This Special War by mvasko2

[raw]
made by mvasko2 for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

thisspecialwar3.png

Your country is at war.

The enemy is on a killing spree, destroying everything that comes their way. You have managed to escape into the forest.

But for how long?

It seems death is inevitable. You will either get killed by enemy soldiers, or by coldness and hunger.

You need to get out of here. You need to get help.

Controls

  • Up or W - Go up
  • Down or S - Go down
  • Right or D - Go right
  • Left or A - Go left
  • Shift - Sprint
  • E - Use nearby item

Software used:

  • Godot - game engine
  • Krita - painting
  • Ardour - music and some sound effects
  • Explodomatica - for explosions and gunshots!

Ratings

Overall 311th 3.444⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 509th 2.815⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 556th 2.593⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 596th 2.481⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 206th 3.722⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 55th 3.907⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Mood 12th 4.259⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

robert18
04. Apr 2022 · 16:25 UTC
I really like the athmosphere, though it wasn't much of a challenge to win, it seems hunger actually goes below zero? when you just start the game it goes up rapidly but when you eat some food it stays at 0.

I love these kind of survival-like games
arqitech
07. Apr 2022 · 09:57 UTC
Wow! :rocket:

This game is so ATMOSPHERIC!
I love the stealth-feel to it! The graphics are cool and music fits the theme perfectly!
I think it would be super cool if you had a helicopter come in at the end to pick the dude up.

Overall a really good game, well done! :smiley:
ironcutter
09. Apr 2022 · 15:23 UTC
Great atmosphere, chill music is really on spot. Could have been fun to have more hazards than the cone-view guys, yet it's pretty cool
Itskdog
09. Apr 2022 · 16:23 UTC
Good mood and sound. I liked the art style. The game might be a little too easy for a survival game. I was also able to use the radio without being in the room.
Chocolat-Endive
09. Apr 2022 · 16:46 UTC
You have something with the mood here. I really enjoyed the music and sound, combined with the night and the fact we have to hide.

I'm not sure if it is intended, but we can use the radio from outside the house. I've tried several run to verify, and each time I've been able to reproduce it:

![war.png](///raw/477/91/z/4da9b.png)

Overall, you managed to create a great mood. And you can now improve it by adding more polish, some kind of intro/outro, using customized buttons and not default godot UI, etc. Good job, and thank you for sharing your game.
i_am_lloric
09. Apr 2022 · 20:51 UTC
I really liked this.
The only negative thing I would say is I don't think it fit the theme. The ending wasn't inevitable since I was able to 'win'.
Other than that, very good atmosphere and everything else.
Nice game.
Stuntcomposer
10. Apr 2022 · 05:31 UTC
I really like the mood in this game, the athmosphere with the sorrow music really fits. Controls are smooth and fluid in my opinon and I enjoy playing the game. For the jam, as other have pointed out, the theme isn't really fulfilled, but still a nice game.
candlesan
10. Apr 2022 · 08:07 UTC
This was great and really moody.

I like that you took the time to have the lights from the guards spill into the rooms. How did you do that effect?
Guillem Serra
10. Apr 2022 · 08:18 UTC
Great atmospherics! The game was too short for me, and so it kinda didn't felt like fitting the theme. Other than that, I was easily inside the mood, and for the short amount of time we had and the theme you chose, that's a big accomplishment! Thanks for your submission.
hmightypirate
10. Apr 2022 · 08:27 UTC
The audio an effects really add to the atmoshpere of the game! The game itself is not difficult once you learn the patterns of the enemies. Maybe some movement to the enemies can add more variety.
🎤 mvasko2
10. Apr 2022 · 14:51 UTC
Thank you for the comments, everyone! I'm glad you guys liked the atmosphere, it's definitely what I was going for :slight_smile:

@robert18 Yes, you are right, it's not much of a challenge and hunger does indeed go below zero. It's a feature, not a bug :slight_smile:. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake and makes the game too easy, but it was a conscious decision, because I wanted the hunger behaviour to be more "realistic". Anyway, with Ludum Dare, I have a little bit of a history of making my games too difficult, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad to have an easy game for once.

@arqitech I love the helicopter idea, thanks! The exit point was actually one of the last things to be added and had no idea what it should be, so the red cross was kind of a rushed lazy escape hatch :slight_smile: The helicopter makes perfect sense.

