LudumData

Blank Page Syndrome by okkolobr

[raw]
made by okkolobr for Ludum Dare 45 (COMPO)

Going meta with the theme and the fact that I struggled to find any idea that suits me : so I went with the blank page syndrome. You start from nothing, a blank page. And you have to fill it. Till the end. You will fight anxiety represented by those creatures that slow you down. But you will make it to the end. Cause we have to go to the end in Ludum Dare :)

Initially I wanted to use public domain poems ( and used time to do my research for that )... but I ( lately ) realised that may be against the rule of Compo… So I went head-on to wrote some poetry of my own, hope you'll like it :)

All in all, it feels like I set my goal to low. Next LD I will have to go on with more ambitious ideas instead of scratching them because “I won’t manage to finish them”. Give it a try dammit !

Opt-out of audio : Music generated with https://pernyblom.github.io/abundant-music/index.html SFX generated with SFXR

Youtube https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0eqfzaf7i4uc82/LD45_Draft.zip?dl=0
Youtube https://okkolobr.itch.io/ld45bks
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/blank-page-syndrome

Ratings

Overall 406th 3.056⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Fun 414th 2.75⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 142th 3.586⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 69th 4.014⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 256th 3.286⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Mood 121th 3.571⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

congusbongus
07. Oct 2019 · 08:43 UTC
Haha, a funny game. Took me a while to figure out what's going on because once you're hit with KWZ you can't get inspired for a bit.
Tadeas Paule
07. Oct 2019 · 08:43 UTC
Hi, nice idea :) I liked how you implemented it, moving around the page to slowly uncover a poem. The movement was so hard though!
The-Vecter
07. Oct 2019 · 08:44 UTC
This was a cool game that fit the theme nicely, I feel like the player/writing ball was a bit too fast and was hard to control, and I don't think the anxiety balls did anything but otherwise I think this was a fun little game :)
FoolishFire
07. Oct 2019 · 08:45 UTC
I enjoyed this, thought moving seemed to be a bit chaotic, which is hard when you're trying to get that last word guarded by the anxiety monsters.
Kaijiro
07. Oct 2019 · 08:56 UTC
Thank you for keeping my morale to the top through the jam ! Let's rock the next one together !
Apace
07. Oct 2019 · 11:19 UTC
I agree with the others that the ball was difficult to steer! But other than that, nice little game, with relaxing background music and a nice interpretation of the theme.
🎤 okkolobr
07. Oct 2019 · 12:19 UTC
Thanks to all that have already tested my game :) I totally agree with the difficulty of the control. I could try to justify by saying it's to represent that it is hard to control inspiration flow... But clearly I just struggle with those control as it was my first 3D game with some physics. Next one will be better :)
Evannex
07. Oct 2019 · 12:56 UTC
Hmm interested, but unfortunately all I had was a blank black screen. I couldn't see anything at all, not sure if that's the idea or if there was an issue on my part. I'll try it again later on my home computer. :smile:
🎤 okkolobr
07. Oct 2019 · 13:02 UTC
@evannex I would be interested to know if it works on your home computer, and what kind of computer ( and browser ) it didn't worked on ! Thanks :)
Evannex
07. Oct 2019 · 13:11 UTC
I'll make sure I let you know if it works when I get home. As for what I tried on just now, it's a Windows desktop using google chrome.
bcvery1
07. Oct 2019 · 13:44 UTC
Looks nice, and I like the music, but I have no idea what the controls are or what I'm supposed to be doing. Shame, as others seem to have enjoyed it
mortalfosca
07. Oct 2019 · 13:45 UTC
this was funn, movement was a bit draggy but i guess its intended to make it last longer. Really nice audio & visuals and a novel idea! what else could we ask for...
Move127
07. Oct 2019 · 13:52 UTC
I like your idea for how to use the theme. In addition to the weird movement, it felt like the hitboxes were not accurate to the particle effects. Sometimes I would pass through a particle and it wouldn't reveal a word.
🎤 okkolobr
07. Oct 2019 · 14:19 UTC
@bcvery1 You controls the movement with the arrows

@move127 Particles on word are a last minute addition, because I realised on final tests that players won't know where to search for words. And in the "last minute addition process" I didn't think to adapt them to the hitboxes, which would have been the good idea, sorry for that !

Thanks all for your feedbacks !
blobo
07. Oct 2019 · 16:14 UTC
Nice game! I like the poem you wrote!
mutuware
07. Oct 2019 · 19:55 UTC
It's pronounced "Loo-dum Dah-ray"! :D
djee
07. Oct 2019 · 20:13 UTC
I have no idea what is going on. Am I controlling that pale yellow thing over a white background? I can't see anything unfortunately. Things are happening and I can't make sense of them :(
KeithSwanger
07. Oct 2019 · 21:21 UTC
You should really enable ratings for Humour because the poem is hilarious! Nice job!
TaoPhoenix
08. Oct 2019 · 14:34 UTC
I saw a hint of sadness that was stronger than the humor. But pleasant little poem!
Marchmain
08. Oct 2019 · 21:50 UTC
Cute music and poem! I couldn't figure out what the black blobs of letters do, are we supposed to avoid those?
Ithildin
08. Oct 2019 · 22:20 UTC
Interesting take on the theme. I liked the mechanic, but I had some issues with the controls and the inspiration detection. It was hard to tell where exactly to move from the particles alone.

It was also way easier if you just went slowly, which I guess could also be interpreted as some meta commentary... "just take it easy and inspiration will eventually come" :grinning:

Nice entry!
🎤 okkolobr
08. Oct 2019 · 23:10 UTC
@marchmain : when you are touched by anxity ( black blobs ) you lost your inspiration for a few seconds ( you can't reveal words during 2s after the touch). The ball light blink (too slightly) in red during this time
Locomule
09. Oct 2019 · 04:17 UTC
Felt like I was playing a mini game within a game, nice execution
p-r
09. Oct 2019 · 13:10 UTC
Like the idea, but could be more challenging, example, make the creatures randomly move and/or sometimes erase words
ROBOWARRIOR1982
11. Oct 2019 · 19:19 UTC
Nice idea ! short but effective, and perfectly in the theme.
🎤 okkolobr
12. Oct 2019 · 01:09 UTC
Once again, a huge thanks to everyone who took the time to test this :)
ThePirateNun
12. Oct 2019 · 03:23 UTC
I thought this was a very clever idea, but the slightly tough control and lack of explanation of what to try to do and what to avoid was a little bit difficult. I liked the representations of anxiety, and the poem was very cute, but I think it could use a bit more time on the idea side and in the implementation to be great. Overall, Nice job though!
DrGrognak
12. Oct 2019 · 06:10 UTC
Awesome use of the theme. I had a lot of trouble with how vague it was as well... :) I feel like the camera should center around the player, because it was too difficult for me to avoid enemies above me, but overall, a nice and enjoyable mini-game. Good poem!
Xephrys
12. Oct 2019 · 12:36 UTC
Fun little game and relatable for starting a drawing on a blank piece of paper, i particularly loved the choice of font :)
Geckoo1337
12. Oct 2019 · 20:57 UTC
Cool game with an interesting concept which fits with the theme. Controls are a little bit awkward, but good enough. I had fun playing. Thank you ++