Toot-al Darkness by woahitsjeff

[raw]
made by woahitsjeff for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

TootalDarkness.png

It's said that a creature lurks these woods. Few live to tell the tale of their encounters, but those who have mentioned finding some sort of ritualistic items. Collecting enough of them was the key to their survival.

Don't make a sound, stay out of sight... you never know where it lurks at night. Oh, and don't be too nervous - you've got this!

Itch.io link: https://woahitsjeff.itch.io/toot-al-darkness

Controls

WASD - Movement

RMB - Hold breath

E - Interact

F - Toggle flashlight

Tab - See objective

LD51_04.JPG

LD51_03.JPG

Ratings

Overall 856th 3.245⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Fun 818th 3.11⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 852th 3⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Theme 991th 3.157⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 887th 3.11⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Audio 482th 3.324⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 301th 3.382⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Mood 362th 3.686⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Given 52🗳️ 85🗨️

Feedback

thebmxeur
03. Oct 2022 · 16:18 UTC
One of the items to pick up was unreachable, it was close to a wall and I couldn't get close enough to pick it up. It was really hard to orient myself (which I understand is the point) but it was too much in my opinion.
🎤 woahitsjeff
03. Oct 2022 · 21:03 UTC
@thebmxeur Thanks for trying it out! Apologies for the bug, I suppose some navmesh blockers could be added near walls. I didn't think of that. I appreciate the feedback on finding your way through the level. Having unique landmarks would definitely help 😅 something to add down the line!
Jacob Diaz
03. Oct 2022 · 21:40 UTC
I'm terrible with spooky games so this was terrifying! I just had to play after reading that incredible title, loved it.
LDJam user 299757
03. Oct 2022 · 22:15 UTC
Craped myself. Really fun though
🎤 woahitsjeff
03. Oct 2022 · 22:22 UTC
@jacob-diaz I'm glad the title pulled you in! Thanks for trying it!

@triangle-point Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
NeneChico
03. Oct 2022 · 22:26 UTC
Love the arts & sounds, but I didn't catch what to do after several minutes walking in the dark
lavendaggers
04. Oct 2022 · 00:39 UTC
I couldn't figure out the objective
ThatzNiko
04. Oct 2022 · 05:31 UTC
10/10 the title made me fart.
hotaloca
04. Oct 2022 · 06:19 UTC
The mood of the game is cool - i liked the dark setting with the breathing was great. It took me some time to figure out how to play, reading the How To helped :smile: I understand the objective, although could not finish the game, because I could not find the items collected - there was not much hint where to look - I found only one object. Holding back the breath was great idea, yet it was difficult for me to understand when to apply - is the monster close enough already so I need to be silent now? The objects were lit up with white highlight was very important, it helped a lot to look for batteries, objects.
Inkajoo
04. Oct 2022 · 18:15 UTC
Creepy mood created by good sound. We got killed by something off-camera, with only music to tell us it was near.
🎤 woahitsjeff
04. Oct 2022 · 21:14 UTC
@nenechico Thanks for trying it! And thanks for the kind words. I suppose the objective could be explained at the start of the game, just in case people rush in 😅

@lavendaggers I'm sorry it wasn't clear enough. Something I'll look into for sure!

@thatzniko A normal reaction 😁

@hotaloca Thanks for the detailed comment, very appreciated! There's definitely something to be done for finding the objective items more easily. Holding your breath is useful when the creature is near, as it can hear your breathing. Thanks for giving it a shot!

@inkajoo Thanks for the kind words! Your comment makes me realize I should have made the player turn towards the creature when they get caught. It's a very good point and I will look into it.
Jean-Baptiste
05. Oct 2022 · 00:10 UTC
Came for the butt stayed for the thrill.

The idea of not been able to see every ten seconds in an FPS is a very good idea IMHO.

Unfortunately I only found battery and none of the objectives. Also I waited and run evrywhere and I had no sign of an ennemy.

Background sound ambience was nicely done !
Morgan Cabral
05. Oct 2022 · 06:28 UTC
A classic slenderman style find-the-thing-and-don't-get-spooked type of game. I also mostly found batteries instead of the spooky trinkets and eventually got spooked by the spook.

