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A jam submission

The MuseumView game page

Rob 'em blind!
Submitted by CG8516 (Clark) — 12 hours, 25 minutes before the deadline
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The Museum's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Setting, story, characters, and world#54.0194.429
Fun gameplay#53.6954.071
Blind-friendly and good use of audio#74.1494.571

Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted

I personally found it difficult to navigate, but I'm not use to play any audio games, I get confuse when there is a lot of repetitive sounds, so I can't really give any feedback on the gameplay.

I was surprise at the fact that there is lost of options to make accessibility and navigation more flexible. I'm sure with more time and experimenting with all the options I will be able to have a better navigation experience.

The fact that you can control the volume of each different sound is also really cool, I haven't seen that  in any other game so far.

Honestly, a lot of what I wanted to say was already echoed by Superfreq. This game, audio and navigation wise does just so much right and feels incredibly intuitive to play as a result, all while the soundscape is rich in fun details, and all the sounds musically working well together. The way the navigation assist works with playing more notes the closer you get to your destination is also genius!

Submitted

Great entry!
I have to admit that I was lost trying to navigate, even though I've read the readme. There was just too much going at the same time for me. This might be just me, though, I'm not used to playing audio-only games.
So sadly, I only got the object in the room where you start, I've managed to get to the storage room, but was lost here as well. 
I think you probably did a great job on this, reading the other comments. The combination of wall proximity feedback, a "target" indicator, as well as the white noise for empty space is a good idea in general, and the other features mentioned in the readme are promising as well. I will probably come back to try again later ;)
For me, the one thing I would really like to see is a tutorial or an introductory section - and I totally get that this might have been too much to do during the jam, given how much you've managed to do already.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing, and for your very useful feedback :)  

If you haven't tried out the navigation assistance (tab), it should make it much easier to navigate.
A tutorial was definitely in the works, but I just didn't have enough time to fit it in.  
Even the main menu had to get scrapped, lol.

Submitted

The first time I played, I had to quit after a few minutes because the sounds were very uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it's a bug, but the white noise started very loud, so much that I could barely hear the narrator of the gear exhibit. The high pitched sound when a wall is in front of you was also very uncomfortable and aggravated my tinnitus. I think rather than varying the frequency of the sound, you could choose some compatible pitches (a musical chord) and only vary the volume. This would also fit well with the other musical game mechanics.

But, I turned down all those sounds and gave it another try, and I'm glad I did. The musical navigation system of rising and falling notes is brilliant. The robot sounds are very well implemented and do a good job of communicating their position and state. And the narration of some exhibits are pretty amusing if you stop and listen.

The musical hacking game is okay, but I was very confused the first time. I thought I must have been caught in some kind of trap because I couldn't move, but after reading the README again I realized what was going on. I think the 3 by 3 grid is a bit too complex to navigate, remembering where in the grid you are while also trying to remember the tune. Maybe just 5 notes would be more manageable, so you could press the button while holding up, left, down, right, or no direction (center), without remembering grid position.

Overall, very well done, with just a few bugs and issues to work out. Nice work!

Developer

I'm sorry to hear about the volume levels. Sounds like it might be a bug, or maybe just something different between our audio setups. 
I'm glad you were able to work around it.  

And thanks for your feedback on the hacking minigame, it really helps :)

Submitted (1 edit) (+3)

Really good use of audio 👍The atmosphere is great and I could understand some sounds. Like other sighted people, it's challenging but I could at least steal one object (almost two) and move into few rooms. Otherwise, I hear a rumor that said that the thief is still inside the museum looking for the exit. 😅

PS: I think that it is better to also put the gameplay instructions directly in the itchio page.

Developer

Haha, thanks for sharing your experience.  
Did you try out the navigation assistant (tab)? It will help guide you to all the rooms.

Submitted(+1)

Very cool concept for an audio based game, and the theme really shows in a lot of places! Agreed with some of the other comments that having a main menu before the game starts would be really nice. 

Also having a tutorial for the different sounds would have been awesome (although totally understand that that's hard to squeeze into a jam period). As someone who isn't super familiar with audio games, it was a little challenging to understand all of the queues, and when you were close enough to an object to grab it, but otherwise super cool, and great job!

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Hi! I love your work with the sounds and atmosphere so much! 

Your screenshots directly appealed me, I like this art direction.

I couldn't go far because I didn't understood the different sound feedback, could you help me understand them so I could progress in the game ?


(The game crashed when exiting the option menu, so I couldn't enjoy your visual work :( )

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks!

There's some info in the included readme if you haven't checked it out already.

To expand on the things in there: the robots patrolling will make a motor sound as they move, and a slower motor sound when they turn.
They always turn 90 degrees clockwise.
If you're in their field of view, they'll stop moving and begin making an ascending alert sound. If you quickly walk away, the sound will begin descending, and they will continue patrolling without being alerted.
If they were alerted, you'll hear two alternating alarm tones play repeatedly as they chase you.

