LudumData

SWAN SONG by Simon Rahnasto

[raw]
made by Simon Rahnasto for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

Menu2.png

You find yourself in a long distance mission transporting the most valuable life. You try to navigate your way through a supposed low risk area of deep space, far outside of normal travel routes. Here you have no true connection outside of the ship, you rely purely on yourself and the ship AI to fulfil your mission.

blueprintgun.png You’re equipped with a self regenerating handgun. Energy shocks are launched at quick intervals with no known drawbacks. Technology now lost, making irreplaceable equipment such as the SRH211 above revered and mainly used for low capacity or long distance missions with no replenishments.

blueprintflashlight.png You also carry a low grade regenerating flashlight. Newer, unsuccessful copies of ancient regenerating technologies such as this LCFF are common, but useful. Not as reliable, and will need to be physically shaken when it loses function (In-game press “G” repeatedly to shake)

Controls

:keyboard: Keyboard & Mouse :mousethreebutton:

  • [W/A/S/D] & Arrow Keys - Move
  • [G] - Shake & Charge flashlight

  • [E] & [F] - Interact

  • * 🖱 mouse * - Aim

  • [LMB] - Shoot

Art

|Name|Roles|Social Media| |---| |Belle Rahnasto|🎨 Art 🖌|Instagram|

Code

|Name|Roles|Social Media| |---| |Simon Rahnasto|💻 Programmer ☕|YouTube & Twitter| |Eric Bernard|💻 Programmer 🍕|Twitter|

Sound

|Name|Roles|Social Media| |---| |Daniel Docherty Music|🎹 Music & Voice 🎤|Email| |Milan Kovarbašić|🔈 Sound Effects 🔊|Linked in|

Note

Currently only supports a resolution of 1920 x 1080

Link https://windmillgames.itch.io/swan-song
Link https://windmillgames.itch.io/swan-song
Link https://windmillgames.itch.io/swan-song
Link https://windmillgames.itch.io/swan-song
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/swan-song

Ratings

Overall 6th 4.532⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 43th 4.21⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 92th 4.05⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Theme 431th 4.065⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 35th 4.645⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Audio 8th 4.581⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Mood 4th 4.633⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 46🗨️

Feedback

nhcarter123
03. May 2023 · 04:51 UTC
This game is incredible. Actually GOTY. Mood, art, fun gameplay, it has it all. Also really cool to see another LOVE2D game. I made my game with LOVE2D as well!
Langotriel
03. May 2023 · 04:57 UTC
Great entry (I feel like a broken record. Of course it's a great entry from this team).

The atmosphere is eerie, no doubt thanks to great audio and visuals. The scope is impressive and the spinning chairs are to die for! :D Great lighting and particle effects also!
Tomssuli
03. May 2023 · 19:52 UTC
Wow, whatta mood! Such a creepy atmosphere. Top level graphics and sounds too, with voiceovers and everything. I liked the dark horror theme and the flashlight added to the tension to feel the frustration of main character.

Refreshing and remembering the passwords was a simple - yet fresh - mechanic to keep the pressure on. I forgot the code only couple of times as my life depended on remembering it and didn't want to go back to reset it.

Action was hectic enough to keep me on my toes, bot not too overwhelming at any point and I liked that I could close the door and leave enemies there so I didn't have to deal with all of them. Plot was pretty grim stuff.

Everything was very well polished and the experience felt complete. This was easily one of the top three games I've played this Ludum.
tamara188
04. May 2023 · 16:28 UTC
Very polished and well made! awesome story
Space_Games
04. May 2023 · 18:09 UTC
I loved this! The pixel art work was super amazing and I wish I could make pixel art on that level. The game itself was fun as well and I enjoyed my time playing it! You all make a good team keep it up!
WooferRae
04. May 2023 · 18:12 UTC
wowww great game with smooth controls! really respect the level of polish and adding voice acting
Sodoj
04. May 2023 · 18:35 UTC
Woah, what an amazing entry! Production values are absurdly high for a game made in only three days, it's super polished! The atmosphere is thick and sound design is superb! I only wished that the darkened parts weren't entirely pitch black. Great one, one of my favorites!

@milank jeb'o si mu kevu :d
RenardGames
04. May 2023 · 19:55 UTC
Very impressive!Love the visuals and the sound design and the voice acting!It has a really cool space horror mood. And I like the small details like the flipping chairs in the navigation room and the quality of life feature thats being able to hold instead of tap the buttons. Also like that there is a 2 choice ending!Overall very very good my only problem was with the resolution which wasnt a big problem because the text I couldnt see was voice acted and maby the constant tapping of the flashlight isnt needed but the hold to tap feature made it not matter.Good job to the whole team!!
riley9
04. May 2023 · 20:07 UTC
wonderful entry!!! it's so polished and the atmosphere is so intense!! i love how the feature of shaking the flashlight and the code systema s well =D
Swordfish
04. May 2023 · 20:08 UTC
Really great entry, but that's pretty clear from the other comments lol. I didn't make it to the end, got killed while trying to fix the engine but oh well. I really like the graphical style here, combined with the music makes for a great atmosphere. I don't usually see voice acting in jam games, so I thought that was a nice touch too.

The only thing that didn't work particularly well for me was the glowing effect on the bullets, caused a bit of lag, but that's likely down to running it on my laptop with integrated graphics lol.
barce
04. May 2023 · 20:09 UTC
Great game! You really managed to build an awesome mood while playing it. Congrats!!
LDJam user 336851
04. May 2023 · 20:17 UTC
Insanely polished game! definetly a winner, the only thing is that there is no downside to constantly shooting(i did because i was scared for my life) also the chairs spinning and other small things are great additions!
ironcutter
04. May 2023 · 20:19 UTC
It's great how the mapping of the controls makes difficult to walk while charging the torch, and entering numbers with the numeric pad makes you feel like you are entering data in the console for real.
Blend this with on spot graphics, smooth gameplay and good sounds / voice acting and we have a top-tier entry.
Truly a great work!
Batisdark
04. May 2023 · 20:34 UTC
Well that was sad choice at the end, love it.

The two only things I would like to mention - when in Navs you may be attacked while calibrating and since its can take a while - maybe even die in it while trying to understand mechanics. I didn't die, though lost third of my hp on second Nav run...

The other is maybe it would be better to make doors that are at the bottom a tiny-bit more visible. I guessed their positions from the computer, but upon first run around I didn't even see them.

Nice game all around. Difficulty may go up, though for Jam that it probably not a good idea :)) Loved voiceovers and sounds. Spooky ambience and flashlight being annoying. Very well polished game.
zubspace
04. May 2023 · 20:47 UTC
Wow I'm blown away. Great art style, wonderful music and sound effects and voice overs. Really gives you the lost in space vibe! Love the animations and small details like reflections, shadows and particles. The light cone is great. The "Needs to be shaken" flashlight was never an issue though. I also like the progression and how you incorporated all for rooms into the gameplay.

Awesome entry! Love it <3
ciderpunk
04. May 2023 · 21:54 UTC
Dark!! I enjoyed that a lot, very atmospheric
ghodan
04. May 2023 · 23:00 UTC
This is a real gem! I love bite sized horror experiences and this delivers, particularly in the frantic need to constantly keep your flashlight charged. I love mechanics like that. Mapping the whole ship was a trial in and of itself but once I had the flow down it really worked! Particularly enjoyed your art direction, keep making things in this world and I'll happily come back.
hanadulcet
05. May 2023 · 00:02 UTC
I saw that you were one rating away from getting scored, so I played through the game - and I was really, really glad I found your game. The game wasn't so scary that I couldn't play it, but was just the right amount of lack of visibility and sudden enemies (and darkness + eerie vibes) to keep me on edge.

Really great job of setting the mood and the tone in the game. I enjoyed the game a lot!
Anchry
06. May 2023 · 13:23 UTC
This was a joy to play, visually and audially it was simply perfect. Felt like playing a vertical slice of a larger game. Always exciting to see what you all make, been following you around since VargaVinter in LD50. Look forward to seeing your next entries!
neecto
06. May 2023 · 14:24 UTC
awesome game with a great potential, well done!
NuiN
06. May 2023 · 21:10 UTC
Btw you have your itch.io link labeled as source code, I think you can do a custom label instead of source code
NuiN
06. May 2023 · 21:17 UTC
You made the combat feel very satisfying, and the healthbar being curved behind you is a nice thought, good job
GrowingYourGame
06. May 2023 · 21:55 UTC
Art Looks amazing! Would love to see this put to a whole game, nice work!
Tyler M
06. May 2023 · 23:42 UTC
Nice work! I really liked the lighting and flashlight mechanic! If you decide to spend more time on this project I recommend experimenting with limited ammo; I didn't feel as spooked as I could have been because I could just keep firing in circles. The pixel art was awesome!
Colin Misbach
07. May 2023 · 00:28 UTC
Love the mood and style. I wish I could easily shake the flashlight while moving at the same time, or if it made it so you can only shake your flashlight when it goes off (to increase the spooky-ness). Also, personal preference, I think a dodge/roll/dash mechanic would fit well in this game.

The art is great, and the music/sounds really add to the immersion. It's also well-paced, things didn't get too stale. Nice game!
zimny11
07. May 2023 · 15:17 UTC
Absolutely amazing game! Great job! My only feedback would be to add full screen option or option to change a window size a bit, since it was about 10% too big for my screen. Anyway, hats off!
bartalomew
08. May 2023 · 15:48 UTC
so glad I stumbled across this game, one of the best atmosphere in the jam even tho I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre. the art is superb, the gameplay feels great, amazing job!
LDJam user 237623
12. May 2023 · 02:09 UTC
Really cool game! I liked the limited visibility. It really helped set the mood. The art and sound were great. The health wrapped around the cone of visibility felt fresh.

I think the combat and repair actions could've been more fun though. To do that, it probably would require more mechanics that you just didn't have time to implement though. Overall I had a great experience. And it's nice to see another Love2D game! My team uses Love2D too
Stevie257
15. May 2023 · 20:32 UTC
I commend the developer's efforts in creating visually appealing graphics that showcase their creativity and passion for game development
Fernando Gherini
19. May 2023 · 10:03 UTC
Really awesome entry!!
Such a great atmosphere, the limited vibility was a nice touch! And the art is so so good!
Congratulations, I'm always impressed with your games!
Looking forward to next time... :)
SleepyStudios
19. May 2023 · 22:34 UTC
Wow, there's an insane level of polish here. The gameplay has plenty of juice, the art is excellent and the atmosphere is great. It almost feels like a System Shock demake. Nice work, loved it!
zimny11
20. May 2023 · 19:42 UTC
Congrats of getting 6th place!