LudumData

Black Horizon by Kristian David

[raw]
made by Kristian David for LD 41 (COMPO)

Black Horizon is a Survival Horror Racing Game.

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Alone in your car, you are driving to the city after visiting your grandmother's wake in the province. The only thing you see is the road being illuminated by your car's front light and the moon. As you drive for hours the thick fog kept on going backwards from you, until you realized that it wasn't the moon that helped you see through the fog. The moonlight is constantly and exponentially increasing its intensity, while at the same time you realized that your car is levitating. You lose your consciousness.

Screenshot (65).png

You have been picked to participate in a race. The first to the beacon wins. As more and more players reach the beacon, the more dead people will wake up and roam the streets.

Screenshot (66).png

When someone reached the beacon, the beacon will randomly switch position between the other 3 places.

Screenshot (71).png

Screenshot (70).png

Controls:

W - Accelerate

A,D - Steer

S - Deccelerate

Mouse - Look

Left Mouse Button - Shoot.

https://youtu.be/-m9MN0a6-gQ

CHANGES:

April 25 2018 - Increased the sight range at lower settings and optimized the performance, so the game can be easily played at computers with lower specs.

April 26 2018 - Fixed bug where player moves too slow.

May 8 2018 - Fixed bug where player moves too slow in HTML. Fixed the extremely slippy player controls.

Windows https://kripp.itch.io/black-horizon
Windows https://gamejolt.com/games/blackhorizon/335162
HTML5 (web) https://kripp.itch.io/black-horizon
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/black-horizon

Ratings

Overall 650th 2.726⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Fun 644th 2.512⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 631th 2.655⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Theme 594th 2.976⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 404th 3.119⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Audio 474th 2.321⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Mood 322th 3.073⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

Yokimbo
25. Apr 2018 · 06:03 UTC
Those are some wild physics, good job :D
dob
25. Apr 2018 · 06:11 UTC
Interesting game, with cool 3D visuals, fog, and lighting. I found the car very hard to control - it was too slippy to feel realistic. I also got lost pretty regularly - some better indication of the route you were supposed to follow would help. Good work, though - I enjoyed my trip.
Zinkler
25. Apr 2018 · 06:42 UTC
I can see a gameplay mistake in here - it's not that hard to come first, and therefore no zombies are ever present on the map, and even when they appear, they come in small numbers, so until you're actually looking for zombies, you most probably won't find them. Good job on the AI, it's not ideal, but it works. What I personally enjoyed most are the huge buildings that are actually a part of the playable map. And, of course, the controls could have been more accessible. Thank you for your entry!
Jonathan Lorenz
25. Apr 2018 · 14:49 UTC
Unfortunately, the game didn't work for me and my shitty laptop. In high quality or normal the car would not accelerate and in low quality the FOV is too short to see. Would have to try it later on another computer.
🎤 Kristian David
25. Apr 2018 · 16:20 UTC
@Jonathan Lorenz I'm currently uploading the updated version where the you can see the trees in the lower settings. Thanks for giving my game a chance to be played on another computer.
Steve Sparkes
26. Apr 2018 · 02:25 UTC
A very atmospheric game. The first time a zombie ran up to me I jumped out of my skin! I'd work on fixing the frame-rate dependent control problems that it sounds like you're having. Just make sure you're using delta time (the time between frames) to calculate your car speeds etc.! A good submission, keep making games!
adhesion
26. Apr 2018 · 02:34 UTC
Cool concept but the drifty controls made it pretty hard to play, plus the path was a bit ambiguous at times, so when I would inevitably spin out of control it was really hard to tell if I was going the right way. Still this idea has some potential, keep it up!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 04:13 UTC
@Yokimbo thanks for the feedback, i've never made a racing game before or anything that includes car so i have no idea how to make proper car controls.

@dob thanks for the feedback, i think i'll add some landmarks and signs in the post-jam version.

