The Rock by Fupi
Play here!
A humorous visual novel about breaking down a giant rock! How fun!!
Get ready for some pointin and clickin. Click on stuff and the stuff clicks back, it's a good time all round!
This game is heavy in dialogue and has, I hope, an interesting story, so hope you like reading. No instructions or plot synopsis here, it's all in the game.
PS. I'm trying to become a better writer, so if you have any feedback about the story or my writing, PLZ PLZ I WANNA READ IT!! ;w;
Assets credits (minor spoilers)
- Textbox background: https://unsplash.com/pt-br/fotografias/iiXyEE-HVXQ
- Textbox name background: https://unsplash.com/pt-br/fotografias/886OFM8CrUE
- Confrontation music: https://opengameart.org/content/overshadow
- Map music: https://opengameart.org/content/two-left-socks
- Rock ambience: https://freesound.org/people/Mafon2/sounds/274175/
- Splash sound: https://freesound.org/people/petenice/sounds/9508/
- Ritual cutscene: https://opengameart.org/content/dreamiano
- Explosion: https://freesound.org/people/tommccann/sounds/235968/
- Bonk: https://freesound.org/people/thecoolcookie17/sounds/573047/
Menu music and ritual music is made by me but not during the jam.
Special thanks to my friend Aboszor for proof-reading and finding one nasty bug!
| Link | https://fupicat.itch.io/the-rock |
| Link | https://fupicat.itch.io/the-rock |
| Link | https://fupicat.itch.io/the-rock |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/the-rock |
Ratings
| Given | 13🗳️ | 24🗨️ |
I really laughed about the father & son fishing, I like this quirky kind of humour :laughing:
The graphics are acctually pretty fun! There is a coherent styling to it, and I think that is the most important when rating graphics. (so, no pixel art mixed with high detail renders for instance)
I think you did a great job! Once ratings open, I'll make sure to revisit yours to rate it :-)
Weird that the ratings aren't open, but I'll check your game out later too!
Anyway, nice little game!
**spoilers kinda, i hope everyone who's reading finished the game**
As for the story, I don't know if there's an alternate route or if I am just supposed to end the game in order to not get the Bad End, I tried figuring it out but there was nothing to do but do the job, or get out. Played through three times, liked it a lot.
anyway sorry for the wall of text, but this is really good, if I could vote I'd give you 5/5 innovation. who cares if the art style isn't great, everything else makes up for it, and you should be proud my cat loving, story writing, music nerding friend!
(https:)//youtu.be/KljJDudqVxc
Coloquei parenteses pra evitar embed automático
Void buddy I'm so happy to see you here!! 🫂🫂 Was excited to talk to you again this jam and was afraid you wouldn't show up. x) Thank you for enjoying the game and the music! You know I love me a strong bassline. Bass, electric piano and hiphop drums are my signature style, I could make an entire album of completely different moods and melodies just with these 3 instruments. Unfortunately I didn't make the main music you hear in the game, only the menu and ritual music. I wanted an electronic bossa nova for the map screen but had never made one before and didn't have time, so I went with stock. x)
Also very thankful the story had you feeling some type of way, I really wanted to make the player reconsider what they did at the end, even if they didn't necessarily feel guilty or like they were in the wrong. All the characters who helped you and made you laugh in the game love this rock, so blowing it up in the end just feels so wrong!
Again, thank you very much for showing up to play my game. I'm excited to see you in a next event! ^^ Take care friend!
