Description: An investigation game where you must find the truth.
Story: An AI was found death inside the NedLudd Club, a small community who refuses cyber-technology. You are the Detective who must find the guilty.
Instructions: Mouse - left click for walk - right click for talk or use Clock - click on it to go on with time Notebook - click on it to open and write in with keyboard, click on it to close Cellular - click on it to open
I'm impressed with how much you were able to squeeze into one weekend! It definitely has the longest playtime of the games I've tried so far. I wasn't able to finish, couldn't find the computer that the bartender was talking about. Am I supposed to have a map? NPCs kept mentioning it, but I couldn't find it.
Very nice storytelling, I couldn't finish it altough I'm convinced the culpript is *spoiler* the one I found where everything begun at 11 PM.
I like the graphics, music and mood, but maybe time was passing a bit fast on dialog I already read once.
A lot of people say a bunch of things about them and I couldn't write anything on the notepad because if you click on the icon, the dialog just skips.
Graphics were ok, it's normal when in a rush but the music... well, just doesn't fit. If you tried to go for an Atari themed game would be nice instead of a "Deus Ex" ambience.
Also, I couldn't click at anything or talk to anyone. Clicking on door on the bar goes nowhere. So I kept skipping time, seeing some people come and go without any idea who they are.
Anyway, even thought I didn't enjoyed this I thought would be fair to give some tips.
The story caught my attention, but I couldn't find the computer. The fact that refering a minority as a Small World is great and original. Taking notes in the game is a risky resource, most of the people wouldn't ever write, a bit of self thought from the detective could be great as well.
Cool, the story gripped me from the get-go. A very solid adventure game in a cyberpunk setting. And I think the music fits pretty well with the story and the setting. My only real gripe would be the money mechanic. I got stuck basically at the very end of the game because I spent money trying to gamble and couldn't then buy something that was needed to progress with the story. I don't think being able to "lose" like that is something desirable when it comes to adventure games.
The Game had humor. But I believe it could be improved. Graphics could have been improved, but bro, for a weekend, freaking awesome. The music was good, one of the main problems was story telling and how is the theme supported?
Had to pull myself away not to stay here all day.:D Beautiful work guys. I really appreciated the notepad and phone, was happy to have floors. The story is quite intricate, you did an amazing job!
Hey guys! I tried downloading the game (the Mac version), but it was really really slow to download and never finished (even though it was only 40MB). Have you considered hosting on sites like itch.io or gamejolt instead? Compared to Dropbox, I think it might make it more presentable, future-proof, and probably speeds up the downloads :) Anyway I like the graphics!
Definitely one of this Ludum more ambitious entries. Loved the idea of exploiting different people schedules and conducting investigation in semi-real-time. 8-bit art complemented cyberpunk setting nicely, although would like to see stylization go all the way (character moving by pixels instead of smoothly, maybe more chiptune inspired music). Overall, really nice adventure game!
Looks very interesting, but unfortunately even with the instructions I was unable to figure out what to do. For some reason I can't talk to anyone?
First of all, thank you for playing our game, I sincerely hope you are enjoying it!
Unfortunately, while playing it once again from start to finish myself, I noticed a number of grammar mistakes here and there in the dialogues.
Not very surprising: putting the text into the game was, strangely enough, one of the very last things we did, and by that time we were incredibly tired. In that state, mistakes were almost unavoidable.
That being said, since the game has a strong focus on story and dialogues, we will have to correct these mistakes. As soon as it is feasible, we will work to do so. I hope you can all enjoy a version free from these blemishes as soon as possible.
NB: Of Course, since the Ludum Dare has ended already, we will take care to specify in the game's description that the "grammar fix" was done after the end of the Dare.
Long play time, awesome game throughout. It took a little bit for me to figure some of the stuff out, but it was overall very rewarding when you did. Simplistic art, looked like I was playing on an advanced Atari 2600 (no complaints, I love this style). Very impressive!
This is a fantastic entry, very ambitious and has really good writing! This will most likely get within the top 10 for overall, and that spot is well deserved for such a good entry. The music was very well done, and fit the mood of the game perfectly. The only flaw I see with this game is the art, some of the environmental objects like taps and sinks looked really scaled and out of place in comparison to the rest of the art. Other than that, good job! You guys should definitely continue working on this game after the jam, it has lots of potential.
Wow, nice work! I didn't have the suspect in time but I was close. I'm gonna go back for more later, I refuse to watch the walkthrough, haha. The Atari style made me feel nostalgic and story was intriguing. Awesome work for such a long game in such a short time!
What an excellent game, even if the theme was a little bit forced. It took me three playthroughs to get all the information to catch the real killer, but that gave me a chance to appreciate the schedule mechanics you'd added.
Apart from general spelling and grammar issues, which are only to be expected in LD games, what I'd suggest changing is the phone needing a number typed in. It's the only number you call all game, and you don't even have the notepad when you're told it, so I'd suggest just having the phone call Toothpick automatically. The number wasn't in the walkthrough either, so if anyone's still looking, it's 531.
Small issues aside, congratulations on putting together an excellent game here!
Had to use your guide to finish the game, but I'm glad you made a guide. Pretty complex little story for such a sort time. Nicely done. If you get a chance check our our entry https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/down-the-rabbit-hole
The storytelling is really good and the game play was good.
One suggestion for next time: and this goes for everyone that submitted something, (including myself). Think about "Why would the player want to play this?" and "Why should the player care?" and "How can I keep the player engaged and give them real depth of gameplay?"
The atmosphere was well crafted, but I felt that the controls took me out of it a little. The notepad was a cool idea, but I would've liked if it were easier to open and close during dialogue. There seems to be a lot of content in this one, but it feels like it's a little tough to get into/through. Overall, I liked the setting and the concept, but I wish it had a little more polish.
Very good job at storytelling, even a small amount of worldbuilding. I did not manage to play through the whole game though, maybe an automatic notepad (optional, as 'easy mode') that saves the important information from dialogues could help. (see "Thimbleweed Park" for a concrete example :)) Overall it is very fun if you like point-and-click adventures. :)
Played the web version which worked well - even though I didn't get the killer right. I'll have to do it again:-) Reading others' comments helped me to work out how to play - and the hint of asking the cleaner was good :-) Loved the notebook idea - very useful! I liked the graphics and the music wasn't too intrusive. A lot of story for such a short time - nice work!
The best detective game on the Atari 2600! ;) Joking aside, that was a really nice game, loved the cyberpunky music which gave the game a much grander atmosphere. Still, even after half an hour and many restarts I didn't manage to get all the evidence, but I have a hunch as whodunnit ;) It's a small world after all... Reminded me a little of "Deadline" by Infocom. Anyone remembers? Or "The Witness" (not the new one). No? Alright then, I'm old!
Great interactive story telling, a lot to produce in a short space of time. My only suggestion to offer is perhaps more visual cues, i.e. objects highlight when near them or characters have pop dialog with "talk" just to give a player some visual feedback.
I really enjoyed it, it's a really good adventure game. I persisted until I found the culprit ;)
I liked the mood, the writing and the story.
The most difficult part for me was that there were times where I was wandering for hours without moving on with the case. not blocked but because I had to wait for something (and I didn't know what) to happen, so I wandered all over the building in search. But well in the end it wasn't too fustrating and it probably is also the most innovative part of this game (which is a bit like the 3rd Gabriel Knight).
Wow, great idea. Well polished and challenging. I will have to come back to this later though when I have more time. Excellent entry, well done :slight_smile:
Nice music and a great theme. I enjoyed playing this and love that some one is making pixel art point and click adventure stories - it's actually what I've been intending to do next. I f I could offer any suggestion, it would be that having right click and left click as separate actions is slightly less intuitive then the classic click a verb and then click the thing you want to interact with - but it definitely still works and the fact you put it all together in a weekend is amazing. i look forward to seeing what you do next!
I liked the music, and the graphics were also really good. I am not sure this is the best kind of game to make for a LD game, though. It was pretty long. I liked the premise and the detail that was put into it in such a short amount of time.
Looks like I've still got some work to do! I'll be back for another play through! Great work. Very Agatha Christie meets Neal Stephenson- kinda! Love the mood, retro graphics, and great soundtrack selection!
This was incredibly ambitious writing wise for a 72 hour jam! There's a lot of material here, and I dig the Atari graphics you decided to go with, works well with sort of a jank cyberpunk sort of setting. Seems like you got the makings for an interesting retro mystery game.
If you'd like, I'd appreciate you taking a look at my game as well, you can find a link to it on my profile
A very dense atmosphere and well-written dialogues made the hunt for the murderer an engaging experience. You have to combine all the hints cleverly and nothing is as it seems first. You could improve on the graphics, but this was still a very solid game with quite some playtime.
Very cool entry. I wouldn't say I was particularly fond of the way the dialogues were presented (I can attribute that in part to the fact that all the lines were cut midway in the dialogue box, I'd normally avoid doing this unless it's a super long sentence). The graphics was serviceable, and the idea behind it was great, just needed some more... "nuance"? Great effort though for the amount of time.
Comments50
I like the graphics, music and mood, but maybe time was passing a bit fast on dialog I already read once.
Bravi.
A lot of people say a bunch of things about them and I couldn't write anything on the notepad because if you click on the icon, the dialog just skips.
Graphics were ok, it's normal when in a rush but the music... well, just doesn't fit. If you tried to go for an Atari themed game would be nice instead of a "Deus Ex" ambience.
Also, I couldn't click at anything or talk to anyone. Clicking on door on the bar goes nowhere. So I kept skipping time, seeing some people come and go without any idea who they are.
Anyway, even thought I didn't enjoyed this I thought would be fair to give some tips.
Still, I very much enjoyed it! Great entry.
@xavier-indie-gamedev I listened to your advice and now the game is on itch.io! Thank you! :)
First of all, thank you for playing our game, I sincerely hope you are enjoying it!
Unfortunately, while playing it once again from start to finish myself, I noticed a number of grammar mistakes here and there in the dialogues.
Not very surprising: putting the text into the game was, strangely enough, one of the very last things we did, and by that time we were incredibly tired. In that state, mistakes were almost unavoidable.
That being said, since the game has a strong focus on story and dialogues, we will have to correct these mistakes. As soon as it is feasible, we will work to do so. I hope you can all enjoy a version free from these blemishes as soon as possible.
NB: Of Course, since the Ludum Dare has ended already, we will take care to specify in the game's description that the "grammar fix" was done after the end of the Dare.
Please hate us on https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/deep-bottom
P.S: In the web version, the blockNote will not save the information after the game and doesn't work fine in mobile.
Apart from general spelling and grammar issues, which are only to be expected in LD games, what I'd suggest changing is the phone needing a number typed in. It's the only number you call all game, and you don't even have the notepad when you're told it, so I'd suggest just having the phone call Toothpick automatically. The number wasn't in the walkthrough either, so if anyone's still looking, it's 531.
Small issues aside, congratulations on putting together an excellent game here!
Tip: Make it clear that you can go to the sides (more rooms).
One suggestion for next time: and this goes for everyone that submitted something, (including myself). Think about "Why would the player want to play this?" and "Why should the player care?" and "How can I keep the player engaged and give them real depth of gameplay?"
Good plot for only 72 hours. Arts are simple but stylish.
But English is not my native language... I have some trouble too understand all of your game.
But nice work, the sound is great. And the pixel art is controled
Overall, awesome job!
I liked the mood, the writing and the story.
The most difficult part for me was that there were times where I was wandering for hours without moving on with the case. not blocked but because I had to wait for something (and I didn't know what) to happen, so I wandered all over the building in search. But well in the end it wasn't too fustrating and it probably is also the most innovative part of this game (which is a bit like the 3rd Gabriel Knight).
Anyway, congrat's its a great entry!
If you'd like, I'd appreciate you taking a look at my game as well, you can find a link to it on my profile