Lore Finder

by eniko
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.81
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.56
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.10
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.57
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.92

:x: THIS ISN'T THE KICKSTARTER DEMO :x:


You can find the demo at the *Lore Finder Kickstarter*, or visit the *press kit* .

:x: BELOW IS THE LUDUM DARE SUBMISSION :x:


*I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT THE KICKSTARTER DEMO*

SHIFT to fireball (after you get the 2nd page), WASD to move, SPACE to shoot pistol.
Game has a checkpoint system in case you die.

Important information


Since I didn't get to add this, this is what the pages do in order:

- 1st: true sight - allows you to see things you wouldn't otherwise
- 2nd: fireball - shift to fire
- 3rd: stone skin - acid no longer burns you and incoming damage is reduced
- 4th: arcane leap - double jump
- 5th: dimensional door - open sealed doors

There was supposed to be a good ending, but due to lack of time the game crashes instead of triggering it, so only the bad ending is available. The fade out is the bad ending (didn't have time to add more to it).

Music by yuzukimasu, everything else by Eniko.

EDIT 2017-12-05: Fixed a zip bug that would pull you up through the ceiling with no way to get back into the normal areas of the map.

Comments27

Adrien Dittrick
Adrien Dittrick5 Dec 2017, 14:42
I have fullfilled my destiny!
Cthulhu Fthagen!

This music was perfect
The graphics were great
The gameplay was solid
Nice interpretation of the theme, with the newly acquired powers causing worse problems.
thristhart
thristhart6 Dec 2017, 03:41
I'm a fan of MidBoss, so I was pretty excited to give this a shot! (and if you like this game you should play MidBoss too - a former LD game!)

I was not disappointed! I got a big grin on my face when I realized the take on the theme, which feels vaguely They Live-ish. Solid gameplay delivers on the premise well. It's a shame there wasn't enough time to get the instructions re: what the pages do into the game, but the art and music are fantastic.
asixjin
asixjin6 Dec 2017, 08:17
This was a fun entry! It took me awhile to figure out what to do, but then again I should just read the instructions.
Mike Cullingham7 Dec 2017, 15:03
Nice crisp sprites and like the sliding room transitions. Good music but needs sound effects. Probably needs more of a choice whether to get the powerups or not to really give some agency into whether it gets "worse" as you get more. Nice job.
MewSoul
MewSoul9 Dec 2017, 21:08
Pretty nice entry! It was fun to go around, finding your way through with each ability you unlock, doing a bit of backtrack and so on! Interesting adaptation of the theme as well :)
rodobodolfo
rodobodolfo11 Dec 2017, 23:08
​Wow!! Level design and progression are absolutely perfect! Gameplay is both fun and challenging. Don't know how you pulled this off in such little time. A shame it doesn't have any sound effects. Top entry!
Lex
Lex11 Dec 2017, 23:32
I loved the Lovecraftian mood and theme, no idea why mood isn't available for rating. Next time try getting sound effects, it really brings the game to a whole new level.
Enikoauthor12 Dec 2017, 05:09
@lex I don't know what happened to make mood voting get disabled, but it's been re-enabled now. Oops. :/
niterich
niterich13 Dec 2017, 02:52
Very great entry! Reminds me of the Insight mechanic in Bloodborne (but seeing as they both take inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft, that's a given). My favourite part was how the music built up as you progressed, though I would have liked it more if it didn't reset each time you collected a page. My complaints were that some of the jumps early in the game gave no space for error, I found it redundant to have both a fireball and a gun, and (without wishing to spoil anything for anyone else) the miniboss sometimes didn't do his thing at the start of the match.
Enikoauthor16 Dec 2017, 01:10
HTML5/web version is live now!
Michael Silverman
Michael Silverman17 Dec 2017, 03:48
I was too dum to figure out how to use the shift key. Cool game!
Local Minimum
Local Minimum17 Dec 2017, 11:24
I liked this, and played it until I got the destiny I deserved. Very well made and fun. Easy to follow and figure out what to do while still challenging. And there's something about games with rooms like these, the camera transitions and everything. It brings back memories.