Limpar o carro pra parar de chover é uma nova pra mim KJDSKJDS adorei ver vc jogando! Eu vi várias pessoas diferentes jogando o jogo e o mais interessante é como todas elas tiveram uma reação completamente diferente. Por exemplo, algumas pessoas disseram que a quest da pá e a dona da loja eram a parte favorita do jogo KJDSJKD, mas sim ela foi def uma saída fácil pra mim na hora de desenvolver do tipo "ah, eu posso só colocar um dos itens na loja e pronto". Não é uma quest muito envolvente de jeito nenhum, só serve pra estabelecer q o prefeito é um cara bem de vida. A personagem é pra ser uma guaxinim aliás, então faz sentido vc achar q ela parece sleazy. Não posso confirmar se ela roubou a pá ou se realmente aquela pá não era sua. x)
Sobre a sua reação sobre o final, eu acho que a história cumpriu exatamente oq eu tentei fazer. Quebrar a pedra *é* o único final, é inevitável. O final do jogo só acontece se vc quebrar a pedra. Porém, durante o jogo, vc vai aprendendo que todos os personagens q vc conheceu durante o jogo amam aquela pedra, ou acham algum uso pra ela, ou de algum jeito a envolvem nas suas vidas, enquanto o seu personagem, realmente, não tem motivação NENHUMA pra quebrar a pedra, e não é pra ter. Se vc não tinha motivo pra quebrar a pedra, pq não foi embora? Especialmente se vc sentia q aquela era a decisão errada. Obviamente eu não queria q o jogador realmente só saísse sem ver o final, mas eu queria despertar esse pensamento no jogador depois q ele visse q fez a coisa errada. Eu não queria que ele fizesse uma decisão certa e obtivesse um final bom pra se sentir satisfeito, eu queria justamente q ele jogasse, percebesse q talvez quebrar a pedra não fosse a escolha boa, decidisse quebrar mesmo assim pq literalmente tudo no jogo te afunila pra eventualmente quebrar a pedra e não parece ter outra opção, e no fim ele se sentisse culpado. Será q é um pouco cruel? Eu n sei mas é interessante de assistir JKDKJDS. Se vc gosta desse tipo de história q tenta mexer com o senso de culpa do jogador, aí é preferencia. Tenho certeza que uma história desse tipo poderia ter sido feita de um jeito muito melhor, mas pessoalmente acho que deixar mais claro que quebrar a pedra era uma escolha importante e final teria tirado um pouco do impacto e do sentimento de "pqq eu fiz isso" q te deixa, pq aí o jogador ficaria procurando um final melhor e, ao não achar, se sentiria forçado a quebrar a pedra, ao invés de fazer isso porque ele abaixou a guarda. Não pareceria mais uma escolha e vc não teria o sentimento de culpa depois. Até como vc mesmo falou, depois q vc joga é óbvio q aquela era a decisão ruim, mas enquanto vc tá jogando vc só segue o fluxo do jogo sem perceber.
Inclusive uma das coisas mais interessantes q eu vi foi quando eu vi um dos meus amigos jogando. Ele coletou todos os itens e percebeu q no fim ele não queria quebrar a pedra. Então ele pegou a canoa e saiu, voltou pro menu e simplesmente NÃO QUIS terminar o jogo! Pra ele, aquele foi um final satisfatório. Naquele momento eu me senti muito orgulhoso pq eu consegui criar nele aquele sentimento de culpa que eu queria.
Mesmo discordando sobre o rumo da história, eu acho q vc ainda fez um ponto muito bom: Muitas discussões sobre a pedra eram sobre como ela diminuiu com o tempo. Eu já tinha pensado nessa lenda do heroi cavando a pedra e criei a escola pra ser um contraponto para o villager, a ideia de q lenda e realidade podem sair de uma mesma origem material, no caso o fato de q a pedra costumava ser maior. cada um tinha uma explicação pra isso e eu queria deixar claro como a pedra era integral pra cultura da cidade. Porém no meio disso acabei deixando a entender q quebrar a pedra era uma coisa boa KDAKJADS. Oversight bem importante da minha parte. Outros jogadores não mencionaram isso, mas vejo 100% como vc teria chegado nessa conclusão e acho que criar outra backstory pra pedra seria bem melhor pro jogador não criar essa correlação entre ele e o herói da lenda.
