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Dungeon Crawler Jam 2024

Hosted by zooperdan · #dcjam2024

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A jam submission

Ocean of DamnationView game page

Free `Lost Souls` from the clutches of the `Eternal Jailer` and his henchmen.

Submitted by impmja (@impmja) — 13 minutes, 22 seconds before the deadline

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Ocean of Damnation's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Overall fun and playability	#142	1.951	2.231

Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Theme incorporation
The following themes were specified for the DCJam2024:

- `Infinity` / `The Endless`
- `Ancient Ruins`
- `Solitude`
- `Cosmic Horror`

which can be found in the game as follows:

- The `Lost Souls` are bound to this nightmarish place for `Infinity` and can only be freed from it by the player's intervention.
- There are `Infinity` `Lost Souls` in this nightmarish place.
- To die means to be chained for `Infinity` by the `Eternal Jailer`. Only the appearance of another nameless stranger on a ship, who frees you from the chains, can break this `Infinity`!
- The ship on which the player finds himself is ancient and a kind of an `Ancient Ruin` from another time and/or space in which the game takes place.
- The game character is in `Solitude` on the ship and has to spend the search for a safe place in `Solitude` without any help.
- The location of the game is pure 'cosmic horror' from which there seems to be no escape.
- The aesthetics and gameplay are designed to create the feeling of 'cosmic horror'. For some, the amateurish visuals will also create `Cosmic Horor`

Have fun! :)

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Comments

Ilyos GamesSubmitted25 days ago(+1)

Well done on the atmosphere and the setting, really chilly vibes and a great premise. That said, the grid crawling part is barely there, which is a shame, because I think this idea could really be a very cool thing. As mentioned by others, you could unify the navigation and the shooting, since there really isn't much need for you to manually travel to either gun (and maybe have a toggle for which gun you'd be shooting) and just have the game be about exploring this sea of lost souls.

Would really love to see this one fleshed out into an entire experience!

Submitted

Derek Deagle - The Case of the Unknowable

impmjaDeveloper24 days ago

Thank you for giving it a try and your honest feedback!

You’re absolutely right about the grid-movement being barely there. I’m not sure if I should keep it and extend it like for moving around on the ship and small Islands I was planning to add or just to get rid of the grid-movement entirely..

And yes, it seems like the general opinion is like you said, to unify the movement and the usage of the guns. I was thinking of extending the already planed navigation board computer - which shows your current location and also nearby enemies (like the Aliens radar thingy) - and also add a Remote Control mode for the guns so that you could use them while standing at the Helm of the Ship but seeing through the remote gun camera as I wanted to keep the First-Person view.

What you think about that idea?

Thank you again and also encouraging my to keep working on it. Much appreciated!

wolfheatSubmitted28 days ago(+1)

You got some good intentions here.

The game is interesting and could definitely become something great. But as you stated you are missing a lot of features. You still managed to get the eerie feeling and setting of the game. You just need the rest now.

I would suggest that the movement on the boat also were made gridbased walking. Or if you make this into a nother game drop the grid entirely.

There is a bit annoying moving so slow with the boat and suddenly souls pop up which you have to go fight off with the machinegun. If this process was a bit faster it might work, but now it takes so much time just moving in between.

The interact colliders are very small and hard to aim at so you want to interact but misses the target which makes changing what you interact with a mess.

Keep at it and you will have something great!

Submitted

Dungeon of Dreams

impmjaDeveloper28 days ago

Thank you so much giving it a try and some valuable feedback. Much appreciated!

Funny that you mentioned to skip the grid-movement completely. I was think the same the other day as CryptRat mentioned that the guns could / should be used while moving. I think that could bring more action / flow to the game. The grid based movement was primarily introduced for this Jam as I wanted to explore gird movement in combination with free movement. I think it can work but needs tweaking or the complete removal of the grid movement. I have to think about it, better just try it out and see how it feels.

And you’re right, the chain colliders are way to small and hard to hit, so yeah they have to get bigger. Also I agree that the spawning of the Lost Souls should be somehow different or maybe you could just ram them with your Boat so you not always have to stop and free them if you actually wanted just to drive a nice round through the eerie Ocean and explore it. I think I have to refine my design so it has more flow to it and promotes more exploration with the occasional fight in between.

