The Winter by sydan

[raw]
made by sydan for LD34 (COMPO)
The Old Ones told of the time that the emerald comet would fall, bringing with it a terrible darkness. Now you stand between the evil and your home village. Raise the Guardians and destroy the evil before it grows too strong!

Controls
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LMB or Z: Plant a seed
RMB or X: Dash towards the mouse

Hints
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- Planting a seed costs a full energy bar
- Dashing costs a small amount of energy
- Totems heal you and replenish your energy bar

Theme
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I chose to target both themes. Growing appears twice in this game, firstly with the demon comet which grows as you fight it and secondly with the seeds that you plant which (strangely) grow into objects that are not plants...
The two button controls are slightly supplemented by the mouse position and I also use other buttons for things such as skipping menus and exiting the game.

Builds
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Some reported issues on Linux build.

Enjoy!

Ratings

Coolness 71% 3
Overall 3.73 137
Audio 3.65 101
Fun 3.24 412
Graphics 4.47 18
Innovation 3.41 320
Mood 4.06 33
Theme 3.92 317

Feedback

martincohen
14. Dec 2015 路 03:17 UTC
LOVED THIS ONE, GOOD SIR!
Thembi
14. Dec 2015 路 03:20 UTC
My only suggestion would be to somehow show how close you are to killing the thing in the center...
mactinite
14. Dec 2015 路 03:22 UTC
First of all, the game looks great. The two button controls were done well and just looked really polished! Great job!
batmanasb
14. Dec 2015 路 03:58 UTC
Nothing against you, but I freaking hate Unity's exporting to linux, so many bugs... like for example: the mouse is about 100 pixels off in game.
馃帳 sydan
14. Dec 2015 路 04:03 UTC
Hey batmanasb! I'm really sorry to hear that... I didn't know. Is the webplayer version usable for you? Do you know if there are any work arounds that I can implement for the mouse issue?
Magicolo
14. Dec 2015 路 04:16 UTC
Beautiful game :O
xWarZonex
14. Dec 2015 路 04:18 UTC
Beautiful game! The art and audio were great.
ranmaru90
14. Dec 2015 路 04:22 UTC
OMG! This game is so polished!
Borodar
14. Dec 2015 路 04:22 UTC
Great game, and art is so coool!
Fanttum
14. Dec 2015 路 04:22 UTC
Really great game here. Great mechanics and controls. Only thing I might say was having dash on button UP confused me but it still worked fine.
jcmonkey
14. Dec 2015 路 04:24 UTC
interesting game, i like the look of it.
馃帳 sydan
14. Dec 2015 路 04:29 UTC
Hi Fanttum, I'm not sure I understand what you mean? Dash is either X or right mouse button?
Kortuga
14. Dec 2015 路 04:36 UTC
Man, this one looks damn sexy. Great work. Love how the music speeds up.
adamgryu
14. Dec 2015 路 04:40 UTC
Very pretty! It would be interesting to see how the bullet-hell aspect of the game could be ramped up. Nice work :)
Studiosaurus
14. Dec 2015 路 13:47 UTC
Fantastic! 5 in Graphics, Audio and Mood, 4 in the rest.
tgrehawi
14. Dec 2015 路 13:54 UTC
Beutiful art and sound. Love the exposition and consistent style. It was kind of hard to gauge progress, but otherwise wonderful job!
deadpixl
14. Dec 2015 路 13:56 UTC
Great job! Loved the atmosphere and unique gameplay! Tutorial text could be a bit clearer, other than that nice work.
Pete_H
14. Dec 2015 路 14:16 UTC
Great entry! was a bit unsure of how I was doing as I progressed but the art and atmosphere were stunning!
anael
14. Dec 2015 路 14:22 UTC
beautiful !
Modoc73
14. Dec 2015 路 14:23 UTC
Great graphics, nice mood setting music. I liked how the ground would open up beneath you, helped balance the game keeps player moving. Feel like the increase in difficulty was big, but not impossible. Great job.
aamatniekss
14. Dec 2015 路 14:32 UTC
It's pretty hard once the eye thing grows stronger, but it's very well made and the art is fantastic!
Jod
14. Dec 2015 路 14:52 UTC
That was good fun! I loved the different stages of intensity! I didn't notice my dash depleted my Seeds bar, at first.

