Crystallium by MikoziQ
EDIT: added Itch.io HTML build just in case
How many souls can you collect?
Welcome to your last ride, delivery man. In this world, there's no end. You run in your van, hoping to survive from the abyss. Yet, in this world, you can collect soul crystals. Will the gods grant you mercy for enough souls gathered?

In this infinite runner type of game, you drive a delivery van across a fantasy world. Collect souls and deposit them to the nearest point.
Remember though, as more souls will only hunger your speed...
How to READ SCORING ON THE VAN
- Number on the top of the Vehicle tells you the difficulty level (speed factor) you’re currently on.
- Bigger number on the back doors is the amount of crystals deposited overall (your actual score)
- the DPS-XXX number on the bumper is the crystals that you currently have on you, but not deposited yet

Tools used
- Game Engine - Unity LTS
- 3D sculpt and materials - Unity ProBuilder
- Audio assets - BFXR and Chiptone
| HTML5 | https://mkpietrzyk.itch.io/crystallium |
| WIN build additional | https://mkpietrzyk.itch.io/crystallium |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/crystallium |
Ratings
| Overall | 221th | 3.473⭐ | 186🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 221th | 3.332⭐ | 186🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 361th | 2.724⭐ | 185🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 329th | 3.307⭐ | 186🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 64th | 4.114⭐ | 186🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 201th | 3.313⭐ | 181🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 31🗳️ | 68🗨️ |
As for the collissions, it's actually a bit intended, so it does not force the player out completely, but makes some funny moments as well. I've been thinking about smoothing the obstacles out, but the moment I got my van 720 into abyss I've decided to just leave it as a feature :joy:
But I think you could have let the player to press the same key multiple times, because sometimes when you get to the edge of the road and there is an obstance, there is no way how to avoid it. But overall this is a great entry, and I had a lot of fun!
Web build started lagging a bit on lvl 2 (I played on itch), so it became close to impossible to steer it properly. Nonetheless, I had a blast playing it!
### Holy moly I just went outside and got million comments, thank you so much! Straight to the answers!
#### Regarding movement
This is NOT a bug, and once you turned full 90 Degrees to the left or right, you cannot move more left or right. This is by design to limit the input and the complexity to appeal more like a mobile game, where you only tap the screen to move left or right.
I wanted to avoid pressing multiple times left to avoid the player vehicle to do a U turn as well :sweat_smile:
However!
I believe some of you, like @jclardy suggested, were right that usually the infinite runners do not provide such flexibility of the actual ride on the platforms and are more like arcade on-rails type of game, where you have Quick Time Events to move just left or Right on the corners. I have thought about it and decided to leave it as experiment for now :slight_smile:
#### Ramps, jumps
@cinterre - I thought about ramps, but the Player GameObject is not proppeled by any physics, therefore it would be hard for me to adapt to jumping. Probably Gaps instead of Ramps would work (great idea!)
#### Lack of 'HowTo'
@pianoman373 @unfinished632 Have you guys tried fullscreen mode? I swear there are some simple rules attached in the Main Menu (see attached Screenshot). But Maybe it wasn't too clear :sweat_smile: Thank you for pointing it out!

### Thank you so much for the feedback so far!
Once I got another batch of reviews, I'll check who I haven't rated back from you guys :)
On a late note... Have any of you beaten a Dev Score? :point_down: :smirk:

Actual percentage to spawn on a straight (either left or right):
1. Straight tile - ~52%
2. Pickup tile (blue)- ~18%
3. Obstacle_1 - ~12%
4. Obstacle_2 - ~12%
5. Drop-point (green) - ~6%
The controls are a bit weird at first, but felt good once I got the hand of it. However the game felt slow for a runner, yet not that easy. Maybe make the physic more forgiving and increase the move speed for a better game feel. Also I'm not sure that obstacle work very well with this gameplay, as you can't really avoid them once you are engaged on a road segment.
However, I think you let the gameplay suffer too much in favor of the graphics. The turning felt clunky, and the collision felt really off sometimes too. I'd suggest focusing on a satisfying gameplay first, then add fancy graphics afterwards if you have some time left. I made the exact same mistake, too (with less awesome graphics).
@thetatautau Thanks! HAve you managed to get to more difficulty levels? There is 5 with 2-5 being significantly more 'speedy' than initial level. Based on how random level is generated, you may have been unlucky to not get collectibles that fast :) You're also another person to say that obstacles are bad. Should I consider just pushing the player into the track once encounter the obstacle (smooth the collider)? That's very easy to do.
@daniel-gelband Thanks for playing! Which set was it? I may have remember it :id:
@synthol Glad you liked it!
@floke I have already mentioned my movement decision in the biggest comment just somewhere above yours. It's deliberate and was supposed to be more rails-like and mobile-like. However, giving a bit too much of movement freedom instantly gave the issue of colliding. I am not able to change it now, but I am happy that I took this turn and learned a lesson :slight_smile:
@asasin56 Wow! A perfect example of `there's as many opinions as people`, and I say it in a good way! I like downright critisism rather than candy eye comments. May I ask how many retries you did? TBH, the scoring UI came as last-minute decision as I was never good in doing UI/UX. I should have probably put on what the numbers actually mean in the description :slight_smile: Glad you enjoyed the aesthetics tho!
So just to satisfy the semi-question here: The number on the top of the Vehicle tells you the **difficulty level** you're currently on. The number on the back doors is the **amount of crystals deposited overall**, whereas the **DPS-XXX** thing on the bumper is the crystals that you currently have on you, but not deposited yet
Lowlight: Physics glitches
A really fun and addicting game to play. The biggest thing that stood out to me is the art, specifically the crystals with the bloom effect and the draping purple floor as it vanishes. The gameplay loop is satisfying though I was confused on my first run as to which crystals I was supposed to collect as I tried running over the ones on the corners. I found the presentation of the score to be a very innovative approach. My one criticism is the physics "glitches" as it doesn't fit with the gameplay where the vehicle is flat on the ground all of the time and then goes flying into the air. Personally, I'd rather have a game over when hitting an obstacle rather than that physics craziness. All in all, a really fun game that I could definitely see fitting in as a mobile game.

I like it so much
I'm try as much as possible but dead after stucking in crystal xd

THank you for cool experience!
Great job👍
I'm sure you thought about this so why two buttons instead of one ? was it easier to play with left right than juste a change side ? I'm guessing if you pushing this to android a one button game would be easier.
Also a bit boring after level 5, maybe it would be better if the progression was infinite ?
Super entry for this jam anyway ! Good job !

I really like the blocky look of the game, visually very charming. I just felt some of the obstacles could be a bit more clear from the start, at first I tried running into the smaller crystal obstacle, the clearer one. But once you run into them you learn anyway.
The sound effects are alright, though I really missed some background music for this one.
The simple controls make for a rather slow start, once you lose at higher difficulties it feels so sluggish to retry. On difficulty 4 though things really start to get hectic. I laughed when the van started climbing crystals in high speed and flying around. It also feels rather satisfying when it floats around but still manages to land on the terrain and continue.
Only in full screen I managed to actually see the information in the bumper.
Managed to deliver 32 crystals. Thanks for this one!
I was a bit confused at the start, and kept trying to pick up the blue doodad crystals on the edges, haha.
Died on purpose because it was starting to get boring haha
really clean, but there should have been more levels after 5 so that at some point it does get to hard to continue :)
really liked the asthetics :)
I just had art time to figured out that the souls are the crystals but I managed to get to level 4 on the first try. i just whished for more obstacle or something new after the first couples of levels.
I also loved the interface integrated in the level and truck, it is a nice touch that makes the game even better :thumbsup:
The game is just super fun and well polished. Amazing work !
The UI on the truck is a clever idea. The delivery to the green pads could use some extra visual feedback though, I think. It took me like 3 deliveries to realize I am actually delivering something. Maybe a more visible punch on the numbers or something. Overall, this is a very solid submission. Well done!
Also the green deposit place confused me for a bit. Now that I've played for a bit I think it only works if you have enough gems collected, but at first I though I was just missing it or it was bugged. Maybe it should have some indication. :)
Would have been nice with some music.
I had a problem on my first attempt where I didn't see a deposit area until relatively late, so I instantly upgraded to level 4, which was super jarring. The deposit areas were more consistent in my second attempt, but I was super confused for a bit! I think a more gradual speed increase when you level up could be helpful.
The gameplay is simple but on point.GJ!
Fantastic job, well done :)
I quite like the minimalistic feel to it, the art fits so well. I think you can get into a groove and play this for a long time. It's fun just swirling around collecting souls.
My sincere apologies for not rating many of your games (yet). The birch pollen allergy is taking a heavy toll on me and I can barely think. I will rate back as many games as possible during next 2 weeks :heart:
Thank you for the bottom of my heart that I got so many reviews. It feels like I'm on a good track.
I'll catch you later this weekend :video_game:
Good job!

But I have to say that it lacks gameplay and a bit of challenge, and the sound played when the car turns is annoying.
Overall, the game is well made! Good job!
Here's my final score:
