · 00:38 UTC
Nice game. Oddly reminiscent of Pacman insomuch that you spend half the game avoiding enemies before getting your sweet revenge later on.
Colours were a bit of a headache, but overall, I quite liked it. :)
nk
20. Apr 2016 · 20:31 UTC
That was cool and now I feel weird.

Love the music especially!
Weeping Rupee
21. Apr 2016 · 01:50 UTC
Interesting take on the pac-man thing. I like the look
NvrSkipGameDay
21. Apr 2016 · 02:14 UTC
Wow, this was really cool. The music was fantastic, and the background was just trippy enough to add to the feel without overdoing it. When I turned into that crazy shadow eyeball monster with teeth I went on a bit of a power trip and realized this game is awesome.

Very cool submission, thanks for sharing!
Wan
22. Apr 2016 · 08:32 UTC
Nice job, the game works fine, I reached level 4 without issues. Turning into a monster and kicking butt to all these things I was evading is pretty satisfying :) On the other hand I found the collecting of trinkets a bit repetitive and almost annoying since the levels are quite large and trinkets are often spawned all around the same spot. Also I didn't care that much about the different types of enemies since all I did was run around and evade everything without thinking. Maybe some balancing could help make enemies more interesting?

Now the visuals are pretty fun & original, and the audio helps setting the mood quite well. The shapeshifting animation is cool to watch too, plus the level generation worked quite well for me. Congrats!
dalbinblue
26. Apr 2016 · 01:52 UTC
That was extremely trippy. I got through to the fifth dream.

There were two areas I think could improve the game. First there were a lot of narrow passages or places where only one path was available that caused a guaranteed hit from an enemy.

Second after gathering all the trickets the game was just a matter of finding all the enemies; there was no longer any risk left in the level. It might make sense to make that phase timed, and it failed, switch back to a trinket phase.
fin_nolimit
26. Apr 2016 · 23:53 UTC
Wow, I love how the music changes when you upgrade your character. the background graphics ROCKED!!! Excellent job on this one!!!
TheBreakfast
27. Apr 2016 · 03:36 UTC
Cool graphics, neat game play, and the music is awesome. It's like Pacman having a drug induced fever dream.
emmelineprufrock
27. Apr 2016 · 04:17 UTC
Probably the most unique looking game I've played this jam. Definitely interested in the clean-up, nightmare portion of the game since it felt like comeuppance in the best way.
yokcos700
27. Apr 2016 · 10:07 UTC
Thematically, this is pretty cool. Instead of HP you have some abstract notion of how asleep you are. The whole 'go kill all the enemies' phase is pretty cool... for a while. Gets boring once you're hunting around a reasonably large level for one last monster. The levels, by the way, kind of lack distinguishing features. You could have done something as simple as having different areas of the level be different colours to achieve this. (Speaking of level design, I often found myself in situations where I had to take damage) In general, I don't think this game benefits from being procedurally generated. You could have made a better game if it were simply set in a large rectangle or a more complex hand-made shape.
Dr. Funkenstein
28. Apr 2016 · 17:09 UTC
REMINDS OF THE FIRST TIME I DROPPED LSD. MOOD 11/10
SantiHisteria
29. Apr 2016 · 19:20 UTC
WOW!! It is like eat some drugs!! xD Original idea but the game sometimes is confused. Anyway good work.
HuvaaKoodia
30. Apr 2016 · 06:16 UTC
"Watch out, nightmares of my past, for soon I will become a beautiful butterfly of DEATH!" Now that is a high concept I can get behind. Unfortunately the outcome is a bit hit and miss every step of the way.

The effects are fittingly rather trippy, but the overall quality of the pixel work is sloppy. The nightmare eater sprite is an exception, a really well drawn and designed piece of pixel art that.

The audio is nice, apart from the transformation music (hunting down nightmares). That didn't click with me for some reason.

To gameplay then. It holds up for the first few levels, but after that the cathartic power trip becomes more of a chore (bigger levels multiply the issue). You could mend this by making the second form vulnerable to some of the harder enemies (who shoot projectiles), meaning you would still have to think a bit.

Procedural generation is an effective idea, but, as many have already pointed out, the algorithm does like producing very tight corridors all around the place. Those features don't really support the enemy dodging mechanic. The trinket placement is also very random, sometimes they are right next to each other.

Overall a great job with some small issues.
radmars
02. May 2016 · 02:06 UTC
Nice! I like the weird, bizarre style. Probably could use to have shorter levels & some way to locate remaining pickups, feels a little bit tedious & random as is. Still pretty engaging. Nice work!
jofra
02. May 2016 · 22:31 UTC
What a crazy entry, feels like pacman on lsd X)
gj !
luvShape
02. May 2016 · 23:16 UTC
It's cool to see that we weren't the only ones going with trippy visuals! :)
OnlySlightly
03. May 2016 · 02:05 UTC
Loved the music when you are devouring the nightmares. I really liked how creepy it all was. It felt more like I was the nightmare. I liked the neat details such as the 'z's for the life bar, and the breathing after each level. Cool aesthetic. Great job!
Yumeito
05. May 2016 · 00:30 UTC
This Game is soooo cool. The graphics, audio and gameplay is epic.
keyboardmonkey
05. May 2016 · 12:57 UTC
One of the more original visuals I have seen for this theme. I dig it, man :)
Satyre
05. May 2016 · 14:11 UTC
Love the Wario Ware feeling :D Great job!
Satyre
05. May 2016 · 14:24 UTC
Oh sorry wrong comment xD (I'm playing too much games)
So here the corrent review ;)

Very strange submission, in a good way. The background is heavy ^^ I have no motion sickness, but you got me somehow dizzy by the speed xD

Graphics are nice and the theme is clear. Good job ^^
TheCain
06. May 2016 · 02:59 UTC
I liked it. Very good looking, but all the levels were pretty same-ey.
Sri Harsha Chilakapati
06. May 2016 · 06:45 UTC
I like this game a lot, interesting to play. The best part was the audio, it suited the theme.
rjhelms
07. May 2016 · 19:13 UTC
Very cool visual style, and a nice take on the theme, but after a few levels things wore a bit thin - each level didn't really introduce anything new.
csanyk
09. May 2016 · 00:00 UTC
Very trippy! I enjoyed playing this one. While simple to play, the graphics, sound, and overall mood made it good to play.
Rock Eaters
10. May 2016 · 00:40 UTC
some kind of interesting pacman-like. Psychedelic environement is pretty cool, and the transparent wall is a good idea too. The character when you shapeshift is really great, but tue one before transformation....is not good. Its fun game to play :)