Em geral esse foi o melhor feedback q eu ja recebi! Muito obrigado mesmo, eu costumo mandar meus jogos da ludum dare pra streamers porque aprecio mto ver as reações em tempo real das pessoas, acho q é o melhor jeito de saber como elas realmente se sentem sobre o seu jogo. Não pretendo expandir esse jogo ou essa história, mas os teus insight vão me ajudar muuuuuito no futuro! Valeu e parabéns pelo seu jogo na jam tb!! ^^
Spoilers:
I feel like I understood that I wasn't supposed to destroy it in the end, and I was pretty sure when I went to destroy it then the final decision would come up, but then it just got destroyed and I failed everyone and the witch was mad at me. Maybe the right answer is to collect everything and then just leave? I'll come back later and see if I can find the good ending.
The story is GOOD, great job on it! Lots of funny moments. It felt like a *small village*, isolated from the rest of the world with its own folklore.. traditions, beliefs, superstitions. All was good! I liked how gameplay was simple (clean) and *non-linear*.
Stitching together everything into a cohesive piece is a heroic act on its own! Bravo. :))
Overall, awesome work!
The moment I saw that there was an option to simply leave the town doing nothing, I did that for fun. Little did I know that was actually the "good ending"!
Anyway, amazing game! This was actually a super cool artstyle - I loved it! The writing was awesome as well - I laughed at a lot of the jokes, and the characters were great! It was very obvious that destroying The Rock was wrong - especially after the 4th-wall-breaking conversation with the witch - but since I already knew what leaving the island does, I went on with it anyway. It was also very evident how much effort went into the dialogue system - from the smooth transitions, to the little pauses during punctuation, the different voices for every character, multiple expressions, a skip button - really great job on that front!
I honestly don't really have much feedback to offer. Going back to the town hall to check the inventory every time was slightly annoying, but it also had a lot of charm and definitely didn't matter for a game of this scale. The lack of any reaction or special event after leaving the island - which I know you said wasn't supposed to be the good ending, but it was still heavily implied to be the correct choice in the story - felt a bit weird, but again, I understand that it was a conscious choice.
So yeah, overall, awesome entry!
While not having a good ending was a deliberate choice, I think it's totally fine to not be into it. Personally, I find ambiguous endings, where the outcome is neither completely good or bad, much more interesting, because they make me think about what I played way after finishing the game. But, unsurprisingly, deliberately unsatisfying endings tend to make players unsatisfied lol. The idea is that you're leaving the town alone. Your character is not getting paid, and you're not getting an ending, nothing's changed. All that you win is the clear conscience of having done the right thing. If you find that leaving the island is a good enough ending for you, as one of my friends has, then that's great! But if you want more, if curiosity gets over you, you'll get an actual ending and conclusion, the canon, bittersweet ending.
It's a bold choice, and not for everyone, but I think it's neat
very based game
I'm not someone that reads usually, but I was hooked by rock isle.
Sorry for the damage I have done :pensive:
The story was funny and not too short nor too long ! The perfect format for a jam.
The voice sound were sometime annoying however, which isn't too much of an issue since you provided a voice volume slider !
I had fun hearing about your cute little story, thanks for that tale !
I really liked the art too, and the story and decision was interesting.
Well done! Take a candy! :candy:
This style of minimalistic doodle is super cute, and honestly elevates the experiences, and also fits your story :) Of course, it would be nice to clear up the visuals a bit, when you have time after the Jam: if characters did not appear in boxes, that would be great, and if when items/characters disappear, they would not leave an awkward splosh in their place. Choosing a more unique font would be a great asset for your game as well.
I really appreciate many things you did for the convenience of the player: like the volume toggle in the menu (would be fantastic to be able to access the options while already in game, but not sure how hard it would be to make!), the way to track the items we got, and the "skip scene" option. The latter especially came in handy when I decided to replay the game.
