Dear Diary by Rodrigo Denúbila

You found a diary and know nothing about it. Everything you have is it's bloody pages, who will guide you inside this terrible history.




Instructions:
Use the WASD keys to move.
Use the mouse to move the camera.
Press 'E' to interact with items.
Credits
Conception, Idea, Programming, 3D Modeling, Design, Animation: Rodrigo Denúbila
Voice Acting: Dianna Conley
SFx: Survival Game Sounds by Cafofo Estudio
Script Revision: Ben French
Special thanks to Cris de Paula
Timelapse:
https://youtu.be/YhwRZKu9qoM
| Youtube | https://gamejolt.com/games/dear_diary/443472 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/dear-diary |
Ratings
| Overall | 297th | 3.701⭐ | 69🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 644th | 3.159⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 364th | 3.455⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 629th | 3.228⭐ | 70🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 275th | 3.978⭐ | 70🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 221th | 3.638⭐ | 67🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 777th | 2.232⭐ | 58🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 340th | 3.614⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 61🗳️ | 94🗨️ |
The controls were a bit wonky and I couldn't see the mouse cursor during the e-mail sequence which almost sent me into a rage but overall it was quite a nice little game. I like how you decided to go the narrative route.
A small thing presentation-wise would be that the mouse cursor is visible and layered on top of the rectangle in the center of the screen.
Great job! :slight_smile:
@madeasterbunny thanks a lot!
Hi @dwam I'm glad you liked, You captured the ideia of the player just see what is mentioned. I think I accomplished this goal. Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot @simon-rahnasto I'm so glad you liked! I'm happy with this game too. It's difficulty to me to be happy with my own work, but this game made
Hey @velvetlobster At first I was trying to do something white and clean (like the Assassin's Creed loading screen) but then I remembered of the movie Dogville and decided that this kind of atmosphere matched with the story I was creating. It is a really great movie and I recommend to everyone!
The game itself is lagging a bit on my computer, I must admit I found it really annoying.
Other than that, it's a great idea.
The graphics are simple but good. Maybe a bit of music could have improved it but hey I'm not sure.
Kuddos to the voice actress who made the game feel "real".
Good job!
Loved the art ! Loved the voice acting ! Loved the furniture rising effect !
The story was simple but effectuve. Maybe you could try a more creepy story, going along the spare (epurated) graphic style !
Overall one of my favourite game :D
(I just saw you mentioned Dogville yourself, nice!)
hi @entropy I'm glad you liked even with the lag. I was planning to add music too, but unfortunately I couldn1t manage this in the jam time.
@annie-owl hehehe... thanks! This is the best I could do with the jam time. I'm so glad you liked!
Thanks a lot @wakobu maybe in the future I get back in this game and work more in the plot.
@imphenzia thanks a lot! I had to slow down the character movements because it's a small space and I wanted to prevent audio overlapping, but I agree with you, the game is a bit too slow, at least in the beginning.
Hi @shess Dogville is one of my favorite movies and was a huge reference for this game. I'm so glad you liked!
Congrats !!
The voice acting was amazing, really good job. I also liked the subtle ways in which you hinted at what the player had to do, with the room you had to visit next lit up and the rest in darkness. The story was also pretty good, but I felt it was a little over dramatic.
Great job!
Good job :slight_smile:
The story felt a bit bare-bones, but that's understandable given that this is a game jam entry. In a full version, I would love to have more agency over how the events unfold: currently, it feels like the game is sort of pulling the player along and telling them what to do (even if they may feel that the protagonist is making a terrible decision). I would love to have an alternate ending, either based on choices made during the playthrough or unlockable after getting the original ending. I also wish there was more stuff to explore: currently, the beginning of the game is basically wandering around the apartment trying to find the next area you can interact with; it would be cool if you could also unlock additional narrative clues about the couple's relationship. (E.g. why is Nick so secretive and doesn't tell the protagonist anything?)
There are a few minor technical things as well: e.g. you can type the password on your keyboard, but you cannot do the same for the safe combination; there is no way to close the drawer in the living room (so it can stay open FOR DAYS); and doors sometimes act up, either refusing to open on first try or getting the protagonist briefly stuck inside:

I did enjoy the experience, though, and I would love to see you explore this aesthetic and approach to storytelling further -- either by making an extended post-compo version of this game, or a different, longer game with a similar feel!
Due to jam time, unfortunatelly I didn't have time to work more on the plot neither on the mechanics in this game. It was already a challenge to do this all by myself in such short time.
I'm planning to work on a full game on the future, so I'll have time to explore more the story, with sidequests, multiple endings, more characters, etc.
Thanks again!
The walking had a lot of camera jitter/shaking though, which could be smoothed out. Good voice acting as well. Could definitely see this approach to story telling being fleshed out and made into a full game. It was very nice in a noir kind of way.
* Sometimes the voice was being played from a place at the room instead of centered on the main character, this made the sound change when I moved the camera or the player, breaking the immersion a bit.
* I was not sure where to go at the beginning, so I randonly walked between rooms and nothing happened, it was a little frustrating, especially because of the slow walking pace.
* The collision was not on point, the main character would enter on objects all the time, breaking the immersion again.
Things I liked:
* Wow, voice acting!!! I think this is the first ludum dare entry that I ever saw with voice acting, and it was so well made! Astonishing!
* Nice narrative!
* Very good movement on the models, I was not expecting so much detail on a LD game.
The story is fine but I think would be a lot more impactful if you really developed the player's relationship with Nick. I'm not sure *how* to do this, precisely, but in my opinion narrative games are really effective when they are able to simulate a feeling for the player, as that's something that can only be accomplished through interactive media. If Nick functioned as a component in the gameplay that the player came to rely on, they would feel something based on how he changes throughout the story.
Of course that's just one idea and it may not really make sense in the context of this game. Just something to think about.
@eduardo-yukio thanks for your comment. The problem with the audio was not with the location where the audio is placed, it was with the audio file that was with some error, but I couldn't fix in the jam time. I agree with you that in the beginning is a little bit confusing what to do. I'll try to make it more clear and fix some bugs in a post jam version.
Hi @honey-pony thanks a lot! I liked a lot your suggestions. The story can be improved a lot. In the LD time is very difficult to develop all the story even more that I had to write all the lines to send to the voice actress and do all the 3d modeling, programming and design by myself. But I'm thinking in work in a full game in the future, so I'll be able to work more on the plot so all the feedback I received here is very welcome.
Thanks a lot @brokenmirrormedia :smiley:
The story is really cheesy and dramatic. Who the f*** won't tell his wife about an event like that.
Walking and interacting with stuff was kind of boring, like having to walk back to see the weeding date, or the dogs name. It would be much nicer if once I read those things, they would be added to the "diary" so I could just scroll it on the spot and find what I need.
But oh my god dude, I love the visual style and everything else about the game. Even some small details like a room's light turning on so you know you'll have some interactions in that room, really good! I also loved the apartment layout with white lines on the floor, I think it's a good unique design choice. Would be nice to have had something similar when following nick in the streets.
I hope you will expand upon it by fleshing out the story and the mechanics a bit, you already nailed the visual style and that alone is sometimes enough for a game to really stand out and sell well.
Overall great game!
Thanks @whiteseraph I really liked your idea of a notepad where the important things will be written. The story is really simple and dramatic indeed. I planning to make a full game of this story in the future, so I'll be able to work on a better plot. Thanks a lot for your suggestions.
@cole-and-jordan-studios The movement system is not the worst part, I think the most challenge is to program the interactable items and the animations. Thanks! I'm glad you liked my game.
> But I really want to finish the story! :weary:
Is it possible to do a version where you can set the graphics of the game before launching? I know usual Unity games have that feature.
Thanks @itsdanidre I made a huge mistake trying to use HDRP for the first time in this jam, that's why tha game is so laggy, and until now I didn't had time to change this. I'll try to do this soon and I'll let you know.
Hi @givit-game-studios thanks a lot! I was planning to add music on the game indeed. I already had an royalt free music selected, but unfortunately I didn't had time to put it on the game. It's true that it would make a huge difference in the game mood.