The Envelope by DzejPi | LudumData

The Envelope by DzejPi

made by DzejPi for Ludum Dare 53 (COMPO)

It looked like a normal early morning mail delivery to you. Very boring, but pays the bills. But this time, you need to deliver letters into the neighborhood which you never visited before. Be prepared to never be the same.

Gameplay ~ 7 minutes.

Don't worry, it's not just about clicking on boxes. :smirk:

How to play

Look at your task in the left upper corner, it will tell you what to do.
All buildings have numbers on them.
Click on the boxes in order to throw a mail or magazine into the box.
All boxes on the building must be filled.

Controls

WSAD: Move like in all 3D first person games.
Left click: Interaction with items.
Escape: Toggle pause menu. Focus on HTML5 on Itchio is not perfect, so if you're playing HTML5 version, press Esc twice and click on the Continue button with your mouse to focus it back properly.
- You can turn the sound and music off in pause menu as well, if you want to.
Shift (hold): Sprint.
Space: Jump.

Tools used

Game engine: Godot v3.5.1.stable.official [6fed1ffa3]
Aseprite
Blender
Ableton Live 11 Standard
Audacity

My commentary

My second 3D LD game! It's interesting that when I work with 3D, I almost never run into any serious issues. This time, I tried the fog, better grouping, better everything! That said, I don't think I beat my previous entry. I went a little bit overboard and kept the scope a little bit too big, but I am still pretty happy with result.

Looking forward to your comments!

Source code on GitHub	https://github.com/dzejpi/envelope
HTML5 build on Itch.io	https://dzejpi.itch.io/the-envelope
Windows build	https://dzejpi.itch.io/the-envelope
Linux (Untested)	https://dzejpi.itch.io/the-envelope
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/the-envelope

Ratings

Overall	114^th	3.784⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Fun	140^th	3.608⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	152^th	3.514⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Theme	133^th	4.041⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	119^th	3.865⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Audio	111^th	3.608⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Mood	13^th	4.324⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Given		46🗳️	67🗨️

Feedback

01. May 2023 · 01:53 UTC

Quite well put together!

01. May 2023 · 09:16 UTC

@teadrinker thank you! Glad you liked it. :)

01. May 2023 · 09:44 UTC

Great experience! I will say the dialogue could be a tad on the nose, the attacking was a little hard to tell whether you would hit the thing or not, and the monster itself was a little goofy. But all that aside it was a really fun experience

01. May 2023 · 10:53 UTC

Thank you for the review, @emily-ttg! You're definitely right. Monster was a little goofy indeed. I was trying to fix jumping literally 30 minutes before the deadline, but couldn't do it. Shouldn't have watched the movie on Saturday, those 2 hours I spent by watching it could be spent on improving this. This was my first time doing 3D "AI," so I had to overcome quite a few challenges, and it looks like... this, yeah. I think that, paradoxically, if I made it 3D, it would be both easier and better looking at least, I probably need to ditch billboarded 3D sprites altogether, they are not saving that much time and can look whack. Thank you for the comment again, I will check your game once I figure out how to run it. :)

01. May 2023 · 13:04 UTC

I killed the monster... I'm definitely a monster!

- This game is actually quite scary until you don't know what you're fighting with
- I like the eery feeling of the neighbourhood
- The dialouge is okay
- The monster is... interesting haha (is that an old monkey on cocaine? :joy: )
- not sure if that was intended, but is the red stuff with hook supposed to be a crowbar? Nice nod towards Half-life then :smirk:

Fun little game, good job!

01. May 2023 · 13:28 UTC

The character controller feels nice and intuitive, overall great polished game!

01. May 2023 · 14:05 UTC

Thank you for a nice rating, @mikoziq! Yeah, I could have done a better work with the monster, I wanted it to look like The Rake, but it left a lot to be desired, haha. And yes, the red stuff was supposed to be a crowbar. I wanted to make description which would show what you're picking, but didn't have the time. It's also the only weapon that doesn't break. Thank you for rating, rated your game back!

Glad you liked the controls, @buni. Rated your game back. :)

LDJam user 277876

01. May 2023 · 15:29 UTC

You did a great job in establishing the tone of the game thanks to the fog and the dialogue. I do wish that there was some indicator when you hit the monster, as well as something that would tell you if the monster was approaching. Moving on, I am surprised how smoothly you got a 3d game to run in browser. Great stuff!

