Thanks very much for the commentary and for playing my 'game'. So much didn't get switched on, but that's a Game Jam for you. I'm coming from movies, so getting VR cutscenes more integrated into my games is a main focus, so thank you for recognizing them.
Thanks also to you and Muddy Wolf for hosting VR Game Jams!
ToreadorGames
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Recognizing the need to suspend disbelief in pursuit of the whole experience, I returned to Love Panic! to attempt to beat it, and experience the following levels. This gave me a greater appreciation of the evolution of the theme that you had accomplished, as yes, the lady you choose in the first level becomes your date in the second, which felt appropriate and natural. I found Level 2 the most involving of the 3, with the additional reading and comprehension required to Respond. After a few iterations of gifts, I wondered if it'd add some some fun visually if you saw the object you were 'building' inflating like a little balloon? Even if it was just a scale up with a bit of squash/stretch? Since the 'shakeweight' motion of the Love Pump is a primary interaction, would increasing the haptics rumble as you approach completion add to the juice? Shrug. Little ideas in the face of great accomplishment. Undoubtedly the most complex, elegant, and complete offering of the Jam!
Of all the games in this Jam, this one felt the most like 'going on a date' of them all, with a meet-cute, some conversation choices, and then multiple activities prior to winning. So what if we're all zombified dolls with buttons for eyes? :) The ball throw had odd physics, but I eventually was able to hit the cans, and the bow and arrow worked well. When I returned to the ticket booth to claim my bear, I had done some sort of infinite ticket glitch, as the score seemed to be ever increasing. I needed 50? I have 600 and counting! Boom! I'll take the wagon, too, Lola's getting the whole store! Kidding aside, there was a beginning, middle and end that included multiple VR interactions with a distinct style. Good game! Great job!
For whatever reason, my VRIK hands weren't tracking, and so it seemed I couldn't do much more than summon food on my plate with the UI. It seemed to run relatively smoothly, once loaded onto my Q3, but I wonder why it had to be limited to a Quest, especially when it didn't work for me as an apk on my Q3. I'd encourage you to consider prioritizing a PCVR build to reach more headsets in the future. (You can always play it on your Quest from your PC, after all).
My suggestion aside, congratulations on getting a build in on time and in working order, even if it didn't work for me.
Out of respect for the game progression you had set up, I returned and took your advice, managing to make it to 2nd base after not choking to death on the candies. I think what messed me up on the candy level was expecting to be able to move the tongue while the mouth was shut, and I also wasnt sure if I was supposed to help 'eat' the candy... but I survived.
I'm glad that 2nd base is where this romance ended, but continue to admire the ingenuity and verve of this game. Truly unique. Great job!
The opener was supposed to be your briefing, but without recording any VO, my SALSA powered Cupid just sort of sat there. Originally I was calling this S.W.O.L. (Special Weapons of Love), but left the actual pew pew too late in the game to properly incorporate... frankly, once it was apparent the interactions I wanted to trigger weren't going to work, it was also apparent that all I had was a cutesy shooting gallery...
The board was my order of operations, you were supposed to match up the pictured pairs, but that's just another of the features that didn't make it to build time.... and the end party was the bare bones of level two, a more on-rails move through the club with the pew pew. Big ideas, limited time.
In terms of its size, well, I can't say anything about that. Some of it was lightmaps, some of it was textures, but I was glad I was only half of Itch's upload limit, instead of being stymied by it last time. 20+ monster models, statues, city environment. Such is the albatross of relying on other people's models and textures, I suppose. Thanks for playing and for commentary!
Okay, so you don't need the poker for the first level? Considering you use it to progress past all the tutorial buttons, it seems like it's a primary weapon/tool, but I think I end up dropping it while trying the Activate/Select to work the jaw and tongue. (How do you move the tongue? You crush the candies with it, you don't chew them? I'll give it another try with that in mind.) When I retried my first go-around, it seemed like poking the uvula made the mouth choke... so we're triggering the gag reflex? For fun? Ewww... It's such a bizarre location for interaction, lol. Also... The mouth going to eat us in the intro... reminded me of a VR 'Attack on Titan' moment, being consumed by a Titan...
Oh, most definitely. I had a nice sniper scope shader set up, and then realized I didn't need a scope with the level and scale I had set up... My primary mechanic was supposed to be camera bullets a la Sniper VR, you fire your XR Rig along with the 'Love Bullet'... then you get a fun ragdoll/PM hit in slow-mo... Once I had that in place, the scope seemed redundant... and then I turned off camera bullets and left us with iron sights ADS at best, lol. Cupid's arrows don't mean much if you don't get to see their effects, right?
