LudumData

Smog by PKZinpo

[raw]
made by PKZinpo for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

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Smog is a short visual novel game story game made for Ludum Dare 50. No objective really, just play and enjoy the story!

(Recommended to download and play, but if you do play in browser, please fullscreen!)

Controls:

  • Press E to proceed through the story
  • At beginning, you are able to move left and right with A and D
  • There will be quick-actions, pressing whatever key appears on the screen

Notes:

  • Handful of silent moments, like after music and other areas. This is not a bug, I just did not have enough time to put proper audio clips and properly looped music tracks :')
  • To play the game again, the page/game will have to be refreshed/restarted

Bugs:

  • ~~Quick-action sequence not resetting after not pressing buttons for quick-action~~
  • Game not resetting properly after first-playthrough

Update Log:

  • 4/5/22: Fixed quick-action sequence not resetting after not pressing buttons

  • 4/5/22: Added HTML build for original game

Link https://github.com/PKZinpo/LD50Game
Windows (Recommended) https://pkzinpo.itch.io/smog
Link https://pkzinpo.itch.io/smog
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/smog

Ratings

Overall 306th 3.45⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 553th 2.65⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 454th 2.975⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 561th 2.825⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 100th 4.025⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 91th 3.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 23th 4.175⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

muriel
04. Apr 2022 · 21:42 UTC
Good graphics I love the scene transitions and the narrative :)

This quote was horrible, it moved me (it's the first dramatic game that I played in the LD this year jaja):

![Capture.PNG](///raw/98c/1/z/4b0b0.png)

Thanks for this entry ;)
incobalt
04. Apr 2022 · 23:18 UTC
This is incredibly-well put together! I'm not sure how you managed to get all that art and music AND a smooth message box coded in just 48 hours! I love the silence at the start that leads to the music swells and the painful ringing of the bell. Honestly good job!

Side note: Hitting play the second time after completing breaks the walk animation and then the game hangs on the screen transition with just black. Something's not getting reset between plays!
🎤 PKZinpo
05. Apr 2022 · 22:02 UTC
@muriel Thanks so much! It's a different direction than I am used to so it was definitely a challenge haha
🎤 PKZinpo
05. Apr 2022 · 22:04 UTC
@incobalt Thanks a lot! It was definitely a grind haha, I felt like I could have put in more had I done things more efficiently but I had a mindset of 'just get it done' so there is a lot of messy code and whatnot

Thanks for bringing that to my attention!
vrerabek
05. Apr 2022 · 22:44 UTC
I really like the graphics and camera work is really good!
Touching story :(
Dobryn
05. Apr 2022 · 23:14 UTC
Given the limited time it's pretty well done, I don't think i could make something like that. Loved the art and also the overall artistic vibe.

I will be playing this again. :walking:
🎤 PKZinpo
06. Apr 2022 · 15:02 UTC
@vrerabek @dobryn Thanks so much!
Zackavelli
06. Apr 2022 · 15:51 UTC
This is the first dramatic submission I have played so far and I think its pretty good! Impressed with the amount of story, art, and audio you were able to get in. The quick time mechanic was done well enough and I think the slight slowdown while waiting for the input was a nice touch. I wish I could have seen the smoke monster or at least some cool art effect related to it, but its understandable given the time constraints. Nice Work!
velvetlobster
06. Apr 2022 · 15:59 UTC
I love the minimal soundtrack
I love the 10 years ago flashback
I love the "out of this world" vibe, tone and minimal art.
this game has an identity, it is distinctive and atmospheric.
Love it

![Captura de Tela 2022-04-06 às 12.58.59.png](///raw/0e4/e/z/4d1ef.png)

Please let me know more about this project if you think about going forward with it :smiley:
Just wish the sounds were a bit higher, I don't know if its my notebook but the sounds were very very low, so much I thought there was no sound
lesinvisible
06. Apr 2022 · 18:41 UTC
Very nice interactive tale, I liked the overall minimalistic graphics (only backgrounds were a bit rough). My only complaint is that, as the story goes, I was expecting a longer and more massive narrative. I think you should make it into a standalone game with more story.
🎤 PKZinpo
07. Apr 2022 · 02:40 UTC
@zackavelli Thanks so much! I agree, I also wish I could have seen the smoke monster as well haha
🎤 PKZinpo
07. Apr 2022 · 02:41 UTC
@velvetlobster Thanks a lot! Currently I'm not sure I will pursue more of this project right now? But maybe I will at some point in the future :thinking:

Thanks for bringing the sounds to my attention!
🎤 PKZinpo
07. Apr 2022 · 02:43 UTC
@lesinvisible Thanks so much! Yeah, I definitely had hoped to put so much more into the finished product, but I overshot my capabilities a little bit haha, which is unfortunate! But it was a great learning experience being a genre/style of game I haven't explored before
shellofagirl
09. Apr 2022 · 13:45 UTC
oo really enjoyed the art, music and cinematic feel. nice details like the light/dark contrasts and camera zoomz
Agrimes
10. Apr 2022 · 00:35 UTC
That was quick, but it kept me interested.
🎤 PKZinpo
10. Apr 2022 · 07:58 UTC
@shellofagirl @agrimes Thanks so much!
MachWerx
14. Apr 2022 · 05:36 UTC
Nice dramatic short story. It felt more like a slightly interactive story than a game, but my game is also pretty much that as well. I'm impressed at how much you were able to accomplish in 48 hours!
XeduR
14. Apr 2022 · 07:21 UTC
The graphics and mood were fantastic.

The writing could have been improved a bit though, as the father changed their mind within 1 second of telling the kid they are too young to know the truth. :smile:

I'm also not sure if I completed the game or if I failed, because I hit the wrong key at the QTE before the house, and then it just ended. I don't know if it would have continued if I had hit the correct key, but when I tried to replay it, I just got a black screen when I tried leaving the first screen.

The game has a definitive interesting quality to it, and if it were to be polished more later, I'd be looking to learn more about it.
🎤 PKZinpo
14. Apr 2022 · 22:03 UTC
@machwerx Thanks so much!
🎤 PKZinpo
14. Apr 2022 · 22:07 UTC
@xedur Thanks so much! Yeah, The writing for the story unfortunately had to be left at that, at least for the compo haha. I think I executed the QTE a little poorly in general, but I had to muster up what I could :sweat_smile: I will definitely explore the game more in the future though! Will definitely be a lot more clean than this
shp
17. Apr 2022 · 20:08 UTC
Very moody, good little story that sure captures the attention!
Paul Nadan
17. Apr 2022 · 20:54 UTC
This was a cool experience! The pixel art looks really nice, and the bell ringing felt so ominous after we'd been told what it meant. I definitely thought the running through the forest part was going to turn into a neat little minigame, but I know given the time constraints that would have been a lot to add. Great work!
LMB
17. Apr 2022 · 21:05 UTC
Love the graphics, the audio, the atmosphere in general. I'd personally prefer if my actions had more impact on the story, but I enjoyed your game while lasted (in fact, I wished it lasted a bit more :slight_smile:)
kjscott
18. Apr 2022 · 10:10 UTC
I really loved the visual style, the minimal but very appropriate SFX and music worked wonderfully with the game.
I would have made the interaction F key and the dialogue key E the same, also have E to fast forward through dialogue sections for people like myself who read a lot faster than it was being displayed on screen meant it was a little frustrating. There was a tiny visual glitch when the text went off the edge of the screen before wrapping itself back around, the wrap around needed to happen one character earlier. I Would have skipped the quick time events and the small interaction at the start just stuck with it being a visual narrative as it worked best with the story you created. Overall though, really good work.
🎤 PKZinpo
19. Apr 2022 · 21:52 UTC
@shp Thanks so much!
🎤 PKZinpo
19. Apr 2022 · 21:53 UTC
@paul-nadan Thanks a lot! Yeah, I was really hoping to add more to make it into an actual mini-game, but I unfortunately ran out of time :sweat_smile:
🎤 PKZinpo
19. Apr 2022 · 21:54 UTC
@lmb Thanks! That's what I had hoped to implement as well haha, maybe when I come back to this game
🎤 PKZinpo
19. Apr 2022 · 21:56 UTC
@kjscott Thanks so much for the feedback!
Vladadamm
21. Apr 2022 · 16:57 UTC
It was short (though it's a bit normal in compo), but everything feels really well put together. The art is minimal but still shows everything needed, the story is short but complete with the narration giving us enough info to understand the story. The audio side was very minimal but still matched the story. Overall, great job on the narrative aspect of the game.

As to the downsides, it lacked a bit in interactive parts so the QTE part at the end felt a bit out of place (imo, either more interactive parts would have been needed but hard to do in 48h, or it should have been fully cinematic).
There were also some visual glitches on camera transitions (iirc, mainly while going up/down between the house and bunker).