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Isolation Protocol's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #27 | 2.760 | 3.000 |
| Innovation | #31 | 2.509 | 2.727 |
| Overall | #35 | 2.542 | 2.764 |
| Art Style/Visuals | #36 | 2.760 | 3.000 |
| Audio/Sound Design | #37 | 2.425 | 2.636 |
| Gameplay/Fun | #39 | 2.258 | 2.455 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Engine / Tools
Unity
How does your game fit the theme?
The setting is an isolated Space Station deep in space were the main characters start in isolation on their mission.
Devlog link
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Self-made stuff
Assets (e.g. free or owned)
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Comments
Great use of the Synty space set! My first run, I saw “get to the escape pods” as the first objective, so I sent my engineer who was right next to them in, only for them to immediately go in. Which, maybe was the right choice? I couldn’t figure out where to “get the Alien DNA” at first, because unlike the other two objectives, it doesn’t glow when you hover over it, and I didn’t think “I should hover my mouse over this non-glowing object for half a second to get the tooltip to pop up” :p and after a few tries realizing only the captain can shoot and only has two shots and also is the only guy who can disable the alarm, it felt like the other characters maybe were pointless except needing to escape? Or could only the Dr get the sample and only the Engineer operate the escape pods?
It was confusing how the enemies were just moving through the walls like they were nothing, was that a bug or the intended mechanic? I mean, probably shouldn’t be able to watch them move through the walls when they’re in there either way…
Footsteps were a little loud, but overall sounds were well used, and it did feel like a tense and difficult situation for sure. Now that you have a working tactics system, though, would be cool to see what more you could do with it!
Thanks for playing and the feedback :-)!
Yes, finally I got to use the asset pack...
That was the right choice but the characters are at random locations every game so the engineer near the pods is a lucky one. Could also be 3 rooms further. Just a random location so nothing special I did about that at the moment.
Indeed only the captain can shoot and activate the self destruct. Only the doctor can get the DNA and only the engineer can activate the escape pods. If you manage all and survive you get the total win ending else you get a different text for every thing that succeeded or failed.
I like the genre of tactical turn-based so I was intending to do something more with it. Making a bigger game than only a jam game perhaps.
Hope you did enjoy playing a little bit :-)!?
love the feel of the world you created, art and SFX work cohesively to add to the world building so nice job there. the premise of the game seems really neat too love the idea of a turn based strategy game where you have to watch an alien species hunt you adds tension in a way that fits the world. however (and it could just be my lack of familiarity with this type of game) but i was completely confused on how to play it. My first playthrough i walked 5 steps then died then watched any enemy ai move then switched to another playable character only the camera showed a black screen. I had no idea what was going on so i think introducing the mechanics to the player via tutorial level, controls menu, cutscene etc would help a lot in that respect. That being said I really enjoyed the tense atmosphere you are able to create and the enemy models in particular work really well with everything else. I think your biggest problem was probably overscoping for a jam (as others have said) and that with more time you got have played with the pacing of the game more. great entry though, i enjoyed playing it! and thanks again for hosting!!
Thanks for the feedback and playing of course!
Like that you loved the feel and ambiance :-)!
You are totally right some more tutorial or guidance is needed for this kind of games. Lack of time, but shall take it into account for next game and jams to try to make one or better guidance.
I am glad you still enjoyed playing. One of the major goals of course that you have a little bit of fun.
Overscoping indeed. Maybe not the best genre for a game jam but I do like the genre and want to try it and know now I still have to learn a lot and these tips and feedback are therefore really valuable. Thanks again.
My pleasure to host the jam :-)! Hope you enjoyed it and learned also a lot of stuff and had fun!
Played and rated!
I liked the art, audio and concept of the game! It ran pretty smoothly in terms of gameplay!
The feeling of aliens aboard the spaceship and the fear of looking out for them was great 😄
I would have enjoyed the game a lot more if it was clearer who could shoot or not, and better feedback about the action points. I only realized how the AP system works only after 2 tries and it suddently made a lot more sense to plan the gameplay. I didn't know where the escape pods were, I would have like a cinematic or something that showed where our goal is to go. I don't think it would have removed the fear vibe all while having an idea of where we're supposed to go.
Overall I liked the game it was pretty cool!
Thank you for playing, rating and the valuable feedback :-)!
That was part of the vibe I tried to make indeed.
Good points about the shooting and AP system. Should gave given that more attention. Will definitely think about that for a next jam or turn-based game. As also about a cut-scene or better hint were to find the special locations. Good tips!
Glad you still enjoyed the game :-)!
Knowing if/when I can shoot is unclear for me, my guess is that only the captain can shoot ? I wish how many points you would spend was displayed when selecting a tile for better calculus but I believe this type of game has lots of system so it aint easy to make. I like how each character has a main goal and the fog of war is neat.
Thanks for playing, the compliments and the feedback :-)!
Indeed the captain is the only one that can shoot and you are right it should have been made more clear that he is the only one that can do that.
Displaying the cost for movement is a good tip! Was on my todo list and will be really handy for making your tile choice.
Many systems indeed :-). Maybe a bit too many for game jam scope. But that is also a lesson learned :)
Good looks, servicable sounds and UI, but (for me) it was barely playable. I'll be blunt:
It's *slow*. Takes too long for the character to traverse, takes too long for enemies to complete their turn. I'd like to make meaningful decisions, but there aren't any to make for the first few turns, and I end up staring idly at the screen. This would be hard to swallow for a full production, it's even worse during a game jam, where there's dozens of games to go through, and if a game doesn't give the player something to act on right away, it's going to suffer in ratings.
In my eyes it needs a few breadcrumbs in the beginning, snappier movement, and speeding up turns of invisible enemies.
I do applaud attempting to make a tactical (and functinally complete) turn-based game during a jam. There's a ton of systems to make in a short span of time. Kudos.
Thanks for playing and giving me honest feedback. I am glad that you really give your opinion. After all, as the host of the jam, I am definitely here to learn, and constructive critical feedback is exactly what I need as a dev :-)!
Maybe a tactical turn-based game was not the ideal entry for a game jam ;-). But I wanted to make a game of this genre at some point because I like to play it myself.
During the game jam, I had already noticed a few things that were not so useful, like the enemies' turns, but you know how it goes in a game jam. Trying to do too many things in too little time :-). Still should have done something about that...
I will definitely remember the tips when I make something in this genre again. Plus the tips for game jam entries to focus more immediately. Those tips are very valuable.
It was certainly a lot of work and systems :-) and I am happy to have ended up with something that worked a bit, but will work with the tips for next time. Thanks for the compliments and thanks again for playing and the critical but welcome comments.
Best of luck - this is a great genre, but not an easy one to work in!
Thanks!
Good Game, Nice graphics and please try our game :)
Thanks and yes I will do for sure :-)
Will play all games as host :-)
Really good game, im really bad at this games to be honest but i tryed and like it, fits very well.
Some times the players traspass the walls e.e and in a case the distraction stay in the air e.e XD
Some bugs i find, but really good one, good entry x3
Thank you for your feedback & compliments :-)!
Yes, there are some bugs, even more than I hoped, but that is how it goes in a Game Jam with time constraints and a too big scope ;-). Learned again to keep the scope small... Next time maybe ;-)
But I like that you seemed to had some fun even though it was not your favorite game type.
Thanks again for playing and the valuable feedback!!
Pretty nice game that fits into the theme.
I hope you will check and rate my game as well.
Thank you and of course will I also play and rate your game as host :-)!