Beyond The Ridge by evil23
https://youtu.be/fQU2rNPGswo
A first-person shooter set in a remote village trapped in an endless cycle of deadly gas waves. No one knows where the gas comes from. It has always been this way, but it's getting worse, and the village is running out of time.
You are a civilian, chosen to do what no one has ever done: follow the gas back to its source. Armed with a single weapon, you fight your way from shelter to shelter as the waves roll in. Each shelter is guarded, and the doors stay locked until every last enemy is down. When the signal sounds, you better be inside.
How to play:
Defeat all enemy troops around a shelter for the door to open.
Controls:
Mouse - Look around
Left Mouse - Shoot
Right Mouse - Iron Sights
WASD - Move around
X - Crouch
Space - Jump
C - Sprint
R - Reload
UPDATE:
1.1 Fixed the aiming/recoil issue
Post-Jam Update:
1.2 Fixed Checkpoints inside shelters

| Link | https://zhed.itch.io/beyond-the-ridge |
| Link | https://zhed.itch.io/beyond-the-ridge |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/beyond-the-ridge |
Ratings
| Overall | 777th | 2.886⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 814th | 2.409⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 812th | 2.409⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 703th | 3⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 592th | 3.354⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 392th | 3.364⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 639th | 2⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 732th | 2.977⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 48🗳️ | 34🗨️ |
It was also not very performant on my (admittedly old) computer: the frame-rate was pretty patchy even with graphics set to "low".
Also the setting was confusing --- why would anyone start a village in a valley full of poison gas? Why does everyone shoot at you when you try to leave? Why aren't the people shooting at you worried about the gas? Maybe these questions are answered at the end of the game but sadly I didn't make it that far.
The static asset quality is pretty nice, but it does clash with the low resolution environmental details, and the lack of animation/feedback on the players weapon, making the whole thing feel visually inconsistent and clash, bringing consistent attention to its weaker parts.
I think with a balance pass to move it away from the super low TTK and towards its evidently arcade leanings, there'd be something decent here, just needs to embrace the pieces it has available.
The gas theme is interesting, but it could use a bit more development. I can see that you’re responding to comments and making fixes, which is great. The game just needs some polishing.
@pixel-studios Valid questions, we planned for the player to not wear a mask but as we ran out of time, we used the one character model that we had and looked decent.
@profugo-barbatus Yes, not knowing where you're being shot from is a major problem. We had damage direction indicators high up on the list but didn't manage to complete it in time. When you rest in a shelter, your health will recover after a while.
@danibeve The alarm sound before each gas wave is supposed to be the "signal". But true, we haven't made that clear anywhere.
About the lack of details and animation: Creating a first-person shooter with this kind of artstyle was an overly ambitious goal for a gamejam so we had to cut a lot of corners. For example, lowering the weapon during reload was just a trick to save work we would have to spend on a reload animation.
As always, if you set the bar too high, it's your own fault if you can't measure up. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try :smiley: