Deliver Us From Evil

Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.01
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.95
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.43
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.90
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.57
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.13
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.19
Mood★★★★★★★★★★4.21
Play HTML5 in your browser: https://candlesan.itch.io/camel

I am Delina the Priestess

Horrors approach. Three holy sites we seek. Evil surrounds us. Deliver me to the church. Deliver Us From Evil.

Controls
* WASD to move
* Left-click to shoot
* Right-click for a flare
* R for reload

I spent more time on audio this compo than I normally would. All the foley was made during the 48-hour compo period
* Shotgun is a vacuum, my deWalt drill, a dog treat tray mixed together
* Zombies getting hit are a hammer smashing against an apple
* The whispers in the background are me through Audacity filters (including a lot of pitching up)
* The zombie groans are me through more Audacity filters

Tools Used
* Unity
* Visual Studio
* Photoshop
* Audacity

My socials:
* Game Dev YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/@candlesan
* Stream game dev on twitch http://www.twitch.tv/candlesan

Comments34

ludev1 May 2023, 05:50
That was great. Audio was top notch across the board. Weapon sound + character controller was great. Moment-to-moment tension felt great with the lighting but the longer-term objective felt too far away; maybe I suck though haha. Well done!
khaotom
khaotom1 May 2023, 05:55
Really nice job on the creepy audio and vibe. The game balance is also well done. :trophy:
peterfiftyfour1 May 2023, 06:03
ourfatherwhichartinheavenhallowedbethynamethykingdomcomethywillbedoneinearthasitisinheavengiveusthisdayourdailybreadandforgiveusourtrespassesasweforgivethemthattrespassagainstusandleadusnotintotemptationbutdeliverusfromevilforthineisthekingdomthepowerandthegloryforeverandeveramen
chlu1 May 2023, 06:22
The time invested in audio was worth it for the creepy feel. It gets hard really fast especially if you miss use flares/shoots. There should probably some points where you can recovery (a fixed flare at 50%/75%...) or I am just bad :wink:
Zyrus
Zyrus1 May 2023, 08:20
The whispering sounds are great. Remembers me on some part of hollow knight :D.
The game felt very "finished" even as a concept!
kgurniak911 May 2023, 09:39
"Delina the priestess has succumbed to despair, her journey was 100% complete" - not sure if this means I've won? Because near the end some zombies got a little too close. Nice game, would be cool to be able to pick up thrown flairs.
josemwarrior
josemwarrior1 May 2023, 12:48
Why did you opt for humor? 5/5 Great game

"Delina has been delivered to church"
Trakina1 May 2023, 15:32
This was great. The ambience was well done. Audio really made it stand out. Looks and sounds great! Would've enjoyed a faster flowing game, but it was well worth the effort. Really liked it, great job!
Rendow1 May 2023, 15:54
Quite spooky atmosphere with all the creepy sound effects, it shows that you spent a lot of time on it! The reloading felt a bit too long but that could also be just me being bad at the game. I loved the flash from the shotgun, the glimpse of all zombies approaching and makes you more scared than before. Well done!
candlesanauthor1 May 2023, 16:58
@josemwarrior Great point! I edited my submission and have now opted out of humor - you're right - it makes no sense for me to do so.
TasakaSama
TasakaSama1 May 2023, 17:00
This perfect voice acting ^^
Overall it was very cool to play, the dark atmosphere and the lack of visibility brings so much to the game. But above all this pump shot has a very good feeling :)
JCMonkey
JCMonkey1 May 2023, 22:43
this feels so fun to play, the shooting, the speed of the zombies is good. the right amount of flares. nice job!
LDJam user 356849
LDJam user 3568492 May 2023, 11:22
great job. my favorite part was that the circle of light represented delphina's health. really nice touch.
LDJam user 280509
LDJam user 2805092 May 2023, 14:45
Great work! The dark environment makes the core mechanic. And the shotgun also made time management a thing.

The Priestess has an aura instead of the hero, which is a great design to make the priestess more "important" in the game to fit the theme better. However she feels still kind of not important enough since the player can always stay close to her. Maybe add some blinking items far off the route at beginning can make players clearly feel the importance of the light of priestess.
unkilledshadow135_Alex
unkilledshadow135_Alex2 May 2023, 15:01
Great game!!! I really like zombie theme games so as yours! Perfectly balanced difficulty, ammo and zombie speed made me feel scary for my little "package". I thibk it'd bw cool to add different weapons and limited foundable ammo :smiley:
SquidGod
SquidGod2 May 2023, 15:20
Great atmosphere on the game with the audio/lighting, and I like how the low health on Delina, combined with the reload timing and zombies coming out of the dark really gives that feeling of being in a tight situation and barely making it. Nice work :)

P.S. Discovered your channel through this! You remind me of a game industry version of "A Life Engineered" - subscribed :)
velvetlobster
velvetlobster2 May 2023, 15:28
Oh this is game with very good balancing mechanics, I have never played a scorting adventure with such vibe, very innovative, I was really tense playing this however the funny Minecraftian models.