01. May 2023 · 17:45 UTC

Huge game, but liked it decently well! I'm very glad to see more high-quality Godot submissions. I am not sure what exactly the problem was, but I was never able to see the monster - it just never showed up. Is that normal? I dunno! But I couldn't get to building 53 before getting hammered.

01. May 2023 · 19:24 UTC

I wish the walking sound changed when you sprinted. This game has an awesome atmosphere though, and great art!

01. May 2023 · 20:29 UTC

Thank you for the review, @glove! You're definitely right with the hit indicator, that would be a simple thing to add, too bad it didn't occur to me. Glad you liked the performance. I remember that my last game did not have a great performance in HTML5, so glad that at least this worked. :)

Thank you for the comment, @kylethecoder! That's super strange, I wonder why it didn't show up at all. I played the game like at least 30 times on the last day. Guess that's software for you, and reason why I work as QA. Thank you for playing!

Thank you for the insight, @jakeblake! Ah, that's a good point, and wouldn't be that hard to make. I will keep it in mind for the next time!

Rated all of your games back, if not rated already. :)

01. May 2023 · 20:31 UTC

@dzejpi - Don't worry, I didn't take it out on your score, because the game was absolutely stellar otherwise!

01. May 2023 · 20:32 UTC

Woah, that was unexpected. I was on my heels all the way, my heart was beating super fast. And I couldn't escape. I ran around multiple times but I haven't seen any open gates, couldn't open it with a crowbar, etc. :\ Then I died because I missed the monster sometimes. Hmm, but I could I kill it? Maybe that's the goal and not escaping?

Very good entry, the amosphere was spot on, congrats!

The aiming/animation could be a bit improved, because I just didn't know when my attack actually damaged. Lots of times I started too late, or too early. I guess if the animation wouldn't be this slow, it would have been much easier to figure it out and wouldn't have to practice timing it.

Overall, good entry, nice job! :)

01. May 2023 · 21:07 UTC

@kylethecoder wouldn't occur to me, but even if you did, you would totally have a right to do that. :)

@tudvari Yeah, you can kill it, but you need to find a weapon first and hit it when the time is right, and hit it several times. And thank you for the great review, you have great points and I am taking notes for the next time. Rated your game back. :)

02. May 2023 · 05:23 UTC

Great entry ! I would not have thought that someone could make a horror game with the theme, but I loved the atmosphere !

02. May 2023 · 14:22 UTC

tbf I'm not a huge fan of horror games but this entry seemd very well thought out so I gave it a try and didn't disappoint. very nice job! the hearth of this game, the atmosphere works very well and I think you delivered a great game for the jam. great job!

02. May 2023 · 16:09 UTC

Thank you for the commment, @raoph. I wanted something unusual, glad you liked the atmosphere!

Thank you for the review, @bartalomew. Glad you liked it, but I liked yours much better, haha!

Rated your games back. :)

02. May 2023 · 17:16 UTC

I love the low poly art style and humor, and that guy is quite dedicated to his job! The thing got me before I could reach building 53 because I couldn't find a replacement weapon. Great eerie atmosphere! Even though I couldn't finish your game, I had fun.

02. May 2023 · 17:17 UTC

I realllly enjoyed this game! Delivering the mail was very satisfying and the atmosphere was very eerie. I screamed when I first seen the monster chasing me. I wish the fighting mechanic worked a teeny bit better, I had a hard time being able to hit it and I died but it was fun :D

02. May 2023 · 17:31 UTC

Nice game. Don't understand why Linux version is not working. But thanks for wine, I get this best experience. Nice graphics. Nice mood. But sound I don't like. It would be nice if you add more scary noizes for monster.

02. May 2023 · 17:38 UTC

The gameplay is a bit boring, but the sounds, graphics and controls are so good! keep developing !

02. May 2023 · 18:13 UTC

Glad you liked the game and had fun, @fluburbio! Monster can be a little too harsh, that's true. But I don't think you missed anything, just a different screen at the end. :) Thank you for your comment!

