Deep in Wraithwood Forest by HitchH1k3r

[raw]
made by HitchH1k3r for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

You traveled much too deep into Wraitwood Forest, and now you are cursed. Explore the deepest depths of the forest to find a way to keep the darkness at bay.

To succeed you will need to...

Light Torches Torches.png

Battle Enemies Enemies.png

Push Runestones Runestones.png

Find Mysterious Structures Structures.png

All in a Hexagon World! Hexagon.png

Deep into the forest is not deep enough, you will need to travel not just deep, but deeper and deeper.


Controls

  • Hexagon Movement - Mouse or WASD + QE or Gamepad

Pro-Tips

  • Most items will reset when you pass out in the deep, deeper, or deepest woods.
  • Wraiths will suck in air where they are going to attack.

Known Bugs

  • The game may run slowly when loading in the sound files. This eventually goes away (if it's too bad on your computer, you can leave the game open -- but don't play -- for ~5 minutes, after that it shouldn't stutter).
  • If a wraith starts an attack and dies at the same time it's about to attack sound will play until the next time the player passes out.

Version History

Apr. 26, 2021 :: v1.0 - Jam release

Walkthrough

If you got stuck, or maybe just hate playing games ^_^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uUEcpXeUsA

Ratings

Overall 760th 3.603⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 798th 3.426⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 390th 3.686⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 947th 3.629⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1140th 3.478⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 895th 3.214⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1177th 2.333⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 552th 3.761⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 35🗨️

Feedback

Dzefris
27. Apr 2021 · 18:31 UTC
Hexagons are the bestagones! :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOifuHs6eY
HCS_Hades
28. Apr 2021 · 02:54 UTC
It is super hard lol! Atmosphere is cool :)
lb01
28. Apr 2021 · 02:55 UTC
It's a really cool concept. I was struggling to push some of the boxes though so I wasn't able to make much progress. But the graphics and sounds and mood are great.
Daveroony
28. Apr 2021 · 02:57 UTC
Really lovely design, wish that it ran smoother
nyanpierre
28. Apr 2021 · 02:57 UTC
the art is simple but its work pretty well with the game
Matt Swieboda
28. Apr 2021 · 02:58 UTC
wow, like the graphics and concept. Very hard to move all the runes without having the torch go out. I'm sure I could get it after a few tries. I couldn't find any campfires to light, or if I did, wasn't sure how. overall awesome job!
Singrid
28. Apr 2021 · 03:06 UTC
Really nice graphics! Nice concept, I liked the box mechanics but it was really hard to move. It would be interesting if you can find another torch in other map areas.
Congratulations, you did a really nice job!
LDJam user 235388
28. Apr 2021 · 03:11 UTC
Neat concept had a great time figuring out the game and learning.
And I had an idea had while playing to make moving around the map faster would be the wraiths extending the life of your torch as well. Stops the needs to travel back to safe areas.
Mika314
28. Apr 2021 · 03:12 UTC
This game is hard. Would be nice to be able to hold the button, it is a little annoying to spam them.
sockpuppetcow
28. Apr 2021 · 03:12 UTC
Great design, love the hexagon layout, good puzzles even though it's pretty hard.
phil_lesnar
28. Apr 2021 · 03:36 UTC
That slight elevation on different green titles looks so good, and the red-eye transition is super slick.
Whysguy52
28. Apr 2021 · 03:54 UTC
I know you probably didn't have time but, implementing the use of mouse to select the tile would be much easier to control but the overall game mechanics are awesome!
Lumous
28. Apr 2021 · 04:35 UTC
Great game! That last puzzle took me way too long to figure out! Really well designed. Little bit laggy though, u'd prolly unload the hexagons you can't see =)
Arthur Porto
28. Apr 2021 · 04:43 UTC
Nice game, the gameplay works so well and the puzzle using the runestones mechanic is so creative/intuitive, one thing that a thing is key to the gameplay works so well is the obelisk to teleport after dying or to restore the torch another thing that i liked is the way the light changes based in the deeper you are in the forest, would be nice if had someway to rotate the camera maybe this could help find some sticks in the ground, well done guys!
Evannex
28. Apr 2021 · 05:41 UTC
Woah this was so much fun! I did have a little trouble knowing which direction I was going to head in with the mouse controls, I think that was just me not being too familiar with hex controls on mouse. Fantastic entry that was VERY fun to play!
rhoff95
28. Apr 2021 · 17:16 UTC
Cool game, would have liked controls that were easier to understand on keyboard.
🎤 HitchH1k3r
29. Apr 2021 · 17:48 UTC
### Thanks for the feedback everyone!

@dzefris

**Hexagons are pretty great**, this is our second game using them, and first that actually has the player moving around. I don't think I could have pulled it off if it hadn't been for [this advent of code problem ](https://adventofcode.com/2020/day/24), and [this hexagonal tile math primer](https://www.redblobgames.com/grids/hexagons/).

---

@mika314 @whysguy52 @evannex @rhoff95

We **didn't know how to do controls** for a hexagonal game with tile quantized movement. All the examples I can think of let the player click any tile and then move there (with path finding) over a number of turns. The standard control scheme of up/down and left/right breaks, and using **the 6 key layout** we ended up with **takes some getting used to** since it's not at all typical. For most of the development I used a gamepad, but it has it's own problems (6 directions instead of 4 make incorrect input much more likely). Ultimately **we ran out of time**, so features like hold a key to repeatedly move got cut... I also really **wanted the mouse movement to change the cursor** into an arrow indicating the current direction it would move the player, but ended up just **rotating the player** to face the mouse cursor (mouse input isn't tile based, but instead based on the angle of the cursor around the center of the screen).

