Play game
Phantom Hollow's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #1091 | 2.558 | 3.000 |
| Gameplay | #1091 | 2.558 | 3.000 |
| Visuals | #1127 | 2.772 | 3.250 |
| Overall | #1353 | 2.327 | 2.729 |
| Enjoyment | #1458 | 2.132 | 2.500 |
| Innovation | #1512 | 2.025 | 2.375 |
| Theme | #1685 | 1.919 | 2.250 |
Ranked from 8 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
Enemies are invisible, making it difficult to lock on them unless they're damaged, players have to keep damaging then or else the fight will be difficult because you can't trust the enemy being visible & targetable permanently.
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
- Soulslike framework, made on previous game jams (Additional gameplay mechanics were added during the game jam)
- Environment assets
- Player 3D model made on previous game jam
- Previous game jam sfx assets
How many people worked on the game?4
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
I notice that the game is aimed for controller which I do like since I play souls like games on controller but for game jams that are mainly keyboard and mouse base it would be nice to see what the controls are on keyboard. Since you use UE there's a subsystem called Input Device Subsystem that can check what device is being used and you can change the instructions shown depending on the device being used. I also think it would be nice to see what the controls for the game where in game as the only indication shown was "A" to interact. That way the player doesn't have to go back and forth to the itch page to see the controls.
At times the combat also felt awkward being restricted by the stamina a lot as I felt like I lost it all super quick and regained it back very slowly having to wait a while before I got 50% back.
I also got lost a lot since it all looks the same but eventually I managed to find the boss after aimlessly wandering. While I get that the campfires lead the way because they aren't very noticeable in contrast to the environment it's hard to tell where you are.
However, I liked the music at the beginning and once you defeat the boss as it fit the vibe of the game and was really nice to hear. I also liked the in game UI as it fits what the game is going. I will admit I did not expect to find a souls like game in a game jam but it was pretty well made considering the amount of time we had and I think you guys did a good job and can definitely see the potential there keep it up!!
Thanks for playing our game and giving your feedback.
1. I was considering adding those features but was too busy working with the enemy mechanics and tps controls.
2. There's different stamina cost according to the weapon used, although it needs some balancing to be done.
3. Campfires are indeed hard to find, a mistake i only realized after uploading the build, this will be fixed in future updates anlog with the map feature.
Yeah like I said to get this done in a week is an achievement in itself so I understand there are parts you couldn't add. Looking forward to future update and see the improvements!
Wow I was not expecting a game like this to pop up in the jam! I honestly was skeptical at first but once I got all the controls down, I was deeply surprised by how good this game was! Boss was really cool and exciting to fight!
I would honestly love a post mortem on the development of this game! I want to know more about y'alls design choices!
Here's a link to my live streaming gameplay of it! Hope it's informative!
https://www.twitch.tv/technano1
Thank you for playing our game, i wasn't expecting it to be on a stream, so it took me by surprise tbh xd, i watched your playthrough (i noticed the main menu showed the wrong name, looks like a leftover widget snuck into the build :v), as stated in the submission, the code is from previous jams, but the third person shooter & the invisible enemy mechanics (including their models and their vfx) was done during the jam, it barely got finished on the last day, that's why some enemy placement and movesets feel unfair, for the level design, our level designer used ue5 pcg tools, which made it possible to build such a big map in less time, the items where placed close to the roads since it is easy to get lost if one decides to explore only the buildings, as for the gun and the remaining campfires, you can check the map i uploaded in the website a few days ago (it's the last image), I'm currently working in an update to include it in the game alongside bug fixes.
I wasn't expecting to play a Soulslike for this game jam but it was pretty solid.
The combat felt a little awkward at times, and the attack animations felt like they broke the pace of the combat a bit. The stamina system felt a little too restricting at times, but the visuals for the game were pretty cool (despite the player model not really matching the aesthetic), and the audio felt detailed.
Making a Soulslike game is a lot to handle in such a short time but I think you did pretty well with it overall. Nice job!
Thanks, there wasn't enough time to tweak the enemies to have a moveset that made sense in combat according to their invisibility mechanic, stamina cost needs to be adjusted for the melee weapons too, they'll get fixed in next updates
I was wondering if I am the only one to make a TPS for this jam or not and suddenly I've found this game! Cool take on the jam theme. I loved the visuals, animations and atmosphere. However here are a few suggestions:
1. Completely invisible enemies is a little too hard and feels unpolished. I think translucent enemies would be much better for the game.
2. Melee combat feels much more efficient than ranged combat. You have to spend like 20 bullets on an enemy to die and in most cases there are like 3-4 of them so gun becomes useless. I used cheat engine to have 200 fixed bullets so I could enjoy the gunplay lol!
3. The map is a little confusing. Most of the areas look the same and there is nothing to show progression route and right direction.
Overall cool game. I've enjoyed it and will looking forward to play more of your games!
