Nyctophobia by mhaton

made by mhaton for LD 39 (COMPO)

Download

(Windows only :disappointed:)

As I was short on time this event, I decided to make a small, less ambitious game. Try to make your way through the maze to find the light at the end. Don't let the darkness steal your light.

Built in GameMaker Studio, about 18 hours of work, 2 hours of trying to get shadows working and 2 hours trying to get it working in HTML5. Neither currently working. Bleh.

Info

All assets (heh, assets, aka maybe 4 sprites, two sound effects and a piece of music that's maybe 40 seconds long) created by me from scratch.
Tools used: GameMaker Studio, Reaper, Audacity, Photoshop
Controls: WASD, Space to activate light sources at a cost of your own light
Tips: Memorisation is the key. It is technically possible, but you need a nearly perfect run to do so, and you need to work out where you're going. This will take many attempts. Alternatively, give in. Stay in the darkness. It's where you belong anyway. The longer you take, the less light you will have left, and the faster the darkness will catch you.

Controls

WASD - Move
Space - Activate light source (costs some of your own light)

Images

In case you need it again, download the game and source code (if you like pain) from itch.io

Windows	https://matthaton.itch.io/ludum-dare-39-nyctophobia
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/nyctophobia

Ratings

Overall	367^th	3.261⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Fun	385^th	3.043⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	203^th	3.391⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Theme	103^th	3.913⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	339^th	3.217⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Audio	32^th	3.955⭐	24🧑‍⚖️
Humor	427^th	1.941⭐	19🧑‍⚖️
Mood	14^th	4.304⭐	25🧑‍⚖️
Given		19🗳️	3🗨️

Feedback

edmond00

02. Aug 2017 · 12:48 UTC

Nice game with a very good mood.
I liked the music and the small narration.
But it is too difficult.
I make a lot of try but I did not succeed to go to the end.
May be it needs a way to regenerate our light.

🎤 mhaton

04. Aug 2017 · 10:01 UTC

Thanks @edmond00 :) I was concerned it is a bit overly difficult, but didn't really have time for much tuning. It's technically possible (I at least checked that), but the amount of time you'd probably have to put into it to complete the game by memorising the route and executing it perfectly is way beyond what most are willing to put into playing a LD game!

If anyone actually manages to beat it (there's only actually the one level) - props :)

InaBox

05. Aug 2017 · 17:55 UTC

Wow, I love it. So creepy! The music is amazing. I think a musical indication of shadows coming by or chasing you, would make it scarier. Thank you for the game!

litill

06. Aug 2017 · 19:35 UTC

Very atmospheric. As mentioned it is a bit difficult. I didn't make it through, but enjoyed the experience a lot regardless.

Rixud

11. Aug 2017 · 17:43 UTC

i like the sounds and the mood, but its a bit unfair, sometime i know its dark in the way but they had a lot of range and its nearly impossible to dodge. Nice job, it is fun to play and you said you had a lot of problems and yet you deliver a complete game! :thumbsup:

tjakka5

11. Aug 2017 · 18:07 UTC

This game is a bit unforgiving. If you get caught by the darkness it will get much much harder, because darkness is almost impossible to react to.
So sadly it feels like you need to memorize the more smaller corners of the labyrinth.

The darkness chasing after the light and eating it looks very cool and smooth.
The music sets a darker mood to it which is nice.

The sound effects kinda work. The one of the darkness moving is especially nice. But overall they could have supported the mood better with more "stylized" sounds.

Overall pretty fun to check out, although you shouldn't expect to recover when you're hit...

PhilStrahl

11. Aug 2017 · 18:23 UTC

Very moody game that accomplishes a lot with very little. I get easily spooked but never thought that a black cloud could do the job. Also, the piano music with lots of reverb is nice and fits the tone of it nicely. I tried multiple times but never managed to escape. Oh well. :) Nevertheless: Greast job!

g-o

11. Aug 2017 · 18:26 UTC

Oh wow I see someone here took the entire *mental power* take like me ^^

Great atmosphere I think it's pretty well done!
I like that you made the game over go all "again and again..." making you feel the game says its literally unbeatable.

I actually didn't finish it but you said it can be finished and I think I would've finished it with enough time because I do feel like I already memorized some parts of the map.
I don't want to ruin that aspect of the game but maybe later versions where you have even more gameplay going on could have a map (discovered only, like Hollow Knight or something).

I LOVED the drakness embrace/chase graphics, feels really creepy and cool =)

schizoid2k

12. Aug 2017 · 02:17 UTC

Love the mood, audio, and simple controls. I enjoyed playing. Congrats on a great entry.

johnnwfs

12. Aug 2017 · 03:18 UTC

Hi , @tjakka5 said everything I'd say about the game with and added bump to the music and mood from me. It was a great mood entry. I went into GM and took out the darkness and still couldn't complete (the darkness kept killing me) so I put the dot/player right next to the exit so I could see your end game. Nice to find the light, even if by cheating :-D

Coauctor

15. Aug 2017 · 14:14 UTC

I like the idea of sharing lights with stationary objects losing your own energy, but I don't get the premise of it. Does it reduce darkness? Nevertheless, the mechanics are interesting enough to play the game few times mostly because of the fading and shadow spreading. Cheers!

tomdeal

15. Aug 2017 · 15:58 UTC

I like the idea and the implementation was solid. The screen transition could be faster, otherwise good entry.

