What an awesome game! While simple in gameplay it is really effective. God those visuals though, incredible. The lighting and fog are so good as well, I was really sold when the night became darker though, I thought it was going back to day but no, it just got pitch black. And then I died and saw there was an upgrade system which was also really cool! I'm amazed at how strong the vibe of this game is in such little time. Amazing work!
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Scavengers of Deadwood Pines's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Visuals | #33 | 4.483 | 4.483 |
| Enjoyment | #46 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #103 | 3.828 | 3.828 |
| Creativity | #241 | 3.724 | 3.724 |
| Theme | #491 | 3.069 | 3.069 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
Really sick! We absolutely enjoyed this game! The visuals are incredible, truly some of the best in the jam, and everything runs super smooth. We loved the FPS toggle, seeing it hit a steady 60 FPS was awesome, and the art style is fantastic. The character models gave us major Mega Man Legends vibes, which was a fun touch.
The gameplay is solid too: managing your fire and reloading to survive the beasts creates a tense, engaging loop. And yes… some of us definitely got spooked when the beasts charged aha, amazing work on that end!
The theme use is clever, though we think adding more consequences for dying could make it even better. Right now, upgrades make the game too easy, and some (like rifle damage) become the obvious choice. Introducing trade-offs, like sacrificing speed or vision for more power could make decisions feel more tense and strategic, and make the beasts feel truly intimidating again.
We also loved the time-based night mechanic! A few more subtle indicators for morning would enhance the experience, like birds waking up or the light shifting toward sunrise, so players get that satisfying “we survived the night!” feeling!
For a jam game made in such a short time, this is amazing! With a bit more polish and added content, this could be an incredible horror survival game. Great work!!
1 year ago(+1)
Thanks!
One trick I did to make the models was that they all use the same diffuse texture, which is just a palette. And there's only three materials in the game. (World, characters, and glowing effects.) So I didn't need to set up new materials every time I imported a model.
I also didn't need to do much texturing and rigging. Character models are segmented into parts, and the textures are just colored faces on each part. I was basically drawing with polygons. And segmenting the limbs made rigging really quick.
But yeah, you're probably right. The upgrade system was kinda tacked on during the final day, since my original theme tie-in idea had to be cut. So maybe having a consequence for upgrading could make things more interesting. (Kinda like Darkwood?)
And like you said, maybe a more obvious sound or music cue for morning approaching could be better. The fade to white is still a bit too abrupt. Also, I wanted to make an animation for the fire slowly dying, or better audio/visual feedback when you add wood to it.
The most important change I'd need to make would be to make the nights last longer, and maybe find the right balance for how much time wood gives you, and how fast the campfire burns out.
But yeah, thanks for taking the time to play this, and giving your thoughts on it! Glad you enjoyed it.
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