Signal Epsilon by automatonvx

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

A Short Adventure Horror Game.

Screen-in-game_small.png

You have picked up the distress signal of a crashed ship on a mysterious planet. Someone may need your help.

Credits

All code/art/sound made by automatonvx within the 72h. - Colour Palette - imphenzia's pixpal palette - Fonts used - Dune Rise and Terminal F4

Updates:

Added a new build for the mac version because the other one won't run on for some reason. No changes, just built the same project on a mac instead of windows :shrug:

Ratings

Overall 607th 3.325⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 717th 2.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 763th 2.667⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 631th 3.262⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 642th 3.214⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 321th 3.548⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 592th 2.265⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 294th 3.857⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 20🗨️

Feedback

mitur
Apr 22nd · 01:20 UTC
Short and sweet, I liked the music and the atmosphere!
Cazik21
Apr 25th · 21:07 UTC
I can't run the game even though I'm using macOS. I hope you can fix this bug.
Madbarron
Apr 25th · 22:08 UTC
I saved the guy! My advice is to make sure players run into locks before they run into keys. On my playthrough I found the power switch and the power source before even visiting the bridge, and the crowbar is on the way to the locked door, so I didn't feel like I was solving anything. It's nice to first encounter a lock (the door is jammed) and then have to go looking for a key (crowbar). Thanks for the game!
🎤 automatonvx
Apr 25th · 23:39 UTC
@cazik21 Thanks, yeah your right that I couldn't run that build on my mac either, not sure why. I made a fresh one building on a mac (Macos_v0.1_build2.zip) which works for me at least and replaced it on the Itch page. Thanks for letting me know :heart: EDIT - Also added a webgl version because who really wants to run random .exes off the internet anyway :sweat_smile:
🎤 automatonvx
Apr 25th · 23:44 UTC
@madbarron thanks for the feedback, I didn't really anticipate players doing that, was more worried they wouldn't find where they should go :grin:. Probably the level design needs some work
Jiri_One
Apr 26th · 07:37 UTC
Just finished the game, I really liked the atmosphere and the music! It felt like something out of blade runner. The game was quite simple and felt like most of the gameplay was walking long distances (but the emptiness does fit with the mood/music imo). I think the explanation text at the beginning could stay a bit longer as I barely had enough time to read it. I agree with Madbarron that finding the locks before the keys would be more fun.
Constance
Apr 26th · 09:10 UTC
Cool game with a moody atmosphere! I like the overall eerie setting with the low-poly graphics and chill music. One thing that annoys me the most was the mouse cursor didn't lock and confined within the game window, making it difficult to turn the camera around. Regardless, nice work on this solo entry of yours!
nikitose
Apr 27th · 01:22 UTC
such vibe!!
Mekuire
Apr 28th · 18:55 UTC
Overall, it's not a bad. It's pretty simple. But it's missing something that would really draw you in.
Wallted
Apr 30th · 00:12 UTC
The puzzle itself is rather straightforward, but the game is mesmerising, truly. I really admire the setting you achieved on the planet accompanied with so viby ambient


Do not ask me how I got that shot haha, but it's so beautiful
![signal_epsilon.png](///raw/ff1/46/z/72f64.png)
ikado
Apr 30th · 01:19 UTC
i really liked the atmosphere! the music and the look of the game created a great unsettling feeling and i liked the vibe created by the kinda hazy shader you overlaid on the camera, especially with the low poly graphics.
one small thing with the signal indicator is i didn't quite understand it was for the horizontal plane at first, so i ended up just staring at the sky like an idiot for a bit. i think putting it on some kind of compass bar might make it feel more intuitive.
overall enjoyed it a lot!
LDJam user 407703
Apr 30th · 14:19 UTC
Great submission. I really like the atmosphere and the soundtrack. Even the longer walking sections didnt bother me, although you could maybe try increasing the walk speed a little.

The mouse cursor issue has already been mentioned, but that would have been my biggest feedback point as well. Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.Locked; would be a great addition so the cursor doesnt distract from the game and the player can look around freely in the web build.

But I genuinely had fun with it and I managed to rescue the crew member :)
Alex de la Cour
Apr 30th · 16:50 UTC
![Screenshot 2026-04-30 174920.png](///raw/b9f/84/z/72fac.png)

Great atmosphere and really, really good audio - it felt really unsettling and I jumped the first time that little green thing scuttled up to me.
kack3y
May 03rd · 21:24 UTC
Nice entry. The ambiance you are trying to setup is working on me.

As previous person said `Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.Locked;` is a must-have. A little too short for me.
Carraka
May 05th · 11:44 UTC
I got to the end! Definitely agree about the cursor...there was a point where I think I got some sort of desync and had to turn around in a circle to be able to click on things again.

The atmosphere was amazing. Especially with those creepy creatures around the light.

At the very beginning, movement seemed so slow that I wasn't sure I had pressed the right buttons to move, so I think the objects to interact with needed to start closer or maybe just add WASD to the instructions. Initially I missed the bridge mechanism hint, so I ended up walking into the gorge and just walking along it for a while before I finally decided that probably wasn't part of the game. There wasn't any way to restart at that point, so it would have been great to have that. Then when I went into the building, initially I only saw the section on the right, so I thought maybe that wasn't part of the game either (since the signal hadn't been leading there and I had missed the hint about the bridge mechanism). I'm still not sure what the on/off switch did. Maybe it turned on the power source? I don't know--by the time I saw it, it was already glowing. And terrifying!
Alexandr Gerya
May 05th · 14:06 UTC
creepy little green thing scared the crap out of me found the power switch before the locked door so the puzzle felt backwards still a solid vibe just wish the cursor locked properly