@Jonathan Lorenz To be honest when I was developing the game, I thought that adding a lot of zombies will remove the horror effect, so I decided to make the Zombies appear the less cars are on the map and since I suck at racing games, I thought that getting first place was hard, so yeah I think i'll make the enemies faster in the post-jam. After the jam I realized that slender eight pages type of thing would be more scary than the zombies. So yeah I might remove the zombies, or keep them and just add a slenderman type of thingy. thank you very much for the feedback.

@Steve Sparkes Thanks for the feedback, I'll try using the delta time in the post jam.

@adhesion I'll try to add some signs in the post-jam to help the players have a sense of direction, and yes I still have a lot of physics problem, including car that would jump way up in the air. Thanks for the feedback
Mazzletov
26. Apr 2018 · 05:44 UTC
The car was moving pretty slowly haha! The zombies are a really nice detail. I also got problems with my game that it was depending on the framerate but I fixed it on mondaymorning at 1AM, deadline was 3 AM :p

Please also check out my game!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 05:48 UTC
@Mazzletov Try playing at lower graphics setting and resolution. Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to check out your game.
designernap
26. Apr 2018 · 10:40 UTC
This has a lot of potential but the slow acceleration really hits the pacing hard. Nice approach to the theme though! good work!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 10:52 UTC
@designernap Thanks for playing the game! I'm currently uploading an update that will finally fix the slow acceleration due to low frame rates. I'm making the speed of the car independent to the frame rates, thanks to @Steve Sparkes
R4ndomThunder
26. Apr 2018 · 11:22 UTC
The graphics is good. I like the idea but something is missing. The physic is too slippy and the car need too much time to accelerate after an hit. I didn't understand what it takes to shoot (probably because I have not finished the race). The game needs an user interface like player position in the race or something like that.
EkkoEkko
26. Apr 2018 · 11:23 UTC
Good lighting for this game. Good job.!!! 5 out of 5 kababayan 😍
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 11:33 UTC
@R4ndomThunder Thanks for playing the game. I really didn't have time for the UI so I think I'll add that in the post-jam version. And I think I made a mistake of making the zombies spawn after the first place is taken. So thanks for the feedback!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 11:34 UTC
@EkkoEkko Salamat sa feedback kababayan.
GexAlmighty
26. Apr 2018 · 14:47 UTC
I had a really hard time figuring out where I was actually meant to be going and for some reason the game took a really long time to load even though my PC is pretty well equipped. The idea looks really fun though with some tuning
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 14:58 UTC
@GexAlmighty I really haven't had enough time to properly optimize the game. If you'll try playing again , look for the tall long grayish thing. That's the finish line. Thanks for playing and for the feedback
szabe
26. Apr 2018 · 15:07 UTC
I am not sure, it feels like this was a mixing of ice skating and racing.:D
I like the idea, but I had no idea where to go, since after the second curve I inevitably crashed into a tree and lost the others.
Memel06
26. Apr 2018 · 15:14 UTC
Oh my friend! We also did an Horror Racing game, so I think we are actually LD41 brothers!
I totally enjoyed your work, I understand that it need some optimization (loading were long) or tuning to graphic assets, and maybe some tweak to the car control.
But, hey! It's a Jam entry, we're not supposed to create IGN 10/10 games.

Thanks for this nice idea, it very fits the jam theme.

Cheers!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 15:21 UTC
@szabe when I was play testing the game I always thought that the controls was okay because I thought the slipping was my fault as a player because i'm terrible at racing game. Now that I know that it really is slippy I think i'll try to watch unity car control tutorials and fix that in the post-jam. Thanks for playing the game and for the feedback!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 15:25 UTC
@Memel06 I've also played your jam entry, and I enjoyed it a lot. I wish I focused a lot on the horror part of my game just like you did. Thanks for the feedback and for playing my game LD41 brother!
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 15:25 UTC
@Memel06 I've also played your jam entry, and I enjoyed it a lot. I wish I focused a lot on the horror part of my game just like you did. Thanks for the feedback and for playing my game LD41 brother!
Olivier Millochau
26. Apr 2018 · 17:34 UTC
That fact the control are really different from a car simulation that we are used to actually make the game more fun ! This is great ! I was absolutly not ready for the zombies coming at the first beacon ^^