Rated spooky/10.
MeHigh
05. Oct 2022 · 14:21 UTC
This sets a great mood, and I like the way you implemented the theme.
KingOfNova
05. Oct 2022 · 15:35 UTC
lots of good mood
SayuriNyooko
05. Oct 2022 · 16:09 UTC
What a funny game! I didn't really get what should I do but it was just fun to wander around. The sound work is amazing!
🎤 woahitsjeff
05. Oct 2022 · 21:01 UTC
@jean-baptiste Nice! That's at least one person that was brought in because of the butt 😅 I'm glad you liked it. The latest version on itch.io (not the LD submission) should solve the difficulty in finding the objective. Thanks for trying it out!

@morgan-cabral Thanks for trying it! I uploaded a new version to the itch.io page that should help with finding the skulls. I'm glad it was spooky 😁

@mehigh Glad you liked it, thanks for the kind words!

@kingofnova Thanks for trying it! Glad the mood got you.

@sayurinyooko Thanks for sharing your thoughts! The latest version on itch.io should solve not knowing what to do. I implemented a tutorial window and made the objectives slightly easier to find. Thanks for giving it a shot 😁
parsonB
06. Oct 2022 · 00:44 UTC
came for fart joke, stayed for the cohesion. Great job!
Amythyst
06. Oct 2022 · 02:42 UTC
Played the original for the sake of rating. I giggled. Really enjoy this concept.
You've done a good job of taking feedback and making updates, that's how good games get made!

I did seem to have an issue where I couldn't find the skull items (I found plenty of batteries) not sure if I was being dumb or if there was an issue. I got an error that my graphics driver has an issue with d3d12, not sure if that's somehow related.

Overall, nice job.
Yaroslav Gozak
06. Oct 2022 · 11:16 UTC
Oh, it was scarry. Fuck, I hate horror games! Well done guys, you made good horror game. As soon as creature started doing noises I immediately paused the game to take a breath.
I am very happy to see your game made wit Unreal Engine, this is fantastic you dare to use this engine for such a rapid-developed game.
Torch is done very good, I liked it a lot! Maybe you could give a tutorial on how to do a torch light like yours?)
Graphics could be better with such an engine using free assets :)
And blinking with your eyes might be skipped totally, I am not sure about it
Good job!

Oh yeah, I think there is a bug: torch battery level was decreasing even when torch was turned off. Not always, but sometimes that was the case
🎤 woahitsjeff
06. Oct 2022 · 23:26 UTC
@parsonb Thanks for giving it a shot!

@amythyst Thank you for the kind words. I will note your comments to look into them!

@yaroslav-gozak I'm glad you enjoyed it! Tutorials would be nice if I could find the time to make them 😅 I love PSX style, so that's what I went with. I will note the bug and look into it, thank you!
Khrisna Kamarga
07. Oct 2022 · 05:26 UTC
The title is funny but the game is actually SCARY! Making a scary game is hard so impressive work!
Solah
07. Oct 2022 · 09:53 UTC
More serious than it looks, could have been fun to play more with that contrast to make it funnier!
gibberingtaylor
07. Oct 2022 · 16:43 UTC
Great job with the atmosphere and the humor. Farts can be scary.

It was too dark to know where I was; everything looked the same. Usually I died without ever seeing the monster. The creepy breathing was effective, but again, it was so dark that I couldn't find a place to hide. Holding my breath didn't seem to stop the monster.

Still, it was creepy, so you nailed the atmosphere.
Substain
07. Oct 2022 · 18:42 UTC
I love that you fart when the situation becomes tense :)
robeecodes
07. Oct 2022 · 19:52 UTC
This kind of game is a bit spooky for me :sweat_smile: so good work! I really like how this has come together :smile:
🎤 woahitsjeff
07. Oct 2022 · 20:21 UTC
@khrisna-kamarga I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving it a shot!

@solah I think you're right, pushing it a bit more could have done wonders!

