LudumData

FOREIGN FREQUENCY by dvan1337

[raw]
made by dvan1337 for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

FOREIGN FREQUENCY

BRAIN-CRUNCHING MESSAGE DECRYPTION THRILLER

Welcome to your new job at our station! Dearest Astronauts® send us their messages enforced with unbreachable encryption, and it's YOUR job to decrypt them and send to our database!

RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM TERMINAL

Messages from outer space are received via our Corporate Terminal®

DECRYPT MESSAGES

It's up to your capabilities to decrypt messages sent by our Dearest Astronauts®. Use our Corporate Notepad® to track your thought processing!

SEND THE DECRYPTED MESSAGES TO DATABASE

Once you're done with decrypting, send them to our Corporate Decryptor® database.

EARN CORPORATE CURRENCY BY DECRYPTING MESSAGES

Each decrypted message will give you our Corporate Dollars®. Use them to buy our CEO Council Approved Mouse Cursors®.

TRY TO GET THROUGH THIS SHIFT

There is no sound in space. But you're not there, so everyone will hear you screaming. Achieve one of three possible endings!

itch.io: dvan1337 bluesky: dvan1337.bsky.social itch.io: god1385 TG: @gbobd85

ITCH.IO https://dvan1337.itch.io/foreign-frequency
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/foreign-frequency

Ratings

Overall 336th 3.694⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Fun 484th 3.292⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 441th 3.361⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Theme 379th 3.833⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 321th 3.946⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Humor 259th 3.281⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Mood 139th 4.129⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Given 37🗳️ 53🗨️

Feedback

braktheman
Apr 22nd · 16:01 UTC
Nice job! Good atmosphere with a really satisfying computer feel, I love a nice clicky computer station in games. Everything seemed to work as intended.

Only note is once I unlocked the cat cursor I desperately wanted to change back from it and couldn't find a way.

Enjoyed playing the game regardless.

Good work, team!
Lehmy
Apr 22nd · 16:01 UTC
Nice mood on with the sound and the Graphics fitting really well to the game. Neat little decoder.
One thing to look out for next time is defining a fixed aspect ratio on the game since my fullscreen was stretched so I had to play it in the smaller variant where it was harder to read.
But overall good job. ^^
Axodo
Apr 22nd · 16:04 UTC
Nice game. It becomes a bit too repetitive at the end so it's nice you didn't try to make it last too long. The theme is nice, but imo, what really shines in your game, is how you successfully reproduced a windows like environment. The that you can reduce windows and move them is really well done, I am impressed!
I managed to get ending A and B, are there more? :)
LDJam user 346943
Apr 22nd · 16:13 UTC
such a solid game! theres nothing to complain asbout, no major thing i got stuck on. just boot it up and decrypt it alll! was a fun experince! thank tou!
Borbi
Apr 22nd · 16:14 UTC
Great game I really like how UI of computer is made it's very responsive and feels good to use, cat noise that is possible to purchase is very annoying and you can't turn it off other then buy next thing, but overall game is nice to play, great job!! I got ending C
LDJam user 259103
Apr 22nd · 16:24 UTC
This was really interesting! I loved the storytelling as the messages progressed, and the virtual desktop interface added a nice sense of immersion. I do wish the ciphers were more complicated than just numbers in alphabetical order, though... there's a lot of opportunity for interesting puzzles here that I feel the game didn't really explore. This was still a good time, though.