Thank you for the comment, @hoshinu! Glad you liked the atmosphere. It's true, the fighting mechanic could be much better, will keep that in my notes for the next time!

Thank you for the comment, @vydra! You're right, monster could make more sounds. I wonder - did the browser version not work for you? Didn't really test Linux build, so it's possible that it's not working well. Thank you for letting me know!

You're right @bopohx, fun gameplay is always my problem. :D Thank you for the comment!

Rated all of your games back! :)

02. May 2023 · 18:21 UTC

That's the scariest delivery I've ever seen, that mutant puffs like a steam train, it really scared me :smile:
Good job!)

02. May 2023 · 18:58 UTC

Loved the mood and the concept. The monster scarred me (and my cat!) when it came out of knowhere. Loved the art style and the audio work. It's also very polished (specially for 48 hours), you even had time for credits!

My only criticism is that it was really hard hitting the monster. Ended up just dying which made the experience even more bleak so it's not the worst.

02. May 2023 · 20:06 UTC

Serious entry! story driven, no problem with commands or moving around. Also, numbers visible on buildings from far away is a good. A a special point for the atmosphere : with very few decorations and textures, you created a full real environment, a but scary (buildings, fog, creepy sounds).
I loved it.

02. May 2023 · 23:19 UTC

Awesome mood, great concept. Caught me off guard for sure. I love the atmosphere and idea of turning a simple mail delivery into something much more engaging :) Great work!

03. May 2023 · 05:45 UTC

Nice mood, I love this entry! The only thing i want to complain is that the level is way tooo big for me to explore (and I have limited ability to do so ) and its really difficult for me to find the "junk" to protect myself when I am in panicl. It does have a good mood and Nice job!

03. May 2023 · 07:03 UTC

Thank you for your kind words, @ellistar, glad it scared you, monster sounds are actually me, but heavily edited in Audacity. :D

Thank you for your review, @kiguel182! Awww, didn't want to scare the cat! Hope it's alright, give it a hug on my behalf! And yeah, you're right, could have done a better job there, will keep in mind for the next time. :)

Thank you for your comment, @sdelay! Yeah, I figured out that numbers could be very helpful, since it could be easy to get lost. Plus the fog is not applied on them, since they are only 3D labels, but that's actually a good thing here. :)

Glad to hear that you liked it, @neo97! Thank you for the comment. :)

Thank you for your review, @foursay! You're right with the size of the level. I was originally making it like twice as big, but then I figured out that I had to make it smaller, and even that probably made it quite huge. I was pretty scarce with weapons in order to make this more scary. >:)

Rated all of your games back, if not rated already!

LDJam user 202408

03. May 2023 · 10:04 UTC

impressive entry for a compo game, I love horror games and this felt like one of those indie horrors from itchio, the atmosphere is so creepy I was thinking about how the game looked eery then the character said that lol, the game bugged at some point and I couldn't put down mails while having a weapon, but I had fun running away from the creature who is somehow faster then my extremely fast speed XD, great work seriously!

03. May 2023 · 10:11 UTC

Nice and simple horror game. The buildings and weapons were placed very thoughtfully. Only issues I had was the bug in the audio where it got stuck in a loop and the crosshair sometimes lagged.

03. May 2023 · 10:46 UTC

Very nice entry. Graphics are simple but get the job done, so are audio and dialogue. It feels polished enough, but I did have some trouble finding a weapon and sometimes I would get frame drops, not sure why. The atmosphere really makes this game though. Also, WHERE THE HECK IS BUILDING 53?! >:C

03. May 2023 · 18:38 UTC

Thank you for the review, @0x-void-x0! That's a strange bug, hasn't happened to me before, will check after the jam. Do you think that the player speed was pretty fast? I am usually trying to avoid the movement which is too quick. I wanted to put stamina into the game too, but ran out of time, unfortunately; perhaps next time. Thanks a lot for the comment!

Thank you for the comment, @smdg! I was fighting with audio a little bit this time for some reason, will do better job next time. Thank you for playing!

Thanks for the review, @klausklapper! Weapons are pretty scarce, true, but I did it on purpose. Now about the building 53... it's indeed not there, lol. But your last objective after building 20 technically is just to survive, and then the game ends with you either killing the monster or it killing you. Let's pretend that the building is missing on purpose, holy sleep deprivation!