@gibberingtaylor Thanks for trying it! I'm happy to know you found the atmosphere cohesive. I hear you about the darkness of the map. Some adjustments are underway, but sadly aren't in the LD51 submission version. Thanks for the feedback!

@substain Nervous farts are very real 😁

@robeecodes Thanks for the kind words and for giving it a try!
Volodymyr Karchevskyy
09. Oct 2022 · 15:10 UTC
So creepy game))
Maybe it's the strangest game I've ever play at this ld51 :)

You've made a lot of work! Don't stop!
🎤 woahitsjeff
10. Oct 2022 · 03:53 UTC
@volodymyr-karchevskyy thanks for the kind words!
fizzbark
10. Oct 2022 · 08:45 UTC
Nice concept and pretty impressive to pull together in the jam time. The mix of horror and levity was good at first but I'm not 100% convinced it came together. I found the level just a touch too disorienting, it crossed the fine line between feeling thematically oppressive and just feeling frustrating. I ended up wandering around for several minutes without seeing the monster or finding any more batteries. Played it because of the excellent name, no regrets.
David Brož
10. Oct 2022 · 13:30 UTC
I like the title but not so much the game. I find the mechanic of my eyes being forced closed every few seconds annoying and it was just preventing me from playing the game.

For me, it translated into „Every few seconds you are not allowed to play the game for a few seconds“It's basically an artificially laggy game. The environment is confusing, everything looks the same, and sometimes I get disoriented by the blinking on top of that. This made it so annoying that I did not even get to see the thing that is supposed to hear the farts.

I think you have several absolutely unnecessary mechanics that you should probably just remove and focus on the signature mechanic of your game - the fart. I don't see why battery and blinking mechanics, are necessary or even useful. You probably don't even need the flashlight.

You don't even need the flashlight for the signature mechanic to work but I guess it's kind of necessary for the title pun.

If you are going to continue working on the game, I suggest decluttering. I like the title but not so much the game. I find the mechanic of my eyes being forced closed every few seconds annoying and it was just preventing me from playing the game.

For me, it translated into „Every few seconds you are not allowed to play the game for a few seconds“It's basically an artificially laggy game. The environment is confusing, everything looks the same, and sometimes I get disoriented by the blinking on top of that. This made it so annoying that I did not even get to see the thing that is supposed to hear the farts.

I think you have several absolutely unnecessary mechanics that you should probably just remove and focus on the signature mechanic of your game - the fart. I don't see why battery and blinking mechanics, are necessary or even useful. You probably don't even need the flashlight.

You don't even need the flashlight for the signature mechanic to work but I guess it's kind of necessary for the title pun.

If you are going to continue working on the game, I suggest decluttering.

The game is presenting itself to be about inconveniently timed farts in a horror scenario so don't distract from that. Get rid of unnecessary mechanics and put in mechanics that work synergistically with the main mechanic - the fart.

One possible solution: Make the enemy blind and always near the player.

In the current state, I had no context for why farting is supposed to be bad. I don't know if the enemy can hear it, get to me or if the enemy even exists. (I didn't meet them) It's not terrifying to make a noise where there is no apparent danger. It would be absolutely petrifying if I farted as I am trying to sneak past the enemy and it started to sniff and follow the fart trail.

Anyway, thanks for participating I am glad you made time to make this for us!
🎤 woahitsjeff
10. Oct 2022 · 22:51 UTC
@fizzbark Thanks for giving it a shot! There's another version in the works with a lot of changes that should improve the weaker points in the LD submission. I appreciate the feedback, thank you!

@david-broz Holy, thanks for such a detailed piece of feedback, I really appreciate the time you took to write it out! I think you raise some really good points, which I've integrated into the latest version of the game (it's still a work-in-progress). Thanks for trying it out!
Georgy16
11. Oct 2022 · 23:58 UTC
Interesting and fun game
Hacktier
20. Oct 2022 · 21:13 UTC
Nice Work!
b3b0
21. Oct 2022 · 18:14 UTC
I'm a simple man. I see farts, I play the game. Fun stuff! Weirdly had an instance where I fell through the stage, but couldn't seem to recreate it. Ultimately, this awesome work. :)