Play game
Mindfarer's itch.io pageType of Submission
A video game.
Genres
Visual novel, SF, dystopia, psychological, multiple endings
Is this a solo jam or a group submission?
group submission
Permisions
yes
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
How did you all create this in 2 weeks??? This game is awesome, from the characters to the plot to the music! I do have a suggestion: I wish I knew who Wendy and Bernard were before the first coffee credits option! The only person I knew was Lee, so it would be cool if we got a quick line from them in the intro, just so the player knows everyone from the jump.
Overall, you guys did an amazing job!
Receipe to make this game in two weeks: gather 5 friends, two who happens to have devs skills, two who can draw, one who's got the best ideas. You mix them with Godot, Git Hub and a well-organized Discord server so they can work together efficiently, then pour a lot of caffeine on them, with insomnia and junk food as toppings lol.
Thank you for the nice comment and feedback!! Did you manage to reach an ending? Which one? (I'm asking everytime because we were wondering if there were enough hints for the "true" ending).
And you are absolutely right for the fact that Bernard and Wendy are not introduced at the right time (their intro is during the first coffee with the Cap but it can be missed easily). We will try to correct that for the next update (as well as many other little issues and typos)! Thanks for telling us!
I got ending 1: Maybe Next Month! I spoke to every specter/entity/person in the Cognisea that I could, but my piloting skills were very lackluster LOL
Lol I feel you I suck at piloting this ship too! Would never be employee of the month of this company.
Here's the tuto for the "true" ending.
"If you want to unlock a very different ending, try going back to an island where you've already set a data collector in a previous run (the dots are purple) and talk back to the NPC there. It's more interesting if you had talked to the NPC the first time you met him, but it's not mandatory. You can do that anytime /any run before you set the last data collector.
The discovery of what is happening to the islets and their people after you've set a data collector will trigger an event during your way back to the hub after you've set the final data collector ;)
(additionally it should unlock slightly different dialogues in the hub inbetween your runs everytime you visit a purple-dot island and talk to an NPC there) Tip: You can use the save function with Tab to be able to reload your game if needed."
I loved everything about it! atmosphere, characters, art, music, plot twist, references to Mass Effect (was the captain really a Paragon then, heheh), achievements and mechanics. You did a great job and I am so impressed this is a game jam submission — it looks so polished!
Also your French Pan logo is super cute ^^
I was a bit sad to get my ending, as by that moment the story had really engaged me :) It would be great to know how it continues!
Eheh thank you so much for the very kind comment! <3
I'm happy you liked the little references here and there. And our logo too <3
We really did give it our all during this jam (maybe too much? some of us really felt burnt out after the submission XD) so we are happy that our efforts are appreciated. Now that we're less tired we can see all the flaws we have left (the typos oh god, some little features missing for whatever reasons, the .exe version that was broken so we had to remove it lmao) but... Still it's nice XD! We will probably submit a corrected version sometime after the jam.
Can I know which ending did you reach so maybe I can prolong your experience with an alternate one :D?
Looking forward to the updated version of your game!
I totally understand all the crunch you must have gone through. Yet your game as it is now looks almost finished, and that is impressive :)
It was quite a stressful experience for us as well, as we didn't manage to implement lots of the effects and features in time to ensure smooth experience. But I guess it is what game jams are about :D
I got an ending where you meet Bernard and join the protesters, don't remember its number...I was ready to fight after that xD
Thank you so much for your kind comments and your interest in our game! it makes us so happy! :3
Glad you liked the Mass Effect references, there are indeed two fans in the team! :P
Regarding the ending in which you join the protestors, we clearly understand your feeling! Actually, we started the development of a game sequence in which the player would have to return on each islet to destroy the data collector but we ran out of time to test and polish it, so we didn’t keep it (for now!).
P.S.: for the French Pan Studio, you’re so nice! :3 Maybe you’re French to?
P.P.S.: I am trully sorry but my computer is running on linux, so I can’t play your game… :/ The visuals look very nice though!