The ending/club scene was supposed to be the second level, a sort of John Wick/Cupid shoot'em'up on rails... So many ideas, so little time. Thanks for playing and for comments!
Undeniably the best lit and looking environment and working mechanics of the Jam... Hearty McHeartface was a good intro mascot, and the polish is undeniable. This will definitely be a great addition to your hotel project!
The Love Machine was a cute gadget, but I will admit that of the 4 or 5 objects I built to give to the ladies, only 1 of them was accurate despite my best efforts... And once you choose one of the three ladies, wouldn't you just give gifts to that one person? What kind of restaurant Lothario are we? Joking aside, I gave up after losing more 'heart' than I was gaining. By your screenshots, I'm guessing there were more levels beyond the first?
Once told it was a seated experience, I sat down, and subsequently loaded eye-level to the floor. Raising my height to the max only just brought me to 'proper' height, so I'd caution about players like me that are default standing players, and the calibration issues that might arise from that?
I'd also suggest adding a Lerp to your hand poses, so you don't snap from open-closed. They're really great/unique hands, and the remote grab you've developed is very user-friendly.
Thanks for being such a stalwart proponent of both Game Jams and VR in general, sir. Solid work as always!
I liked the setup of the main environment, and after clipping through the door, found the weapons waiting for use. I gave them a try. I guess I'm curious what you were intending, because it didn't seem to have any sort of gameplay beyond the weapons? The soundtrack suggested some sort of dystopian future plot, but wasn't distinct enough to understand. If you'd like to comment, what were you intending with the sword and shield and all?
Good job regardless. You built a thing, and got it in in time! Congrats!
I like that you made these three beautiful environments to visit, even if the reason for visiting them was so simple. Nice work on setting everything up, from loading level to each level, it all loaded smoothly and managed a decent frame rate throughout.
As the only interaction required being beneath the falling objects, and you couldn't move very quickly, I found myself looking straight up more than was comfortable, so I'd caution against 'looking up' as a core mechanic for interactions.
The ever-present spawning sound conflicted with the serenity of the environments, but that's a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.
One suggestion, maybe make the jumping a bit higher and/or lower gravity? That could add a fun locomotion mechanic while we collect our falling items of love?
Nice cloud level, too. (I'm using the same HDRI in mine, it's such a gorgeous Skybox). Nice job making a multi-level game for us to play!
On one hand, I admire the ingenuity and twist on expectations that this game represents. On the other, it's deeply unsettling, but I want to offer that as a compliment, as I think that might have been intentional? I couldn't get past the candy hearts, as I'd lose the uvula poker pretty quickly, and couldn't figure out how to chew the teeth, so I just choked. No second base (or another person at all) for me! (What was poking the uvula supposed to do, by the way?)
Maybe a more low-poly cutesy approach might have softened the ick factor? Congrats on such a bold concept!
Oh, that was a sneaky one. First I snickered at your 'Stages', realizing you took it literally... then I cursed our interminably slow locomotion speed... Took me a little while to figure out the app, but then after her message, figured I was in for Leisure Suit Larry style action! ("Let's skip the small talk, meet me in the park?" Meow!)
I won't spoil it here, but what a hilarious left turn. For a moment, I also thought that was where our story ended, (and that might have been a pretty funny way to go), but again realized we had an option to progress..
Half the time I spent trying to climb the ramps in Stage 3 had me fearful that someone might return.... and that's just terrific. Way to engage the player in the narrative! Clever twist on the theme!
Due to all the warnings about the lack of exhibits awaiting me in the Tunnel of Love, I instead ignored the signs, grabbed my slice of cheese and went wandering down the wrong way... and to my surprise, discovered a sort of low-poly Severance-style hallway simulator! Each new corner, lit by motion control lighting, stretching on and on into oblivion.... If this path was any indication of the tunnel's length, then you had quite the ride planned! If not the Tunnel of Love, definitely a Tunnel of Spooky...
Once I determined the 'piton/platform' function of the Support Hearts, I got into it. A climbing mechanic where you set your next anchors, with more anchors in an inventory system? Neato! I could have used higher walls to climb with this mechanic once I got into it. The only downside to this climbing-centric game was the lack of a jump and/or ability to 'mount' the ledge, so you'd have to overclimb the wall to ascend. With a physics-climbing rig, I'd like to be able to push myself upwards after grabbing any edge. The first time a Negative Heart came after me, I pulled out a Support Heart from my inventory and smashed it! Cool! Simple melee combat, too?
A suggestion: If this was Love's Prison, each new level could have been a little brighter, a little happier, to maintain the metaphor, right? Good stuff!
