Ex Aeternum by John Gabriel

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made by John Gabriel for Ludum Dare 47 (COMPO)

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A point-and-click puzzle game in the style of Myst. I wasn't quite able to finish it properly, so it's more of a proof-of-concept than a game in-and-of-itself.

2020-10-04 19<em>47</em>43-Ex Aeternum.png 2020-10-04 19<em>48</em>24-Ex Aeternum.png 2020-10-04 19<em>47</em>56-Ex Aeternum.png

Ratings

Overall 377th 3.304⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 462th 2.929⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 449th 2.964⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 605th 2.315⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 17th 4.393⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 160th 3.482⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 56th 3.875⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

Tayfun
05. Oct 2020 · 09:48 UTC
Awesome graphics. the game is a short but has potential. I think you spent your time too much with modelling. Even it is short it is a finished project. Happy to see Godot projects in compo as a Godot learner:) Thank you for the source code.
Aterlamia
05. Oct 2020 · 10:13 UTC
Awesome art and good sound. With the abrupt ending it looks like you wanted to do more than the time allowed (which i know the feelin of). I did kind of miss the theme a bit but i guess that is because you could not really finish ?
cleitoneldorn
05. Oct 2020 · 10:28 UTC
Wow, this has an amazing mood, audio and graphics, I was hooked with the first couple of puzzles, is very unfortunate that you haven't got the time to finish this. You should definataly keep working on it after the jam, this is very good and has great potential!
INCD021
05. Oct 2020 · 12:12 UTC
Love it, been a while since I had to figure out things myself :) Took a couple of tries to understand the puzzle, and the indications on the small pearls. Very nice graphics.
Very nicely done :thumbsup:
Athryell
05. Oct 2020 · 12:44 UTC
I really liked the smoothness of the movement and the graphic. The riddles have a lot of potential (you can twist this simple mechanic in a lot of ways, like in "The witness" game). The sound drove me a little bit crazy but maybe it's my computer :D anyway it doesn't effect the overall score!
Spiderhead20
05. Oct 2020 · 16:48 UTC
The art and sounds are the highlighs in this game, I really loved the feeling of exploration and mistery, it has potential for a puzzling game
Aaron Smith
05. Oct 2020 · 18:26 UTC
very nice lighting and environment work!
Michael Feldman
06. Oct 2020 · 00:45 UTC
Nice UX, overall great presentation. I never got to enjoy myst, but I quite enjoyed this little demo.
JudgeZedd
06. Oct 2020 · 15:13 UTC
There's an absurd level of polish on what you did manage to finish. It's one of the most impressive 'weekend' submissions, visually, I think I've ever seen. I love games like this, just wish I was smarter when I'm playing them, so I appreciate that what was here was quite simple. Will be following along the development closely if you're taking it further.
sarahs7
06. Oct 2020 · 20:03 UTC
Beautiful and eerie atmosphere owing to the wonderful art and audio. Gameplay was very intuitive. I knew when I had finished the puzzles and no prompts or explanations needed. Lovely. I do hope we see that ending one day!
baylej
06. Oct 2020 · 21:15 UTC
I'm a big fan of Myst, and you managed to recreate that special atmosphere this game has.
Eugenik
07. Oct 2020 · 03:48 UTC
wonderfully simple, addictive game
jdbuenol
07. Oct 2020 · 18:17 UTC
Really great concept John, the graphics are amazing, the atmosphere and the SFX of dripping water are incredible and overall you put a lot of work and passion in this game. It's a bit too short but still great job.
Diego Escalante
08. Oct 2020 · 05:36 UTC
I know you ran out of time, but I like the visuals. Not many puzzles of course but I feel like the foundations for some really interesting ones were there. Shame you fell victim to the limited time, but this entry still excels at mood and graphics! One tiny tidbit I did like is now I didn't actually have to point and click to change screens, just moved my cursor in the general direction and the camera would rotate. That was real nice.
Ramble House Games
08. Oct 2020 · 11:49 UTC
That's an impressive amount of environment modeling for a Compo game. Nicely done.
Chaosinism
09. Oct 2020 · 01:15 UTC
One of my favorite art in the combo games I have played so far. I am also learning to make 3D scenes with Godot and Blender, and this inspires me a lot.
BlaiseRascal
09. Oct 2020 · 01:38 UTC
Can anyone tell me how to get past the first puzzle? Haha

Absolutely jaw-dropping art and atmosphere on this!
cogcomp
11. Oct 2020 · 16:14 UTC
What a beautiful game! Well done! Too bad you didn't have time to finish it.
anchorlight
19. Oct 2020 · 17:47 UTC
PLEASE make a post-jam release.

It's a shame that your time was cut short, and I totally understand with compo and all... but what is here, I'm 100% on board with.

My primary complaint is that despite these amazing backgrounds, you don't really apply them into gameplay at all. I would love some animated objects, changing frames, and so on. The line puzzles just kind of existed, but I would have liked to see these actually appear in the environment in some way. Perhaps the lines could have been objects on the wall that illuminate with baked glowing effects or particles when connected?

I wish there'd been a bit of music, but the ambience more than makes up for any shortcomings here. It has a muffled feel that really gets the feeling of some greater mechanical system around you. I also don't know if the water was supposed to be used in any way, as I feel like I skipped right past it. To your credit though, it was some very nice pre-rendered water.

This is nitpicking to the highest degree for a compo game, but I would have liked a higher-quality render for HD resolutions beyond 720p. All that artifacting and compression just gets in the way of some great looking renders.

Props to you for really going out on a limb with this entry. It might not have entirely worked out, but aside from a commendable effort, there's some genuinely solid ideas I'd love to see more of here.