SILAS by googlypoo

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

Help Silas delay his inevitable death in this turn-based puzzle game.

Created for my first Ludum Dare, LD50: Delay the Inevitable. Compo.

silas-preview.jpg

Controls: - WASD or Arrows to move. - Q to Sprint. - E to Decoy. - Space or Enter to advance text.

Tools: - Unity - PyxelEdit - BeepBox - Bfxr - Audacity

Ratings

Overall 108th 3.8⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 182th 3.62⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 175th 3.62⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 55th 4.16⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 281th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 152th 3.58⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 176th 3.271⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 46th 3.96⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

kbf123
04. Apr 2022 · 14:37 UTC
For your first Ludum Dare, this is pretty good. Managed to complete it after a few restarts.
A few pictures and some descriptors would do well at showing people what kind of game this actually is though, for both here and the itch.io page.
benskca
04. Apr 2022 · 17:49 UTC
I love the atmosphere, and the setup of you playing along with Silas's narration makes for really fun dialogue. The puzzles were well designed too, and I think the mechanics you implemented leaves you with a tonne of scope to make more levels with. Great job!
LDJam user 280036
05. Apr 2022 · 04:22 UTC
@benskca Glad you enjoyed it :)
LDJam user 280036
05. Apr 2022 · 04:22 UTC
@kbf123 Thanks for the feedback. I've updated the page.
jordwest
05. Apr 2022 · 04:32 UTC
This was fun, cool puzzle mechanic.

A few thoughts:
- Would be great if I could skip the typing of the narration text. As in pressing space or enter would skip to the end of typing animation. Especially when you die a lot like I do, it's a little annoying having to watch that animation each time.
- When I start the game the sprint shows (2), but as soon as I activate it once it goes to (0). I would've expected that I'd have two uses of it. Is that a bug or does it mean something other than the number of uses?

Great work for your first LD!
ShorkieSoftware
05. Apr 2022 · 04:39 UTC
This is a really well done puzzle game! It's nice an simple but with a lot of room for trial and error. I was definitely craving more after only 3 levels. The only critique I would give would be an option to increase the speed of the game play as it got a little tedious waiting for death to take their turn. But considering you made this in only 2 days, I'm very impressed!
firetwoonenine
05. Apr 2022 · 04:39 UTC
Way better than most of us make for our first LD. :)
Danonino
05. Apr 2022 · 04:40 UTC
After a few deaths the narration texts should be skippable. But overall a fun little game with a really good audio design and mood.
LDJam user 280036
05. Apr 2022 · 05:32 UTC
@jordwest Thanks for pointing that out. It's a visual bug. You're only given 1 sprint on the first level, but the UI will display 2.

@firetwoonenine Thanks :>

@danonino @shorkiesoftware I agree. My experience was a little different than the player's as I knew all the solutions already ;) If I do an update post-LD I will definitely include a text skip.
haztro
05. Apr 2022 · 09:11 UTC
Such a polished game!
- loved the core mechanic really simple but allows for some really tricky puzzles
- music/sfx perfectly suited the mood
- Would have loved a checkpoint - having to redo parts that you've solved can be rough.

Nice work :)
Corporation
05. Apr 2022 · 19:43 UTC
Really enjoyed to play this game - smart but simple idea, fitting graphics, polished experience. Good one)
My small sugestions would be - faster player and death movement, and alow to fast forward text with enter or escape.
ollie_d
06. Apr 2022 · 02:33 UTC
Very solid game, had a lot of fun. Even did a little cheating to get to the end since I sucked at the last level and wanted to see the final dialogue ;)

![cheatin.gif](///raw/ab9/44/z/4cf78.gif)
Pierce Brooks
06. Apr 2022 · 04:17 UTC
Incredible level of polish in each level in light of the mechanics at play here.
caudatecoder
06. Apr 2022 · 21:16 UTC
Great puzzler! I love the setting and the idea that the whole game is a story that Silas tells you

Nice work on difficulty, it was just right for me. I was close to giving up on the 2nd level but eventually made it! Great job!

I recorded my playthrough. Here's a link in case you'd like to see it https://youtu.be/aJkdjOKW03M
incobalt
07. Apr 2022 · 03:09 UTC
I really enjoyed this. I kept encountering a bug on level 2 where I would get "caught" on a square that was empty (one south of death). If you're using colliders to do this, then they might be too large! I think this looks fantastic and has a very moody vibe to it. I enjoyed the music as well. The second decoy on level 3 seems like a trap, since using one overwrites the other one, and I couldn't see a good way to use two at different times.
Sam Bigos
07. Apr 2022 · 20:46 UTC
Nice game! Really love the mood of this one, with the narration and music. Puzzles were clever and well designed. I think it could have been sped up a bit though, was a bit tedious waiting for death to move.
LDJam user 280036
08. Apr 2022 · 02:22 UTC
Thanks for all the kind comments everyone :heart: This is my first LD and I'm overwhelmed with the positivity + collaboration :)

@haztro I'll likely add a rewind function later on. Checkpointing is a good suggestion.

@corporation @sam-bigos Agree, could use a speed up :)

@caudatecoder Thanks for the playthrough. Always valuable to see how people interact!

@pierce-brooks I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

@incobalt Interesting. There's a possibility I messed up some of the layering w/ the colliders, I will take a look. Thanks.

@ollie-d Glad the UI will accommodate 5 digits of movement ;D Funny.
Xiris
08. Apr 2022 · 09:29 UTC
This is really amazing first game jam entry. The game is polished and has a clean design. The sound is a little bit too intensive for me but beisdes that there is really not much to complain. Maaaaybe movement of the character & death could be a little bit quicker, especially that death has more moves than the player and that means more than 50% of the game is waiting for the death to move. I also fully support the idea of having rewind option.

Great job! :)
rasblo
08. Apr 2022 · 10:22 UTC
Impressive entry! Great level design with interesting and challenging puzzles. You took the idea and really ran with it, well done
unpronounceable
09. Apr 2022 · 01:05 UTC
Nice game. Good difficulty on the puzzles, was able to beat the last one on my first try so that could've been a little bit harder. Only features I would have liked is speeding up the text and being able to look around the level so I could plan more.
LDJam user 58658
10. Apr 2022 · 17:31 UTC
A clever game, excellent work for a first-time entry! It looks and sounds good, the writing is solid, and it keeps the attention with its puzzles. My only gripe is the lack of a "view map" option, but otherwise a commendable submission!
LDJam user 280036
14. Apr 2022 · 01:52 UTC
@xiris Glad you think so :) Thanks for the feedback, valid points.

@rasblo Thanks :>

@unpronounceable It's true, perhaps I could have swapped levels 2 and 3 :)

@cubanfrog Thank you :) That makes a lot of sense. Being able to pan the camera to see the whole layout will definitely be helpful.
fueelin
14. Apr 2022 · 06:31 UTC
Congrats on finishing your first LD game! I didn't get too far with it, but I liked idea! The art was nice too - I really enjoyed how expressive Silas' face could be! Nice work!
oller125
20. Apr 2022 · 20:39 UTC
Great for a first LD game. Simple, but complete. I enjoyed the humour of Silas and it had interesting puzzles even with just the small number of mechanics. Great job!