---

@singrid @crychair

You can **pickup sticks** to extend your torches life, and **light camp fires** in the wood to create a permanent source of light.

---

@hcs-hades @sockpuppetcow

What parts of the game were the **most challenging** for you? We set out to make more of a **survival game** and it **slowly turned more "puzzley"**, so there is some questionable design (it basically turned into solve this puzzle in limited moves, with limited visibility, and also you don't know where your objective is). In **hindsight** it probably would have been **better to stick to puzzle _OR_ survival** centered mechanics. PS. **rune stones cannot** be **pushed on** to **stone path** tiles, I also put up a 12 minute walkthrough video that I believe covers everything in the game (**including secrets**) if you are interested in what's **deeper** in the forest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uUEcpXeUsA

---

@lumous

The games a bit non-linear (12 obelisks and the can be gotten in several different orders), so I wonder **which one did you do last?** There are a **few fairly fiendish** ones I can imagine people struggling with.

---

@daveroony

**Lag** is a **big issue** with this game, but I think it can be **partially mitigated** on many computers by **giving the game a bit of time to stabilize** (and probably download the large sound files). Some assets are unloaded when off screen, and the game should be making use of frustum culling to draw only what is visible. **WebGL is so performance critical** it would have been nice to have some **time to optimize the game**.

---

@arthur-porto

There was a **planned feature** to **pitch the camera down** more when the player was obscured by tall objects (trees, obelisks, ...) this sadly was **cut due to time** constraints. The sticks' graphics were also randomize with only minutes left for changes, and that sadly had a negative impact on the ease of finding them (they do look a bit better now though ^_^).

---

@nyanpierre @matt-swieboda @lb01 @phil-lesnar

**Thanks for the kind words**, with **no dedicated artist** we did the best we could graphically, and some things really suffered (the player character doesn't fit in at all, and I wish I could have made more decorative elements).

---

### PS.


I **accidentally** (*read: sleep deprived*) **opted out** of some of the **rating categories**, it would be **awesome** if some of **you could go back and add the missing ratings**, I'm interested to see what the community thinks of our sound and art (it was a real crunch to get it all made).
Whysguy52
29. Apr 2021 · 18:28 UTC
@hitchh1k3r say no more fam.
Lumous
29. Apr 2021 · 21:54 UTC
@hitchh1k3r - The last one for me was the ones to the east. With the water puzzles :)
LDJam user 235388
30. Apr 2021 · 00:43 UTC
@hitchh1k3r I knew about the sticks I figured that one out. I was just suggesting a different mechanic because i felt like I was going back to the fire often so i had enough time. Also the sticks are one time use. which means if I use it back up and use a fire its just gone.
TigerMouse
02. May 2021 · 20:01 UTC
Lovely concept and overall a nice little game. I really liked the tranquil birdsong and other audio, and the fun puzzles. Great work!
OldDog
03. May 2021 · 08:02 UTC
nice game !! but there are some simple tips from me:
1 when I die , I want to restart in 1 seconds ,not a long change scene animation
2 I click a ground box , I want to move character to where I click rather than step by step
any way , that is a nice game ,glad you made this :smile:
Magna
04. May 2021 · 05:49 UTC
I really like the visuals of this game!
PxlDev
04. May 2021 · 07:18 UTC
Very well made game. At first I didnt know what to do, so maybe you should have added someking of in game tutorial.
ardorugus
06. May 2021 · 23:37 UTC
Futhark - that's deep. The game is heavy, aye. And it needs some time to understand, what's there. However, there's no fun in purposeless wandering and aiming for bonfires. Some quest system or log would be nice, just to get what's that all about. Still, Futhark is there. Nice.
Osel13
07. May 2021 · 23:41 UTC
Nicely done, I've enjoyed it, good job! :D
xiyou
09. May 2021 · 12:06 UTC
Great design. I like this kind of game that gradually unfolds as you explore
AndrewDavidJ
10. May 2021 · 15:01 UTC
Pretty cool concept and theme implementation! Nice work! :)
zimny11
13. May 2021 · 20:46 UTC
What a unique game! I really enjoyed the puzzle aspect. Great job on both game idea and the execution!
Wheffle
15. May 2021 · 01:21 UTC
It's rough around the edges, but the core is really solid and it was a really cool experience.

Sometimes, particularly in the western portion, I found myself stuck in a "the way to win is not to move" situation with the wraiths. I wish there was a "pass" button. It also took me a long time to figure out that I could kill wraiths, and without that knowledge the western forest seemed apparently impossible. The movement seemed a bit sticky too, and using the mouse felt unresponsive. On the web version at least.

Besides all of that, it was a *lot* of fun. I loved exploring around in the darkness and finding campfires. The block pushing mechanic was basic but highly effective here. The only part that I felt the block puzzles got a little out of control were in the eastern water areas, if you died in the middle of some of those or messed up block placement then it was sometimes a pain to set everything back up. The audio seriously enhanced the experience, so really nice job on that! I'm just a sucker for hex tile games as well, so definitely bonus points there (hexagons are bestagons).

Although there were some hitches and issues, some x-factor about the concept and execution hooked me and had me happily playing through the whole thing. You guys made something really cool, I think this is one of the top games I've played this LD.