Lost Souls by Raineii

[raw]
made by Raineii for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

bannin'.png

Dear Wanderer,

If you’re reading this, I am probably that pile of bones sitting next to my old fire. I don’t know who you are or how you got here, but let me tell you this: You’ll regret coming here. It’s a fine place in the daylight – the sun hanging low over the ponds, a beautiful scene. When the clock strikes midnight, though, it’s a different story. The souls of the damned lurk the shadows, I tell you, though you’ll probably see them soon enough. They’ll find you and take you among their ranks, and I’ll warn you this: They will get to you. I was hopeful of escape at first as well, but there’s no way out. Only prolonging the wait to your inevitable demise. I can’t help you. Nobody can.

What I can give you are what shall be remembered as my last words – Stay in the light. The Souls won't be able to reach you there - they can lurk all they want, but can't do a thing to you. The Souls knock the trees enough that you’ll find the occasional piece of wood, and I advise you use it, keep a fire going, fashion a torch, anything you can do, you must. Myself and a few of the other survivors had the bright idea to make fires as well – they’re scattered throughout here, but I’ve tried to fashion paths to keep you on the right trail. Sometimes, one of the Damned will be freed, and they’ll leave their last gifts upon the ground. Usually, it’s something useful, though the little buggers always seem to find the most cryptic places to leave ‘em. Listen closely to the tune of their salvation, and you’ll be able to hunt their treasures down.

I certainly hope you had a good life.

Sincerely, Lieut. James Longstreet

Programming and Game Design by Pablo Hernandez Cepeda, Jorge Gaspar Lira, and Ivan Reyes Spezzia

Visual Art by JacobWing

Original Score & Sound Design/Effects by Eric Lagergren

Ratings

Overall 772th 3.681⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1173th 3.343⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1117th 3.338⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Theme 494th 4.015⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 978th 3.792⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Audio 274th 3.875⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Humor 2009th 1.717⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 177th 4.108⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Given 44🗳️ 44🗨️

Feedback

Asemic
21. Apr 2020 · 03:10 UTC
It was fun. Its kinda buggy sometimes (shadows walk beside you instead of killing you) but very good overall. Loved the art and soud effects.
21. Apr 2020 · 18:03 UTC
Note: Shadows are supposed to walk beside you when you're in the light, that's how you keep them from killing you. Only when your torch dies out (Or if you step on the Slime shadow) will they actually be able to kill you.
_SirLlama_
21. Apr 2020 · 19:08 UTC
Very good game, but also quiet challenging. The only real problem is that it is more about keeping yourself alive than something else. But other than that, I love the shadows and the graphics too! well done
MrHassanSan
21. Apr 2020 · 19:14 UTC
Nice spooky vibes! There was some real tasty sound design in here, too~
DareGB
21. Apr 2020 · 19:17 UTC
Nice art! Graphics and sounds are very immersive.

