I’ve received a few comments saying that the lights didn’t seem necessary and that there should be some more foreshadowing/buildup to the story, so I’ll most likely make a post-LD build of the game with darker rooms and more interaction and story. Still, I’ve received a lot of great feedback on this game, and I’m very happy that people like it! This has basically solidified that I want to do RPG Maker games for most of my future LD entries, as they’re a great way to blend game play with visual novel story telling.
Ludum Dare #39 is finally over, and boy, did it feel like forever! And yet, the time flew by whenever I was working on my game :”D Anyway, here’s some looks at the game and what it’s about.
Lights Out is my attempt at a short and sweet RPG horror-style game, centered around the player controlling Rebecca, a young 11 year old girl who has her friends over for a sleepover when the power is knocked out and she finds that her house is now crawling with fairies. She tries to find them, only realizing that the back-up generator only has enough power to turn on the lights in one room at a time.
The (albeit short) story revolves around an elder fairy who is attempting to escape death by the hands of a dullahan, a headless fairy grim reaper of sorts. However, the other fairies kidnap Francie, one of Rebecca’s friends, and swaps her out for the elder fairy, who is now a changeling- a fairy who is swapped out for a human in order for the fairies to keep the human child as their own, or in this case, to let the elder fairy die in peace at the hands of humans to take care of them. I really love folklore and such, so this was my attempt at bringing some of that folklore I’ve learned into a game while also making is accessible to readers who, say, don’t know Irish folklore.
I do believe this is my 2nd best Ludum Dare entry yet- Nightowl will probably always hold a special place in my heart because it was made based off my own emotions that I felt after graduating high school, but I think this one deserves 2nd not only because of all the work I put into it (Steam says I’ve had RPGM MV open for about 30+ hours this entire LD) but also because I feel its story is short, simple, but round and complete. I liked writing Hiram, I hope he didn’t come off as too much of a jokester!
Got a looot done tonight, but I still have a fair ways to go before it’s finished. It’ll definitely be close. Here’s some in-game screenshots and a gif.
Who’s that outside Rebecca’s window, I wonder?
Oh, just your neighborhood Dullahan who has a knack for letting his head roll around unsupervised.
End of day 2 for Ludum Dare #39, and I made some good progress- not as much as I’d have liked, but still. I now have a more fleshed out plot, which I’ll share later. Here are some looks at what I got done today!
Top is Bedelia’s finished sprite, bottom is Francie’s finished sprite.
Look at them in-game. Room isn’t close to being finished, as I keep adding stuff to my tileset which throws every room askew. I originally had 2 other friends planned to be in the game, but I cut them for time, which was a good idea- now I have a better plot and I don’t have to worry about as many sprites.
