Dark Teeth by ecmjohnson

[raw]
made by ecmjohnson for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

Why are there so many unnecessary teeth? In this computer game, the player is invited to remove the excess mini-teeth. The use of the harpoon highlights the important connection between dental removal procedures and whaling.

Features: - a tutorial - advanced tracked tank movement - realistic harpoon loading mechanic - physically-based projectile simulation - immersive audio experience - many teeth and their removal

Please be aware that this game contains some truly cursed tooth imagery and audio. This game does not obey the theme. This game uses freely-available audio, fonts, and 3D models in accordance with their licenses.

Screenshot<em>1.png Screenshot</em>2.png Screenshot<em>4.png Screenshot</em>5.png

Ratings

Overall 575th 3.587⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 729th 3.283⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 262th 3.739⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 226th 3.739⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 495th 3.636⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

peterfiftyfour
01. May 2023 · 06:17 UTC
Thank u for this art
Rigel
01. May 2023 · 15:07 UTC
Although tooth extraction is great and immersion is strong, I'm worried about your mental state(
Volnyii
01. May 2023 · 15:48 UTC
It was very strange, but I completed it. Really thank you, but I’ll never play that again :D
🎤 ecmjohnson
01. May 2023 · 20:47 UTC
@volnyii Once pulled is normally enough for most teeth. Thank you for playing

@rigel I'm glad I could share my mental state with you

@peterfiftyfour <3
booremi
02. May 2023 · 02:08 UTC
i was disgusted 10/10
Alex Chertilin
02. May 2023 · 02:09 UTC
It looks very unusual
Adam Gaskins
02. May 2023 · 02:32 UTC
This game was like popping a juicy, disgusting pimple :two_hearts: Great work :)
Matthew Bond
02. May 2023 · 04:28 UTC
It was really satisfying to harpoon a bunch of teeth and then pull them all at once. Good work!
SvenErik
02. May 2023 · 04:32 UTC
Really neat art and strange vibes to this! Had flashbacks to all of my dentist visits, but it is quite satisfying like previously mentioned and in a way gets you drawn in.. Quite amusing in a way. Marvelous work!
kykypy3o8
02. May 2023 · 05:14 UTC
Juicy game, need achivment for removing all teeth at once))
GreenwoodDrive
02. May 2023 · 05:39 UTC
Hahahah that was very special lol :P The teeth are a bit too much realistic lol i feel like i need to brush mines just in case now lol :P thank you for the game it was fun :)
🎤 ecmjohnson
02. May 2023 · 11:46 UTC
@greenwooddrive Only the best 3D scans of teeth from the Corporation for Biological Research in Colombia would match the vision

@kykypy3o8 "Express dentures"

@svenerik @matthew-bond I'm glad you found pulling multiple teeth simultaneously satisfying. Normally we are only allowed to do them one at a time

@adam-gaskins Hmmmm, now that sounds like another game idea

@alex-chertilin @booremi :heart:
Space_Games
02. May 2023 · 17:34 UTC
Wow! This sure is unique lol! I love it! :)
Rakowu
02. May 2023 · 17:37 UTC
I'm not sure what I just played xD So imagination you have. Pulling teeth with a harpoon, how could it be otherwise. Add a tooth fairy and it would have fit the theme perfectly xD The controls took some getting used to. The rotation should not accelerate but react instantaneously. It felt like driving a car. A visor would also have been an advantage but well you could hit everything :D
ciderpunk
04. May 2023 · 22:24 UTC
that was a real treat, thankyou!
Theg
04. May 2023 · 22:35 UTC
I've been a practicing dentist since I was 5 years old and I've never seen a more accurate representation of my line of work. There may not be much to this game but that grotesque appeal is so captivating... That strange satisfaction...
🎤 ecmjohnson
04. May 2023 · 22:50 UTC
@theg I envy you as there can be no greater joy to (legally) removing other people's teeth

@ciderpunk Thank you, but be careful as treats can rot your teeth

@rakowu Oooh, that's an idea I'll try. I wanted the movement to feel heavy. No angular acceleration may still feel heavy while being more responsive. Thanks for the idea!

@space-games :heart:
Smoky01
05. May 2023 · 04:02 UTC
Good and interesting idea. Nice))
Merrow
05. May 2023 · 06:23 UTC
I like the idea and effort alot, art is well done and the mood is...well lets say abominably good
weeping-rupee
05. May 2023 · 22:35 UTC
I love disturbing art so naturally I played your game, VOD if you're interested: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1812362155
🎤 ecmjohnson
06. May 2023 · 00:13 UTC
@weeping-rupee Thanks for recording your play session! I have separate tutorial texts which are switched depending on whether a gamepad is detected or not, and it looks like you got the gamepad tutorial text. Good notes about mapping the right stick to turning and having a reticle; really no reason not to do those. Your ideas for detecting harpoons around the tooth are simpler than what I actually did which involved taking the dot products between the vectors from the tooth center to harpoon, anything over a certain value (say 0.95) is too close

@merrow I'm glad the mood was convincing about the need to remove teeth wherever they are found

@smoky01 :heart:
weeping-rupee
06. May 2023 · 00:34 UTC
@ecmjohnson Interesting method with the harpoons -- we did something similar on a game w were working on outside of the jam when tryign to the detect the edges of a player drawn triangle :)
jdemattos
07. May 2023 · 05:24 UTC
This made me feel very uncomfortable. But I felt something, expression achieved! This vibe is very fresh, would love to see this in some disgusting suite of body maintenance/functions with a story. Cheers
adjo
10. May 2023 · 22:41 UTC
That was pretty odd :joy:

But, it was pretty interesting and I ended up finishing it! The movement was a bit awkward and could have used a cross hair to know where the harpoons were pointing as I missed quite a few times.
🎤 ecmjohnson
11. May 2023 · 22:46 UTC
@jdemattos It would be pulling teeth across the body: different biomes like stomach, intestines, but always pulling teeth from where they don't belong

@adjo A crosshair is a good idea and would fit with the heavy tank idea
simex
15. May 2023 · 16:50 UTC
ok... I'm trusting you!
![Untitled.png](///raw/de6/3/z/5bc72.png)

as someone with mild dentalphobia I can't tell if this is the best or worst game I've played this LD :sweat_smile:
it's at least a 10/10 horror game that's for sure! Even thought I think I understood how to pull the teeth it help text was a bit bothersome. I knew what I had to do, I was just really bad at doing it! :smile:
Stevie257
15. May 2023 · 19:39 UTC
I admire the developer's efforts to create visually distinct environments that enhance the exploration aspect of the game