The part with destroying collectors sounds really nice! I think it will be some sort of culmination after all you went through :) Like a final battle in a blockbuster haha
I am not French, but I am a great fan of crêpes and French architecture :D
Oh, i see about linux — we planned to publish a web version but it was last minute upload and it didn't work right. So we added a windows version and totally forgot about mac and linux :( And now the uploads are closed, well...If you like, I can send you a link to google drive with a linux version :)
I would like to begin by expressing the emotions I felt while playing through a sequence of old-fashioned emoticons:
:)
:O
:D
:O
D:
:O
:D
:)
In particular, the visual polish of this game just blew me out of the water, considering the short time frame it was made in.
The music was terrific.
Some of the translations were noticeably...well, translated from another language (French?). But this is a minor quibble. The writing was great overall.
In terms of the premise it is probably my favourite of the games I've played so far in this jam. It makes me think of Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' or Satoshi Kon's 'Paprika', but it's still its own original take on that type of story. It would be interesting to see where it would go if it were bigger.
The gameplay loop also reminded me of a game called 'Heaven's Vault', where you alternate between sailing on a sort of surreal water current and exploring the worlds it connects to.
I liked the social and political commentary. Not *too* on the nose, but very clearly referring to certain major issues in our own time (and perhaps most of human history).
Wow!! Thanks a lot for this feedback and all the kind words! <33 The emoticons timeline was fun XD I think I can tell what the "D:" moment was :PP
The comparison with Nolan and Satoshi Kon stories sure made us blush :"3
For the game loop, we were actually inspired by games like Mass Effect and Hades. I dont know Heaven's Vault but it seems like a nice game, I'll look more into it, thanks!
We are glad that you enjoyed details and features that we worked hard on! And yes, you are right, we are French, so the English translation was probably a little bit weird sometimes, especially since most of the dialogues were written the last day of the jam lool.
Which ending(s) did you reach?
Just the 'Maybe Next Time' ending this time around.
I can see the Mass Effect similarity, now I think of it.
So you returned to the Mothership in the end :)
If you want to unlock a very different ending, try going back to an island where you've already set a data collector in a previous run (the dots are purple) and talk back to the NPC there. It's more interesting if you had talked to the NPC the first time you met him, but it's not mandatory. You can do that anytime /any run before you set the last data collector.
The discovery of what is happening to the islets and their people after you've set a data collector will trigger an event during your way back to the hub after you've set the final data collector ;)
(additionally it should unlock slightly different dialogues in the hub inbetween your runs everytime you visit a purple-dot island and talk to an NPC there)
Tip: Remember to use the save function with Tab to be able to load your game at a certain point, if you're not sure what to do
I am really glad you enjoyed the game! And that it is you favorite so far, it is very flattering!
Your emoticons serie was very fun, thank you for the laugh!
The comparison are so nice! :O I am going to check Heaven’s Vault!
And it was important to us that the political and social subtext be, at least, a little subtle, so glad you liked it that way.
P.S.: as a big Kenshi fan, I was really intrigued and curious about your game! The synopsis really caught me but, unfortunately, my computer is running on linux so I can’t play it… :/ I will try to play it on some friends’ computer.
First of all, the premise screams of technological dystopia, which can be so impactful when done well - and it looks quite polished, whatever I've played so far!
I also really appreciate the metaphor, being someone who is deeply interested in human psychology, sea = sea of collective consciousness, and a company revolving all around data collection and analysis of this? That can't be good at all. This seems to definitely fit the anti capitalism-related jam too.
The option to doze off in the very beginning made me laugh a bit. The character, environment design and ui looks quite refined too!
The main obstacle I've faced so far is navigation. I couldn't quite understand how to reach the destination in the first mission; but that could be just me!
Thank you very much for your feedback!
I'm glad that you enjoyed the premise of the game <3. Did you manage to reach one of the endings?
We're very happy that you find the game idea, design and polish good, since we sweat a lot during those two weeks haha.
Could you please explain exactly what was the problem during the navigation part? Did you do the tutorial?
Was the problem understanding how to move the ship, or did you not understand where to go/how to land?
Commands to move are WASD, there is a red arrow showing you where to go, and E to interact with the island where to land.
Ah the red signal! The crisp red arrow mark located so close to our location - oh this was completely on me, it's actually intuitive enough! I played again, and wow. I'm so glad I played again. My previous comments stand - but got reinforced. I got through many missions, but in the terrorist-related mission, when I reached the location, the entire screen went black? I wonder what happened.