The loot scanner doesn't use directional audio. It's more like a game of hotter and colder, and will beep faster as you approach some loot.
When it transitions to a very rapid beep, you can grab the loot by pressing space.

When you enter a utility or staff room, you'll hear a beeping on one of the walls. Walk up to it and press space to begin cracking the code.

The museum displays with spoken dialogue are just for navigation and landmarking purposes, they aren't interactable in any way.

If you haven't tried the navigation assistance, it should help greatly with finding your way around. Especially if you're being chased by a guard.

Edit: Sorry about the crashing! You can avoid it by closing the menu with the escape key instead of selecting 'resume game'

Submitted(+1)

I've finished the game! Indeed, you really have to pay attention to the readme, and the same goes for the mini-game with sound (to understand that it's a grid you're navigating through).

It's a demanding game, but very enjoyable once you've trained yourself to distinguish the sounds. I did, however, occasionally deactivate the blind mode to progress in certain rooms.

A really great, rich experience! It would be really nice to have a "tutorial" room first, to familiarize the player with the sounds and the mini-game!

(1 edit) (+2)

Okay I'm impressed, seriously! This only took you a month? This is better than most of the existing audio games we have, and I'm saying that as someone who's been playing them for over 20 years! Are you sure this is your                      first time doing this? Because you really nailed things that we've been developing as concepts for years. This one I'll be keeping after the jam for sure.

Controls are flexible and logical, while navigation is easy with the wall sounds and beacons. Most jam games never reach this level of basic comfort in terms of mechanics.

The sounds are great, and the exhibit narration and music combine to make an immersive and believable atmosphere. Even the beacon noises are in theme... LOL

The stealth features are awesome, and something that we've been wanting in audio games for years now; it's kind of a dream come true to see it in action honestly, and it's what jams like this are all about.

It's always easy to tell where enemies are going and how close you are to being spotted thanks to the immediately recognizable sound cues and great audio positioning. So smooth in fact that I straight up forgot I was playing a jam game because I got so into it.

The puzzles are fun, and as someone without great pitch, I appreciate that you can try as many times as you want. I didn't feel like the amount of notes was unfair either.

I always love the inclusion of controller support, thanks for taking the time!

I like that the narrator announces which lasers are going down. Maybe an obvious thing, but easy to forget in a jam game.

I appreciate the inclusion of a readme, it's a nice touch.


Things I would improve.

Unfortunately, the game crashes any time you try to resume it, so I can't save settings.

I said the sound cues are immediately recognizable, and they are, for me, because I've been playing audio games for ages. But a learn game sounds menu would be excellent for people who haven't.

I'd like to be able to check my current room, remaining EMP charges, and possibly which lasers are active on demand.

The footsteps are a bit quiet for me even at max volume.

I wish the beacons had some kind of in between sound for when you're in a turn to the place you need to be, and not actually off the path, because it was a bit confusing at once when I was doing well and then suddenly it was going down and not up.

Some voice feedback when adjusting the graphics levels with dash and plus would be nice.

I'd like to be dropped into the main menu first thing rather than directly into the game, so that I can set my options before starting.

When adjusting volume sliders, playing a reference sound for that category rather than the standard menu beep would be helpful. (not vital but nice to have)

There seems to be an item stuck in the storage room that you can't reach, but maybe that's a purposeful thing?


Thank you for raising the bar not only for these jams, but honestly for audio games in general. It's one of the best audiogames I've played period, and I've played dozens of them over the years. Innovation was exactly what we as players were all hoping for out of these jams, and the fact that you went all out and didn't underestimate our abilities or fall back on stereotyping or cliche was really, really appreciated. I'd have given you more than straight 5's if I could have!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Wow.
Thank you for your extremely kind message!

I guess I didn't think it was that impressive, because it falls way below what I'd initially planned.
Many things had to get cut or simplified due to time constraints, and I was overall kind of unhappy with the state it's in.
But reading your feedback definitely bumped my ego up a notch, haha.

This is my first blind accessbile game, but I've previously made a blind accessibility mod for Plants Vs. Zombies, so that experience helped a lot with this project.

Sorry to hear about the crashing,
Edit: You should be able to avoid the crashing by pressing escape, instead of 'resume game'

Also, thanks a ton for the list of things you'd improve. That sort of feedback really helps.

(+1)

Awesome, that makes sense now why you have some skill in this already. I thought I recognized your name from somewhere...

I'm surprised you had to cut so much. What's there is already very nice. I don't know if you'd be willing to continue this project, but if you do, I'd be happy to pay at least $10 for it in the current state, more if things get added.