Sinkhole by Shaun Inman

made by Shaun Inman for LD22 (COMPO)

I wanted to write more running inner dialog for the game but my brain parts fused after the all-nighter. Play it. Preferably in Firefox 8 (reportedly works fine in other browsers but the graphics might be blurry). Try to figure out how to passively use the different light sources and the impact they have on the barely perceived threats. If you want more info (including spoilers) and a peak at my workflow check out the text doc I also uploaded.

Things I would change. HTML5 may be ready for "real" games but my particular HTML5 framework is not. Wish I had switched to Flixel once I realized the game was running at 4fps on my 1st gen iPad. The game has touch controls but good luck using them at 4fps. Collision detection was quick and dirty (broken in MobileSafari, probably because of a precision bug). Could be more forgiving. Keyboard input is unidirectional with the most recent key canceling simultaneous keypresses.

Things I'm proud of. I used cellular automata to generate levels dynamically and A* path finding to ensure they're solvable before presenting to the player. Check the source for references. Pretty happy with the art too.

Sleep now.

Web & Source	http://shauninman.com/ludumdare/alone/
Workflow Doc	http://shauninman.com/ludumdare/alone/alone.txt
Postmortem	http://shauninman.com/archive/2011/12/21/sinkhole_postmortem
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=4017

Ratings

Coolness	76%	2
Overall	3.17	135

Audio	1.06	590
Community	2.05	516
Fun	2.74	203
Graphics	3.35	139
Humor	1.60	428
Innovation	2.94	172
Mood	3.27	97
Theme	3.67	52

Feedback

helloserve

19. Dec 2011 · 09:32 UTC

Excellent! Scary, and it inspires franticness. Love the old 8-bit throwback too.

ncannasse

19. Dec 2011 · 10:39 UTC

Love the GB style graphics. Would have like more different items and maybe one single bigger floor than multiple ones that look pretty much the same

cakemonitor

20. Dec 2011 · 13:20 UTC

Nice idea, and really good graphics. It would be nice if the collision detection with wall tiles was a bit more forgiving (say, when the player holds the walk left button but hits a wall tile have them 'slide' either up or down along the wall depending on their last direction of travel on the vertical. or something :)). I like that you included a work log and linked to the cellular automata algorithm - it's inspired me to have a play with this.

Tristan

21. Dec 2011 · 02:21 UTC

Nice game! My game plays like this but yours is way way better. I like the monologue part because it gives the character personality. Too bad you didn't do this in Flixel maybe I could learn a thing or two from you. Giving this 5 overall. There's some problem with collision btw, I could not pass through one of the corridors.

Goldendice

21. Dec 2011 · 08:27 UTC

Definitely some problems with location changing while turning. Often when I'll turn, I end up inside of a wall. One time this got me eaten by a monster. Another time it got me stuck. It also seems to prevent normal movement through narrow/twisty sections. The 'absent' monsters are scary as heck.

Hempuli

21. Dec 2011 · 16:05 UTC

Really solid stuff! I played some 14 levels before realizing that it doesn't ever end. The engine is good fun, and I like the idea.

🎤 Shaun Inman

21. Dec 2011 · 22:19 UTC

Thanks guys!

@cakemonitor I've been updating the game the past couple days (add "sinkhole" to the url to see the current version, just don't judge based on that version). Collision and cornering are much better and more forgiving.

@Tristan, JavaScript and ActionScript aren't all that different, just view source on the web page, you can probably figure out the relevant bits.

@Goldendice If you ever get stuck just try pressing in an adjacent direction. There's definitely egregious sub pixel collision problems in the version I submitted.

SonnyBone

23. Dec 2011 · 01:46 UTC

I LOVE your title screen / logo. But for some reason... the game is SUPER tiny in my browser. Like... less than 10 percent of the screen. Zooming in make the page scroll when I press down. :( I was able to get through 3 rooms.

Make A Game

08. Jan 2012 · 04:01 UTC

I liked this game a lot, though some sound would give it a great atmosphere. Collisions were a bit off and I gave up after doing about 10 levels in a row. I stock up on batteries and matches, so I was going to survive for long. I get the feeling that an "infinite mode" might not be the way this game is meant to be played.

Cosr

08. Jan 2012 · 08:09 UTC

Well done, nice level generation. I got to level 10 before dying, and I'm pretty sure I died because the monster spawned on top of me (or at least it seemed like he did).

Are you supposed to respawn on the same level when you die? I also assumes the game never ends? I stopped playing on level 12 (two levels after I died) because wandering around the same empty caverns couldn't keep me interested any longer.

Cosr

08. Jan 2012 · 08:15 UTC

A bit of environmental variety, either more environments, or more things to see in the one environment, could go a long way.

nuria

08. Jan 2012 · 18:52 UTC

Cool graphics, good mood, the mechanics are interesting, loved how the enemies approached from the dark and disappeared under the light, feels kinda scary. Good entry!

wgemigh

08. Jan 2012 · 22:09 UTC

The graphics are quite good and the monsters are great. I love how you never actually see them. Unfortunately, after wandering around for a while, it started feeling very same-y. And then I was killed when a monster spawned on top of me.

Still, very atmospheric.

Dan C

09. Jan 2012 · 01:01 UTC

Terrifying. Beautifully put together, nice work.

It was a bit disorienting that collisions don't take account of perspective, so that the top of the player's head collides with the bottom of a wall.