EGJ-2022-SpiritsUp

This is my first game jam and 'completed' game!  I learned a lot and hope to hone my skills for next year.

Game premise: For the theme As Above, So Below, I finally settled on the idea that the theme embraces both similarities and opposites.  This turned into people expressing or hiding their emotions from others, so what you see isn't always what you really is.  Then I thought about how people have the power to affect each other's mood, and this is the core idea of Spirits Up.  The player would have the ability to see people's spirits, what they are truly feeling, and act in a way to help boost their spirit.  By doing that, the player's spirit would also be boosted.  There are of course, people out there that would rather crush other's spirits, and the player would have to navigate that.

Game result: There were lots of hurdles for noobs encountered during the sparse free hours I had for development, so most elements didn't work out (including the antagonist, which was disappointing).  There were also elements lost or corrupted during the packaging process, such as hair and sounds, but overall it was a great learning experience!  It looks like more of a Daz Studio style pose and text story adventure than the interactive experience I envisioned :)

Controls:

1. Left mouse button enables 'spirit mode'

2. E button interacts with NPCs when within their trigger volumes

3. alt+F4 to quit

Game Name: Spirits Up

Submission Name: uselessmachine_spiritsup

Premade Content: Nearly everything.  The only thing I created or modified are some gameplay blueprint behaviors.  If it looks well made, you can assume I did not create it.

Marketplace bundles used: Big Company Arch Viz, City Sample Crowd, Downtown West, Game Ready Sounds 2, Megascans, Supermarket, Contemporary Restaurant, Twinmotion Chairs & Tables Pack 1

Additional content: Music by HarumachiMusic from Pixabay: Relaxing Afternoon Loop Version