But - I do have to convey this:
This is brilliant work. The characters have distinct personalities, I quite liked the subtle way you acknowledged gender discrimination, and the way Bernard just went missing - was quite effective in conveying the feeling that something was very, very, wrong with this corporation. Also the 'match the wave' mechanic looked so fresh to me - and narratively made sense because it can be interpreted that you are 'tuning into the frequency' of the collective consciousness. The way it's implied you are possibly influencing the thoughts of the people without them realizing is also quite well-done. Anger zone...insecurity zone...depression zone...quite creative. All in all, I hope your team is proud of yourselves! You did this in 2 weeks for this jam? That blood, sweat and tears show!
Oh damn, you made it so close to reach one of the endings before it crashed... the "terrorrist" attack is the last mission of the game, actually. I hope you had a save?
I'm guessing you played on browser, but you can still save the game through browser. You just have to press tab and save. There's only one save slot, though. I tried the game on browser till the end and it didn't crash for me so I don't know what happened :/
The downloadable version is probably more stable (and it has better graphics), but still it should work till the end with the html5 ver.
Thank you for the incredible comment! <333 And yeah we did sweat tears and blood during these two weeks, haha. 2 devs, 2 graphists, 1 writer, very very little sleep, lot's of caffeine and junk food... but no regrets lol.
Still, reading such a wonderful feedback and see our efforts appreciated is great! THANKS AGAIN!
It was the downloadable version! Ah no, I didn't save it the first time, I didn't know how to. But I played again, and the same thing happened again...Maybe someone else can enlighten? Anyway, I have saved it this time. But if the browser version is working for you, it should probably be fine, hmm.
Don't worry too much, whatever I was able to play was so substantial - it could be from my side too! You must have tested the downloadable version too?
Also, I hope you and your team will get time to rest now - that must have been one hell of a ride!
Hey, I was able to play the full version on browser! Solid ending - I love the level of shadiness on that captain. And would love to know how this story progresses, if you expand on it next year!
Thank you for your feedback, we were able to realize that our downloadable version is broken :( We fixed it but we need to see with the organizators if we can resubmit it. At least the html ver. works, oof!
We will keep you in touch if we update the game :3 <3
Ohh man, so it was broken (but still playable 13 out of 15 mins). Yes, the html version works and is completely, completely playable! And it's also proof that the game was complete before the deadline. Let's seee!
Thank you very much for your feedback!
Glad you like the beginning and that the atmosphere we wanted to give to the game came through clearly. It's nice to ear that you find our take on the theme interesting too.
However, I am very sorry that you struggled with the navigation... :/ Belillart already asked you more details, I want to join her and say that we are very interested in your feedback; if you have time. :)
Thanks again!
Oh you guys are so kind! My trouble with the navigation lies entirely on me. Once it clicked, it was intuitive and just the right amount of challenging with the limited visibility and obstacles. Good job!
Hey SoulSpiller! Thank you again for trying our game multiple time and helping us discover that the .exe version was broken haha
I just gave someone else a tip to an alternate ending that people seem to be missing, so I thought I would give it to you too even if you must be annoyed with the game already :P just in case!
Try going back to an island where you've already set a data collector in a previous run (the dots are purple) and talk back to the NPC there. It's more interesting if you had talked to the NPC the first time you met him, but it's not mandatory. You can do that anytime /any run before you set the last data collector.
The discovery of what is happening to the islets and their people after you've set a data collector will trigger an event during your way back to the hub after you've set the final data collector ;)
(additionally it should unlock slightly different dialogues in the hub inbetween your runs everytime you visit a purple-dot island and talk to an NPC there)
Tip: Remember to use the save function with Tab to be able to load your game at a certain point, if you're not sure what to do
Bernard had dropped enough hints for me to want to explore the previous islets, but the last few times I played I was too preoccupied with checking whether the game was working properly! And I'm so glad I played again - and I understand why you kept asking people which ending they got, hehe. It was quite evident this was going in the direction of mind-control, but it's so tastefully done! Unlocked some good dialogues. And when I got that that white signal, I was so excited!
Good job, everyone! My respect for this work has increased even more - please take good rest now.