At first I didn't realise I can potentially make other decisions. I just simply went and destroyed the rock, partly because I was curious to see if there is anything special inside. After getting reprimanded, I rushed to replay and try to do different things in the end, like leave w/o touching the rock.
Out of curiousity, I tried getting the money stash on my 2nd playthrough, and I did get it - w/o asking the mayor first! That felt like stealing ^^' Then I went to the shop and got the dialogue with "see, it wasn't that hard" even though we didn't have our 1st dialogue yet, so to say ^^' So maybe locking the option to find money stash behind some line of "if" code would be a good idea?
In the end of my 2nd playthrough, I didn't really discover new options ("Not yet" doesn't do anything, that's to be expected), Witch was not active anymore, and simply leaving the island just ended the game. I wonder if I missed something? I was hoping to see a "good ending" ^^''
The gameplay reminded me of 2D adventure games (quests), my favourite genre. I liked the moments when I had to find a money stash, or gather moss - tasks that motivated me to interact with the environment.
About the writing: I did enjoy humour in this game, especially in the Fishing Spot dialogue. Sure, I would fix a few things here and there (technical stuff), but overall I enjoyed reading the dialogues. They are very simple for the most part, but it works for the game. I think you successfully made every character sound unique, and have their own voice. I liked the "Pebbles" nickname I got, it was really fun and cute.
Finally, the music you chose was very nice, I enjoyed it and it was quite chill :)
You can already access the settings during the game btw, you can just press ESC and a pause menu with the options comes up. Works a bit dodgy on the web, since ESC is also the shortcut for getting out of fullscreen, but it's there.
I actually didn't want to block the player from completing quests if they had already played the game specifically because I expected them to replay at least once, so I think a better solution for the money quest would just be to change the dialogue if the player already has the money when they interact with the shopkeeper. When I was programming I just thought the chances of a new player finding the money without speaking to the mayor first and being confused were small enough that I didn't want to spend the little time I had on fixing it lol
About the good ending, there isn't one. Everything in the game flows you through to breaking the rock because that's the character's only objective. You can choose to leave the island and leave the rock alone, but the character doesn't get paid and you don't get an ending, just the clear conscience of having done the right thing. Not having a good ending was a deliberate decision. Though, notice that the rock was already cracked when you got there? Maybe this was not the first time the mayor has tried to get rid of it, and it won't be the last. Leaving the island may just be delaying the inevitable, oooo. No good endings in sight how evil.
I'm so happy you liked my writing and the different personalities I gave to all the characters. ^^' As not-a-writer I obsessed over it a lot to get it sounding close to how I wanted. I still have a long way to go, especially on vocabulary, but I'm happy with my results. Thank you for enjoying the graphics too jksdkj
And you know, the main thing is that your writing is easy to read and doesn't drag. In a game like this especially, you don't want to see a lifeless wall of text, and you didn't do that. I read a lot of books in English, for reviews, and it's so much nicer when authors don't fall into a trap of making their texts overly descriptive and fancy, but keep them clean and easy to read :)
I don't know if you've ever played OneShot but it deals with a similar idea. I think there are definitely ways I could have done the story better, but the sheer variety of reactions I've seen people have to the ending was the most interesting part of making this game, I think it's what makes it unique! Also a message would give away the game if someone just decided to leave without realizing that's the "correct" choice.
Thank you for the feedback regardless! I realize it's not a perfect idea, and neither is it perfectly executed, so every different perspective helps. I'm still thinking about how the concept of instigating guilt on a player could be better done, it has a lot of underutilized potential.
