Sorry I am not going there again :-) Very heavy atmosphere, shouldnt have played it at night ... I liked the idea and whole concept, but never managed to scare or outrun the monster. when I saw it, it was already too late for anything. On the first run I got 2 parts in nearby rooms, other runs didnt found anything, probably because they were hidden in locked rooms. Didnt found out how to play properly and not to die instantly, but the game is good, liked playing it :-)
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Dark Arrivals's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #57 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Overall | #201 | 3.618 | 3.618 |
| Graphics | #203 | 3.875 | 3.875 |
| Fun | #216 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
| Game Design | #243 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
| Innovation | #344 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
| Theme | #629 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
In what way does your game fit the theme?
The game needs the player to work togethor with other survivors otherwise they'll be a tasty snack for the alien!
Did you write all the code yourself and made all the assets from scratch?
Between a team of 5 people yes. Some assets were used, they are credited.
Comments
Yes, tell me about tutorials, didnt finished mine either :-) But I think I understood all the mechanics from the text. Maybe the doors could open automatically, but that wasnt the issue. Mainly I felt my death is a bit unfair, that there was no way I could have avoided it. But really liked the setting reminded me a bit of Alien Shooter, Alien Swarm with less shooting and more of a stealth approach.
The idea isn't to hunt the monster down, but to evade it and escape. Weapons are there to scare the monster away, but you need to dump out a lot of bullets in order for that to happen
I do agree that we should've made it more clear on which character opens which doors, but sadly, we ran out of time before we could do that. There's a tutorial page in the main menu that explains the door system though
Thank you for trying out our game and we hope you enjoyed playing it
Awesome, really intense! The background sound really built the atmosphere. Well done.
Submitted
Rollin' TogetherLoved the atmosphere, the music when in danger, also liked the lights, its 3D for walls or everything is 2dlights?
Submitted
Super Space ClonesI loved playing this game. It felt very atmospheric and I could feel my blood start pumping when I entered a "danger" state while far away from a safety zone. Some sort of visual cue on the doors would have been helpful as it took me a while to realize that only certain survivors could open certain doors. I also would have loved to see each character have an ability or benefit beyond opening specific doors.
All in all, I really enjoyed this submission and think the atmosphere was hands down the best in any of the jam games I've played so far. Awesome job!
Submitted
Goo'd TogetherThank you for the feedback! We did include in the How To Play that characters open doors of their color but perhaps we should have colored the border around each player to further match the door they opened.
As far as "additional abilities" we actually had planned for each one to have extra abilities! Smuggler had a decoy, scientist had a stasis field, marine had an AK and engineer had a "monster tracker". However due to scope we ended up changing the plan and had to instead give all of them weapons and just made the marine's auto-fire weaker since no one could stop the monster fully anymore.
Also the "smuggler" (since she had no doors she could open) could unlock crates that provided resources for each classes' tools (ammo, batteries and stasis fluid) but since the abilities were scrapped, so was the smuggler's extra ability.
In the grand scheme we just didn't have enough time :) but we are happy you enjoyed what we could get in!
Very fun game. Somehow managed to make it with 4 survivors. It works surprisingly well as a horror game. The limited vision range, unsettling sounds coming from everywhere and tense ambience make for quite the atmosphere. Good job!
Oh, and while I loved the sound design, the sound of closing pause menu is just cruel to players' years...
Submitted
My DemonsAtmosphere is really where this game excels, with the tense setting made eerier by the limited vision range, and the audio making the moment to moment gameplay really suspenseful throughout. While you evoked this fear very effectively however, I felt that the gameplay itself was a bit weak in places, especially with the complete lack of sense of direction it had, making it hard to actually keep track of where to go, an issue exacerbated by the limited vision. Maybe having a small map or something would fix that issue, but as it stands, it's really hard to keep track of where to go and where you've been. Really cool game that would be amazing if you could both fix up some of the monster glitches, especially getting stuck on corners, and also somehow provided the player with a much clearer sense of direction.
Submitted
Escape of the AppliancesWe're happy you enjoyed the experience! Yes, the Monster AI had more issues before and luckily we were able to solve some of the pathing issues. We also played around with the idea of a minimap but it was a little counter-intuitive of the direction we wanted to go. The idea that limited vision and a lack of direction sense is something we wanted to capture in the suspense. Though if the direction was lacking so much that it frustrated the player then we might want to look into a compromise... Perhaps a map that, once discoverables (like other people or items) were found it showed up on a map but without the actual pathing? That way you know roughly where to head but still have that "have I been here" sense of direction loss.
Thank you for your suggestions and thoughts!
We're so glad that you enjoyed our game
The monster AI has some issues that we're working on. The map however, was considered, but we made the decision to go without it as to make the game more challenging
Nevertheless, the issue you described with the player feeling lost does need to be addressed. Might not add a map still, but we will see if we can do something about it
Thanks again for playing our game and your feedback
This game is tense! Somehow the monster ate one of the characters on the safezone and I couldn't finish it haha
Submitted
Shark with PantsHaha, if you screamed when the monster attacked you that makes me giddy inside! I'm glad you were able to get that immersed into our game! Sadly if a member of the party dies it is entirely possible you won't escape :(
It wasn't designed that way initially but we had to scope some things down and wanted an easier way to keep with the theme.
