4 replies to this topic

[ChefBear]

Solve a lunar mystery as you play a lead scientist searching for his missing coworkers in a large and unusual crater called...

 

 

First and foremost! Darkside was made in 3.0.0-prerelease.98+2025-04-18, so make sure to play it in a ZQC version that's at least that recent.
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Second! Download that music file! As a sidenote, Darkside utilizes bassy SFX, so be sure to use your best sound equipment to hear their full range.
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Lastly! Darkside uses mouse controls, so (e.g.) WASD hotkeys are recommended for moving the player. Most of the controls are scripted and fixed (for now), and you can take a look at those by clicking on the controller icon on the title screen, pressing C in-game, or by opening the README included with the .qst.

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Game file: https://www.mediafir...e_1.0.zip/file Enhanced music file: https://www.mediafir..._Music.zip/file

Edited by ChefBear, 22 April 2025 - 03:47 PM.

[Shane]

UGH

 

Good quest, I had fun testing it.  

[Moon]

Really good quest. It hardly even feels like ZC tbh, its impressive what you've managed to do here.

[Twilight Knight]

Very much enjoyed playing this! Didn't complete it yet, as stage 4 is quite difficult and I think it has a soft lock if you lose the umbrella. But I will gladly play more with your (on Discord announced) updated version.

 

This is a super unique quest, I love the controls, and concepts such as weight, strategically carrying/dropping materials, mastering efficiently completing a level after several attempts, the dialogue, the aesthetics, the sound design, the command terminal, and the general gameplay loop.

 

I'm wishing there was a weapon or such though, or at least being able to (with a limit) stun monsters. Also the "hover puzzles" are neat, just I wish it was a bit faster. The "orb dragging" puzzles are also really good, but the one in stage 3 is a bit too tedious, especially if you need to do it multiple times (as I did die a lot of times in this stage). Also that overhang you can walk behind in stage 1 (to the key) was maybe too obscure. And I found one bug, where the frozen water which you had to interact with is solid/unwalkable (like the water to the left of me here): https://i.imgur.com/JZyScSY.png

 

But otherwise I truly enjoyed this unique experience. Absolutely would love to see more like this!

[ChefBear]

Very much enjoyed playing this! Didn't complete it yet, as stage 4 is quite difficult and I think it has a soft lock if you lose the umbrella. But I will gladly play more with your (on Discord announced) updated version.

 

This is a super unique quest, I love the controls, and concepts such as weight, strategically carrying/dropping materials, mastering efficiently completing a level after several attempts, the dialogue, the aesthetics, the sound design, the command terminal, and the general gameplay loop.

 

I'm wishing there was a weapon or such though, or at least being able to (with a limit) stun monsters. Also the "hover puzzles" are neat, just I wish it was a bit faster. The "orb dragging" puzzles are also really good, but the one in stage 3 is a bit too tedious, especially if you need to do it multiple times (as I did die a lot of times in this stage). Also that overhang you can walk behind in stage 1 (to the key) was maybe too obscure. And I found one bug, where the frozen water which you had to interact with is solid/unwalkable (like the water to the left of me here): https://i.imgur.com/JZyScSY.png

 

But otherwise I truly enjoyed this unique experience. Absolutely would love to see more like this!

Thanks for the detailed feedback! The contest versions of stage 4 can definitely be irritating with the softlocks, so I don't blame you there. That's a good point about the ice still being solid, just fixed it!

Otherwise, as far as what's been done that you mentioned: it's nearly impossible to softlock in stage 4 now, hovering is now 2s rather than 3s, dragging is now 3x more lenient and orb collision is smaller so it doesn't get stuck so much, and the overhang has been made more obvious. So hopefully next time will be a better experience