Sighetto: Dual Descent by meskaline

[raw]
made by meskaline for Ludum Dare 57 (COMPO)

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Warning: Added the HTML5 version here but I recommend the windows version or the Itch.IO HTML5 version

Story:

In the decaying depths of Sighetto, a forgotten cyber-suburb swallowed by corruption and neon rot, rogue detective Meska launches a forbidden program: Sighetto.cHaos.exe: a hacked infiltration tool that lets him dive between physical ruins and virtual remnants of the old world.

Armed with scavenged memory chips, Meska descends deeper layer by layer, switching realms to bypass obstacles and evade the shadows of the AI overlord Axiom.

The truth is buried far below.

And Sighetto never forgets what you dig up.

Instructions

Arrows for movement (jump may be glitchy at times).

Space to switch between realms(You cannot switch if an object is in your place on the other realm).

NOTES:

I learned to use GameMaker doing this game;

Ratings

Overall 260th 2.978⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 257th 2.783⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 189th 3.087⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 175th 3.435⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 173th 3.326⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 269th 2.674⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

Troloze
07. Apr 2025 · 15:42 UTC
I really really really like the concept overall. If the collisions were smoother this could've been an amazingly fun game to try again and again while reaching for higher scores (or should it be lower? considering you're going down :thinking:). But it makes it a bit frustrating to get stuck on collisions.
Considering there was only one bad thing I had to say for your whole game, I'd say you did a pretty darn good job. Hell yeah :pray:
BarnabeWild
07. Apr 2025 · 15:49 UTC
Nice concept, the jump feel glitchy and space did not work every time. beautiful art!
🎤 meskaline
08. Apr 2025 · 10:22 UTC
@troloze thank you for your feedback, I know the issues, but didn't have time.
🎤 meskaline
08. Apr 2025 · 10:23 UTC
@barnabewild Thank you, 🖤 You cannot switch if an object is in your place on the other realm.
slow chaz
08. Apr 2025 · 16:00 UTC
this is sick! the aesthetic is great, and I love how fast you can switch between realms.
🎤 meskaline
08. Apr 2025 · 16:02 UTC
@slow-chaz Thank you, it's bit far from my original concept but had fun creating it.
atsh
08. Apr 2025 · 17:07 UTC
Graphics and effects are very good! And the idea of dual worlds is nice, and is really carried by the excellent presntation

The lack of audio, not great controls, and little repetitive gameplay make it maybe not a great as it could have been

This could really be something good if those issues are ironed out - for example, this beg to have some purpose for the chips, as you have 2 goals - going down and collecting them, and it's not clear what to prioritize
I_POTS
08. Apr 2025 · 17:07 UTC
Interesting design! Continuous switching is needed to reach deeper. However, it seems that I have encountered a bug that sometimes prevents me from switching. The jumping of the character seems a bit short. In short, it is a very interesting game! The style is also very unique!
RascarCapackDev
09. Apr 2025 · 12:02 UTC
Really nice idea, the environment switch brings quite the depth to the plateforming. As others i found the jumps needed some more work, making it happen when the button is realesed would be way more comforrtable for the player i believe. Gob job
Texugo
09. Apr 2025 · 12:26 UTC
As others said, I've encountered some problems with jumping, but even so the game was still fun and interesting! Love the idea of switching realms to go through
LDJam user 287424
09. Apr 2025 · 14:32 UTC
Neat idea. I liked your art. Switching between the worlds is a cool concept, although it didn't really feel necessary in the level design. My first playthough I was switching between the two worlds a lot, but on my second playthough I just stayed in the initial world as I descended through the maze. It didn't feel like there was much incentive to switch between the worlds and the game rarely forced me to. More dead ends that require you to switch between worlds to get past them, or more difficult obstacles that you can avoid by swapping between worlds would encourage more use of that mechanic. Other people have mentioned the jumping issues, so I won't repeat them here. Overall I think you have an interesting base to build off of, and with a little more polish this game could be something interesting and unique.
Game-mon
09. Apr 2025 · 15:12 UTC
Cool one, love the switching world mechanic! Collisions/platforming was a bit tedious to me. But overall, like it!
LDJam user 407524
09. Apr 2025 · 15:52 UTC
Jump definitely could use some work, lack of sounds also hurts immersion. However the overall puzzle game with world transition is interesting even if the puzzle element wasn't very challenging. I love how different worlds look. Also, there was some buggy restart.
milq
09. Apr 2025 · 19:46 UTC
I loved the game! Honestly, switching dimensions is a great mechanic for descending through the levels. The purple effect in the second dimension is really cool, is that a shader? I like it a lot. Maybe the player mechanics, especially the jumping, could be polished a bit. But aside from that, the game is really fun. Is the map procedurally generated? I replayed it and think it was the same map, but it felt like the kind of layout that would be procedurally generated, so I wasn't quite sure. Either way, that's impressive, especially pulling it off solo in such a short time! Great game!
chuckeles
11. Apr 2025 · 16:27 UTC
Interesting idea. Some sounds and/or music would help the atmosphere I think. The jump is super glitchy as others have said, and honestly I did not really feel the need to press the space bar any time at all.
LDJam user 280036
11. Apr 2025 · 23:43 UTC
The instructions zoomed past me before I had a chance to read them :(

I think you have an interesting concept with switching between worlds but it didn't feel especially utilized in the level design. I think there's some good potential with the mechanic though, and the art was good. Good job.
LDJam user 243193
12. Apr 2025 · 14:34 UTC
I can see the idea of this game but it might need some work to make it better especially with jumping which is essential to the game. And also, since there's world switch, it should be guaranteed that player won't bump into anything solid nor lethal after switching.
tireks
15. Apr 2025 · 08:50 UTC
great mechanic! i loved the pacing of it, although the controlsa re a bit clunky the gameplay is fun!
commanderstitch
19. Apr 2025 · 17:17 UTC
I glitched all over the place. hahaha!
henk
19. Apr 2025 · 17:38 UTC
While the visuals were nice, I would have been fine with worse visuals in
exchange for better player movement/collision.

Additionally, the game seems to have issues resetting after a game over:
- The current "realm" that you're in doesn't reset when you restart the game
- The final text prompt with the score doesn't display the second time you lose,
and "space" doesn't work to restart the game

For sounds, check out sfxr or one of the many online clones of it. It only takes a
couple of minutes to make some basic bleeps and boops and they can help the game feel
a lot more polished.