Loved the little cracks of doom that would go after me, stopped me from using cover too much. Well designed, well balanced with great artwork!

If there's anything to improve, it would be a little outro, which tells the player that he has defeated winter and that things are alright with the world again or somesuch.

Great work!
Bacontree
14. Dec 2015 路 15:26 UTC
Nice graphics and mood! I didn't know what was going on all the time, but I finished it on my first try. Cool game overall!
IAmSpencer
14. Dec 2015 路 16:56 UTC
wow, this looks beautifully, nicely done!

the movement felt very good, and I always felt "in control" of my character, which is important for this type of game.

the challenge was there without feeling unfair, short and sweet, I loved it, nicely done! :)
djdudes100
14. Dec 2015 路 18:21 UTC
This game is amazing well done
Elenesski
14. Dec 2015 路 18:53 UTC
that was fun. was good graphics and theme. felt polished.
NightShadow0
14. Dec 2015 路 19:06 UTC
This is a really interesting and well designed idea, every time i thought i found a way to take advantage of the system the boss would do something to keep me on my toes. Reminded me of Titan Souls in a way, challenging but fun. Great work!
Frenchie
15. Dec 2015 路 05:34 UTC
Fantastic job! Gorgeous art, nice introduction, and great job building up the tension as the game progressed!

One suggestion with a little known Unity trick: when you make your web build, set the player settings -> desktop resolution to 9999x9999. Doing so will cause going fullscreen in the web build to actually use the PC's native resolution instead of just keeping it the same and stretching the image. On a game as pretty as this, it's a shame to not get it as crisp as it should be!
LittleThor
15. Dec 2015 路 12:41 UTC
The art and the sound are amazing! Great work!
(But it quickly become very hard :p)
Jupiter_Hadley
15. Dec 2015 路 13:14 UTC
Both links are errors for me (both web and windows)
馃帳 sydan
15. Dec 2015 路 16:41 UTC
Hi Jupiter, sorry about that! I forgot to pay for my hosting!! It went down today. Should be back up now!
Fartenko
15. Dec 2015 路 17:28 UTC
Wow! I'm speechless. Nice job!
Jupiter_Hadley
15. Dec 2015 路 19:06 UTC
Really well made game with great graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you鈥檇 like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/G4-JCtlxKuU
loxo
15. Dec 2015 路 19:11 UTC
Great entry, I especially like the graphics. You managed to create a very atmospheric game, it's nice to explore it and to find out how to destroy the evil.
Meta-link
15. Dec 2015 路 19:27 UTC
That's a cool game !
The graphics are really good, and the global mood of the game (with the music) is nice :)
Good job !
abolfazl.sh
16. Dec 2015 路 11:43 UTC
Nice job.
pleas play may game.

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=59316
Gornova
16. Dec 2015 路 20:52 UTC
well done, if I can say, it's opposite of my entry in some ways :D
zguerrero
16. Dec 2015 路 21:05 UTC
Great graphics!
Lullaby
16. Dec 2015 路 21:05 UTC
The mood is cool, and you made a great work with your idea. The fact that you can hide behind your totems makes things easier(when you get it).

I was a bit disapointed by the end, as you started a story at the beginning of your game. It could have been cool to have a "happy ending".
ajopart
16. Dec 2015 路 21:06 UTC
Jus wow. Great job !
shrapx
16. Dec 2015 路 21:27 UTC
very clean graphics with nice shadow effect, and tense music, which made for some interesting atmosphere, i was expecting more levels when it faded out to play again or quit. The game is like a traditional boss fight, well done!
Herzucco
16. Dec 2015 路 21:49 UTC
Good game, simple but fun :^)
Louspirit
16. Dec 2015 路 22:13 UTC
Fair use of the two themes, great job :)
noddingTortoise
16. Dec 2015 路 22:18 UTC
This game looks amazing, well done!
Geckoo1337
16. Dec 2015 路 22:25 UTC
This project looks really interesting. The art and audio were great. Nice mood setting music - all is very polished. Neat ++
NidzaKornjaca
16. Dec 2015 路 22:30 UTC
Interesting game, cool graphics and sound. Good work!
Kuality Games
16. Dec 2015 路 22:40 UTC
Cool game, looks and plays well.
publicidadeba
16. Dec 2015 路 22:41 UTC
wow, this can grow into something really big over the apple store. Congrats guys!
flwns
16. Dec 2015 路 22:51 UTC
I was playing, and forgot about dashing, it was really intense, great game.
newbeings
16. Dec 2015 路 22:54 UTC
Nice Work!

I think i'd like to move with arrow keys rather than towards mouse - i know it fulfills 2 button controls, but if you go on I think that'd be worth it.
Split82
16. Dec 2015 路 23:05 UTC
Nice mood and art style. Good job.
Rodaja
16. Dec 2015 路 23:08 UTC
Nice game. Dashing wasn't very intuitive, and there's not much depth to the combat, but other than that, nicely done game.
Krafty
16. Dec 2015 路 23:13 UTC
This was really nice, I liked the atmosphere a lot! Very well done :)
dcRfj15
16. Dec 2015 路 23:20 UTC
Amazing game!

I loved the graphics (both the boss and the Guardians looked incredible!). The game itself was fun as well, I really liked the way that the theme was implemented in the game! Also the level of polish with the added screen shake at just the right times made the game much more immersive and fun to play.
the-arrival
17. Dec 2015 路 00:12 UTC
Awesome music and art. Gameplay could have a bit more depth, but definatly impressive for a 2 days work!
sugarbyte
17. Dec 2015 路 00:36 UTC
Super impressive, it looks great and is fun to play!
tharealjohn
17. Dec 2015 路 00:53 UTC
I really liked this. Good job!

The second stage was pretty tough. The thing aims right for me every time. I must of missed some strategy!
vicious_br
17. Dec 2015 路 01:52 UTC
I love your game, great job. I would like to take this opportunity to ask a favor. You already rated my game, but I was not allowed "innovation rating." Please could you assess this item now? Take the opportunity to play with some corrections. Very thanks:http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=36629
Astro Cat
17. Dec 2015 路 14:22 UTC
Nice gameplay!
pjimmy
17. Dec 2015 路 14:25 UTC
nice, awesome visuals, well done
Elit3dGaming
17. Dec 2015 路 17:01 UTC
Really fun and really invitational I had a blast playing this game. I beat the boss my first try but it wasn't easy, it was a great challenge which I liked a lot! Also I love the way you took both themes and implemented it differently.
KriBoNiTa
17. Dec 2015 路 17:38 UTC
Very beautiful one !
jsmars
18. Dec 2015 路 12:00 UTC
Really nice game! Almost got bored quickly as it seemed so easy, until the game really took off and got harder and harder. Really nice boss fight feel like classic videos games had.
Dejvo
19. Dec 2015 路 09:56 UTC
nice one. a little hard to get what's going on, but nice one
rnlf
19. Dec 2015 路 13:29 UTC
Nice game! Worked fine on Linux (64 bit). It looks pretty good. It got pretty hard in the end, when the thing starts actually aiming at you and there is barely time to plant something. But the progression of difficulty seemed well balanced. Good job!

Small hint: X and Z are not next to each other on many keyboard layouts, see discussion here: http://ludumdare.com/compo/2015/04/24/why-z-is-a-bad-action-key/

In your game, it was acceptable, because these two keys were the only ones, just as a hint for the feature :-)
KaiseanGames
19. Dec 2015 路 17:02 UTC
This one is really nice. Well done! Nice sound too.
huminaboz
20. Dec 2015 路 02:39 UTC
Loved the sense of mystery and evilness.
emmes
22. Dec 2015 路 00:29 UTC
Awesome game art, interesting gameplay. I'm not completely sure, however, I understood every aspect of it...
scorched
26. Dec 2015 路 08:01 UTC
Good idea, would be better if the rules were shown before the game (or at the beginning), not during it
A-Flat Miner Studios
04. Jan 2016 路 18:39 UTC
Wonderful lighting really sells the mood. Great job!
UncleChris
04. Jan 2016 路 21:15 UTC
I liked it - never killed the item in the center. Not sure if I came close or not. I did enjoy the mechanic of being able to use two buttons and to grow. Very nice audio and graphics were cool! :)