In the end I thought it was already over and stopped shooting, only to find out
Martin183
Martin1832 May 2023, 15:49
Nice mood and smooth gameplay! A plus for the progress meter!
sami822
sami8222 May 2023, 16:40
Cute game! Tho, I think it would play better if everything was faster for about ~1.5x. Bet that recording and editing whispers and groans was lot of fun! Btw and how many apples was smashed in process?...
Wevel
Wevel2 May 2023, 18:59
Love the atmosphere, and an interesting take on the theme. Well done.
ZungryWare
ZungryWare3 May 2023, 00:46
Fun little game with high-tension moments! Long reloads are great for creating tough moment-to-moment decisions on resource management. And the flares were a cool way to let the player "buy" information that helps them decide when to reload and when to stay ready to shoot. So the two mechanics work quite well with each other.

The mood is great too. The pitch-black lighting, harsh shadows, and sound design create a very unique atmosphere. I just wish there were more voice lines, since the prayers got a bit repetitive. But that's my only complaint. Great work!
LDJam user 2993523 May 2023, 08:45
never expected to see holy-horror-shooting game on Ludum Dare. Cool mechanics
Ani
Ani3 May 2023, 14:28
Great job with the audio - that whispering is so creepy! I feel that the game being slow paced added a lot to the atmosphere, along with the reloading and flare regen being well balanced. Always good to see more unique takes on the theme!
delauraen
delauraen3 May 2023, 18:53
Awesome game concept for a gamejam! Loved how you brought it all together with the audio - such a great observation from a horror perspective. Definitely felt a little bit difficult/balanced with the reloading/flares.

I had some Alan wake flashbacks - love it!
LDJam user 277876
LDJam user 2778763 May 2023, 23:16
I've seen some other games centered in the dark, but this one did a great job taking full advantage of it by having mechanics such as flares and muzzle flashes! The game was difficult, but that added to the atmosphere. Good job!
BalimaarTheBassFish
BalimaarTheBassFish3 May 2023, 23:33
An interesting game and feels pretty complete (especially for a LD game!) The visuals and lighting were particularly effective. Personally I'd have made the whispering a little quieter but otherwise I cant fault the audio at all. Great work overall!
OldDog
OldDog4 May 2023, 15:07
nice game mood and feeling,,I like this game idea and gun shooting ,nice job,
while it is little difficult to finish
vafer4 May 2023, 20:47
Such a cool concept. I really like it! GJ
digital bacon
digital bacon5 May 2023, 12:19
Very moody. The effort put into the soundeffects really paid off. Graphics really contributed to the atmosphere, and sense of menace. Well done.
Tod Semple
Tod Semple14 May 2023, 03:24
Amazing! You nailed the mood with the sounds and dark graphics. Each of your games is different from your other games. Awesome to see such experimentation. 5 Stars.
Trexxak
Trexxak16 May 2023, 05:10
I'm impressed by how effortlessly the game guides players to optimize their "rotation" — brilliantly intuitive! The shotgun handling is top-notch, giving a truly satisfying feel. And that atmosphere? Spot on! (I was aiming for a similar vibe) Amazing entry!
Honey Pony
Honey Pony18 May 2023, 17:19
Extremely spooky and tense. I got to 92% in my first run, then failed spectacularly in my next two. After starting to write this, I went back and managed to win.

I think that there is a nice balance in the kinds of tradeoffs the player has to make... do I reload now, or wait in case a zombie shows up very soon; do I try to pick off some of the far away zombies; where should I shoot the flares. This creates that feeling of tension... this game really has me on the edge of my seat.

It does feel like there is an element of luck to the game. My last run, it seemed like I wasn't getting crowded nearly as much as my two spectacularly losing runs. Also, the placement of the holy sites seems to be randomized? Which I think will also contribute significantly to the winnability of the game.

Still, there is nothing wrong with the game being partially about luck... after all, we are literally surrounded by evil here.

Overall, very atmospheric game, lots of interesting gameplay choices. Good job!

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