LudumData

Potential Energy by Carsen D.

[raw]
made by Carsen D. for LD 39 (JAM)

My second Ludum Dare game! I took this in a much different direction than last time, but I'm happy with the quality that I've achieved!

The Story

A story of a bleak future and desperate people. You are the ruler of an underground colony facing open rebellion. Your power over the people has run out, and soon, so will your electricity.

The Game

Potential Energy is a short and simple platformer with a focus on atmosphere and story. The colony is a place where power is used sparingly and darkness is in large supply. With my second Ludum Dare game, I decided that this theme was a good time to experiment with some lighting and tried to focus the gameplay and atmosphere around the sparse lights.

SC1.png

SC2.png

Controls

WASD - Move

Space - Jump

E - Interact (Pressing E multiple times when speaking to someone gives more lines of dialogue!)

Fixes

  • Fixed a problem where an NPC could block you from continuing the game
  • (Hopefully) fixed a problem with a speaking trigger not registering properly
  • (Also hopefully) Fixed some possible jumping problems
HTML5 (web) https://loch-nesrac.itch.io/potential-energy
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/potential-energy

Ratings

Overall 252th 3.614⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Fun 412th 3.163⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 515th 2.909⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Theme 402th 3.512⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 642th 2.909⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Audio 69th 3.953⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 15th 4.372⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Given 68🗳️ 60🗨️

Feedback

rb2750
01. Aug 2017 · 03:02 UTC
Laggy and couldn't get it to properly work -sorrryy
AurynSky Games
01. Aug 2017 · 03:41 UTC
Cool story, the green guy blocked me in and I couldn't finish the game.
Justine Griffin
01. Aug 2017 · 03:45 UTC
Cool concept. I liked the music and the lighting effects! Kind of has an eerie feeling. It was pretty hard to stay on the blocks though.
cnoble
01. Aug 2017 · 03:46 UTC
I think you really nailed the mood with this one. I'd be down to playing this style of a game for a couple hours! Keep it up :)
barret907k
01. Aug 2017 · 04:22 UTC
Very good atmosphere. Didn't realize I had to press E a bunch to get the whole story.
Was fun.
🎤 Carsen D.
01. Aug 2017 · 04:29 UTC
@aurynsky-games Thanks for pointing that out. It's been fixed!

@barret907k I'll update the description to let others know, thanks!
herniewise
01. Aug 2017 · 18:22 UTC
The real hero was the green fat guy! Pretty good atmosphere, liked it!
TolMera
01. Aug 2017 · 18:24 UTC
Wooooowwwww!!! Dude I've never been in such suspense when looking at blocks! The story was great! The guy at the start who's scared of the flickering light! the child talking to it's daddy. So many little victories as well, from the first climb to flip the switch for the elevator! To that gut drop feeling when the floor falls away from you! wooooww :)

High points for graphics as well, you tied it all together so well, the change in tempo when you reach the reactor door, everything! it's brilliant.

I thought when I reached the end of the shaft and heard the conversation, "oh well I must be able to drop in behind the reactor door, just a different way in" Ended up having to do the climb again :) But it was so worth it.
schizoid2k
01. Aug 2017 · 19:03 UTC
I loved it... great mood in this game. I wanted to play this all the way to the end. Congrats.
Connor Hagan
01. Aug 2017 · 22:02 UTC
You managed to convey a really powerful experience using extremely simple art assets, very very good job. The music definitely adds a ton to the game, and it's absolutely beautiful. You did really well with the lighting too. Really good job!

I also wanted to add, most other games built gameplay mechanics about running out of power, but I really loved how you took the theme and made a story about it!
maskinmask
02. Aug 2017 · 06:20 UTC
So fucking great man.
Matt Fabius
02. Aug 2017 · 06:29 UTC
Love the game! It's got a great atmosphere, and I enjoyed the dialogue. You did a great job making minimal art look good. My only complaint is that it always feels awkward in platforming when you bump your head on things and there was a good bit of that. Overall, great game for a game jam!
ultrarat
02. Aug 2017 · 06:37 UTC
The music and the lighting works well together, very much accomplishes your moody goal. Kind of wish first jumping bits weren't such a long fall as I kept hitting the roofs of other platforms and it took awhile to reset so I forgot the first story lines.
Timothy Hoffman
02. Aug 2017 · 06:46 UTC
Easily the best mood I've seen yet in this competition. Bravo. I think the only thing I would change would be to change the default Unity text.
🎤 Carsen D.
02. Aug 2017 · 07:18 UTC
@matt-fabius @ultrarat Yeah hitting your head on platforms is a bit of a problem. I've fixed them all at this point, but I'm not sure if it's in the spirit of the jam to update it right now, as they aren't necessarily game-breaking. Thanks for soldiering through it though!
chaoseed
02. Aug 2017 · 08:19 UTC
Pretty well done. The squares were, you know, just squares, but the lighting effects were quite nice. The platforming was...sort of okay; there were a couple places where I kind of got stuck for a moment, and it kind of broke the flow of the game. (I must have jumped, missed and landed on the green guy about ten times!) The minimal story worked pretty well...although, I don't know, I wasn't quite sure what the point of it was, in the end. Seems like there's only one ending, and it's a "bad" ending? It just seems like "You try to do something but ultimately you can't do anything" is an unsatisfying sort of premise for a game. Maybe that's just my personal preferences, though!