Thank you for playing our game, here's some answers to your observations:
1. There's actually a refraction that surrounds the enemies even when they're invisible, you'll notice how the environment gets distorted in some areas, that's where an enemy is located.
2. Lol, the gun is supposed to be saved for the Boss, since it's the most aggressive enemy in the game and the gun is your safe way to dispose of it.
3. Yeah, the map is certainly too big, but the roads and the Campfires are a good way to not get lost, also when resting at a Campfire the player will always face at a fixed direction, that's the route you should follow to get to the Boss location.
Ohh I guess I couldn't see them because I was playing on low graphics settings.
I walked a lot and didn't find the Abhorrent Hollow.
tbh I didn't really enjoyed my experience. I can explan why:
- it miss a goal, at the beginning I am thorw in the middle of nowhere not knowing my goal. And the level design don't bring somewhere, I feel it's just a random city and I don't feel intention in the path, lot of item eveywhere and I am lost. --- to solve that you may need to design your level design with at least key element the player can use to know where it is. And maybe some smoke or explosion somewhere which catch your attention and you try to reach it navigating in the city
- the sfx of walking is quite annoying, to lood, always the same. You should add some random in pitch and volume
- opponent are repetitive and the patterns are not really visible. I don't know how many attack opponents had, but I felt they had only one. In a soul like game what you target is to have variety of attack with discernable pattern. The goal of the player is to learn those pattern and react to them accordingly. And sometimes the opponent hit me like 5/6 time in what seem to be one attack, don't get what make him do that or not
- repetitive loot. The loot felt always the same. And finding ammo without having a pistol is really frustrating
- balancing of weapon, before I had a katana I could kill no one, afterward I was unkillable. Didn't feel it was deserve, only I found the good loot.
- art direction is not matching. Character and environment have two completly different art style
- the run consume a looooot of energy and don't seem to really give a boost speed
- miss some feedback when energy bar or life is low
- invisible opponents can be a good idea. Would have prefer a game focus one invisible enemy, one weapon for the player. And a boos figth all around that
I know it's harsh, I apologies, but I believe you ask to people to play to get feedback, so I prefer to give honest feedbacks to help you if you find those feedback relevant.
DOn't hesitate to rate our game (and to be full honest) : /jam/brackeys-16/rate/4942051
Thanks for trying our game, i'm sorry you didn't enjoy your gameplay experience, here's some explanations according to your observations on the game:
1. You're right, the map is too big (it's a city after all), but if you only follow the roads it's imposible to get lost since the items where placed near them and the city road layout is not too complex, for the progression, there's actually a hint of the direction you must follow to get to the Boss when you rest at Campfires (the character sits facing at a fixed direction, the camera position needed adjustment when resting at a Campfire tho).
2. Footsteps sounded fine to mme (maybe i'm deaf xd), for the variation there's actually a pitch shift (+-1), looks like i need to increase it a little bit.
3. Yep, there's only 2 enemy types an 1 Boss, i wanted to add more but the jam's deadline was too close to do that.
4. There's a reason why it feels repetitive, the Campfires do not restore your health items so you'll have to get them yourself, also the ammo were placed near the zone were the Glock is located, so their placement serve as a hint.
5. The weapons where placed according to the map progress, Baseball Bat for the beginning, katana for the middle area, with the last weapon being an exception (you need to do a detour from the main path, so the Glock it's located directly behind the boss room).
6. Yeah, that's the hardest part to do since the environment assets are not custom made, Kuwahara filter was used but still wasn't enough for the desired look.
7. Well, the player character is only human after all...
8. The player is supposed to always look at the stamina and health bars, other than that, there were missing animations for the locomotion to indicate when the player is going at normal speed --> running, around 16 animations just for the player an weapon locomotion, excluding enemies, also we couldn't find an animator for the jam so there's that...
9. That wouldn't make sense in a big city environment tho...
Hi, thanks for the explanation :)
I relaunch it this morning to test out more because I didn't found any fire camp yesterday (even if I hand 70+ healing potion & 24 ammo).
So I follow the road, and finish the boss with 75 healing potion remaining and 24 ammo. And didn't find the glock.
After winning, I did launch again to find the camp fire and finaly found one. There are too small, or not indicated enough if their purpose is to guide the player to the boss.
And just before the boss there is a huge blocker on the road (a building on it) so without your tips I would never have go through it as building looked as place that we should not go in.
---
2. for the step sfx, I mean add some randomness, it look like there is 2 sound of footstep and that's it.
Yeah, i noticed the campfires are not visible with the postprocess applied, i'll set their parameters to lit next time so they can be seen more clearly, for now i made a map that shows important locations in the game, you can check it out in the game's website for now, it'll be added in the game in future updates.
For the footsteps sfx, i noticed the wrong file was used instead of the sound cue that contains more variations. so that's another fix i have to do in the next update.