I was confused at the title for a moment until your core mechanic became clear... This is 360 VR Breakout where you grab the 'ball' in between 'shots'! I'm not sure I've seen that before in VR, so kudos on a unique mechanic. Maybe it would have been fun to have more 'blocks to clear' rather than 'gifts to collect', putting the gifts beyond the barrier you break down by 'dancing with your girl'? I dunno. I liked that you could take her by the hands, that was nice too.
Good stuff!
A tremendously gorgeous environment that was a pleasure to explore. I liked the butterflies, falling leaves and flowers moving in the wind a lot. The waterfall was also a very nice touch. Having a bit of plot to the Cat denizens was nice, but 'talking' to them felt more incidental than required. I wonder if you could have animated their eyes to look at us to involve us more, but not sure how that would work with 2d/sprites. The lack of any interactions with any objects was maybe the only detractor, as I felt like I had nothing to do beyond wandering... but wandering was a joy to behold, and well within the charming & romantic themes of the Jam. Great job!
I hope it's clear how much I enjoyed the ingenuity, simplicity, and elegance of your mechanic. I liked how I could tap the objects and walls as well as the floors, too. Maybe taking a page from visual aids in public, use 3d/directional sound sources as navigation aids, a sort of audio hot/cold approach, might help with getting lost? There's a lot sound could do to compliment what you've done already, should you want to implement it. Yikes, nice save on the menu buttons, I was able to (and did) play all 3 levels regardless. Even if there's no combat to be had, the promise and execution of exploration and navigation that Completely Dark suggests remains truly fascinating.
That's one honkin' big flashlight, heh. Nice reload mechanic, sort of a Half-Life Alyx style gesture.
I wasn't sure what to do once the game started though, and didn't hear anything of note. I really enjoyed the stars in the atrium above being the only light, but after awhile with nothing seeming to happen, I found myself enjoying the level layout, if puzzled at the intent. You set the stage really well, but I found myself waiting for anything to happen. Was there any reason we couldn't move around the store?
Great effect with the flashlight, it's the most direct application of 'light in the darkness' I've played in this Jam. I'd suggest trying an animation rather than hinge joint on the flashlight reload, as it tended to swing freely/not lock into place. Good job!
I think there's a lot to expand upon with your main mechanic, the idea of sound waves based on tapping the floor and objects. With both Daredevil (and Donnie Yen in either Rogue One or JW4) providing the idea of blind combatants, a Superhot combined with your echo-location would be a very unique VR offering.
As it is, I could have done without the arrows on the floor, as it was a puzzle that demanded consideration that was undone by those indicators. The Continue button didn't seem to trigger the next level, and placing the game under 'levels' as the second UI button threw me for a second, as it didn't seem there was a play button upon first inspection. If George's introduction had been a sort of 'boooo' or ghostly moan, then you could have added a singular moving sound source vs. text introduction. I didn't know he was a threat when I first met him, I went to hug him! :)
All of that said, this is something unique that I've never seen or experienced before in VR, and I think you could do a lot with it, should you choose to expand upon it. As it is, I had a lot of fun, if not a lot of fright. Nice work!
FYI, I use a Quest 2 and Virtual Desktop, with SteamVR as my default OpenXR Runtime. I wasn't able to play your game, as it froze in flatscreen in the options menu. I see in the comments, you used Oculus Integration, so I'm guessing my runtime needs to be Oculus to run this?
Update: (Jan '24) Since the release of VDXR (Virtual Desktop's OpenXR alternative to SteamVR), I was able to play this game on my Quest 2 with Virtual Desktop, and can see why it won the Halloween Game Jam. Not only did you tackle lighting in so many interesting and clever ways, you backed it with voiceover, ambience and style. Well done and congratulations on a well deserved win!
A terrific VR experience, complete with interactable memorablia, voice performances, and a truly engaging cinematic VR sequence. The trees/wind FX are tremendously effective, and your animations flow well together. By having 'actors' in the piece, you propel the plot along in a way that exploration alone cannot, and it's all unified under a distinct style/presentation. Once it was clear I was to be abducted, I was sure to grab a couple of important pieces of media to take with me. Maybe I can barter them for some sort of Cocoon (or Close Encounters) arrangement? Congratulations, this is really top notch. My only quibble would be that I often clipped through the car's roof, so had to sit lower in my seat to maintain the effect, but that's really minor in the face of so many things that work really well together. Great work!
A gorgeous and elegant VR experience and game. The textured environments and lighting, the absolute precision of the floating key (allowing for change of hands or grips as necessary), the variety of shooting targets during the gun mini-game, even the inclusion of the shield/buckler mechanic to add some mobile cover? Brilliant. Lots of mechanics in a smooth and replayable package.