HuvaaKoodia

15. Aug 2017 · 18:57 UTC

An atmospheric maze (i.e. a puzzle). The graphics are simple, but fine. The audio is very fitting, except for the light sound effect maybe?

The darkness is a formidable foe, slightly unnerving and even scary once you are low on light. The lighting system also works well, especially the one frame flash when turning on a torch.

I've been ranting against mazes a few times already and here is the short if it: memorization isn't interesting; having to restart the maze from the very beginning and executing the same moves over and over again isn't interesting either, it is annoying in fact.

So how to get around memorization and endless retreading? More hand crafted levels or (at least partially) procedurally generated levels. This would also switch the project from deductive logic problem solving (puzzles) to inductive problem solving (games), which I'd prefer for one.

A little technical niggle: full screen does not work properly for me at least. The HUD does not scale, you see.

Good work. With some more polish and tweaking this would be a very moody experience indeed.

Vulpem

18. Aug 2017 · 10:47 UTC

Damn, that darkness can be ruthless! It makes you run out of power quick.
I really like how, with a relatively simple idea and graphics, you managed to create such a powerful mood. The music, the imagery, how "enemies" stay hidden until they get close enough to you... overall, it all works together really well. Proof that the whole can be more than the sum of it's parts.

I really liked it. However, if i had to be really nitpicky, i'd say that the light being able to shine through walls kinda... took me out of it. When you get close to a wall, you can see it on the other side. I won't rate you worse because of this, since it's a really silly thing and doing this in around 20 hours is impressive. But in such an atmospheric game, that drags you in, this took me out of it...

Overall, i really liked it. Great job, and best of luck!

LuckyFeathers

18. Aug 2017 · 10:48 UTC

It's very well executed. Like you say, it's a "small, less ambitious game", but those are often the games that work the best in game jams, because you actually have time to finish it and add the small effects that makes the game feel complete. Music is beautiful, the enemy shadow is very well made. Lighting is just right; you're just barely able to see the walls. My only real complaint is that the gameplay isn't really about avoiding and fighting the shadows, but more about remembering a maze. It's frustrating to start over. I think I would have preferred if the space ability was available anywhere, but you have a limited amount of them which can be refilled throughout the game.

randomphantom

18. Aug 2017 · 11:18 UTC

The mood was definitely spot on in this game. The gameplay is pretty basic but I fail to see how lighting actually helps you apart from possibly distracting the enemies? Also, it really is quite trial-and-error as you aren't able to detect enemies until its too late, and ends up requiring memorization of the route. An alternative mechanic is to change it so that you can light up the screen anywhere (rather than at selected points), but doing that will consume your light, therefore introducing some risk-reward and strategy into the game.

minibobbo

18. Aug 2017 · 11:33 UTC

Great mood and feel of the game, I really enjoyed the intro (it looks delicious) and the simple nature of the game was fine. I'm echoing what others have said. Memorizing a maze and trying to play it perfectly gets tiring after a while. I never managed to escape, and have no idea how far along I was.

Suggestions:
- I don't think it was possible to dodge the smoke. It moves too fast and your view is too limited. I think it would have been just as effective if the smoke moved slowly, so you could see it in the light, freak out, and back away being slowly pursued.
- I didn't understand the point of lighting the areas. It costs you light but doesn't seem to get you anything. Maybe make the lights persistent through each run?

Bugs:
- Not sure if this was intentional, but I could see the maze and the enemies when it was dark. Maybe the contrast on my monitor is just high, but it was possible to make it out.

Yetman

18. Aug 2017 · 12:35 UTC

Atmospheric and creepy. The dark environment and the music added a lot to the mood. I really like how creepy those smoke thing are. The game mechanics really impressed me, I like idea of distracting them with decoy lights. My only problem is that I am not good are remembering things (especially mazes) so even after a lot of trial and error, I probably won't make it to the goal. Anyway, it is a nice game and I enjoyed it a lot.
EDIT: I think this would be really creepy if it is expanded to a first person 3D horror game... that's why I love top down games; larger field of view so it is less scary.

KiiroHanabi

19. Aug 2017 · 15:26 UTC

Good concept! Maybe a little simple but I can definitely see it pushed further to become something great! The mood is set, the audio helps, graphics are simple but they work.

If I got it right the lights are used to lure the darkness while you escape? I found quite good but the darkness was often too close of the spots so enlighten them would cost 2 lights instead of one by being hurt during the process.

I didn't finished it but I saw the exit right before I died so I was close I guess. So yeah, working on the balance could help, like changing the maze or just slowing down the darkness a little bit!