The P.U.R.G.E. Protocol by hhsaez

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

You wake up suddenly in a small room, with the sole company of a computer asking you strange questions. Can you save yourself?

The P.U.R.G.E. Protocol is a Q&A game developed during LD39 and based on the theme "Running out of Power".

Screen Shot 2017-07-30 at 4.32.11 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-07-30 at 4.32.24 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-07-30 at 4.32.56 PM.png

Controls

  • WASD/Cursor Keys for movement
  • Mouse to look around
  • Left mouse button to interact with the world

Updated version!

  • Fixed input errors and crashes on OSX

Links

  • Windows: https://github.com/hhsaez/purgeprotocol/releases/download/v1.0.1/purgeprotocol-win.zip
  • OS X: https://github.com/hhsaez/purgeprotocol/releases/download/v1.0.1/purgeprotocol-osx.zip
  • Itch.io: https://hhsaez.itch.io/the-purge-protocol
  • Github: https://github.com/hhsaez/purge_protocol

Ratings

Overall 346th 3.297⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Fun 506th 2.781⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 336th 3.078⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Theme 597th 2.781⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 150th 3.734⭐ 66🧑‍⚖️
Humor 147th 3.033⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Mood 212th 3.242⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Given 80🗳️ 83🗨️

Feedback

increpare
31. Jul 2017 · 14:49 UTC
crashed for me shortly after clicking the sphere

here's the crashdump:
https://pastebin.com/Zu8SxsxL
Rafael Souza
31. Jul 2017 · 14:49 UTC
Haha, like it :)
It has a hacker tone, and I love it.

The death part is funny too :)
TheLukker
31. Jul 2017 · 14:49 UTC
Kinda short, didn't really get the point of the game. This was literally just an IQ test. Sorry.
pauljs
31. Jul 2017 · 14:51 UTC
Nice ambiance / universe, but i must admitt when i was in the game i wasn't excepted just a quiz. Missing some music too improve the atmosphere. I really think you can do something really great with this universe, you just need to found a deeper gameplay ! Nice anyway !
Manafest
31. Jul 2017 · 14:52 UTC
Really enjoyed this game! My favourite bit was when I noticed the dead person floating outside the window, and the shadow that cast on the room. Great range of trivia, unfortunately for me I was not deemed a priority and I got gassed :D
🎤 hhsaez
31. Jul 2017 · 14:55 UTC
Thanks for the feedback! And the crash report too!
sgt3v
31. Jul 2017 · 14:59 UTC
When I saw the guy floating out of the window I knew something bad was gonna happen :D should have realized that from the name of the game tho. I really liked it and I wish you continue development and make this game a couple of hours puzzle adventure game.
tuism
31. Jul 2017 · 15:39 UTC
I had... Other things in mind when I saw the production value on this baby, but I certainly wasn't expecting a linear quiz that I couldn't be arsed to work out all the answers for :) It's like a twist that was less fun than what it was gonna be :P
uzyfeo
31. Jul 2017 · 17:27 UTC
Well, kind of unexpected to see quiz game here :D

But hey, I had fun with it! Mood was good, kudos for using something else than Unity or GameMaker as many here are too. Also caught the Konami Code reference! Brings some childhood memories (and also the times Konami was actually good...)

Also I found out I'm not as stupid as I thought I am (suprisingly), which makes me happier :)
Thorneto
31. Jul 2017 · 17:52 UTC
Neat environment but I didn't really come for a math quiz lol
Game_Coder28
31. Jul 2017 · 18:09 UTC
Nooooooo. I Want to play it but i dont have right version of mac os x!!!!!!!! :cry:
Sivael
31. Jul 2017 · 18:58 UTC
Pretty nice, but a bit slow and there isn't much info about that is happening ;p
Overall cool though.
LogFlames
31. Jul 2017 · 19:07 UTC
Really nice game. So short and so sad. (If you answer wrong...) Good work!
Aligi
31. Jul 2017 · 19:13 UTC
I really liked the art style. I would have liked to see a bit more than the quiz. Anyway, good job!
Phlip45
31. Jul 2017 · 19:33 UTC
I think the quiz questions could have been a little simpler as opposed to straight up math and logic questions, or at least have some sort of feedback on the answers you gave so I could play again and learn from trial and error. Overall I think the biggest thing that was lacking was sound. Some simple sound effects and ambient music would have made this a more immersive experience.

Negatives aside I did enjoy the game. Graphics are amazing and I was generally surprised when the guy was floating out of the window. That is when the theme clicked and I realized what was actually happening. I think if there was a sudden whooshing noise and your character getting pushed to the edge of the door when time is up would have had more of an emotional gut punch. I was generally panicked for the last few moments and having that kind of release would have been super satisfying. Really liked that aspect of it!
🎤 hhsaez
31. Jul 2017 · 19:38 UTC
@phlip45 that was my original idea, to be sucked away to space upon losing. But due to time constraints I had to cut that out. Audio was a different story, thought, as I never really had any intention of adding it, fearing that I wouldn't have enough time (not that I did).

Thanks everyone for the feedback!!
filippy
31. Jul 2017 · 19:59 UTC
When the first person appeared on the window(and casted a shadow on the wall) I almost jumped from the scare, also some of the questions made me laugh, did you take them from a database or did you just come up with a bunch of them?
🎤 hhsaez
31. Jul 2017 · 20:06 UTC
I didn't have much time to spend on the questions, so I made them up based on friends or things that I knew beforehand.
Originally, I was supposed to implement puzzles too, some of them involving chess movements or dragging objects, but they didn't make the cut in the end.

It's supposed to be some kind of IQ test and I guess I got that right based on the feedback I'm getting.

Thanks for playing!
Peredom
31. Jul 2017 · 20:57 UTC
Love the idea! Very original take on the theme
loyance
31. Jul 2017 · 23:46 UTC
The simple minimalistic graphics made my day. Would be nice if time between questions was a little shorter, but I enjoyed this game either way
Crown Games
01. Aug 2017 · 04:36 UTC
Although I didn't manage to beat the game, I did find it fun. Definitely a dark way to die.
Jonathan Whiting
01. Aug 2017 · 09:19 UTC
Cute idea, nice environment. Really crying out for some atmospheric audio!
Arkthalohs
02. Aug 2017 · 05:42 UTC
Nice game! I liked the whole atmosphere of things, especially once the bodies started showing up, even if the trivia part was a bit simple. I think some music could really bring out a stronger creepiness and atmosphere for what's going on, but overall it was a really nice atmospheric puzzle game. Good job!
gilborn
02. Aug 2017 · 10:23 UTC
Really nice entry, didn´t expect to make an IQ test in order to survive :-)

The room architecture is great and the lack of textures give it some art style. Loved the dead bodys flying on the outside.

Couldn´t beat the game for my own, cheated with the help of a seach engine, but I guess this is ok if one of the questions is refered to a cheating code itself ;-)

Sound would have added much to the mood, but this is only a drop of bitterness.
zee
02. Aug 2017 · 11:29 UTC
I loved the overall setting and plot. Once I saw the jettisoned body's shadow, and turned to see it itself, everything clicked into place! It was a great way to tell the story, without using words. Even without audio, you managed to build a great atmosphere, making it feel like more then a simple trivia game.

My only problem I had with the game were the pop culture questions (such as the Konami code), they really didn't fit the atmosphere or the setting of the game, and seemed out of place. I sat at the lost question for a good bit, trying to find out what made the numbers a sequence, before giving up and googling it, only to find out it was from a TV show I never watched. I'm not really sure why a ship's computer, or the people that run the ship, would care if you seen it. The question doesn't fit with the rest of the logical ones leading up to it.

In the end, it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the game too much, as everything else was done very well!
gonutz
02. Aug 2017 · 19:47 UTC
Unfortunately I cannot run this Windows 64 bit exe on my 32 bit machine, could you add another build?
🎤 hhsaez
02. Aug 2017 · 20:29 UTC
Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

