This is the best game I've played in the jam! Great work, this story is so captivating, I love the mechanics, I'm not very far but I love it
So I've played it so far... I cannot get past when you get the file, I have no idea what to do with it and it seems like the 2 judges didn't know how to get past it either, should be easier to explain.
Also some things:
You can't add Kelsey or Hepner or Myers to the database.
And during the SOS, Hepner says his name is Hepburn.
Great game still, just want to get to the end
I figured out the safezone install. It should say in the main screen to be able to run files. When you bring the snapshot back to Tronner and Kelsey, Kelsey says "What did it meant?" instead of "What did it mean?" that same line has another error, i forget. Got the first ending, Preservation. Hepner is called Hepburn again in the ending
My thoughts after beating it: Still love the idea and the gameplay. The game should start out normal, where everything is fine, and make it more gradually broken, to fit the spreading theme (even though you aren't really bound by that anymore, it's still more interesting), like have Selm start you up in secret as a tutorial, and all of the ship is fine, and Selm asks you to get info and generate a report to her to test that you work. Then things start going wrong, then it cuts to where the game begins now, then the sectors start slowly becoming not available. Really excited to see how this game evolves, great work! I think there should be a lot of optional lore, additional modules, and everyone mentioned in the game should be able to be added to the database, I think knowing more about the crew would make the game more immersive
The dreaded install file. That was a very big oversight on my part, It’s one of those things you never realize it’s only clear to you as the developer, but not as a player. That is being entirely reworked now with its own “file system” like interface, so hopefully it’ll be more intuitive.
Funny you mention that about a sort of prologue, the first draft had something just like that with Selm testing ARES after being first made, and then being reactivated some time later, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it engaging and scrapped it to finish on time. I had completely forgotten about it, I can definitely try working it in now that time is not an issue.
Thank you so much for revisiting the game. The new UI may help to make the game easier to understand. The locator was definitely one of my biggest frustrations, as it was my favorite feature that I couldn’t really flesh out. So, I may be overcompensating now, but every name even just mentioned in passing has a bio file haha.
I haven’t shared this, but my approach to story is writing a detailed lore before going on with a main story, to help me keep characters consistent, even in multiple rewrites, so there’s a lot of content that’s just waiting to be added. Even Reacher has a full on backstory haha.
Thank you again for taking the time to leave a comment! I appreciate you pointing out the typos, I may have to bite the bullet and find someone to proofread my non-native ass. If you’re curious about ending 2, you get the chance to get it once you listen to the audiologs you find in the low decks.
SemispoilersA bit late to just say "I agree" but I reaaaally do! This game's use of UI as the Ares internal system is convincing, immersive, plus understandable to even someone like me. Some of the "glitches/hacks" really did creep me out, and some of the ones I think were actual game glitches could also intended as the INTRUDER messing up your system to stop you which was one of the goals in the design doc. All the small details really immersed me into the mystery, horror, and surprisingly the characters too. Like, the prompt asking you to confirm Ending 2 choice is so simple but..man . Great story, great ludonarrative!
My personal taste enjoys that Ares can be fully read as a nonsapient, with its actions throughout the entirety this story --including the two chief choices at the end-- simply being its problem solving functions doing its thing. I enjoy stories of AI developing a personhood to make the big choice, but I also really like AI's that make a big choice because its decidedly the most reasonable thing to do. Now that I typed this out though, I'm less sure that that's the intended impression. Oh well.
I wouldn't know that this was made with a game jam time limit or RPG Maker of all things so it's actually pretty inspiring an di just want the dev to know that this was a really nice game and be excited playing a further expansion of this kind of game-- or any other game in their catalogue. im blabbing nowblaghabagahba alnaaghjagha jkhedui hldc cd l/////////////..................................
Thank you a lot for your comment! I saw it by chance, had not alert about it. You’ve no idea how much reassuring is to see this, I had a lot of doubts on this game when I was developing it, given it’s such a small niche, but to see people enjoy it and get invested in the story is heartwarming!
Thank you for taking the time to check my projects and comment! I do intend to go all the way with this one for a full release, hopefully soonish if time is on my side, and I’ll be glad if you checked it out too!