Conclusion : I had fun, this is great =D (but the AI of other cars seems a bit OP ;) )
🎤 Kristian David
26. Apr 2018 · 23:40 UTC
@olivier-millochau thanks for playing the game. I really did not expect that someone would prefer the slippy car controls that I did over the usual. And also there's always a shortcut to be able to get first place. Thanks for the feedback.
alxander
27. Apr 2018 · 00:30 UTC
Cool game! I got a little jump scare when a zombie flew at me, then managed to finish 2nd. The mood was great overall.
🎤 Kristian David
27. Apr 2018 · 02:13 UTC
@alxander Thanks for playing the game
Brandon Anderson
27. Apr 2018 · 03:07 UTC
I like playing in the dark. Very easy game to pick up and play. The camera might need to be a little less sensitive and I couldn't see the bullets for some reason. Great job though for compo! I like the little car models, very cute.

Here's my COMPO entry: The difficulty will be worked on this weekend, because it's a little hard right now.
It's a web build so play in browser and it's 2D, so small!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/five-iron-frenzy
Rodrigo Denúbila
27. Apr 2018 · 04:10 UTC
Interesting concept for the theme. The mood is on the right way. Good job!

I created a horror game too, take a look: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/confessional
Weareaniceteam
27. Apr 2018 · 14:26 UTC
Your game is so dark hahaha i like it!! Also you have used the theme so good for my personal opinion. Also, I have participated in Ludum Dare doing a game of an old man recently death who have to pass seven proofs to decide where he will go, heaven or hell. Try it if you can, we are going to apreciate so much your feedback!!
caterein
28. Apr 2018 · 20:34 UTC
I enjoyed the 3D graphics, you hit "creepy" really well! I did have a hard time not drifting the car, so it was easy to lose control and difficult to get back on the track if you were too close to a tree. Overall though, good idea and well done!
BiOniKMonSTeR
02. May 2018 · 11:54 UTC
Hi! Your game concept is awesome and works perfectly well! Although it misses some feebacks when the beacon is reached by anyone. The steer feels a bit strange to me as well. But I think you're on the good way! Keep it up!
Corbak
02. May 2018 · 13:06 UTC
I liked it, it felt nice. The car were a bit slow and steering was difficult. When I got into a tree I just got bored because I lost all of my speed.
ANyway good job for this game
Firesplash Entertainment
08. May 2018 · 11:43 UTC
I tried it for five minutes but was not able to follow the other cars as of th extreme drifting (its like driving with slicks on an oiled ice plate) and as the player car is just about half the speed of the others?! You mentioned you fixed a speed bug but it seems to be still in the WebGL Version...
🎤 Kristian David
08. May 2018 · 12:05 UTC
@Firesplash Entertainment Thanks for playing and for giving feedback. I just compared the windows and web version. I realized that the web car actually moves slower. I probably haven't saved the project when I fixed it 2 weeks ago. I'll try to upload a fixed version tomorrow. I think its also frame rate related.
LittleStone Games
08. May 2018 · 12:34 UTC
Hey!Good work!At first ,this is very confusing haha.The mechanis are good but the car is very dificult to control.Anyways good work!Good job for 72 h!:)

Here is our game if you want to try it!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/me-da-miedito-la-oscuridad-i-get-goosebumps-in-the-dark
🎤 Kristian David
08. May 2018 · 13:30 UTC
@LittleStone Games Thanks for playing the game. I actually created it for 48 hours (compo).

I'll check out your game
elHombreBanana
09. May 2018 · 09:50 UTC
Nice work! The audio is a bit unpleasant and the road isn't very clear, but I like how you managed to put a car & zombie AI in this time! Also, the ragdolls are just great to smash the car into xD

Keep it up!
MAJORgoose
11. May 2018 · 17:30 UTC
Congratulations! I think that you might want to add more zombies. It wasn't until the 3rd race that I encountered any, and then it was only one. It was a lot of fun when I did see one. Also I find that ignoring the track and going straight through the trees was the quickest way to the finish.