LudumData

Egress by SirDuck

[raw]
made by SirDuck for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

You have come into possession of an infamous hard drive. Countless hackers have tried their hand at cracking the complex layers of cryptography that obscure every file; none of them have ever made it to the core. Now it's your turn.

However, you must be vigilant. Someone is watching. Certain ~~governments~~ entities do not want the information stored within that drive to become public. They're already on to you, so don't let your device get traced. Getting this info may be your only chance to escape.

Find the information, save yourself, and reveal the truth.

Play it in your browser on Itch: https://lunatic-games.itch.io/egress
We would love for you to join our Discord: https://www.discord.gg/z4kbnqb

screenshot1.png
screenshot2.png

Post-submission changelog: * Fixed terminate button causing crash in browser * Fixed invisible file entry * Fixed trace amount displaying incorrectly

itch.io In browser https://lunatic-games.itch.io/egress
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/egress

Ratings

Overall 274th 3.933⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Fun 496th 3.632⭐ 55🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 30th 4.368⭐ 55🧑‍⚖️
Theme 342th 4.048⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 343th 4.176⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Audio 329th 3.814⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 467th 3.277⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Mood 321th 3.981⭐ 55🧑‍⚖️
Given 51🗳️ 74🗨️

Feedback

the neon shark
27. Apr 2021 · 05:08 UTC
This game has some good bones. It feels like a hacker pokemon game or something. Some considerations:
- The CRT screen effect was cool but too distorted for my taste / comfort
- I felt that the combat was too slow sometimes (maybe a means to speed it up on demand / settings)

Very interesting and innovative concept!
yobiscus
27. Apr 2021 · 05:23 UTC
The theme and visuals are really neat. I was confused at the beginning because a button in the "off" state means it's selected.
LDJam user 245544
27. Apr 2021 · 05:27 UTC
Really enjoyed the novel approach to the game. Going with the console style graphics really helped bring the game's 'feel'.

Do wish there was more explanation of what was actually happening however. All i know is that i sent my starting green thing in, kept hitting buttons, and eventually won... no real idea what was happening still.
Vitor Milioni
27. Apr 2021 · 05:28 UTC
What a gem, I would 100% play a more polished version of this, this already feels super good to play, toy with, look at, listen to, really a great concept of "pet battling" where you create you own pets, the file names made me chuckle and the whole hacker vibe feels great, nice spin on the theme, loved it!
🎤 SirDuck
27. Apr 2021 · 05:35 UTC
@vitor-milioni Thanks so much for the positive feedback! Glad you enjoyed the file names, had some fun making grandmas recipe haha
🎤 SirDuck
27. Apr 2021 · 05:36 UTC
@ohmikron Thanks so much, totally get you. We will have to make more of the hidden mechanics and workings clearer. Appreciate the feedback!
Adam K
27. Apr 2021 · 05:38 UTC
Sound was great. Interesting take on the theme for going deeper into a computer system.
The visuals fit nicely and I definitely got the terminal vibe.
I liked all the neat file names and some of the flavor contents that were in them.
For improvements I would definitely add a bit more of a tutorial to start, or explain how the attributes interact. I was really confused about what colors I was suppose to choose and the stats didn't seem to have much impact, regardless of the way I arranged them. I mainly progressed by trial and error until finally something would work, but I couldn't really tell you why it worked.
Overall I think its a great concept.
NoahJ
27. Apr 2021 · 05:50 UTC
@adam-k Thanks a bunch! The terminal idea was really interesting to work with. I absolutely agree; we spent so long making the game work, but the tutorial kinda got left behind :/
Adam K
27. Apr 2021 · 06:05 UTC
@noahj I completely understand. Our game is in a similar boat with graphics. We are really happy with the gameplay, but that took so much time that the graphics really suffer for it. Such is the way of a 72 hour time window!
Evil_As_Shit
27. Apr 2021 · 06:55 UTC
Great game, made it all the way to the end. I enjoyed the mechanics a lot! Very smooth gameplay and awesome graphics!
profan
27. Apr 2021 · 20:02 UTC
Feels super polished, also another Godot fellow! Hi! :D

