No Redemption, Only Stone: A Postmortem of Empty Soil

🕯️ Postmortem – Empty Soil

This game was made for the Classic/Static Camera Horror Jam hosted by Figerox Studios. It was meant to be a Resident Evil-like experience, with fixed camera angles and built around the theme "Abandoned".

What I wanted to create was a simple story about a Spanish Conquistador, left behind in the catacombs by Aztec warriors.

I managed to complete the game—or at least most of what I had envisioned. I couldn’t finish two of the puzzles, but the game runs from start to finish. I was able to tell the mini story I had in mind: a conquistador who finds neither redemption nor forgiveness. He comes to understand he will remain there forever.

I really enjoyed learning how to create mini cutscenes along the way. I used to think it would be super hard, but it turned out to be much simpler than expected—just a matter of animating everything inside Godot.

This project also let me leverage my background in audiovisual production. I think I managed to create an atmosphere that pulls you in. Sound design ended up being around 70% of what I was aiming for, but it still works and makes the world feel a bit more real. And it paid off—early comments suggest I succeeded at it.

The toughest part was level design, as it always is for me. That’s what stumped me the most—I probably lost four or five days trying to get the levels to feel right. Several iterations had to be discarded because of that. That’s also why some puzzles were removed or never fully developed.

This is my first full project using Godot. I learned a lot about GDScript, the node structure, and how to efficiently navigate through the viewport. I also fell in love with signals—I think I may have overused them by the end, but they’re just so awesome to work with.

My biggest takeaway is the certainty that Godot will be my main engine for the near-to-mid future. I just liked it immensely.

🙏 Big thanks to Figerox Studios for the jam idea—and to everyone who plays my game!