The font? The art style? The fluidity on a mobile device? It's fantastic.
I wasn't able to deliver packages but I was too mesmerized to be mad about that. Beautiful game. Kudos.
Edit: I did figure it out and completed all the deliveries. So many potential. It reminds me a bit of Sky by thatgamecompany
Edit 2: for the author, I noticed several players approached me and tried to communicate. Please explore games like Journey (thatgamecompany) to see different ways people communicate without chatting. People can help each other, veterans can guide newbies all without using words. Every time I met a player in the game back in the days, they sent me a heartfelt message.
> The fluidity on a mobile device? It's fantastic.
Said more about it here[0] already, but the game works perfectly on a foldable and takes the folding/unfolding in stride, without breaking a sweat. You can also see it on desktop by resizing your browser window to change size and aspect ratio (it's probably the same code paths handling it anyway).
Given how almost all mobile and web games I played manage to get this scenario wrong in some way, I applaud the authors for making all the right choices.
It really is lovely. I had the same thought about refining interactions a bit -- I would also suggest Meadow by Might & Delight as an example of nonverbal communication done well.
The game is wonderful and I'm so glad it doesn't have chat! My 9yo niece and I played it through side by side and if it had chat or consistent remote player presence that wouldn't have been appropriate.
I also didn't really understand how to do it, but I liked the game, it's so beautiful and peaceful, it's a shame there's no chat and you have to speak through emojis.
> ....The fluidity on a mobile device? It's fantastic...I wasn't able to deliver packages but I was too mesmerized to be mad about that. Beautiful game. Kudos.
The font is really awful. Misunderstanding aesthetics from difference cultural sources to feed to people who will take them at a surface level, there's nothing of substance. It's giving [0] and it's bad vibes, nothing should aspire to this. It leads me to question every other emotional connection I might otherwise have with the experience.
Plus a lot of experience, creativity, and artistry to solve other challenges (e.g. shaders, shadows) and wire everything together into this pretty performant piece of art.
The studio also has a case study here of another project they made, with other hints about their tooling and process:
Just for anyone like me who played this and spent the whole time thinking, "this is beautiful, who are you and how did you make this?" The author names are only revealed in the credits at the end:
On that subject, and since the Summer Afternoon direct link was not provided, can anybody actually get the project to work? Apparently made it on to HN 2.5 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34461808 Not sure if its just my system, yet I always start stuck in the ground unable to move.
This is impressive but I don't get it. All that work and you have a game written in JS of all things. Why not write it in a desktop language und port it to JS. Now this will always need a browser to run, feels like a waste of time to me.
This is like a masterclass in game design, mobile UI, wasm, character design, game dialogue and interactive paychogeography. I'm gonna show this to my kid's computer club next week. Really fantastic, bravo. Is this seriously a solo developer project??
If anyone knows of similar games / apps / software tools that I could show as examples of solo developer small scope simple UI games I'm always trying to find more..
The iOS game Tiny Wings was made by a solo developer (Andreas Illiger). I highly recommend it. It’s over a decade old now, but it just got update this year, and it still stands out in my mind as one of the best mobile games ever made.
So many techniques that made web games good, in terms of smart loading, have been lost or abandoned since the mid-2000s when bandwidth limitations were common, and at the same time "engines" like Away3D and Starling were starting to leverage AS3's ability to handle async calls and async uploads to the GPU. JS engines now try to bundle that behavior into asynchronous asset loading calls, but it's not ever really dialed in to make sure you don't experience freezes or hiccups in gameplay, so usually it's loaded by game level and not fluidly as you move around a world. It's not as if the authors of this game couldn't have put it all in a 17.5 MB package, and most people wouldn't have noticed anymore because the world has gotten used to long initialization screens. What's awesome is to see someone do the art of lazy loading so elegantly.
Am I wrong in feeling that 5-15MB is... more than enough data for the world we see? There's not that much information here.