For extending upon the game I would suggest having more sounds in it. Especially from start. As it helps with the mood. Not only music but sound fx too.

I kind of never really used the gun. And I get that there was a bit of point to it, but for the scope of the game at the moment. It really didn't need it.

The jumping did take a bit getting used to, but nothing major there.

Great entry in general.
Bros.
Bros.23 Dec 2017, 22:20
Man, this game definitely was spooky!
Overall a good game. Would be better, if the good ending has been made into the game. 2Spooky4Me
Adam Passey23 Dec 2017, 23:34
Wonderful job. Everything came together to create a great mood- the music, the control, the art. I loved the progression (thanks for adding notes as to what each page did below).

It was also great to start & finish in one short, fulfilling playthrough.
MaiMai
MaiMai24 Dec 2017, 00:37
Love the art style! Gameplay felt legit as well. Not a fan of the key mapping, but everyone's different.
My only gripe is the stuff you didn't have time for; specifically sound effects and especially the ending.
But I def enjoyed it!
Gruhh
Gruhh26 Dec 2017, 12:19
I liked the aesthetic choices and the main mechanics. I think it would be interesting to add more visual feedbacks, that would add a lot to the game. Congratulations.

Gostei das escolhas estéticas e da mecânica principal. Acho que seria interessante adicionar mais feedbacks visuais, isso adicionaria muito ao jogo. Parabéns. :flag_br:
SirPumpy
SirPumpy26 Dec 2017, 15:21
Great game, enjoyed it! The difficulty also increased quite well! Maybe instead of a gun there should only be melee fighting at the start as the gun is pretty useless after getting the fireball and too powerful before that? :) Also HTML5 games get an instaplay from me :D
Wolfo
Wolfo26 Dec 2017, 15:45
Fantastic! I loved this, really. One of the few games with some kind of "campaign/story" behind it, quite enjoyable and relatively challenging. Nice pixel art and fitting music, loved the game's mood too.

I see you opted out of "Humor" which some other developers forgot to do for more serious games, so all high marks for you~
AdroitConceptions26 Dec 2017, 15:58
good art, good use of theme, good game play.

Could use SFX. Jumping over gaps was mildly annoying (a little to pixel perfect needed for a game jam game)
LeReveur
LeReveur26 Dec 2017, 16:18
Well use of Lovecraft's universe, and good take of the theme! It's a short but complete horror story game, and the art is good as a whole, good job!
red-fan-games
red-fan-games26 Dec 2017, 16:39
Really great art-direction and mood. The decals on the walls where nicely placed. It probably would have been more fun with a sensible controll scheme, (Arrow keys,z for fireball, and x for gun maybe?). I have no clue what games you play, but i'm sure none of them have this wacky of a controll scheme.
gassasin26 Dec 2017, 16:52
I love the art so much:)! Nice fun game great work
Jonasz999
Jonasz99926 Dec 2017, 17:48
Wow! Very cool platform game, music is really pleasing and the mood of the game is just great :wink:
Mikeliosus
Mikeliosus26 Dec 2017, 19:21
Great realization and polishing!
I liked your entry a lot! :)

Great job!

Get well and have a nice holidays! :3
devmax
devmax26 Dec 2017, 21:38
Good job on this one, has lots of character and polish! I think definitely as others mentioned could use jump and fire sfx, also jumping over water was a bit hit and miss for me. GJ!
Vasco Rodrigues27 Dec 2017, 01:22
Very good game. It's very polished and the art and sound are amazing. Really well made game.
The only downside is that ingame there is no way to know what the pages do, but that's ok.

Keep up the good work!
knarf
knarf27 Dec 2017, 12:54
Cool entry with nice visuals ! The gameplay offers a nice progression through the level, but as it's been said i had to check the game's description to understand the action of the magic pages, at least for the fireball :) maybe simply mentionning the keys in-game would avoid this ; nice job with the storytelling, even if i did not really get it, i liked the atmosphere, with chtulu faced monsters and occultism :) Music was quite weird and awesome too. Good job ! cheers
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