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.