Ultimately I think you did a great job of coming up with an idea that was coherent, playable, expressed emotion...and was constrained enough to implement in a weekend!
Javier Diez
02. Aug 2017 · 08:57 UTC
Oh man this game reminds me so much to Thomas was alone. It has been a fantastic experience. Thanks for this.
otiv
02. Aug 2017 · 09:08 UTC
As everyone else is saying great mood. For some reason, that platform jumps reminded me a lot of jumping in FPS games 5+ years ago on jumping servers. Great mood, fun play as well. The theme fits well but I was expecting a bit more to it.
Remzo
02. Aug 2017 · 09:12 UTC
This was awesome! I really like the double use of the theme. The lighting was minimal but effective, the platforming was challenging but not frustrating and the story was short but sweet. I really enjoyed this game, nice work!
Relinke
02. Aug 2017 · 10:00 UTC
Awesome! I love the music! But some scene is too dark when red light is too bright, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable.
Neweichgames
02. Aug 2017 · 19:36 UTC
Great music and loved the elevator lights but some of the lights were a little to bright which made me couldn't see some of the text. Great story line.
bombjack
02. Aug 2017 · 19:59 UTC
Thomas wasn't alone anymore ? I like the mood of your game. The music and the lighting plays an essential role in this atmosphere.
The last jump of the first room is so difficult for me that I abandonned it.
Improx Games
02. Aug 2017 · 20:01 UTC
Beautiful music, horribly loud sound effects. I loved the atmosphere but the gameplay just didn't match. The jumping puzzles were unnecessarily frustrating.

P.S. I think you're using the Text component currently? Consider using Text Mesh Pro which was recently acquired by Unity and is free on the Asset Store. It makes your text appear so much sharper and just better-looking.
Kapricorn Media
02. Aug 2017 · 22:16 UTC
Interesting! The fact that you talk to boxes under spotlights adds to the dreamy, broken reality atmosphere.
Kubenexion
03. Aug 2017 · 11:40 UTC
It's a good game, I like the lights effects and the music.

The end seems a little bit brutal, but you have a good mood.
MarkWolf
03. Aug 2017 · 12:06 UTC
Like the others I was impressed by the mood, subtile use of lights, the story and the fabulous sound track. But I had a hard time to control the player. I feel there is some collision problem as my character stick to often on the ground and refuse to move after a jump. I feel that the emotional part of your game, which is quite impressive, would be even more powerful if you could replace abstract characters by human (designed) ones.
Chris Coe
03. Aug 2017 · 17:59 UTC
Whoaaaa, that is emotionally dark!

The jump right after the Green Fellow was REALLY hard, and I had to do it over and over. I was grateful that a checkpoint was offered a bit later, but I didn't have to use it.

Up in the duct at the end, it seemed there was an option to Listen to the people below, but it was only accessible by jumping, which would then cause the message to immediately disappear. :(

Great job on the lighting. It really helped set the mood. The music was a great choice.

Thanks for making this and sharing it with us! Pretty neat.
TeddyDD
15. Aug 2017 · 09:54 UTC
You told great story using really simple art and gameplay. Great job!
Yetman
15. Aug 2017 · 23:54 UTC
Talking rectangles... reminds of Thomas was alone. The lighting was nice but needed some shadows IMO. the story was intriguing too. Overall. it was fun.
josehzz
16. Aug 2017 · 02:58 UTC
The story was well done and music amazing, I think a little more polish on the lighting would do wonders. Overall great entry the mood was perfect.
Ace17
17. Aug 2017 · 20:00 UTC
Cool how you get to make rectangles have feelings :-)
Nice music, fits the "colony rebellion" mood perfectly!
However, I found the platformer parts - and especially the use of a physics engine - didn't really fit with the rest of the game, which is more story-oriented.
Also, it's not clear if there's only one ending or many, however the game is long, and going through the whole of it just to try not-to-jump into the safe is tedious.
GalaxStudios
19. Aug 2017 · 07:56 UTC
Cool story and good concept. Keep it up!
Somnium
19. Aug 2017 · 08:41 UTC
Fantastic atmosphere! The story, music and lighting effects works very well together. The game was a bit too dark at some points, at least on my monitor and daylight conditions, but the resulting mood was excellent!

It was nice to play a more story-focused and less action-heavy platformer, and the story was enjoyable. Nice work!

>Rebels in the dark,
>threatening our colony.
>I must do something!
yuigoto
19. Aug 2017 · 18:37 UTC
Great mood and really nice take on the theme! It kinda reminded me a bit about Thomas was Alone, but with a more darker and "human" nature. :) It was really nice and enjoyable to play, nice work on the history, though the visuals looked too dark sometimes (might be my brightness here), but I really liked it! :)


Good job there! :D
Vulpem
20. Aug 2017 · 10:25 UTC
Interesting take on the topic. Even if it's a pretty simple platformer, it's got the atmosphere and the story which make it shine. It really reminded of "Thomas was alone", probably because of the lighting, or the cube-story base. Overall, pretty interesting.
Manumeq
20. Aug 2017 · 16:27 UTC
The atmosfere was perfect and drove me through the entire game, the dialogues where simple but gave enough information to keep you guessing and wanting to find out more. Won't say anything about graphics because clearly they were just made that simple. A little short too, if it were a couple of levels longer, it would be a super fantastic story driven game! Nice experiment for the Jam nonetheless!
Jupiter_Hadley
03. Sep 2017 · 17:15 UTC
Intense story! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMCKWv94MN0