Side note: The shop is a fun idea, but I really regretted purchasing the cat cursor early on (I wasn't sure what it was before purchasing it), and the loud meow click sound took me out of the game somewhat. I would've appreciated an option to turn it off.
Oradimi
Apr 22nd · 16:26 UTC
A literal scream being sent as a coded message was very funny, 4/5 at humor
Grummelchen
Apr 22nd · 16:28 UTC
Incredible game I loved it!!! It was really quite horrifying to be helplessly translating the messages while the story unfolds. Also incredible executions! My only minor nit pick is that "divides letters" is a bit confusing. I needed a minute to get that. Really strong game!
Thomas Gelman
Apr 22nd · 16:29 UTC
Pretty solid entry! Good job re-creating a windows desktop environment, it really helps with the game's mood and immerses you into the mindset of a decrypter. Solid amount of content too. My main note is that it gets perhaps a little repetitive, but it's still fun regardless. Good job!
Lucalunx
Apr 22nd · 16:32 UTC
This premise was SO FUN! I love decoding ciphers and this heavily captured my attention. The graphics are nice and cohesive and everything felt nicely put together. Really good work with the atmosphere!!!
Sonny
Apr 22nd · 21:22 UTC
Fun game fellas keep it up
Fagotronic225
Apr 22nd · 21:32 UTC
Good job guys! I was a bit confused at first cause im a bit dumb, but later even my rotten brain was able to understand. The design of the game is pretty unusual, almost feels like minigames in other videogames i used to play, but it's still feels very fresh!. In gerenaral it's a great game. I got the “slacker” ending
SkySakura2005
Apr 23rd · 07:39 UTC
The game is so much fun!!! I like the idea!!!
alexey_bobrovskiy
Apr 23rd · 08:22 UTC
A game by smart people for smart people, but unfortunately, I don't fall into that category. I read in a game design book that you can't force players to remember anything; you should hand it to them on a silver platter. It took me a while to realize that shortcuts open by double-clicking. But overall, the game has a great atmosphere, especially the Windows splash screen.
Human Writes Code
Apr 23rd · 09:14 UTC
I really liked this. I was fully invested in the story and the way that having to decode things ended up drip feeding the narrative was really cool. Also super impressed that you built a windowing system where you can drag and position stuff. Good job!
3blackpixels
Apr 23rd · 15:27 UTC
It would be good if the correct messages were saved (written in a notebook) so that the whole story could be reread.
Croped
Apr 23rd · 15:38 UTC
Wow nicely done UI always wanted to make a game like that at ludum but seems like a huge undertaking given the timeframe, hats up for that. Overall great experience! 7(15)(15)4_(10)(15)2
colverok
Apr 23rd · 20:48 UTC
I liked the vibe of the game, very nice interface, meow ^.^
Purrseus
Apr 23rd · 20:55 UTC
Hahahaha, I booted up the game, didn't even play for 4 seconds and got Ending B :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Purrseus
Apr 23rd · 21:11 UTC
Got Ending C now. I liked it! It did feel like work, but I felt immersed in that work, and helplessly invested in the end.

Even though I kinda somehow feel this is an elaborate tool to learn remember the number of each letter in the alphabet. I could totally spell my name in numbers now :laughing:
Ch1k0_9kA
Apr 24th · 15:28 UTC
This game’s computer simulation vibe is absolutely awesome! The UI and animations feel super realistic. The gameplay draws you in step by step, making you dying to uncover the truth—it’s so cool.It’d be even better with more varied content and mechanics though. Also, that little cat mouse cursor sound effect is low-key annoying, but weirdly enough, it adds to the creepy atmosphere. It always makes me feel like something scary’s about to happen lol.
LDJam user 236055
Apr 24th · 16:08 UTC
I love the UI in combination with the sounds, really makes you feel like you're sitting at an old computer decrypting messages. it would have been even better if the font was rendered in a pixel perfect way, the text was always a bit blurry/hard to read, but maybe that is intentional?
bigfatgua
Apr 25th · 07:57 UTC
I can now translate the numbers into letters instantly from memory. 23(5)5(9)_4(15)14(5)
apt_prose7
Apr 26th · 08:51 UTC
Simple but engaging, great for casual play.
Helgust
Apr 30th · 07:05 UTC
Greate game, really likes how PC and os stuff is realized!
ping78
May 02nd · 16:30 UTC
(20)85_1(20)(13)(15)(19)(16)85(18)5_25(15)21'(22)5_3(18)51(20)54_9(19)_20(15)16-14(15)(20)38._(20)85_(18)5(20)(18)15_1(5)(19)(20)85(20)93,_(20)85_19(15)(21)(14)4_56653(20)19,_9(20)_1(12)12_3(15)(13)5(19)_20(15)75(20)85(18)._7(18)51(20)_10(15)2.
Fractal
May 02nd · 21:52 UTC
Nice game! The codes were fun to decode, reminded me when I was writing coded messages as a kid. As someone else, however, I didn’t like the cat cursor :D
Akadream
May 08th · 12:40 UTC
The artistic direction is effective but its not intuitive to double click on the icons, a single click would be enough.
The concept is great