LudumData

Oh, It's Nothing by Ein

[raw]
made by Ein for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

It's hardly easy, being the Universe. So, can't say I was shocked when one day it vanished without a trace. It clearly had enough.

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Can't just sit amidst the void, though, twiddling our thumbs-to-be. We'll be starting from scratch, you and I. No experience in universe-forging? Not to worry. Just sit tight and enjoy the ride; 5 minutes or so, and we'll be where we need to be.

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But before we begin, a bit of advice. If all this were happening on a screen, I'd suggest utilizing its surface to its fullest instead of being content with a mere window. Moreover, if music and sounds still existed, I'd strongly consider not disregarding them.

Last but not least, if those fancy mobile devices were still around (I sure miss mine!), I wouldn't discourage you from using them. As long as the prospect of straining your eyestalks here and there isn't too daunting.

Yours truly,

Barely Existent Narrator

(Playable in browser - even on phones)

(Postmortem)

Youtube https://einn.itch.io/oh-its-nothing
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/oh-its-nothing

Ratings

Overall 654th 3.364⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 987th 2.677⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 187th 3.727⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 154th 3.926⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 845th 2.983⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Audio 250th 3.581⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Humor 594th 2.633⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 270th 3.734⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 39🗳️ 9🗨️

Feedback

evilobjective
07. Oct 2019 · 19:16 UTC
Not bad! I'm partial to narrator games myself...
Good use of theme and good job on the mood!
NachtWitch
07. Oct 2019 · 21:45 UTC
really cool idea, love the effort put into the game, a bit more polish and it could feel like the Stanley parable
LoudLout
07. Oct 2019 · 21:50 UTC
wow, I'm pleasantly surprised! Very big work with text and really awesome music *_* Like it
xlomid
08. Oct 2019 · 11:41 UTC
Really cool concept! I love the meta aspect of the narrative; I've also been interested in exploring game mechanics based on manipulating words, and this is a nice example of one!

I would make the full sentence that the player is constructing more conspicuous (bigger letters? Or some kind of highlighting?). I didn't even notice it at first, and was having difficulty keeping track of the words I was clicking. The progress bar is a nice touch. Oh, and one of the other commenters mentions music - I didn't hear any on Firefox, not sure what the issue is but maybe worth looking into.

I'd love to see the full version with more varied mechanics and some kind of narrative resolution.
Hare Software
09. Oct 2019 · 16:39 UTC
Very nice easy to understand game with an interesting take on the theme. Had a good time just relaxing to the music while trying to puzzle my way to the end. Great atmosphere, well done!
Nisovin
11. Oct 2019 · 00:19 UTC
A very interesting experience. Music was nice, and the mechanics worked well. I liked the progress bar for the dialog sections.
Geckoo1337
17. Oct 2019 · 19:33 UTC
Unusual gameplay. Really interesting use of the theme using Holy Scriptures - and it is not usual for a Ludumdare entry, but why not? I like the main music and mechanics work well as expected. Strange and pleasant mood with an ethereal track. I had fun playing, trying to remember what it was written in the Book. Well done. You deserve more ratings. God bless you for this entry. Thank you ++
Flying Dog Fish
17. Oct 2019 · 21:19 UTC
Well, that certainly was something.
shubart
17. Oct 2019 · 21:41 UTC
Whoo ! What an experience ! I cannot call this a game, but who care ? This was really great. Lot of poetry. I will remember this. Thank you very much !
Lexyvil
17. Oct 2019 · 21:56 UTC
Very interesting concept. I thought there was a bug when forming the last sentence, since any word was acceptable, but then I saw it was scripted that way~
Papaver
17. Oct 2019 · 23:06 UTC
That was an interesting experienc! Although I am not too sure what happened. :wink:
Nice audio and very creative with words.
JUSTCAMH
18. Oct 2019 · 01:03 UTC
Ahh, this is great! I was perusing he LD feed on the train, and stumbled upon this, pleasantly surprised to see it work on my mobile browser, which I didn’t even think was possible. I haven’t seen a single other game’s web build support that, so I’m bloody impressed, and interested to know what (if any) engine you used! Good job on the game, great atmosphere and I liked the clean presentation of it all. It was all a very nice experience, great for a train ride. :heart:
itsdanidre
18. Oct 2019 · 02:15 UTC
Oh. It's nothing!??? It's amazing that's what!

Simple yet wonderful. And something as subtle ans moving text made it even more awesome!

I went wild on the third part, just reading the story then onward :rofl:
Brandon Anderson
18. Oct 2019 · 02:40 UTC
Really interesting project, I think the ambient music sounds great and the clicking sound effect is very effective. I also like the visual effect on the text itself after clicking it.
Amerigo Gazaway
18. Oct 2019 · 06:19 UTC
Awesome game, the writing for the narrator is great. Love the Hitchhiker's Guide reference and the music as well.
invader
18. Oct 2019 · 06:29 UTC
Cool! That word play is definitelly innovative)))
I wonder how far you can go with gameplay just by using words and simple links between them... I guess you can get much more from that simple mechanics.
Jin9310
18. Oct 2019 · 07:28 UTC
This was really calm and interesting. Would love to discover more, however really nice take on the theme and the mood! Great job
🎤 Ein
18. Oct 2019 · 09:21 UTC
@justcamh, we used PhaserJS engine. It's really simple and workable even on phones browsers. Take a look at code samples (https://labs.phaser.io) - few lines can give amazing results.
SKDF
23. Oct 2019 · 10:43 UTC
Phew, that was... metaphysical? Great ambience, simple and clever gameplay! I'd love to see this more elaborated :)
envy_softworks
26. Oct 2019 · 22:25 UTC
Cool little game! We laughed out loud on some parts
ryjcio
26. Oct 2019 · 23:26 UTC
Very creative text based gameplay. I would like to see more of that. Good job!