I'm not trying to be a demoscene smart-ass here, either (I expect demoscene masters would've packed the equivalent in under 1MB). Just that, models are low-poly, the world is small and made up from pieces that feel simple to describe; as long as you're not trying to bake everything into a static set of meshes, but willing to encode them at a higher level, 5MB seems like plenty.
For a dimensionally reduced analogy, the 2D equivalent would be a perfect example of an image that's very large in raster form, but quite small in vector form.
Are my intuitions widely off here?
Note that this does not make it any less impressive - on the contrary, I'm amazed by how much detail and soul is there to this world, despite apparent simplicity. I'm also amazed at how navigable this world is. I've made many stupid moves that I was dead sure will wedge me between walls, or get me stuck in a nook with no way of going back; but none of that happened. They must've put a lot of thought into the design, and it wouldn't surprise me if they manually mapped out the world to ensure there's no one-way paths.
I was shocked that the game loaded fairly quickly on a 128kbps connection. I only wish it would say that it is loading additional data, because I was stuck on white screen for a bit, with no info on the state.
I can echo everyone here in saying the graphics of the game and the execution is fantastic. The keyboard controls on desktop and the thumb control on mobile works great. This got me very excited about the future! Can’t imagine the amount of effort that would have gone in this.
One additional input, although I could play it well on the desktop - the mobile gameplay made me a tad nauseous. I am someone prone to nausea in VR too, but I’ve never felt this in any other mobile game before. I think it’s probably the amount of motion (hilly topography) and the very narrow field of view, along with the way the mobile controls behave. This was on iOS Safari btw (iPhone 16 Pro Max).
As a web developer who doesn't make games...I'm a bit overwhelmed by the vast knowledge gap that clearly exists between what I know and what would be required to make this.
Wow. It's so beautiful and enjoyable to wander about in.
@thecupisblue. Amazing work. Logged in just to tell you this. This has just given me goose bumps and made me excited about the web again. I’ve been struggling to find my groove in the dev world post AI and have been digging back into AR and WebXR just for the fun of it. Thank you for the game and more importantly the renewed inspiration to make something cool!
Love all of it except for the camera controls on iOS. Not sure how you could improve them but they need some work. Camera gets too close to the character a lot. Might consider two touch controls that separate movement direction and camera position.
Loved the artstyle, but controls... uhh... let's say they were on par with a bad PC port of Sonic Adventure. I can barely control where I'm going, because the camera just rotates randomly. Something I'll never miss from the old days.
* I was impressed that WASD controls worked with my keyboard set to Dvorak :)
* Unfortunately have to second the comments about nausea; the oddly paced camera (it feels like it is panning through molasses then suddenly accelerates to switch views) is probably responsible, I'm guessing the "overshoot view then correct" "feature" is also a factor. Additionally seconding the comments about allowing the camera to follow the mouse (if feasible somehow while not losing cross-form-factor support) would go a long way to help here as well.
* The font that shows you where you are is cute in an orientalist sense, but imho it is very difficult to read (even knowing what it says from context clues and previous hints)
* Not a criticism but it is odd to have jumping when there is no mechanism that uses it in-game
* 99.99% a me problem: I had a hard time with spatial awareness and a difficulty building a mental map of the world and my best guess is that it's because I personally found the default field of view to be too "zoomed in".
It's really unique and beautiful. I want to see more of this. I grew up with random interactive experiences in Flash, this is far more amazing that those days but we need more of this and less of the form crud crap.
The one thing that transported me out of the game was the arbitrary blocking around the ocean / the end of the stream. (I assume those go to the same place, from different sides.)
It seems on such a tiny world the water should never be more than waist deep, so why not just let us explore the whole thing. I didn't quite feel like I got to go all the way around the tiny world, and being fenced by an invisible barrier broke the fourth wall.
I don't play games. I clicked the link and played through the entire game. With a little work you could turn this into a modern Myst-type game, with a compelling story and atmosphere and mysteries/puzzles. I think this would be really fantastic.
The camera, controls, and difficult to discern invisible walls were frustrating to the point I had to just quit the game, even after completing over half of the deliveries. On Safari on macOS there is also a glitch where the character’s clothes keep changing, and I can’t see any other players there (it was only when I tried it on iOS that I realised this is Journey-like).
But the game is beautiful and peaceful and I’m still glad I got to experience it. I’ll definitely share it with some friends. Thank you for making it.
[+] [-] firefoxd|5 months ago|reply
I wasn't able to deliver packages but I was too mesmerized to be mad about that. Beautiful game. Kudos.
Edit: I did figure it out and completed all the deliveries. So many potential. It reminds me a bit of Sky by thatgamecompany
Edit 2: for the author, I noticed several players approached me and tried to communicate. Please explore games like Journey (thatgamecompany) to see different ways people communicate without chatting. People can help each other, veterans can guide newbies all without using words. Every time I met a player in the game back in the days, they sent me a heartfelt message.
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|5 months ago|reply
Said more about it here[0] already, but the game works perfectly on a foldable and takes the folding/unfolding in stride, without breaking a sweat. You can also see it on desktop by resizing your browser window to change size and aspect ratio (it's probably the same code paths handling it anyway).
Given how almost all mobile and web games I played manage to get this scenario wrong in some way, I applaud the authors for making all the right choices.
--
[0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45403407
[+] [-] shayway|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] Blahah|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] bitbasher|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] maplethorpe|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] kaismh|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] Levitating|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] DenisDolya|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] antfarm|5 months ago|reply
I do not play video games, but I played this one through till the end and wish there was more to explore.
[+] [-] opem|5 months ago|reply
exactly, realy well made!
[+] [-] logicallee|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] BrS96bVxXBLzf5B|5 months ago|reply
[0] https://i.redd.it/jv2yw7uqmu3e1.png
[+] [-] modernerd|5 months ago|reply
https://www.awwwards.com/summer-afternoon.html
And a talk here on the same project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSIxyyEaPr0
It's full of tips that likely informed this new project. In short, seems like:
- No game engine
- Three.js plus https://github.com/gkjohnson/three-mesh-bvh
- Houdini and Blender for modelling
- Substance for texturing
- Figma and Affinity Photo for UI
- GSAP and vanilla JS for animation
- Davinci Resolve for sound
- WebSocket/Node.js for multiplayer
Plus a lot of experience, creativity, and artistry to solve other challenges (e.g. shaders, shadows) and wire everything together into this pretty performant piece of art.
The studio also has a case study here of another project they made, with other hints about their tooling and process:
https://www.awwwards.com/igloo-inc-case-study.html
Just for anyone like me who played this and spent the whole time thinking, "this is beautiful, who are you and how did you make this?" The author names are only revealed in the credits at the end:
https://vlucendo.com/
https://x.com/michaelsungaila (nice work on the beach shader!)
https://www.kevincolombin.com/ (music)
[+] [-] araes|5 months ago|reply
https://summer-afternoon.vlucendo.com/
[+] [-] Sobrino|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] ionwake|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] retinaros|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] EmilyHughes|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] pkdpic|5 months ago|reply
If anyone knows of similar games / apps / software tools that I could show as examples of solo developer small scope simple UI games I'm always trying to find more..
[+] [-] araes|5 months ago|reply
> https://xcancel.com/abeto_co
> https://xcancel.com/vlucendo
> https://xcancel.com/michaelsungaila
> https://kevincolombin.bandcamp.com/
[+] [-] colkassad|5 months ago|reply
https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/Return_of_the_Obra...
[+] [-] codys|5 months ago|reply
https://www.awwwards.com/summer-afternoon.html
[+] [-] MattRix|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] kettlecorn|5 months ago|reply
It seems to be making smart choices about compression techniques.
