LudumData

Hidden Messages by Noobman64

[raw]
made by Noobman64 for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Hidden Messages

A little puzzle game about listening for messages on the radio

Technical notes:

  • The HTML version does not work here but the itch.io link works (tested on chrome and Firefox).
  • There is a Windows download file and I have tested it (tested on Windows 11)
  • There is a Linux download file and I have not tested it (I don't have a Linux at the moment)
  • Game was made in Godot 4.1.1
  • The art (if you can call it that) was made in Gimp and Piskel
  • Audio was made in Audacity, using the default noise generation and voice manipulation tools

Clarifications

  • The ^^^ at the bottom is a button
  • Some channels are there just for the vibes, and don't contribute to finishing the game
  • If you are playing on chrome, I suggest using the browser's magnification feature (Ctr & +). %175 looks about right on my monitor but your results may vary

Me Yapping about stuff

As every other time, I ran out of time. This time I was ready for the theme and had my scope narrowed down from the start, but I had a couple of social obligations I needed to attend to over the weekend, so I couldn't spend as much time as I wanted. On the bright side, I'm submitting my game a few hours early this time!

I find number stations and their links to conspiracy theories interesting so I thought I'd have some fun with that Idea. The game essentially has just one mechanic. Find the channel, listen to the content, pick the right number. I wanted there to be a lose screen so there would be consequences for picking the wrong number, but I ran out of time. The way it is, I can just brute force and click on every button to reach the end. I think it's more fun if you don't ¯_(ツ)_/¯

If you are stuck remember that the square next to the frequency number will turn red when you are on a station. Don't get distracted by the static. There are also a couple of stations that never give you a code. They are there for fun and flavor

Hope you get a little chuckle out this little game. I'll be here next week to play your games and possibly patch all the bugs you'll find. Take care! XOXO

Link https://meidaniaryayahoocom.itch.io/hidden-messages
Link https://meidaniaryayahoocom.itch.io/hidden-messages-source-ld59
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/hidden-messages

Ratings

Overall 231th 3.139⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 203th 3.083⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 163th 3.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 33th 4.25⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 264th 2.667⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 63th 3.694⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 39th 3.611⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 160th 3.417⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 32🗳️ 16🗨️

Feedback

kristinamay
Apr 20th · 15:33 UTC
Ok first off, I listened to every second of every station and I gotta appreciate your creativity here, it also made me laugh a few times. To be clear I didn't understand two of the stations but really enjoyed listening through them! This is a really creative compo entry and honestly there aren't enough puzzle games in jams like this IMO. I was a bit confused about what to do at first because i was looking up top for the button and eventually realized it was at the bottom but marked ^^^, hah. Also, the resolution was suuuuper small no matter what I did, but I squinted my way through it, and I'm glad I did! I'll be on the lookout for future more complex puzzles from you like this, because this has a lot of potential and I think it's a great format for a puzzle game! Awesome work.
pres2300
Apr 20th · 18:14 UTC
Absolutely love this concept and it fits the theme so well! Definitely understand how things can get left out in the time constraints of a jam, but you ended up with is still fun and interesting! Great work!
Helagos
Apr 20th · 18:32 UTC
The concept is really great ! It's a puzzle game but just finding and listening audios is enough to make it nice to test.
LDJam user 279233
Apr 22nd · 00:27 UTC
@kristinamay Thank you so much for the kind words! I was hoping the "^^^" would signify that when you press it something will pop up, but in retrospect, I can see that it is very unclear. :sweat_smile:

I don't know if these count as "spoilers" but here is more info on the stations. Two stations have talking but not in English. One is a nursery rhyme in Farsi, the other is a stressed out German junior officer letting his commander know he is retreating from something :smiling_imp: I remember as a kid playing with my dad's pocket radio and listening to all kinds of foreign languages I didn't understand. I wanted to recreate a feeling like that. I generally went with "vibes" over substance with the channels :sweat_smile:

@pres2300 I'm so happy you found it fun. I was worried that just moving a slider would get boring for people :heart:

@helagos Thank you for listening! My mechanics are really simple so I tried to give it some flavor with the audio :smiley:
PurpledArtFrog
Apr 22nd · 08:40 UTC
Okay... this was weird ... I really need to find the german junior office.... I would understand what he is ranting about :rofl:
Great job - hope you will swing by with a vote aswell :smile:
PurpledArtFrog
Apr 22nd · 08:41 UTC
Great ... I found him :rofl:
LDJam user 279233
Apr 22nd · 23:21 UTC
@purpledartfrog Thanks for playing! Was the German even understandable? I don't actually speak German and my exposure to the language is mostly just from old music. I had to do so many takes to get "zurückziehen" in one breath :sweat_smile: I'm So glad you decided to go back and give it another listen for the officer. I'll have you know he made it out unharmed, and is currently being interrog... debriefed at headquarters :)
richjbaron
Apr 23rd · 04:02 UTC
I went thru all the channels and loved the chaotic vibe of them all!
But, to get thru the game, there was no punishment for wrong guesses so i just clicked all the buttons because the clues were confusing lol.
Very interesting concept and wonderfully executed other than the lack of punishment for wrong answers! Great work, I loved it.
LDJam user 279233
Apr 23rd · 04:39 UTC
@richjbaron Thanks for the kind words! I totally agree on the lack of punishment. Originally I had a fail-state in mind where if you messed up more than a couple of times, the end-slide would show the monster destroying the world with a message implying that it's your fault. Unfortunately that ended being cut due to lack of time. I must have been an EA executive in a past life or something because I tend to go with a minimum viable game when the alternative is being late :sweat_smile:
ursagames
Apr 23rd · 05:41 UTC
There was a lot more audio content than I was expecting! The puzzles were interesting, but I agree with others that a lack of a fail state does lower the stakes with just clicking to proceed without figuring out the puzzles. I think it could be made more required if it was a code that was changing over time, and you had to enter in the digits instead of multiple choice for example, that way there wouldn't need to be a fail state, but blindly guessing also wouldn't advance players. All in all a very charming entry! I enjoyed the ending!
LDJam user 424632
Apr 23rd · 12:11 UTC
A small game with its own charm. Even though there wasn’t much time to develop it, the most important thing is that it feels complete, unlike many jam projects. You did a great job, and I hope you get more time to focus on what you love.
richjbaron
Apr 23rd · 15:25 UTC
@noobman64 LOL EA executive in a past life is great :laughing:
That would've been super fun. And yeah the time constraint is brutal for any "nice to haves" like that. Great work considering the limitations!
LDJam user 279233
Apr 23rd · 23:11 UTC
@ursagames Thanks for playing! I 100% agree with your suggestion. I think I got tunnel vision since I have buttons in all my games and I am not as familiar with text input fields. Having the answer be a player text input would resolve the problem without requiring me to work on multiple endings. Efficiency! :nerd:

@catanus Thanks for the kind feedback! I've read somewhere that the human mind tends to put relatively more value in how experiences start and end (specially end). Having some kind of ending is pretty high on my priority list. I don't have the skill for anything impressive but at least I can give the players a place to land and contextualize their experience. End slides are relatively quick and easy so even I can't mess them up ... most of the time :sweat_smile:
bentglasstube
Apr 24th · 06:46 UTC
This was a really refreshing change from the way you interact with most games. I really enjoyed perusing the radio stations and seeing what was there. The interview with Dr. Rumenthol was particularly enjoyable (and frustrating!). Great work on a strange entry that makes Ludum Dare so fun to participate in.
LDJam user 279233
Apr 24th · 22:54 UTC
@bentglasstube Thanks for putting up with my sense of humor :sweat_smile: I was going for the really absurd kinds of conversations you would hear on Monty Python, or certain stations on GTA radio. I had a few ideas on how to cause unexpected "complications" for the player. That was my most mischievous one so I put it in the game :smiling_imp:
Asieke
Apr 26th · 03:52 UTC
Interesting concept. Feels like the UX/UI design could use some polish, I was a bit confused.
fnelix
Apr 26th · 10:39 UTC
Nice little game! I enjoyed the often funny "noise" channels. I understood the UI ok, but I guess the gameplay itself could use some more inital guidance: Cool that audio is required!
LDJam user 279233
Apr 26th · 21:09 UTC
@fnelix @asieke Thanks for your constructive feedback! Maybe having a screenshot which points out the intractable element could have helped. I'll try that on my next game and compare the feedback :thinking:
atmospherium
Apr 27th · 16:27 UTC
Nice take on the theme and really well executed. Really impressed by the amount of content for a compo game.

As others have mentioned, the lack of win-states trivialize some of the stations, BUT for a gamejam I think it works to your advantage. Giving people a chance to experience all the content with less frustration shows your game in a better light in this context. Great work all around.
MizAless
Apr 27th · 18:08 UTC
A pleasant quest to play through. I liked that the tasks vary in difficulty.
LDJam user 279233
Apr 27th · 20:37 UTC
@atmospherium Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy that you liked the content. If you break it down, the "mechanics" are just a few buttons, and some volume controls with two sliders, and the game engine (Godot) handled most that too. This bought me extra time which I used to experiment in Audacity to give the game a little bit of character with the extra content. :nerd:

I agree with you on player frustration. Ideally a hint system would have been nice, but I was not going to get it done in time. IMO having the game be too easy to finish is always better than too hard, unless the difficulty is the "selling" point for you.

@mizaless Thank you, thank you! I had to spend some time and think about some ways to make the tasks more difficult without just making the numbers bigger. I'm glad you found it pleasant :smiley_cat: