Test Subject 42 by nihilaleph
Have you ever had trouble organizing your desk? Well, how about you be forced to be organized? In Test Subject 42, you will play as the... well, Test Subject 42, trying to go through series of tasks in a limited table. Can you complete all of them before you end up toasted?
Instruction: 1. Movement and interaction - Mouse (X/Y, Left Button, Right Button, Wheel) - Arrows (Up, Down) 2. Objective - Follow your instructions and don't die - To interact with an object, pick it up with Right Button and then use Left Button 3. If you fail, the game will restart automatically. If you win, the game will close itself.
Tools: - Unreal Engine 4 - Blender - Gimp - Audacity
Announcements:
08/15 - Change a bit the wordings of the introduction to make it clearer that you need to hold an object to interact with it
08/18 - Add Playthrough youtube video
08/20 - Add Linux Build
Screenshots:
/******************/ After almost 2 years, I am back for some jamming! A lot of stress during this time, but I was able to learn a couple of new things! For this project, mainly the new tools I'm using~ I do have other skills I would like to test, but let's just wait for the next jam 😋
Well, more about the game now, very simple one, but I tested a lot of my new skills in it, so I'm actually satisfied with the end result (of course it can always be better though). After a long time jamming again, and not being able to just stay 2 days straight working, and using new software, I had a rough start, but everything ended well 😄 So it was actually good for me to do forget about compo and do it in a slower pace in jam.
No BGM and no fancy art, but I think this game didn't ask for it, and I was able to make (mostly) everything by myself~ so it actually follows compo rules, except the time constraint!
Anyway, that's it for me, I hope you enjoyed this small time playing my game, and as always, any feedback is much appreciated! 🙌 /******************/
| Source Code | https://gitlab.com/nihilaleph/ld42 |
| Windows | https://nihilaleph.itch.io/test-subject-42 |
| Other (web) | https://youtu.be/okeNv4LPNlk |
| Linux | https://nihilaleph.itch.io/test-subject-42 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/test-subject-42 |
Ratings
| Overall | 607th | 3.379⭐ | 60🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 764th | 3.053⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 259th | 3.553⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 641th | 3.439⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 633th | 3.398⭐ | 61🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 617th | 2.828⭐ | 60🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 246th | 3.31⭐ | 60🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 427th | 3.296⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 51🗳️ | 61🗨️ |
@denneledoe Ohh I didn't even think about it! Thanks! I'm going to just leave it for now (rating time!), but if more people complains about it then I will change it.
@devio Sorry it wasn't that very clear, I added one more instruction to the page! The challenge is keeping your desk organized enough (it ___is___ a very limited space) so you can complete the tasks in time~, or just throw everything and go brute force :stuck_out_tongue: I'm sorry that wasn't clear enough :pensive:
@j0ye Yeah, he is not supposed to walk, imagine he is attached to a chair :sweat_smile: Sorry the PC was too annoying though, I was actually worried if it was too annoying, but I needed to give it a personality otherwise it would be too boring, so that's what I ended up with :sweat_drops:
Other than that I enjoyed the game. Although this is more of a one time play through for me. Overall I found it enjoyable!
@felipeallmeida I'm so sorry for the confusion! I just updated the game changing a little bit the wording so hopefully it is now clearer that you need to hold it before pressing it :sweat_smile: And @michael-feldman Yes! I was going for the lab/office environment feeling :smile:
@shredmer Oh, it actually means the number corresponding to the sequence, not how many sequences there are of it :sweat_smile: But yeah, I didn't go much for replayability for this one, but I'm glad you enjoyed it nevertheless!
I loved the simple graphics, and the computer, it's a little bit hard to find out how to play correctly at first and the theme it's not so simple to see at first.
This game inspired me!
@juno Yees, I was having some problems on that, and I even teleport the object so that it avoids hitting any object in it's track, but once it's in your "hand" I can't stop any collision from happening :sweat_smile: Picking objects from the floor was out of the question (except nearby ones) because then the player would have "unlimited" space to manage the objects. Also interacting without grabbing any object would mean that the player can just leave everything as is and not have to manage anything, so the end result is what it is :sweat_smile: Anyway, I'm glad this didn't stop you from liking the game :smile_cat:
Very smart take on the theme, you really need a couple runs until you figure out the optimal placement for all the items. I guess a little luck is necessary too, I always threw away the ball and cylinder, and luckily they were never part of my final trial rush. Very fun game, would volunteer to be test subject again.
(I do belive that the game would be easier if the screen was stuck onto the table, I lost so many times because i couldn't read what it said because it was on the floor behind the desk)
@poffle Ohh VR would be a good idea, though I don't have one to actually test it :sweat_smile: @laura-angel Sorry about the time! Perhaps I playtest it for too long so the time for me was fairly easy! Maybe add difficulty selection? On other note, I tried to make the instructions clearer by changing the text a little and adding the instructions in the page of the game, do you think it's not enough? Would you suggest something else to make it clearer? BUt you're right, you are supposed to feel under pressure in this game, sorry it didn't give you a pleasant feeling :cry:
@captaindreamcast Glad you enjoyed it! Since the ball and cylinder are very easily to be lost I ended up making that task happen only once :laughing: But still if you completed it and drop them by accident in any other task you would get electrocuted!
@killing-kitty Ohh that's part of being careful with everything on the table, and you ___can___ move it to a safer location, if you need :wink: But I could've add a respawn of the screen given I had the time :sweat_drops: Thank you for the advice!
I have rated your game.
I struggled to figure out the controls, and just kept getting electrocuted over and over again. Once I learned how to pick up and interact with objects there instructions were not clear. I got myself soft locked a few times when the buttons were in the way of the sphere and so it rolled off the table. There was also a point where I followed the directions and still was shot at what seemed to just be out of the researchers pleasure.
I'm sorry I couldn’t get it to be captured on the stream properly.
@saoi-games Oh, I'm sorry to hear about the stream, though it's an honor to be featured :smile: Sorry about the controls being a bit obscure, I will try to add some clearer instructions when I can! Also I'm not sure why you were shocked even though you completed the task... Maybe you couldn't finish it in time? In any case, thank you for playing the game!
Two problems I had though:
1) Took me a long time to figure out you need to press left button while holding the object to interact. I think it would be awesome if for the first task (press the blue button) the computer would actually wait until you do it, or maybe even remind you of the controls if you don't do it a few times, just to make sure the player figured out the controls before you advance to the more challenging tasks.
2) For some reason the computer didn't register I fetched all the black books (or maybe I missed a black book or something). Would be nice to get a better feedback of what exactly was missing about the task (was I supposed to do anything with the books after fetching them?)
@gabsep Glad you enjoyed it!
@matank Sorry about the instructions being a bit obscure, next time I will try to be clearer and do what you suggested! Maybe on the book task you didn't interact with them? Thinking about it now it's also not very clear :sweat_smile:
@tokumei I made the Linux build, couldn't test it though, I hope it works!
Overall, quite enjoyable.
@mza I lacked the time to add bgm, but I also think it is more fitting this way :wink: I also added a low hum (actually the sound of my HDD :laughing: ) to give more immersion!
@bustosman There is a difference between buttons sequence and color sequence, I think that's the issue :wink:
My only "complaint" would be that you can bash away the computer giving the instructions, which results in well, end of the game :D thus we can't really play, but that's a part of the game to actually being able to throw it haha. Throwing things is, indeed, quite satisfying :P
Good job !!
@demn Ahh yes, I had an idea afterwards that if you lost the computer you would be punished by one electrocution but then you would be given a new one, but oh well, I will keep that idea for the next one :sweat_smile:
@merpader Sorry for making it a bit obscure :sweat: I will pay more attention in the text next time!
If you don't bother take a look at our game when we focused on Graphics and visuals and see the results that we got:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/spacelab-42
@adonisdevs Electrocution meant you didn't make it in time, and I didn't want to have a health meter so not to break character of the game, I guess...? But also no time for that :laughing: @thepiratenun The physics is basically just the default of the Unreal Engine, but the grabbing and interaction mechanic I made from scratch :smiley_cat:
I think I was able to pass without balancing the sphere on the cylinder though.
@renier Ah yes, I intended to just click an object to interact with it at first, but them you could just leave everything on the table and click, without the need of lifting anything :sweat_smile:
@dovakla :laughing: Yeah, the main issue from my game is teaching to do the first interaction, I will be more careful next time~. And yes, the sphere and cylinder is just required once, since it was very easy to loose them, and you get 3 strikes before fainting, so if you it is totally skipable :smiley:
I understand the confusion with picking things up before pressing them, but that was really the only issue, and it was temporary. Good work!