This is a good showcase of how well games can work on the web if done well.
[+] [-] noduerme|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|5 months ago|reply
I'm not trying to be a demoscene smart-ass here, either (I expect demoscene masters would've packed the equivalent in under 1MB). Just that, models are low-poly, the world is small and made up from pieces that feel simple to describe; as long as you're not trying to bake everything into a static set of meshes, but willing to encode them at a higher level, 5MB seems like plenty.
For a dimensionally reduced analogy, the 2D equivalent would be a perfect example of an image that's very large in raster form, but quite small in vector form.
Are my intuitions widely off here?
Note that this does not make it any less impressive - on the contrary, I'm amazed by how much detail and soul is there to this world, despite apparent simplicity. I'm also amazed at how navigable this world is. I've made many stupid moves that I was dead sure will wedge me between walls, or get me stuck in a nook with no way of going back; but none of that happened. They must've put a lot of thought into the design, and it wouldn't surprise me if they manually mapped out the world to ensure there's no one-way paths.
[+] [-] high_priest|5 months ago|reply
I love it.
[+] [-] sheepscreek|5 months ago|reply
One additional input, although I could play it well on the desktop - the mobile gameplay made me a tad nauseous. I am someone prone to nausea in VR too, but I’ve never felt this in any other mobile game before. I think it’s probably the amount of motion (hilly topography) and the very narrow field of view, along with the way the mobile controls behave. This was on iOS Safari btw (iPhone 16 Pro Max).
[+] [-] dgoldstein0|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] snerbles|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] samplifier|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] singpolyma3|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] stevage|5 months ago|reply
As a web developer who doesn't make games...I'm a bit overwhelmed by the vast knowledge gap that clearly exists between what I know and what would be required to make this.
Wow. It's so beautiful and enjoyable to wander about in.
[+] [-] dsq|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] Jotalea|5 months ago|reply
as for the game itself, I couldn't understand how to deliver the messages.
[+] [-] Brainfood|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] jimmySixDOF|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] geuis|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] gettingoverit|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] ComputerGuru|5 months ago|reply
* I love the writing, it's witty and poignant
* I was impressed that WASD controls worked with my keyboard set to Dvorak :)
* Unfortunately have to second the comments about nausea; the oddly paced camera (it feels like it is panning through molasses then suddenly accelerates to switch views) is probably responsible, I'm guessing the "overshoot view then correct" "feature" is also a factor. Additionally seconding the comments about allowing the camera to follow the mouse (if feasible somehow while not losing cross-form-factor support) would go a long way to help here as well.
* The font that shows you where you are is cute in an orientalist sense, but imho it is very difficult to read (even knowing what it says from context clues and previous hints)
* Not a criticism but it is odd to have jumping when there is no mechanism that uses it in-game
* 99.99% a me problem: I had a hard time with spatial awareness and a difficulty building a mental map of the world and my best guess is that it's because I personally found the default field of view to be too "zoomed in".
[+] [-] tetris11|5 months ago|reply
https://summer-afternoon.vlucendo.com
?
[+] [-] reactordev|5 months ago|reply
“Explore and Make Deliveries”
[+] [-] baw-bag|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] seabass|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] alex_suzuki|5 months ago|reply
Clever text as well :)
[+] [-] SamBam|5 months ago|reply
The one thing that transported me out of the game was the arbitrary blocking around the ocean / the end of the stream. (I assume those go to the same place, from different sides.)
It seems on such a tiny world the water should never be more than waist deep, so why not just let us explore the whole thing. I didn't quite feel like I got to go all the way around the tiny world, and being fenced by an invisible barrier broke the fourth wall.
[+] [-] 55555|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] npteljes|5 months ago|reply
[+] [-] latexr|5 months ago|reply
But the game is beautiful and peaceful and I’m still glad I got to experience it. I’ll definitely share it with some friends. Thank you for making it.