LudumData

I Am S.A.M by MachineTribe

[raw]
made by MachineTribe for LD 39 (COMPO)

Everything in your life is going well. A good job, friends you can count on, a relatively mild existence. All that changes when you receive a mysterious package from your missing uncle Dr. Thomas M. Humphrey. Can you unravel the mystery of S.A.M and uncover the truth behind your uncle's mysterious disappearance? In the vain of 'Myst' and 'Ryven', I Am S.A.M is intended to be kind of difficult. Some people may never discover all of the secrets that S.A.M holds and that's ok. I believe that part of the fun of the game is in the frustration of talking to S.A.M, who was designed to hold a secret and will only respond to certain commands.

I didn't have a lot of time to perfect the build before submission so thanks for your patience while I try to get working versions for each platform up :)

8/3/17 - 6:17pm: Audio files have gone from 16bit stereo to 16bit mono, greatly reducing their size and the size of the final build

iamsam<em>screenshot</em>4.pngiamsam<em>screnshot</em>3.pngiamsam<em>screenshot</em>1.png

macOS https://ufile.io/bvms6
Windows https://ufile.io/2qehr
HTML5 (web)
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/i-am-s-a-m

Ratings

Overall 652th 2.3⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 649th 2⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 570th 2.474⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 614th 2.588⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Audio 449th 2.313⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Mood 567th 2.25⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 13🗳️ 15🗨️

Feedback

🎤 MachineTribe
31. Jul 2017 · 11:51 UTC
Sorry guys, only had time to upload the Mac version, html5 was in the plans as well, but... Oh well :)

EDIT: PC and HTML versions are now up and running. Enjoy!
Ace17
31. Jul 2017 · 17:09 UTC
Mac only? No HTML5? Come on ... the screenshot was promising! :-(
pandaman3d
31. Jul 2017 · 23:29 UTC
Yeah.. I don't have a Mac :/ ...What about uploading a video of gameplay if there will be no HTML5 :)
pst723
01. Aug 2017 · 00:33 UTC
Couldn't find the source code
🎤 MachineTribe
01. Aug 2017 · 13:31 UTC
Thanks for the feedback guys. There was a bunch of stuff I could have done better but as this is my first solo compo I am happy to have gotten something up at all. Hopefully will be better next time :)
Zachary Shah
01. Aug 2017 · 21:51 UTC
I really liked the game... but not the fact that you have to play on mac, but still REALLY FUN!!! Please play my game at https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/crazy-power-rush
🎤 MachineTribe
01. Aug 2017 · 22:51 UTC
@zachary-shah thanks for the comments! I am working on adding html and PC builds right now :)
AsSoonAsImpossible
03. Aug 2017 · 17:53 UTC
Nice idea and take on theme.
DBONGames
03. Aug 2017 · 22:13 UTC
I can't seem to get S.A.M. to recognize any commands. I am using windows. Am I missing something?
🎤 MachineTribe
03. Aug 2017 · 22:50 UTC
@dbongames I assume you mean that S.A.M just keeps replying with 'I don't understand that request...' whenever you type something? The idea is that your uncle hid something within this machine and you need to figure out how to get S.A.M to give you the information. He is looking for specific questions that he will respond to. His opening line is a hint at how to start solving one of the included mysteries. Hope this helps :)
gonutz
03. Aug 2017 · 23:14 UTC
Man, > 200 MB is quite a large download and the web version is stuck at 27% for me. I think I will have to skip this one, sorry. Maybe you could be a little lighter on the resources for your next game, it is a game jam after all ;-)

(of course I will not rate your game, as I have not played it)
bunrun11
03. Aug 2017 · 23:23 UTC
The game is unplayable for me on itch.io. Anything I type is always responded with a "I don't understand" and whenever I unfocus the game i can't refocus it without refreshing the browser (I'm using chrome).
🎤 MachineTribe
03. Aug 2017 · 23:40 UTC
@bunrun11 thanks for letting me know. I'll pull it and get a fixed put up asap :)
🎤 MachineTribe
03. Aug 2017 · 23:43 UTC
@gonutz thanks for the heads up! This my first time hosting a web version of a game so there are some growing pains there for me. The majority of the size is probably the music. I have reduced the size of the audio files to roughly 1/3 their original size (PC Version). If you have time and feel like giving it another shot, I would greatly appreciate it! :)
EShudra
04. Aug 2017 · 08:37 UTC
I would be happy to play but it not works for some reason

Fatal error!

Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION 0x00000000

0x0000000000000000
UE4Game-Win32-Shipping.exe!0x0000000002ADA361
UE4Game-Win32-Shipping.exe!0x0000000002ACD88C
UE4Game-Win32-Shipping.exe!0x0000000002ACD8C9
UE4Game-Win32-Shipping.exe!0x0000000001453149
🎤 MachineTribe
04. Aug 2017 · 11:54 UTC
@eshudra thanks for trying! Not sure why the windows version is acting like that, maybe S.A.M is tired :) C'est la vie!
Ramou
04. Aug 2017 · 18:53 UTC
"I don't understand" thanks you SAM ! :joy:
No, seriously, i don't understand this game, all i take call this line...
(I do not rating, because is maybe my fault, i go back after for re-test)
🎤 MachineTribe
04. Aug 2017 · 20:47 UTC
@ramou thanks for stopping by, its just about trying to get S.A.M to give you information. He won't respond to everything, just certain phrases.
sinclairstrange
05. Aug 2017 · 23:24 UTC
Sadly I had issues trying to open it, kept crashing on Windows10 on start up :(
gonutz
06. Aug 2017 · 16:28 UTC
Hey I am back to try your (now smaller) game. Unfortunately I cannot play your Windows 64 bit game on my 32 bit machine, could you add another build?
edomiyamoto
07. Aug 2017 · 11:11 UTC
I know it's supposed to be hard, but maybe some basic hints could help more players, like a help commands or something very basic to start ! However the idea is cool !
PjchardtTheSecond
10. Aug 2017 · 05:20 UTC
Just a heads up, compo games should include source code :)
Tuomo
17. Aug 2017 · 08:24 UTC
I don’t know how to rate this. You really throw player straight into the deep end here. I didn’t get anywhere, I might be stupid or impatient. As suggested earlier some direction or pointer to get started would have helped.
Ace17
19. Aug 2017 · 11:06 UTC
Did I miss something? From the comments, it seems that an HTML5 version is available, but I can't find it!
Also, the archive for the source code is missing.
widdershinscrustacean
20. Aug 2017 · 18:51 UTC
Hey there! I like what I see, but my slow brain really requires more hints to get anywhere. As a young sprocket I watched *Wargames*, and even that misspent youth only got me one command (+variations) in. I'm thinking about some puzzle games I like, and maybe the beginning of this one could point a bit more at the shape of the mystery/mysteries? (am I trying to access hidden files? getting SAM to hack something? uncover a murder?)

The framework for this game is *good*. The UI is simple, the command I found accepted a bunch of different variants, and my absolute favourite part is how you got the timing for the power bar juuust right :)
pilly
22. Aug 2017 · 00:53 UTC
Interesting idea - I was only able to get one command in, but might've tried longer if the terminal scrolled automatically (the only way I was able to see new messages was to manually drag the scrollbar, which made me impatient after a while and eventually give up). I enjoyed the mood (especially the music) and believe there may be a compelling story to be discovered, but was missing direction and could've used more feedback.
adhesion
22. Aug 2017 · 01:42 UTC
Really cool concept & setting, though the gameplay just felt like trial & error. I got as far as picking a target then couldn't figure out any possible input - really needs more hints of some sort. Cool music btw. Would love to see where this goes, nice work!

Side note, I would recommend using dropbox or google drive or some other hosting service, waiting multiple minutes to download a 60MB file is a bummer.