The Scout by Griz

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

SS1.png
-The Scout-

So this is it.
You will now undergo a final test of your scout skills.

I'll be taking your equipment, and you'll start with nothing.
Your task is to survive in the forest nearby, find a hidden medallion and bring it back to the scout leader.

Watch out for wild animals!

-Controls:-
Mouse - Look
LMB - Attack
W, S, A, D - movement
E - Inventory

-Changelog-
v1.0 Compo version
-Initial release!

Ratings

Overall 313th 3.259⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 342th 3.019⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 167th 3.519⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 367th 3.019⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 171th 3.556⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 264th 2.942⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 206th 3.259⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

Frogman
07. Oct 2019 · 10:22 UTC
Overall, the game was very nice. The graphics were good and (aside from the background sounds, which were a bit too loud) the audio as well. It felt a bit unfinished (the inventory had no use and it was a bit too short), but it has potential.
🎤 Griz
07. Oct 2019 · 10:53 UTC
@frogman Thanks!

Inventory, which in the end was used for collecting the quest item, was also supposed to allow you to do simple crafting and select a weapon. Those rocks that you collected were planned to be a throwing weapon, where branches would be used for creating a shelter or a fireplace.
Odeyalko
07. Oct 2019 · 13:15 UTC
I liked the game, I liked the style of the game, tightened it for a while.
NachtWitch
07. Oct 2019 · 14:38 UTC
Nice art style there, the idea was fun too
JxWinkler
07. Oct 2019 · 15:09 UTC
I liked the style of the game!
blobo
07. Oct 2019 · 18:47 UTC
Oh woah, the rotatable top down effect is super rad! really cool style, great work!
djee
07. Oct 2019 · 20:37 UTC
That camera motion is... interesting :grin:
Cool idea, but I ended up wandering around without really knowing where I was going, until I found the medallion by chance, and gave up on coming back because the character was a bit too slow, and I quickly lost track of directions.
Mikeliosus
07. Oct 2019 · 20:41 UTC
Hey! Passed your game, it is really nice!

This camera thing was like "Wow"! Will be interesting to play something realesed with such feature!

Liked your entry! :3
Marcin J
07. Oct 2019 · 20:45 UTC
I really like what you did with the camera and enjoyed the overall aesthetics. It could use a compass or a minimap, but udnerstendably there were massive time constraints. I would also play with maybe lowering the camera a bit behind the player? Good job overall!
Gustavo Rocha
07. Oct 2019 · 20:48 UTC
Great game man! It has a very interesting camera feature!
🎤 Griz
07. Oct 2019 · 20:59 UTC
Thank you all for the comments!

@mikeliosus Doom sprite-ish vibes, right?

@marcin-j Oh yes, a compas or a map would help. Thought about adding a small direction mark in the corner, but decided that it's not true to the theme. After all, the scout leader takes all of your equipment, compass included, so you have to depend on your gut feelings.

I've played with various camera settings, and I've stuck to this design, as it feels more like you are the character, having to look around to scout the environment. In the beggining I also thought that a perspective camera would be cool, but tests have shown that pixels got nasty at higher distances, and 2D shaders would need to be updated to support the perspective camera.

Basicly typical stuff for game jams. So many ideas, so little time to do it :).
Mikeliosus
07. Oct 2019 · 21:20 UTC
@griz Yep!

Don't know how actually turning sprites feature will show itself on a bigger project, but such rotation of top-down camera can definitely have nice outplays.
Corrade
08. Oct 2019 · 03:15 UTC
This was solid and felt complete, nice! I found the camera to be quite unwieldy however. I think it bugged out when I was near the edge of the map. The trees were rotating but the camera appeared to be fixed. The character was off-screen at this point and I had to restart.

The combat was also clunky as there was minimal feedback on hits (only a low sound) and the sword's sprite didn't accurately reflect its hitbox. I also thought that the bottom-left was an awkward place for the player's hearts to be.

