The Fall by sawtan
I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

You are Lucifer, the morningstar, cast down from the high heavens, you have to steer your way through the 9 circles of Hell to gain the throne you seek.
The Game
To reach the throne of Hell you first need to navigate through the circles of hell. Each circle is inhabited by their own horrors. First you need to go through the balls of pagans in Limbo and navigate through the mists of Lust, thereafter the ice rains of Gluttony will keep you on your toes. The fall will give you apt challenge as you seek your goal to sit as the extreme ruler of your own kingdom.
Controlls
Use WASD or Arrow keys to control the Morningstar. Space and Left Mouse Button will unleash a devastating attack with the sword fueled by unholy hate. Bring wrath to lost souls to gain hatred and thus extending your reach with the sword. The sword swing will be irrational if performed without steering, but when steering the swing will strike in the same direction as the Morningstar steers.
Smash these to gain hatred
Unholy Tools
Game Engine: Unity
Code IDE: Visual Studio
Graphics: Aseprite
Sounds: Audacity
Music: GarageBand
The Team
:beer: @emil-sunesson - Beer-Lord (Code)
:japanese_goblin: @khorm - Demon Master (Code)
:beers: @sawtan - Keg-Slut (Graphics)
:tumbler_glass: @klos71 - Mintu-Hole (Music/SFX)
| Link | https://github.com/LudumDareOsd/ld48 |
| Link | https://ludumdareosd.github.io/ld48/thefall/index.html |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/the-fall-1 |
Ratings
| Overall | 472th | 3.792⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 995th | 3.292⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 1206th | 3⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 148th | 4.229⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 224th | 4.3⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 157th | 4.045⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 496th | 3.225⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 552th | 3.761⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 13🗳️ | 18🗨️ |
Also, really dig the parallax effect!!
I did die once and was wondering why my sword was so short :). I made it to the throne on the second try. Those floating ball things almost got me on the second try. I enjoyed my fall to hell. Overall, a great little game. Good job!
There seems to be some good music too, but it's very silent compared to the ambient wind sound effect.
Currently there isn't really any incentive to hit stuff with your sword, at least until the last round with the balls shooting homing smaller balls at you. So it feels easier to dodge everything up to that point.
It would be nice if the attack speed was faster, and the enemies took a few more hits to kill. That along with impact effects, like enemies being janked backwards when hit and blood/debris splatter, would make attacking things more rewarding.
Would love more action and to need to attack things. but it's a great game so far! So impressive, what you made in such a short time.
Thx for the fun!
@pixelportalz The source material sure gave us plenty of ideas to work with, so the game pretty much made itself! I would love to spend more time in Dante's Inferno :D Try hitting the blue guys from the side and he'll be a bit easier to kill off, and the blue guys also gives you a larger sword if it's not at full length! Cheerz!
@lehaine We sure know the feeling about the combat, we would love to have more time to implement more interesting enemies and combat mechanics, but the time-frame just puts one on the easiest path forward. But I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the experience, and made it all the way to the 9:th Circle as well! We applaud you for finishing the game and thanks for great feedback! Cheerz!
@jefvel Hey! Thanks for getting through all the levels, and yes, the mechanics could have been built upon for sure, I'd like to make that part a bit more interesting, but the time frame for the event is a bit restrictive. Maybe they should have one event that is for a whole week :sweat_smile:
When I play through I like to clear the enemies as fast as possible, but I have heard about other players going through it by dodging as well, it's a bit hard to really get a good balance that works for the general gamer, some think it's to hard and some to easy, so one need to home in on the sweet spot (the game was a heck of a lot harder on the first build ;) ). Thanks for playing in through and thanks for great feedback! Cheerz!
@n-c0de-r Thanks man! I'm super happy that you enjoyed it! Cheerz!
@wizard-sino Many thanks! Glad you liked it! Cheerz!
I loved the variety of enemies across the zones. Each looked really distinct, but also played really differently which was nice.
The character control was good, too. The inertia gave me a feeling of flying and created a lot of challenge and care to how I had to move.
The brutal side was how the sword got smaller when I got hit, forcing me to get closer, which led to more getting hit. But a downward spiral to doom is probably right on theme, right?
All of the times I got hit, I felt it was my fault, except one situation: When I was lining up a shot on someone and then the circle of hell changed, the enemy would suddenly "stop" (which really meant accelerate into my face). When I was not doing battle with them, this was a very nice visual effect as the old zoomed away to be replaced by the new. But a few times I was lining up an attack and they suddenly cheap-shot me.
I didn't manage to finish the game. I got to Violence a few times, but always with a few hits on my belt. The violence enemy is a good one to test my skill. The other levels, I can kind of just avoid some enemies so it might not matter if I have the impotent sword. But not so with violence: The mini ball goes out and then comes at my side, and demands combat. But it's not easy to reign in hell, and I wasn't up to the task.
The blue lost soul guy between levels as a sort of healing mechanism was a very nice touch. So much more flavorful than "here's a free heart".
Overall a really strong offering with some great art and atmosphere, and a strong variety of different types of challenge! Nice work to your whole team!
Amaaazing graphics and marvelous (and fun) music. Well put together by the coders also, some really nice effects there. I would expect no less from you guys. ;)
I liked how the game fit the theme and the Inferno-idea.
The controls, for me atleast, was a bit "wobbly/soapy" (maybe bcs my new wirless keyboard?). Also sometimes hard to know if you hit an enemy or not, this would have been nice with some cool deaths also.
Yes I know, the time constraint is a an evil mistress...I'm sure you had to leave behind a gazillion ideas because of this.
All in all, devilishly well done, congrats!
@thomas-bringer Thanks mate! Glad you liked it!
@pkenney Ahh, the classic cheap-shot to the face, I've gotten that one several times during the development process. You we're right on the precipice of reaching the throne there, Violence is the last playable circle actually, so if you would live through that one there's a nice surprise on the other side ;)
We're all very happy that you enjoyed playing our game! And many thanks for the nice words! Cheerz!
@rolle Hehe a cool gory death sure was on the top of our to-do list as you might imagine, but alas, we focused on wrapping it together with a nice ending animation and splash screen instead! Glad you enjoyed our little journey into the 9:th circle of Hell! :beers:
Loving the background art - the twisted bodies in the background are super visceral, which makes the contrast with the funky jazz music even better.
We definately had the same source of inspiration, but drastically different approaches! Your game is more metal-album-cover to my more chibi approach. Nice!
Not really much else I can comment on! Love the art and setting, but the gameplay isn't for me. Great job!
The concept is awesome and that overview on the info page gave me anticipation - "I'm excited to explore the depths and what comes next"
It was hard for me to swing the sword, but I think it was a brave choice not to go with the regular bullet hell mechanics. Also, by not going with bullet hell guns it gave more room to focus on the environmental changes etc.
Well done! :crossed_swords: :fire: