Star-Dogged Moon by Ree Rolph

[raw]
made by Ree Rolph for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

A horror-themed visual novel inspired by A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. The intention was to focus on the central character Jack performing the same ritual, century after century, to desperately maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I got to that bit, so this really doesn't fit very well with the theme. The writing's pretty rushed. The art's good though. Best run in fullscreen, or the UI may be buggy .

Made in Unity and Ink.

Writing + Gameplay: Ree Rolph

Art: Vak

Assorted Programming : Piotrus Watson

Screenie 1.PNG

Screenie 2.PNG

Screenie 3.PNG

Ratings

Overall 993th 3.368⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1182th 3⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1036th 3.122⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1367th 2.944⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 414th 3.974⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Mood 146th 4.053⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 49🗨️

Feedback

pinneh
06. Oct 2020 · 00:35 UTC
Not really my type of game but I thought the art work and ambiance were on point.
Gumemura
06. Oct 2020 · 03:46 UTC
Not really my type of game but I (2) but its a dog, so how cant i like it
Lychee
06. Oct 2020 · 04:25 UTC
I didn't follow the story exactly, but I really liked the atmosphere you were creating with the art and music. I was afraid of a jumpscare the whole time haha. Good work!
🎤 Ree Rolph
06. Oct 2020 · 04:28 UTC
@lychee Oops! Sorry, that wasn't my intent. I hate it when games do that. I don't blame you for not following it, I had to rush it and basically cut the conclusion so it's pretty incomprehensible.
Lychee
06. Oct 2020 · 04:33 UTC
@ree-rolph I just read horror and my paranoid brain just started thinking jumpscare! I liked your writing a lot too, it is very vivid and paints a good description of the scene ^^
Valkija
06. Oct 2020 · 10:17 UTC
Really nice artistic style, complements the game well!
Frozentape
06. Oct 2020 · 11:48 UTC
Engaging writing, and a really spooky story - it's a winner for me :P Gave me Scottish highlands vibes in the best way. Great choice of music too!
Tamail
06. Oct 2020 · 15:07 UTC
Great story, visuals and sounds! Nice package you got there! :)
JoeDev
06. Oct 2020 · 17:50 UTC
This is insane artwork for a jam game! I'm a sucker for text adventures too, and I really enjoyed the writing despite you saying it was rushed. Along with the music it was very spooky ambience and I got goosebumps at points. Good work!
Merpui
06. Oct 2020 · 19:46 UTC
Nice game, really sets the mood with the visuals and the music in the background! :)
cyberfrank
06. Oct 2020 · 19:51 UTC
A solid and unique entry. I like the paper cutout effect thing, it's sweet!
PROJECTaroid
06. Oct 2020 · 22:26 UTC
Very interesting game. The story, art, and audio really work well together. Nice work. Was that the 4th Doctor?
Eugenik
06. Oct 2020 · 22:46 UTC
Great concept, also i love the music so funky!
🎤 Ree Rolph
06. Oct 2020 · 22:54 UTC
@projectaroid Ha, a little flourish from the artist. The reference pics were Christopher Lee in the Wicker Man, but I wasn't going to say no to a Tom Baker!
cyphyrGriffon
07. Oct 2020 · 00:10 UTC
I liked this story! Usually I'm not big on this type of game, but I'm kinda curious what happens next. Beautiful art, too, and I love the detail of the dog having heterochromia! Very cute, good work!
Arad HamidSamiee
07. Oct 2020 · 07:03 UTC
Refreshing gameplay, neat art style and backgrounds (surely time consuming), nice audio design, good narration :thumbsup:
Shortbread
07. Oct 2020 · 09:08 UTC
The art and audio is really nice, would be great to see it fully fleshed out :slight_smile:
etrealjunior
07. Oct 2020 · 09:39 UTC
I liked your game my congratulations, I also did one if you want to know, and give me your feedback I am very grateful, this is the link https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/resurrection
invader
07. Oct 2020 · 12:00 UTC
Nice game. Not often one sees a visual nover these days. It is the first one for me in this jam :)
MeowMeowLitClub
07. Oct 2020 · 18:27 UTC
Cool and amazing cover, which do attact me a lot. I also like the art style and the music!!
ValentineFonDreamer
07. Oct 2020 · 20:11 UTC
The atmosphere is similar to Roger Zelazny's A Night in Lonely October.
Thanks for using this piece.
Artistic view conceptual and good design in minimal time. Music scared me, great for a horror. Well done!
Gameplay is a little blurry
pee-thief
09. Oct 2020 · 05:11 UTC
Really pretty
smiley405
09. Oct 2020 · 20:37 UTC
really nice story
fawnblue
10. Oct 2020 · 02:04 UTC
Really unique game - I had a good time playing through it :)
Some impressions:
- The art was great, and fit the music perfectly. The overall mood of the game was amazing - kudos!
- It was strange that the dialogue you chose was repeated on the screen after you clicked on it. It might have felt better without it.
- The punctuation/grammar was a bit off sometimes, and sometimes the dialogue was cut off.
- It was unclear what was clickable/unclickable, some hover effects might have helped.
- Story was really interesting, I wish it was longer :D
🎤 Ree Rolph
10. Oct 2020 · 02:16 UTC
@fawnblue Glad you enjoyed it! Some of those issues are things we didn't have time to fix before the deadline, the script was basically thrown straight in without proofreading so there may well be some mistakes. Dialogue shouldn't have been cut off though, were you running it in full screen/odd resolution? There are definitely a few UI problems that show up if the window is too small.
fawnblue
10. Oct 2020 · 02:25 UTC
@ree-rolph It was the screen that started with "While we no longer act in support of ..."

The first line ended with "I have a young girl who would" and the second line ended with "You draw your power from".

Yeah, might just be a resolution issue but thought I'd let you guys know.
RenD
10. Oct 2020 · 08:52 UTC
Really intriguing narrative setting, it had me hooked up from the beginning. The writing is pretty unique and combined with the art and music, it gives a cool KRZ vibe to your entry.
I wish the game UX was better designed though, maybe with some hover feedback, typewriting effect, words emphasized (color/bold). It could make the experience less rough and attract more players.
nefeli
10. Oct 2020 · 16:58 UTC
I couldn't quiet follow the story, but the atmosphere, art and music was so intriguing! Well done!
Darkmax14
10. Oct 2020 · 20:44 UTC
Gorgeous visuals and music, good job you guys
LelulaGames
11. Oct 2020 · 19:00 UTC
You do the creepy factor pretty well. Good art, strange story. You had a few things that were a bit off like the dog jumping in the boat on his own in one panel then the master throwing him in the boat in the next. Minor things that could easily be fixed.
Dane Tesla
25. Oct 2020 · 11:56 UTC
I'm a simple person, I see "inspired by A Day in the Lonesome October", I play. It was a wonderful experience and I loved the atmosphere! Menu was a little buggy for me tho btw. A great (old hehe) one! I wish the whole story was here x3