What you think?

wolfheatSubmitted27 days ago(+1)

You miss interpreted me with the colliders. Its not them that is to small its the steering wheel and the cannons. You should make them easier to interact with. Now a small adjustment of view will de-select them. That said, the chains could also have a bit larger colliders, or just have it on the projectiles.

impmjaDeveloper26 days ago

Ahh okay I understand, that could be fixed easily with increasing the bounding boxes. Thank you for clearing it up!

CryptRatSubmitted28 days ago(+1)

I freed some lost souls then fell into water and got caught by the "Eternal Jailer" myself.

The game feels unique and atmospheric. It controls well and he constant need to switch between being able to move the boat and shoot seems like something which could create a fun gameplay loop.

Thanks for sharing.

Submitted

To death and beyond

impmjaDeveloper28 days ago(+1)

Thank you CryptRat for giving it a try and your feedback. Very much appreciated!

So the Eternal Jailer got you… let’s hope another Stranger will free your Soul then! ;)

Nice to hear that you liked the the atmospheric and the overall control schema. As others wrote in the comments that the switching between the Helm and the Guns could be improved on. I’m debating of removing the grid-movement entirely and also remove the necessity to move to the guns entirely and introduce a more action based approach where you steer the ship freely and shoot the guns while doing so or at least shoot them while you’re standing in the Helm. But then again I’m not sure if it would ruin the hasty feeling that you have to move to the guns to fight of enemies.. I’m note sure yet where to go with that idea…

blazeedgeSubmitted30 days ago(+1)

I liked the low poly visuals. It is a unique game and I like the concept, but there are a number of things I would like to see improved. For example, it would be nice to be able to fire a machinegun while moving. The movement and turning could be faster.

Submitted

impmjaDeveloper29 days ago

Thank you for giving it a try and your feedback. Very much appreciated!

So the running to the guns part was introduced to divide the exploration and combat part into two completely different game parts. As I wanted to explore DC mechanics with the combination of free-movement combat :) - But I understand why you suggest to be able to fire also while moving. It wouldn’t interrupt the gameplay that much as it does right now. I’ve to think about how to integrate it as to how one is able to shoot the guns while standing in the helm of the ship.. mayme some kind of remote control with a virtual camera combine with the already placed monitors on the ships bridge.. hmm

Well the movement was tuned down on purpose to simulate the slow movement of a ship and give you the feeling you’re moving in water. I think it all comes down how much it should feel like Dungeon Crawler or a more action based game..

NPJarcadeSubmitted33 days ago(+1)

You know what, this could really go somewhere! It's nice to see something a bit different, even if it's unfinished and doesn't quite adhere to the rules.

The first thing I did was fall into the water, and got caught by the Eternal Jailer. Realising in my next playthrough one of those floating bodies was my previous guy who didn't make it, I like to imagine all the other bodies are the rest of us jam participants in some kind of asynchronous online multiplayer game.

It's a cool concept, the kind of thing where it's just weird enough to start creating your own ideas of what the hell is going on and justifying why your boat has two massive machine guns attached to it.

The low poly models fit the strange aesthetic perfectly.

Thanks for uploading, and I enjoyed reading the game page description too.

Submitted

impmjaDeveloper33 days ago (3 edits)

Hey, thank you for giving it a try! Also for bringing up those cool ideas and having the patience to read through my very long description text. Very much appreciated!

It’s really funny that you wrote that! I pretty much imagined it the way you described it! So that everyone who has ever played the game (and got caught) is the one who has been put in eternal chains by the Eternal Jailer and will be visible to new Players. I really like your idea with the asynchronous multiplayer (Ghost mode) - I’ve to think about it how that could be made possible! I think it could make for an interesting game mechanic! Maybe the Lost Souls will have the names of the players they were played by before and reveal them when they are freed or something like that :)

Oh well, the 50cal guns… I had something special in mind for those bad boys. Do you remember The Battle of Zion? - I wanted to have something exactly that part of the linked Scene as an ingame event, where you get attacked by a swarm of Soul Eaters and have to use the 50cal guns to defend your Boat!

