LudumData

Depth of field by sver

[raw]
made by sver for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

Depth of Field

World Peace? Power? Happiness? Riches?

Puzzle your way towards the one single goal in your life that really matters.

In Depth of Field, Bob the Alien is stranded in the strange landscape of an unknown alien planet. Hostile Flora, razor-sharp crystals, and his own sanity are in the way of finding his way through this maze. Luckily, Bob has a few tricks up his sleeve. Next to his impressive jumping ability, he is also fantastic at squinting his eyes to focus different layers of the environment, which comes in handy when faced with troubles you can't simply jump over.

Controls

  • Move with LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys
  • Jump with SPACE
  • Switch layers with UP and DOWN arrow keys
  • Mute sound with M
  • Change sound volume with V

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Screenshot 2025-04-07 at 18.15.57.png

Link https://sv78er.itch.io/field-of-depth
Link https://github.com/svenhemmer/ld57
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/depth-of-field-3

Ratings

Overall 532th 3.417⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 445th 3.375⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 175th 3.76⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 314th 3.88⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 733th 2.8⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 504th 2.881⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 387th 2.935⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 665th 3.174⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 14🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

threegoldeneggs
07. Apr 2025 · 17:56 UTC
This was fun! Interesting take on the theme and the controls were very intuitive.
farzher
08. Apr 2025 · 08:59 UTC
one of the best interpretations of the theme i've seen so far
Alem26
08. Apr 2025 · 09:16 UTC
Really good realization of the concept. I expected that someone would make a depth of vision game in the jam and this one really delivered on the theme :)

Animations are cute, audio also good.

I found the controls to be a bit finnicky and sometimes frustrating, specifically due to the instant momentum direction change in air and the lack of WASD movement. I am usually not a platformer-player tho.
Font was a bit hard to read as well.

But found no bugs and I appreciate the idea :)
Kawair
08. Apr 2025 · 09:18 UTC
Very nice game, made my blood pressure high. DOF actually a good interpretation of "Depths", maybe one day I can find my girlfriend(lol
Keith Wang
08. Apr 2025 · 19:10 UTC
Good game overall, especially that DOF is an awesome way to interpret the theme.
Since there are just two layers, I suggest just have one button to switch the layer. For now it is easy to forgot which layer I am currently at and press the wrong button.
Also, if the ground is going to stay solid no matter what, it might be better to just always keep the ground clear and do not blur it.
AlbieG
08. Apr 2025 · 21:36 UTC
Great game! Really cool concept, and well executed. Jumps felt a bit clunky but still fun regardless
Steven Garberg
09. Apr 2025 · 05:01 UTC
Very enjoyable! Perfect blend of puzzle and platformer.
Jake G
09. Apr 2025 · 05:04 UTC
This game definitely has a distinct vibe and was spot-on with the theme. Clever interpretation with depth-of-field. Those grape things in level 7-8 are so hard to jump on lol.. I dig the music and 8-bit sound effects. I think everything was pretty cohesive which lends itself to a memorable game experience. Great job putting this together in 72 hours!
krummja
09. Apr 2025 · 05:40 UTC
Ayy great minds! We hit upon a similar idea for our game this jam. I really like the layers UI element - it was something I struggled with when developing our game. Great work!
LDJam user 372635
10. Apr 2025 · 07:19 UTC
Quite curious concept! I really liked the idea of getting in and out with the depth of field, it opens room for quite some level design ideas! Is overall a very nice game. I wish the controls were a bit less slipery when jumping, but i really liked all the pieces so far. Great work! :)
cluster7ck
10. Apr 2025 · 17:57 UTC
Cool little game. Especially liked the character art :D
CaptAndrey
10. Apr 2025 · 21:48 UTC
Really cool theme implementation! I appreciated the level design and the game’s overall length — it felt just right. My only issue was the character movement — personally, I don’t find air-strafing onto tight platforms very fun.
silkworm_sweatshop
10. Apr 2025 · 22:06 UTC
Neat little idea for a platformer! Movement could be tweaked a bit although perfect air control isn't necessarily needed, really depends on the design. Could use some coyote time as well but I didn't have too much of an issue as most jumps have some leeway and aren't pixel perfect. Maybe layer switching could be designated to just one button but I guess it adds to the challenge like it is.
IDos
11. Apr 2025 · 18:19 UTC
I was experience, I enjoyed music and art, idea is cool an very clever!
Wolfier
14. Apr 2025 · 16:10 UTC
The idea is unique and other people are definitely right that its a great interpretation of the theme. My biggest issue here was that you have the user moving nonstop when they are in the air, which makes them very difficult to control.
JHax
17. Apr 2025 · 20:44 UTC
As other folks have mentioned, the control you've got while in mid air is a bit tricky to get the hang of, but I think for a jam game it's easy enough to pass it off as a quirk that gives you a slightly different feel to platforming. Generally though, it's a fun concept and I had a good time playing it, although there were a few times I didn't really have a good sense of which direction I needed to change focus in - I didn't notice the UI for it in the top left until quite far through (suggesting I didn't desperately need it at any point!) and I did find it a bit unclear when there's only the 2 layers to tell which one I'm currently on. That feels very nitpicky though for what was an enjoyable game!
kr4ft3r
17. Apr 2025 · 21:11 UTC
Let me just say, the effort you have placed into "mute sound" and "mute music" options was wasted one because both are superb. The game is good, I was gonna say the level design isn't great but I found myself playing until solving the game so some good calls must have been made there. In overall the game is a charismatic example of created-by-humans.