SPACE + WASD = Run not working to me, but I think I couldn't do it because I had logs. btw nice game!!
SkelleRoznik
21. Apr 2020 · 19:47 UTC
Such a great game! It's so atmospheric. I loved the art, music and sounds. The lighing effect is awesome. Ghosts are spooky. Nice job!
🎤 Raineii
21. Apr 2020 · 20:17 UTC
@daregb Oh, this is actually a mistake on our part. It should read "SHIFT + SPACE". Since it's really important to let the player know about this, we're pushing a fix on a few minutes, in case you want to give it another shot. Thank you so much for letting us know about it!
HackTrout
21. Apr 2020 · 21:39 UTC
A game with a good mood, great work with this entry!
Firebelley
21. Apr 2020 · 21:46 UTC
Great mood and art! I wasn't entirely clear what I was supposed to do, but I enjoyed my time with it! The shadow-beast things were really neat. I liked how they stayed away from the light.
vartagh
21. Apr 2020 · 21:48 UTC
very nice atmosphere. dark and horror
R2isabot
21. Apr 2020 · 22:01 UTC
Is that music original? If it is congrats to the composer, the piano is amazing but the guitar nailed it! I can tell you guys like don't starve :P
Learus
21. Apr 2020 · 22:02 UTC
What an experience! The art direction of this game is just amazing. From the sprites to the music to the feeling of hearth when you are near a fireplace, to the terrifying look and movement of the shadow blobs. A great atmosphere from start to finish. Loved the way the game explained its mechanics in the main menu.
A challenging game for sure, as I did not manage to beat it. Far from it. Only problem I had is the fact, that wood logs are spawning in unreachable places. (Or are they not unreachable?)
Overall great game. Well done!
pele90
21. Apr 2020 · 22:20 UTC
I must say, when I saw the monster the first time, the fear start creeping over me. I absolutely love the graphics and the sound. The lighting effect is awesome. The shadow feature is great too. The atmosphere is just as it supposed to be for this kind of game. Really nice job.
Ben Ash
21. Apr 2020 · 22:44 UTC
Absolutely love the atmosphere; the art and music work perfectly together! Seemed a bit too challenging at first but really love the vibe and it encourages repeated attempts. :)
NoahRo
22. Apr 2020 · 00:31 UTC
It's funny, our entry is eerily similar to yours...
Great entry!
Eric Lagergren
22. Apr 2020 · 02:14 UTC
Oh my goodness! Thank you @r2isabot I'm so glad you liked my music :)
SludgeKey
22. Apr 2020 · 16:37 UTC
Really love the atmosphere!
James Dunlap
22. Apr 2020 · 18:18 UTC
Great atmosphere. The use of the lighting effects was superb as was the music. It took a couple times to figure it all out, but I did get it down. Great work.
Aj Jones
23. Apr 2020 · 06:47 UTC
Loved the vibe of this game, audio and lighting really did a lot to sell it. Really well done!
NateTheGreat
23. Apr 2020 · 07:09 UTC
Very spooky vibe. Amazing overall art and sound. I really enjoyed playing. I even found another fire pit and was able to light it and get a log on but unfortunately didn't get it bright enough in time for the shadows to come out and kill me. Wasn't sure what benefit the chests provided that spawned? Great entry overall!
SvartTand
23. Apr 2020 · 09:40 UTC
Nice moody game! Here is the video of me playing the game:

https://youtu.be/MpS-qfLuelc

The style was really nice and had a really good feel, but the goal of the game was not really clear to me. Just find survive I thought but what was the weird altars I found? So if it is a goal to also find them maybe put some ui telling the player how many are found and how many are still out there. And when I finished the game I saw that I actually was searching for a soul so just clearer instructions would have been nice.

Other than that it was really good!
LaJazuve
23. Apr 2020 · 14:10 UTC
i'm glad to test a game with a similar concept of mine, but in a very differente way ! the gameplay is cool and fun woks very well, it's cool to have differents biomes too ! great job !
Prototype Jon
23. Apr 2020 · 15:35 UTC
I really only have positives to say about this game.

I played this game an unhealthy amount of times. It was super addicting. I was really impressed with it's simplicity and the mood it established. The first time I saw the shadow, it startled the crap out of me.

If Lieut. James Longstreet was still with us, I would have loved it if he documented my life.

Excellent game.
Sergei
23. Apr 2020 · 17:37 UTC
Very atmospheric game! The beauty of effects, music and story mood made it a very enjoyable playing experience!
adriczero
24. Apr 2020 · 02:05 UTC
Sound really helped set a mood. I had a similar idea, but went in another direction. I like how your idea turned out.
SethPaxton
24. Apr 2020 · 06:16 UTC
Fun game! I like the depth put into the throwing mechanic, and the shadows work well. The webGL version definitely doesn't handle the graphics as smoothly, but what can you do? The shadow souls were a good idea, well executed - nice work!
🎤 Raineii
25. Apr 2020 · 02:56 UTC
@svarttand Thanks a lot for uploading the video, it was awesome to see you play! Sadly, the WebGL version will not render the fire correctly sometimes :(. If you can, I'd advise you play the Windows/Mac versions, where this issue doesn't happen.

You did very well, and were pretty fearless when facing the shadows! Also, thanks for the feedback, showing every item you've collected is something we're discussing right now as a future addition, for sure.

The objective of the game is to survive & collect the chests, as well as exploring the dark forest and discovering the secrets it beholds. If you give it another shot, try heading east from the central bonfire and follow the creepy music, it may lead you to the forest's darkest secret... ;)

Thanks for playing!
🎤 Raineii
25. Apr 2020 · 03:01 UTC
Thanks everyone for the supportive comments and the great feedback!

We're glad you enjoyed playing our game. :)
yy404
25. Apr 2020 · 12:04 UTC
Too much to explore. Prefect mood and music!