@ironcutter I definitely wanted some more obstacles and hazards along the way, but you know how it is with time and ambitions :slight_smile:

@itskdog I agree, it's a bit too easy. I originally wanted to have a lot more survival mechanics in there, such as hunting for food, making campfires and stuff like that. In fact, the game started as a little clone of The Long Dark in a war environment. Of course, in the end I had to cut a lot of planned features in order to meet the deadline :slight_smile:

@itskdog, @chocolat-endive Thanks for pointing out the radio thing, it's a bug, I probably should have made the radio trigger area smaller or take the walls into account somehow.

@i-am-lloric, @stuntcomposer, @guillem-serra I guess you are right with the theme. I considered having the character die in the end after actually delaying the inevitable (hunger and coldness), but I couldn't help the urge to have a happy ending (sort of) in this one.

@candlesan Glad you noticed, it's really nothing special :slight_smile: Once you have 2D lights setup in Godot, you just need to make sure shadows are enabled on the light itself, and you have a `LightOccluder2D` on the building. Feel free to check it out in the [source code](https://github.com/MilanVasko/ludum-dare-50) (you will probably be most interested in the `enemy.tscn` and `building.tscn` files). Or just read up on it in [Godot docs](https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/2d/2d_lights_and_shadows.html) directly, I just followed that tutorial :slight_smile:

@hmightypirate True about the difficulty. Patrolling enemies were actually on my TODO list, but they didn't make the cut (they were **very** close though :slight_smile:)
radmccool
10. Apr 2022 · 21:33 UTC
a stark reminder of the brutality on this world. Even though one escapes, the horror seems inevitable.
i dont have anything to add that hasnt been addressed. just that i enjoyed your game and well done for trying to take on a serious topic.
Diego Escalante
11. Apr 2022 · 04:33 UTC
This game has really big mood. It's a very serious and lonesome game. It feels very isolating and dark. The gameplay itself is pretty simple but everything around it really ties the whole setting together. Sum of its parts, I think. Thanks for the experience, really well done!
DevVex
11. Apr 2022 · 04:35 UTC
Really good entry, managed to accomplish a lot for the compo. Like others have mentioned I don't think it nailed the theme but I can definitely see where you were going with it.
LDJam user 268300
11. Apr 2022 · 18:14 UTC
This game is absolutely gorgeous!!! I loved the graphic style, the movement, the sound and the general atmosphere. I just wish it had more depth or a bigger challenge. All in all, I still think it's a great entry.
M2tias
15. Apr 2022 · 16:33 UTC
Amazing art! Sound effects and music were very good as well. It was a bit short and lacked content, but it's understandable. Good entry, might be worth to keep working on it :)
LMB
17. Apr 2022 · 17:17 UTC
I'll join the chorus to say that you did an awesome job in creating a very moody atmosphere. The theme, graphics and sound worked incredibly well together. Kudos on that aspect!

The gameplay itself felt a bit repetitive, without much variation over a relatively large world that is meant to be explored. There are also some points that could be polished. For example, I found it hard to "read" the bars showing hunger, cold, etc. (they were too thin, with the labels far from them.)

A nice compo submission!
Who
18. Apr 2022 · 03:38 UTC
Great mood, were you trying to go for a "This War of Mine" vibe? I definitely felt it with the music and theme of the game.
Nonnen
20. Apr 2022 · 11:09 UTC
you made a really great grim atmosphere, and the music adds so much to that feeling. The game play felt challenging and engaging, very nice game
🎤 mvasko2
20. Apr 2022 · 15:38 UTC
@radmccool, @diego-escalante, @devvex, @arachnid56, @m2tias, @lmb, @who, @nonnen Thank you very much for playing and commenting!

I definitely agree that there's a shortage of content, gameplay and polishing here. I would like to keep improving the game and add some content to it. Hopefully time allows for it :slight_smile:

@who "This War of Mine" was, indeed, one of my inspirations. In fact, I've listened to its soundtrack while programming this game :slight_smile:
AwesomeAlliterationAlliance
20. Apr 2022 · 19:22 UTC
Nice atmosphere, but a bit little content I think. A few more items could add very much. Especially at the beginning, to let the player get familiar with them. Maybe a few keys and closed doors could do the trick. I like the random spawn of the radio ( Yes I died two times :D ). Audio and graphics are well done.