The game feeeels really coooool. Like the high walls and the shadows makes the game feel so tense and suspenseful. The sounds were great and the movement felt good. At one point, the alien got stuck on a corner? It was a bit funny but I RAN AWAY as fast as I can and escaped with 3 survivors. Sorry to the 4th one ;-;
Submitted
NecroI loved the lighting system, It's implemented really well and ties the game together nicely!
Submitted
Wasteland ScrappersCool entry! Here are my complete feedback:
* Positive points
- I like the fact to be able to switch between the characters with their own speciality, it encourages to be strategic.
- The sound design is pretty good
- It is same also for the graphics, especially the effects of lights and when opening doors, it is quite impressive
* Negative points
- I got lost a lot of time, so it was hard for me to be efficient in my movements
- The character movement works pretty well, however, visually it is weird, it seems to be stuttering (maybe linked to its rigibody interpolation)
- I felt that the Alien was too powerful, indeed, each time he attacked me, he got my character which was frustrating at times
Overall, nice job!
Submitted
Sword + Shield = A WarriorThanks for your detailed feedback!
Getting lost a lot of the time was something we left in because when it's dark it hard to tell where you have been... in fact, some of the "doors" you can open can actually be bypassed if you take a longer route. We considered a minimap for the HUD but decided against it because it made the level too easy to navigate which took away from the horror.
Yes, I noticed that the light and character had some jitter. We can look into your solution, thank you!
Yes the alien is quite powerful, I have actually dodged the alien in a narrow hallway multiple times. if you spent time trying to shoot it... it will kill you. The monster is meant not to die but only retreat if it takes enough damage. It is better to hide from it (you can hear it as it gets closer) or peek around corners before barreling off. For the horror aspect we tried to leave it more powerful but we can look into slowing it down or lessening the AI some. As a side note, scientist is super fast but can't shoot any guns so he is also good for exploration but I default the smuggler every time. :)
Good horror game, I like the red mist monster. I like the idea of a team of unique survivors trying to escape the space station, but it seems like it is possible to soft lock yourself if some survivors die. All in all, good work!
Submitted
Weird Dimension ShenanigansThat was an intentional choice. We had scoped some "stronger together" synergy between all 4 characters but when time ran low we scrapped it and made it so every character had access to the ship but without the others couldn't get key items to fix it... if you find all 3 key items before anyone dies then you can win... or if you get lucky and the one who dies you already got their key item.
Loved the feel, I really got scared. Not sure what was scarier, seeing the creature or not seeing it. I laughed a LOT when I got killed the first couple of times, it was so sudden and the death noises got me laughing. Loved the game, really fun. I wasn't able to finish it though. Is it possible to finish it even with one or two dead guys? Because it felt like with them dead I could no longer open some of the doors that seemed crucial.
Submitted
WingManOriginally we did want the player to be able to win without the other members being alive but that was because we had another synergy scoped between all 4 members. Due to time we had to scrap that idea and to maintain the theme we had to make it so if one of them died you lost access to fix ship... even if you had access to it.
I loved the atmosphere and freaked out when the thing started following me! Thanks for this game!!!
Submitted
ZombieblastNice Atmosphere! I certainly was not expecting a horror game in this jam, but I'm glad you made one. The biggest issue was the camera. Sometimes it would get rather jittery. One thing I would suggest doing, is have the camera pan a little bit in front of the player to keep the visibility consistent. Other than that, Very well done!
Submitted
Antsa really cool idea and an interesting take on the game jam theme. the music and the art create a lot of tension
Submitted
Walled ApartNice game! I love the atmosphere and how it does a good job of building dread! I was always scared of that blood thing popping out from a corner. Unfortunately I don't think I got the full experience out of the game because I wasn't sure where to go after I got the scientist. I got the red key card thing but none of the doors were opening so I wasn't sure where to go next.
Submitted
The WellThanks for the review! I can see the confusion some people had with the characters and items, the red key is actually fuel for the shuttle! To open the doors you need to find the right person for the right door. (Definitely could be clearer ;)!)
Glad you enjoyed it, I had a great time making it with the guys on our team!
(Also checked out your game, it's cool!)
Doors open to the matching color character. Marine opens green doors, Scientist Opens White doors and engineer opens the yellow doors. The "red key card" is a fuel tank that you need for the shuttle...if you get all 3 items you can leave in the shuttle :) It's in the How To Play menu.
Thank you for the feedback!
ah, okay, my memory is terrible so I had forgotten about that once j started playing the game. It's hard for me to retain info when it's given to me all at once, and I don't think I'm alone in that. Once I have time (I've been procrastinating by playing and reviewing games lmao), I'll check out the game ahain
Okay I played again and escaped from the station with 3 survivors! (RIP marine) Was a lot more fun when I knew what I was doing. I liked how if a character died you didn't lose the whole game, that made the game a lot more enjoyable to play. The connection I didn't make the first time I played the game was that each character had their own corresponding door. This is due to:
1. The doors do not highlight themselves or give any feedback that you are able to open them, so I just thought they opened with a switch or something
2. The scientist's sprite has less white in it than other colors, so I didn't make the connection that he opens white doors. I thought he would have a special ability or something and I would need to protect him
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