And ahhh I relate so much to your last few paragraphs, there's nothing I dislike more than a book that drags on piling raw world building on top of world building, describing every little insignificant detail. I usually prefer to follow stories from the POV of characters, and that's what I think makes visual novels so appealing
I'd say that guilt after breaking the rock is what motivates you to replay the game, and after that a player usually expects some kind of reward for doing stuff all over again. I see your perspective, but maybe if you want to invoke the guilt while leaving as well (if I understood you correctly?) some line reminding you that you left w/o doing your job would do the trick somewhat, I think. Again, that is all just my opinion, you do what you feel is best for your vision, of course :)
And I love visual novels too ^^ With books, I usually read children's literature, at most - young adult, and a lot of children's literature is written from the main character POV, and they usually do less fancy language as well - these might be parts of why I prefer it to adult literature :')
You are right that the guilt absolutely makes you want to replay, and perhaps I could have banked more on that to either give the player a better ending, or to hammer in the point of the story. Right now it's more likely for the player to just feel confused. The second playthrough is very pointless.
I wanna revisit this idea again some day with what I learned
The writing here is obviously its greatest strength. It's soooo charming, and manages to convey themes without being overly formal at all. It has a sort of undertale or adventure time quality to it, where larger themes are being conveyed through casual nonsense. All the characters were super memorable, even though they only have typically one or two scenes.
As a lot of people have already said, the graphics are also weirdly super charming? They really match the tone of the writing, managing to be super cute and effective while retaining that informal, nonsense vibe the writing conveys. Great job creating a unique style with what you had, in limited time.
Regarding the theme, while the rock was technically "limited space" in that the major couldn't build there, I felt the narrative themes of the game had much more to do with tradition and nostalgia versus progress and development. And mechanically, there was really no limited space element to be had here. It would have been nice to see some gameplay quirk regarding limited space.
I also wish that there was an alternate ending for doing the "right thing", or even an alternate set of consequences! The end feels a little heavy handed to me. Maybe you see how the island changes in the end, whether you destroyed the rock or not. There are probably some pros and cons to both paths. Destroy the rock, the island grows and becomes more prosperous, but less unique. Leave, and the island retains its charm, but kids slowly move away, looking for greater opportunities. Obviously this has a larger scope, but I don't love when games really only give you one viable pathway and then scold you for taking it.
Overall though, this game is held up by its absolutely INCREDIBLE writing. You should make narrative adventures, I have no doubt they'd super successful. You have an authorial voice that's undeniable, and I'll definitely be following you on itch.
Loved the game! :)
You are spot on about the theme btw, I wrote a story about tradition because this is the game I had in mind for the theme Folklore! When the theme that won was limited space, I decided to just ignore it and make the game I wanted anyway kdjd. Cool to see how the theme I wrote the story around managed to come across even then.
And about the ending, this is the most controversial point in this game by far, but personally, I prefer having one, definite conclusive ending that leaves you feeling something strong, be it good or bad, rather than having two, interchangeably alright endings. That said, I think this game could benefit from having a *sequel*, or expanded version, with an oh-so-requested good ending after the jam ending. The townies got to rise up. No promises though. x)
I'm really grateful for the high praise here, never considered myself a writer so to see how much you liked it means a lot! Thank you for playing ^^
Maybe one of the things is it's unfortunate we are living in *hasty times*, and (probably) people often don't see stuff through, since they are, well, basically - lazy..
You have an absolutely **cohesive** entry, which is a very hard thing to do - and a pleasure to play. Like enjoying a Really good short story, interacticely. Shame.
I think above 4s is a bit ridiculous, I got about the ratings I expected. Truth is, people come here to play games, not read books, so unless your story is REALLY special, or you have stellar graphics and music, you aren't getting very high ratings.
I'm already happy with my ratings, especially an above 100 in humor! That was a pleasant surprise ^^ Thanks for liking the game!
And yet, people here who play games also *create* games. I've done a bit of checking and tbh when I notice a single-screen single mouse button arcade game with a higher rating than a game with a *soul* - well, buddy that's trully telling of sth :D (actually several things but let me do another test next LD and then we talk further ;)
So that's how my comment appeared here, not much else :D . Then again, that's how things are, happy you happy there! Good luck and see ya ^^ :p
I love the graphics (was it intentional) that doodle look gave it a nice feel!