Jaws of Earth by IceEye

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

Jaws of Earth is a short narrative game about following in the footsteps of an archaeologist who went missing while exploring a mysterious ruin in the Ecuadorian Rainforest.

WASD to move, E to interact, ESC or Q to close menus.

We had to make the game under increased restrictions due to our work schedules, however I'm still pleased with what we managed to create in such a short time. We're submitting early because neither of us will be able to work on it for the last day unfortunately.

3D Assets, Environment, and Character by Sara Hames (AKA SoapyBits) Programming, Writing, and Backend by Joshua Hames (AKA PottedFox)

Additonal assets from FreeSound.org and Mixamo

Ratings

Overall 1737th 2.868⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1845th 2.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1309th 2.921⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 752th 3.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1478th 3.053⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 1175th 2.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1076th 3.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 24🗳️ 7🗨️

Feedback

LakshyaIsAGod
26. Apr 2021 · 04:52 UTC
TODO: review game
arnold-990
26. Apr 2021 · 16:08 UTC
good job, added screenshots
Cam Moore
28. Apr 2021 · 01:26 UTC
Pretty cool concept!
nyanpierre
28. Apr 2021 · 01:36 UTC
nice game !
GogglesKitty
28. Apr 2021 · 02:01 UTC
I really like the story! It was a little hard to see the environment, though the notes act as a pretty good guide to follow. Nice work!
Meenakshi
28. Apr 2021 · 08:12 UTC
Nice one..
Ps: The game size is pretty high. It would be nice to have a webgl build
JackBad
29. Apr 2021 · 21:36 UTC
This was a cool interpretation of the theme, and kudos to the team for working under even stricter time constraints. I would definitely play again if you all decided to develop further or patch what's there in the future.

Feedback:
+ The shader on the walls when they collide with(?)/pass the camera is awesome. Y'all have a cool minimalist art-style. I was hoping for some more props/scene dressing, as well as ambient audio to reinforce the tone, but was still generally satisfied.
+ The SE & NW direction animations are broken for the 8-way-directional-movement

+ JOURNALS:
- I wondered if I would've been more compelled by the story if we received the journals not in chronological order?
- I felt that 'E' should also be able to close the journal entry, and I kept tapping it once I finished reading.
- Once I was about halfway through, I started wishing for a notebook that I could refer to & re-read past journal entries.
- Towards the end, I also wanted more media type to interact with, other than journal entries. The "Prayer?" got me excited, but I think expanding the variety of interactable objects could help keep players moving forward intrigued. (Like an empty water canteen, a photograph, a makeshift map of the cave structure, markings on the walls, etc.) It would also create an opportunity for the person we're playing as to provide feedback, share opinions, and clue the player in on what this means.
VPhyre
02. May 2021 · 02:15 UTC
Interesting idea. I like the 3D model of the character and the ambience assets. There is interesting text content as well. The only point a little low that I think was a little shallow was the gameplay. But nothing that could hinder the experience of your game. It will be interesting to see this project evolve.
LRVStudios
04. May 2021 · 03:54 UTC
Interesting game! Can't wait for new updates on this. PS: The character reminds me 'Lara Croft' haha. Great work!
Ryan Dotsikas
05. May 2021 · 22:48 UTC
Wow, great job nailing the mood and narrative with this game! I was definitely invested in what was going to happen and following along with all the notes. Like some others have pointed out, the NW and SE movement directions caused the character to just slide, and it also was hard to see at points where the flashlight wasnt properly lighting up the area. I really liked the effect you did on the walls and pillars etc when they pass through the camera and have that smoky feel. Very cool! Overall great job! You had me hooked!
Lysenti
07. May 2021 · 18:49 UTC
This game seems a little empty at first, but you quickly realize that it already has a soul. Something that oppresses you all the way down. Maybe because your game reminded me a bit of an SCP game where you have to go down a stairwell, and where a monster can come and kill you at any time.
In addition, the atmosphere is very well managed, and the story is well told.
There is a little animation bug when moving up left and down right ... but nothing serious.
Well done !
someone
14. May 2021 · 19:25 UTC
Nice game. That water did look inviting...
I like the cutaway effect, though it does let you see through to lower parts of the level at times.
The perspective and darkness makes it difficult to admire some of the level though.
I enjoyed the story, but some more interactables to investigate would have been nice.
ChrisAP
16. May 2021 · 00:41 UTC
The height shader was pretty interesting and the theme of the jam is surely prevalent though out the game. Some of the animations are broken but its not a huge deal. I kinda wish the font would be different so that there was more of a lie in to the freaky mood it was going for. There's a lot of reading where it would be cool to have some sort of mechanic where I have to find the correct order or some sort of reference to whats happening in the journal within the game. It was kind of freaky that the game just closes out on you with the end. It would be interesting to have some reference or inspiration from HP Lovecraft work since you are going for the whole Cosmic Horror idea in your game.
asdehielo
18. May 2021 · 18:37 UTC
Cool game, the creepy story got me intrigued till the end. I personally liked more the "outside" part of the game rather than the circular stairs, but those definitely fit with the theme.

As a suggestion, some music would make the game much more immersive. By the way, you seem to have forgotten to implement the walking animations when going northwest or southeast x)

Good job, keep it up!