@gonutz, I'll try and upload a new windows build with 32bit support as soon as possible. Thanks
Olowynd
02. Aug 2017 · 23:16 UTC
Sad that there is no audio ! The atmosphere was very interesting, I really like the 3D modelisation of the room, and wow, when I suddenly see the shadow and search where it come from I got really surprised when I see the flying corpse outside. A creepy "wow moment", but very cool ! Like @zee , I found some questions a bit innapropried, but overall it was a good experience, nice entry !
eggnog
03. Aug 2017 · 02:16 UTC
I love the idea of a 3D quiz show! Also, the whole Portal-esque test subject theme is always a good time. Great job on the graphics, and I'd love to try this with some cool particle effects when you click on your answers, along with some sound effects or white noise from the ship!
JCMonkey
03. Aug 2017 · 02:53 UTC
interesting game, i like the ppl getting floated in space
zenmumbler
03. Aug 2017 · 16:40 UTC
I like the notion of a culture where each life is valued not by merit or capabilities, but knowledge of arbitrary trivia.
Sarrixx
03. Aug 2017 · 16:48 UTC
Interesting concept and story idea, but found the gameplay to be a bit bland and the character controller could have been a bit more sensitive to input (faster movement and mouse sensitivity). Audio would have brought a lot more to the atmosphere and mood of the game too.
Steve Johnson
04. Aug 2017 · 05:30 UTC
Crash on clicking 'start' on OS X. Sorry :-(
Damoy
04. Aug 2017 · 09:50 UTC
Quite an interesting concept and game ! Well done.
Jesús González
05. Aug 2017 · 04:28 UTC
I didn't get it. Where's the theme? Also, those priority and expendable numbers, what do they mean?
Brolton
05. Aug 2017 · 08:31 UTC
hah, cool questions! 4,8,15,16,23,42) or question about rings) it's funny!
designernap
06. Aug 2017 · 20:39 UTC
I guess the theme is connected by the ship running out of power and then making sacrifices to survive? I like the presentation but it did come down to an IQ test... although I don't like Lord of The rings but am still pretty smart ;) Nice entry!
MEOWStudios
07. Aug 2017 · 19:18 UTC
Interesting concept but I can't say it was very exciting to play an IQ quiz. -Bliss
Split82
08. Aug 2017 · 18:32 UTC
Nice questions, simple but fun. The death texts are funny. Good job!
PRANEET56
11. Aug 2017 · 11:25 UTC
What do those priority and expendable mean? And the quiz was good, I was surprisingly able to answer most of them.
🎤 hhsaez
11. Aug 2017 · 12:26 UTC
Priority and Expendable are both part of the story of the game. One always goes up, the other always go down. Look around ;)

Thanks everyone for the comments! I'll be doing a postmortem shortly
tomdeal
15. Aug 2017 · 16:52 UTC
Nice game, fun concept and tricky questions. Also good graphics, but unfortunately a bit underused. Good entry, almost made it to the end, I think...
Yetman
15. Aug 2017 · 23:24 UTC
So I don't deserve to live because I didn't watch lord of the rings :sob: (some people I know would agree though). The concept was nice but some of the questions were frustrating since they require knowledge of media material I never stumbled upon. There was that one number sequence problem that kept me confused till I discovered it was from some TV show I didn't know about. Anyway, the other aspects are nice, the art looks great, the dead men added some nice atmosphere to the game. The story concept was nice too.
🎤 hhsaez
18. Aug 2017 · 14:19 UTC
Hi!

I just uploaded a new version for OSX fixing input errors and crashes

Thanks everyone for playing!
wan
18. Aug 2017 · 14:29 UTC
Brilliant entry, the storytelling is minimal yet very clever.

During my first playthrough, because I'm an evil player I chose invalid answers on purpose, just to see what would happen... Well I wasn't disappointed. Seeing the first body through the window is pretty shocking as well, congrats for the twists :)

My main nitpicks about the game would be:
- The choice of questions (how come one's pop culture references make him a man worthy of being saved? haha)
- The happy ending, which even had the same gas as the sad one. I'm not entirely convinced ARES did not kill me despite my right answers... I understand that might be a running-out-of-time issue.
- Having at least some ambient noise for audio, optionally with beeps here and there would definitely have helped set the mood

Other than that it's a pretty original and impressive compo entry, definitely my type of game :)

EDIT: Since you've mentioned it in your postmortem, I did realize the lights got turned back on around the end. It took me a couple seconds to understand what happened but it was clear enough.
GalaxStudios
19. Aug 2017 · 08:13 UTC
Nice entry and good work.I like how much design and work you put into it. All in all it is a really good game. Good luck and keep it up man!
Coauctor
20. Aug 2017 · 19:10 UTC
Well, another AI killed me for the greater good. :D

Simple and interesting enough to play few times trying to survive through the questions.
Thanks for the game! And 42.
Jupiter_Hadley
06. Nov 2017 · 14:34 UTC
Really neat game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwNYcB13dA
🎤 hhsaez
06. Nov 2017 · 15:41 UTC
Thanks Jupi!