Rated all of your games back. :)

03. May 2023 · 19:56 UTC

Really great atmosphere, the dark colour scheme and overcast sky makes the game feel really eerie. I tried to diligently deliver all the mail even when the objective changed early, and spent the time waiting for the monster to attack on the final objective looking for 53 before I realised it was missing - I probably should've been paying more attention to the monster rather than trying to be a good mailman :laughing:

I had an issue with some of the sounds in the game, for a little while after each button press I'd hear sounds repeated. It was easy to ignore and didn't take away from the game very much though.

Great job!

03. May 2023 · 20:05 UTC

That was pretty good, I feel hitting the monsters is too difficult though. I like the mood and the visual style of your entry. Good stuff.

04. May 2023 · 01:10 UTC

This was very atmospheric, it did give me the chills. This poor mailman had a good "inner" monologue, helping even more with the tone of this chilling game. Thanks for putting the effort into it!

04. May 2023 · 07:17 UTC

Thank you for the review, @benskca. You're right with the repeated sounds, I should have spend some time or fixing them. When I think about it, it would be a fairly easy fix. And nice to see that you were trying to be a good mailman. Unfortunately, monster had different plans in mind. :)

You're definitely right, @wahooney. This part was not really well done, will keep in mind for the next time. Thank you for your rating!

Thank you for the comment, @team-watt. Glad it gave you chills and you liked the monologue!

Rated all of your games back. :)

04. May 2023 · 14:05 UTC

grate game

04. May 2023 · 17:17 UTC

Thank you for the comment. Glad that you liked it, @obe-dot! Rated yours back. :)

04. May 2023 · 22:10 UTC

Wait, I'm the monster?! Noooooo!

Nice and atmospheric game. Starts a bit like a 3D "Papers, please", I was expecting more of the "repetitive menial work causes you to go insane" rather than a survival horror, so I was surprised. And I think I got lucky - I started to look for one of those planks I saw lying around to use as a weapon, and I just randomly found "a weapon". :D

05. May 2023 · 06:59 UTC

@lcstark repetitive work causing you to go insane would be a great idea! I am taking notes. Glad you found the weapon quickly, I bet it turned out very handy! Thank you for the review, rated your game back. :)

05. May 2023 · 11:44 UTC

Great game! :smile:
Nice job with the atmosphere, it's really creepy, especially when the monster jumps at you from nowhere and you are desperately looking for a weapon.
It's difficult knowing if you hit it or not, but overall it's a really nice entry!
Now thanks to you I want to do more 3D with Godot. :smile:

05. May 2023 · 17:11 UTC

Thank you for the comment, @srynetix! Definitely true with the fact that it's difficult to know whether the monster was hit or not! And don't be afraid of 3D. At first, it seems like a crazy idea for a jam, but it's actually doable and one extra dimension of fun than it usually is. Just gotta feel confident in modeling at least a little bit, and it's doable! And I see I already rated your game. :)

08. May 2023 · 17:15 UTC

I think you definitely succeeded with the atmosphere. I was actually pretty spooked the whole time. The dialogue was a bit longer than it needed to be, and the mechanic of hitting the monster felt a bit clunky but that's all understandable for a 3D compo game. Overall great job especially for a compo game!

09. May 2023 · 14:58 UTC

Thank you for the great comment, @pianoman373! You have great points and I am taking notes. And I see I already rated your game. :)

17. May 2023 · 02:44 UTC

Great job on making not only a fun, seemingly bug-free, and good-looking 3D horror game, but doing so in the compo category! I might have to try Godot's 3D out at some point..

LDJam user 364744

17. May 2023 · 04:40 UTC

spooky!! i like how the change in mood is accompanied by a change in mechanics. the sound design is also really nice and i love the graphical touches -- the skybox and dithered "bleed" UI are nice!

17. May 2023 · 18:13 UTC

Thank you for the comment, @lone-wolf! Glad you think it's bug-free experience, because it certainly isn't. :laughing: Definitely try 3D out, it's very fun! But I recommend some practice beforehand. Rated your game back. :)

Thank you for the review, @dishwand! I am glad that you liked dithered bleeding UI, it actually super simple to make in Aseprite! Rated your game back. :)