But there are still some open questions regarding the Eternal Jailer as in if there will be a Boss Battle with him, but how will that fit the Grid-Movement mechanic.. that I’m not quite sure about it..

FluburbioSubmitted33 days ago(+1)

The visuals are really neat, and I love the color scheme! It's clearly unfinished but the idea of a dungeon crawler on a boat has a lot of potential. You could make the boat slightly bigger to allow grid movement on it, and add more stuff the player has to do on the boat. I hope you continue working on it, I think it's worth it!

Submitted

A Fool's Errand

impmjaDeveloper33 days ago

Hehe, so I’m not the only one liking the colors schema, that’s nice to hear! You’re absolutely right, it’s far from being able to be called a “game”.

I like your Idea of iterating on it, to make it a fully grid based DC, like also on the Boat itself, that could be something worth iterating on - even tho I liked the DC part combined with free-movement but I see it also as a fully grid based one. Also as you mentioned it, the things one could be doing on the boat could also be expanded very much on.

I also was thinking on having small Islands where you can leave the boat to gather resourced and also have the occasionally combat :)

DamienDeSubmitted33 days ago(+1)

Hm, the graphics and sound are nice enough, I really liked the boat model. But there is just not enough game in this game. The idea to control a boat is fun, but when moving to the guns, the game switches to normal FPS movement, I don´t think, that this was allowed in the jam. I see potential here, just iterate on it a bit.

Submitted

The Nexus Grave

impmjaDeveloper33 days ago

Thank you for giving it a try and your feedback! You’re absolutely right about not enough “game” being there. That’s the “why” part I wrote in a couple comments before, that is still missing, but almost fully played out in my head and also in my design document. So I’m playing on continue working on it and hopefully get it there where I imagine it :)

About the “rules” part you mention:

I was debating before hand about the “rules” with a good friend of mine and also asked within the Discord chat about how one could interpret the “rules” and as I gathered from it, it was quite specific about the exploration part, which had to be grid-movement based with a 90 degree turn mechanic but wasn’t clear at all about how the combat and it’s movement should play out so I guess I bent the “rules” here quite a bit. So hopefully the DCJam gods accept it because I thing the rules allow for it! ;)

SomdudewillsonSubmitted33 days ago(+1)

The "Why" might be missing, but the "What" and "How" present are quite enjoyable all on their own! Honestly, your programmer art is pretty good, and the ideas here are pretty neat. The guns especially feel pretty good to shoot.

While there's not a whole lot to see, as you might guess, I did record my gameplay:

Submitted

Mission to an Eldritch World

impmjaDeveloper33 days ago(+1)

Wow a gameplay video of a “game” I did, that’s a first for me, thank you so much for that and your kind words!

Ya, I’ve to heavily work on the “why”, but got a rather detailed Idea about it, so I “just” have to get working on it again. I stopped after a heavy crunch week, like most of us I guess ;)

xmnepankSubmitted34 days ago(+1)

An unusual idea, and I love retro graphics. but unfortunately, I still don’t understand if there is anything in the game other than shooting along chains. Overall a good concept with great development potential!

Submitted

Psycho Beekeeper

impmjaDeveloper34 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks for trying it and give me some feedback. Much appreciated!

Well, the current state of the “game” is quite limited to what what you said “shooting the chains” to free the Lost Souls. Unfortunately the whole “why” you would do that and the other parts of the game are still missing due to the time restriction of the Jam :/

I’m planing on continue developing it as I still think I could make something worth playing out of it. So thanks for encouraging me :)

LutzGrosshennigSubmitted36 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Grid movement with a boat is kind of special but it works in this case. I love that you can leave the ruder and go to the 50cal and mount there. Kind of unique.

Submitted

Twins vs. Ancients

impmjaDeveloper35 days ago(+1)

Thank you Lutz! Appreciate that you tried it out, even before the jam and giving me some early feedback :)