Escape from Sytlanta by Gundatsch
A turn based game where you have to find treasures on a small sinking island.
You need to find crystals by exploring the island. If you have 4 crystals of the same type you can exchange them for artifacts at the ruins. When you have found all 4 artifacts you have to leave the island. You have to keep the ruins and your camp dry as long as you didn't find the artifacts. Also you lose health if you walk on tiles sunken too deep.
Inspired by the board game "Forbidden Island"
Screenshots
WebGL
This is not for rating because the WebGL version contains post Jam updates. But since the original version only works on windows you can use it to get some impression.
https://itch.io/embed-upload/471768?color=333333
Game
https://max-gooroo.itch.io/escape-from-sytlana
Game updates are available so ensure to use the version named Escape from Sytlanta - Ludum Dare 38 when rating the game for the jam or want to know what exactly was done in jam time. If you want to enjoy the game however you should download the latest version as there were improvements to several aspects of the game.
Credits
- Anna Weging
- Models
- 2D Arts
- Michael Riesner
- Models
- Testing
- Shader Settings
Toni Gottschall (Gundatsch)
- Programming
- Music
- Putting it all together
Some ingame icons are based on cc-by icons
- https://thenounproject.com/
- http://game-icons.net/
Social Links
- FB: https://www.facebook.com/MaxGooroo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TelmenGedar
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/gundatsch
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gundatsch
- Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/rugenforth
- Web: http://www.nightlycode.de
Ratings
| Overall | 551th | 3.091⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 592th | 2.773⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 520th | 2.864⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 513th | 3.182⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 406th | 3.455⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 239th | 3.333⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 312th | 2.8⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 484th | 3.048⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 19🗳️ | 17🗨️ |
I probably have to explain the goal better ingame (how to achieve it). But honestly after not being able to start the jam right away i was pretty happy that the game is beatable without any major glitches so far :D
Once again, thanks for sharing your experience.
He tells me that the game is too hard (on easy) every day and i'm unable to understand why :D. But since everyone seems to have issues with the difficulty and what to do exactly, i may have to work on that.
There are 2 other difficulty levels after all and no one except me seems to be able to beat easy without issues ... oh well.
But thanks for playing of course.
This game really suffers from a lack of player feedback
Now i'm still thinking about giving the player some hint that he needs to explore the island but currently am unable to find a good idea how to present it without overloading the ui.
@kcreanor well in the latest version (which i uploaded just yet) the characters have special abilities which make it a bit easier to solve the game. I tested it to be solvable on hard (well i don't beat it every time, it's hard for a reason after all).
My team members are sure to tell me every day to make it easier though :D ... if there are still a lot of opinions that easy is too hard in the current version i will consider making the island smaller for easy and normal ... but i need more feedback here as i'm unable to lose on easy :P
Is this intentional? Should I be doing something else? (WebGL build in Safari / macOS 10.12.4)
Note: I didn't rate the game just yet.
Keep in mind though, that you shouldn't rate any version other than the Ludum Dare version (which is windows), because everything else contains post jam updates (which wouldn't be fair to rate).
So if you can't test the original version, just enjoy the current version but don't give ratings based on the polished version.
Played both versions. The graphics and audio are neat in both.
The post-jam certainly has many improvements which I agree on (auto search, thank goodness!). There's still one GUI feature which doesn't make a lick of sense to me. The *This hex has already been searched* checkmark only shows if the hex has not sunk at all. Why? This defeats the whole purpose of the checkmark.
The map size is also a bit big for being *a small world* on paper. I'd prefer a small enough map to fit on a single screen; with fewer, more impactful decisions to make.
Good job overall. The mechanics could be tightened up is all I'm saying.
@huvaakoodia well ... the checkmark does show, but it sinks with the island :D. If you look carefully though you can sometimes make it out shimmering through the water. I agree though that there should be a better way of presenting it so that it is always clearly visible. I'm not sure how though. Just letting it float in air just feels wrong.
And i agree that the whole game would be much cooler if there would be a smaller map but in turn more actions which gave a more strategic depth. But jam :D ... and i guess this game will get lost in the depths of the internet anyways.
Once again, thanks for playing ...
As a lot of others have already told you, it takes a while to figure out what is going on, but once you get the hang of it and start planning your routes and raising tiles to keep the island afloat it's really fun!
Note: I know I played a post-Jam build, so I won't be scoring. But I do want you to know I really like this game.
@Nahkala NP ... that's what the jam is for (i think) :D
@maartene i always like positive feedback. Gives me the impression, that we did something right. Actually the post-jam build is available on android (perhaps the link on itch.io is a bit small).
Other than that ... thanks for visiting again :D
That said, you have three characters, a colourful world, a solid soundtrack, interesting camera movement (though sometimes it pauses a moment when I want to act), three difficulties, and dialogue. So that's a full game right there.
I'd say a tutorial level to explains the mechanics would be nice, I had to read some of the comments to get the gist.
A very polished entry, and even if I feel the concept has some issues that prevent me getting too excited for playing, I have to commend you guys on getting something this complete done.
However it's hard to distinguish checked tile when they are sunked. Maybe add a list of unvisited tile somewhere ?
About controls : action arc is a bit slow to show and i'd liked to move camera with keyboard.
Good entry overall !
And a tutorial is a nice idea too ... some small predefined level where you get told all of the movements and goals and whatever.
@kasarun yeah, the sunken checkmarks is still an issue i'm thinking about. The action arc was faster before, but some testers had issues with it because when it shows faster und you are kind of a noob in clicking or touching the tiles the arc would show and execute move instead of executing the default action (what the player wanted).
@pixelstuff another interesting idea. This would need some small work on the level generator, but certainly is possible. At least for the diver and pilot (currently i can't think of a situation where it is absolutely needed to dig all the tiles around you for winning. it just makes some situations easier).
But there are some setups imaginable which would convert this to a puzzle game ... predefined levels where it is predefined which tiles sink when and where the optimum movements are setup. Would need some tight level planning but perhaps an interesting game mode.
Thanks to everyone again for playing, there are some nice insights to gain here ...
You've made a good job. Very polished entry. I just miss a feedback showing me better what character I'm controlling. If they are near each other, it's veory hard to see what I'm controlling. I've liked the graphics and the sound effects.
Good job! :D
Anyways, there are several changes in line which came up through the comments. I just need some time to spend :D
Oh and thanks for playing ... i'm really grateful for a voice which actually has the opinion that the game is easy :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8tza0thP_g