The pixelly background sound was strange.
Ender7
08. Oct 2019 · 07:47 UTC
I can see alot of the roots of a survival game here, if there was a fleshed out crafting system to go with it.
I havent seen this type of perspective where everything rotates with the camera, seems like an effective way of showing depth.
The battle music was a nice touch.
notime4games
08. Oct 2019 · 10:53 UTC
Well done! I liked how the camera worked. I smiled when I came close to a wasp and the battle music started :) Was there an even more intense version of it when engaging more than one enemy at a time!? Nice detail!

The sound design was really cool, except for that really loud high pitched "AZPHINCTA" sound that was unclear what caused it. A really annoying background bird? :D

Fighting was good, albeit a bit too easy for me. I didn't realize there was an inventory! But when I found out it seemed I couldn't do anything with my findings. Maybe a feature left out. :)

Great job!!
Derek Volker
08. Oct 2019 · 11:44 UTC
I found very interesting the way that the graphics interact with the mouse move and they are neatly done with a personal style, also making them easily to recognize. I could not find an use for the inventory, which i belive stayed as a work in progress due to compo minuscule timeframe. It is also interesting that are different enemies with different interactions, giving variety and value to the game. Also, i personally found the bee sound too high pitched and annoying, but its a personal feeling. Its nice also that when a enemy is nearby a danger music plays, warning from a possible attack from behind. Good job on your entry!
Iak
08. Oct 2019 · 18:03 UTC
Cool style, the unfinished features were perhaps a bit too much for 48 hours, but I can certainly see where you could go in expanding this. Reminds me of "Don't starve" a bunch with the 2.5D survival.

Looks really interesting anyhow. Would be cool to see where you'd take this with more time.
mutuware
08. Oct 2019 · 18:05 UTC
Interesting 3D rotation behaviour, then I was eaten by a dog.
Hanna_Knop
08. Oct 2019 · 18:14 UTC
Great artwork! I also like the whole idea of this game- as soon as I got the hang of it it was almost too easy for me though I have to admit... besides that, I really love the game! Awesome job, well done. :-)
🎤 Griz
08. Oct 2019 · 18:22 UTC
Thanks for valuable comments!
@corrade Camera has a life of its own. It tries to stay in-bounds of the level a little too much, even though there are physical bounds that you can't pass there. Because of that you might actually loose your character from sight in certain angles and places.

@ender7 That was the main aim, if not for the pesky time constraint! The game was supposed to be about surviving a night on your own, by crafting your own fireplace, shelter and some basic tools from the collected items.

@notime4games Haha, AZPHINCTA! It was probably this bird: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/$163316/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

@derek-volker bees are head to head with the birds in regards to the most annoying sound caused. Hopefully no one started the game with headphones set to 100% volume.

@mutuware By the brown dog, which starts with you in the camp? You shouldn't have attacked it with the stick. :)
Bocodillo
08. Oct 2019 · 20:26 UTC
The perspective is really cool, and the art is good. The SFX was outright painful to listen to though, I had to mute it almost immediately. There's a good base for a very interesting looking survival game here though.
paulhocker
09. Oct 2019 · 02:55 UTC
really interesting perspective on this game -- really enjoyed it until i was eating
OgelGames
09. Oct 2019 · 12:47 UTC
Nice game, the the 3D effect of rotating the camera is really cool, and surprised me when i first saw it :thumbsup:
Hcursino
09. Oct 2019 · 15:06 UTC
That's the first time that I see a camera control like this. Wow, really innovative good job. The battles were simple enough, still I got quite scared of those wolves. I just wish I could move faster, I spent a lot of time lost in the forest, I did not find the Medal, and at some point I just gave up because that guy was so slow. But other than the speed the game was really great. Good job.
netmute
09. Oct 2019 · 21:18 UTC
Just like my Boy Scout leader always told me, head into the bush, find the first man-sized bee and beat it to death with a stick :thumbsup:

I was a little sad I lost my dog somewhere along the way (like, literally lost), but managed to find the amulet and bring it back!

That was fun overall. The sound was a bit glitchy in places, but otherwise solid entry. Good job!