Amazing you actually had a tutorial at all, but I must admit the workings of the game were slightly elusive to me, I guess the colours had something to do with it? I managed to intuit "good builds" but it largely felt like a game of chance of sorts :)

Very nice concept!
joe.z
27. Apr 2021 · 20:07 UTC
@profan We wish we had more time to balance the game, but we submitted with like less than 2 minutes left. The colors don't have an impact, but breaker, wall, and hybrid form kind of a game of rock-paper-scissors. Happy to see a fellow Godot developer, let me know if you have any questions about the development!
0hSlash
27. Apr 2021 · 20:12 UTC
This was a cool game! I really liked the combat but I wasn't sure what the effect the colors had on anything. I also didn't see a visual way of keeping track of the leveling mechanic that seemed to exist, which was a bit confusing. Overall, I enjoyed playing it and thought the graphics and music were fantastic, good job!
NoahJ
27. Apr 2021 · 21:26 UTC
@0hslash Yeah, we had an idea for showing the "xp" system and level ups, we had to scrap it to fix bugs though. Thanks a ton for playing it!
FcValise
27. Apr 2021 · 21:50 UTC
I'm not sure I really understood what was going on but maybe I need some sleep, anyway the mood and feeling was great ! Impressive work :)
JackBad
27. Apr 2021 · 22:15 UTC
The aesthetic here is top notch, great interpretation of the theme. I love the music!

In the way of feedback: I wish I knew what the program attributes did for me at the start when they're introduced (hovering over for more info?). Then, the tutorial jumped further into the HOW before explaining the WHAT, so it's a little confusing to keep track of what "egress, ingress, programs, and directories" are in the game as I’m told how to use them. With an expanded tutorial section and some variety in decryption/hostile encounters, I could easily sink a ton of time into this as a mobile hacking game. Awesome work so far!
joe.z
27. Apr 2021 · 22:17 UTC
@jackbad Glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the great feedback! We will definitely keep that in mind if we end up expanding the game :)
Villanelle
28. Apr 2021 · 00:06 UTC
The visuals and sounds for the game are spot on. I would like to hear a longer version of the music though. The playthrough is really well thought and teaches the player how the game works nicely. Found this fun to play and the experience is very polished. Congrats to all of the team!
joe.z
28. Apr 2021 · 00:13 UTC
@villanelle Thanks so much for the kind words!
LDJam user 5109
28. Apr 2021 · 00:20 UTC
Hooray for getting Grandma's recipe off the hard drive! She'll thank me later I suppose. Anyway, nice work! You pulled off the vibe incredibly well!
Rovernoon
28. Apr 2021 · 00:39 UTC
**+**good colors, high polish, clean ui

**+**creative and consistent theme

**+**cool screen effect


**-**too much cool screen effect

**-**combat too slow

**-**clunky ux for managing programs & when they fight
NoahJ
28. Apr 2021 · 00:46 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @rovernoon ! Totally agree, given more time those are exactly the kind of things we want to fix :)
Junamai
28. Apr 2021 · 00:52 UTC
really cool idea =) Had fun playing! I actually made it to the top secret file hehe
(btw i somehow wasnt able to edit my programs, nothing happened when i clicked on edit)
Alex the Bear
28. Apr 2021 · 00:59 UTC
The visuals and theming are great. I loved the CRT monitor effect and aesthetic. Great job!
sdata
28. Apr 2021 · 01:07 UTC
I couldn't figure out the upgrade system for my programs so after I had made 5 and they weren't able to cut it I hit a bit of a dead end. I liked the visual aesthetic and the concept of diving deeper through file directories!!
Numex
28. Apr 2021 · 01:20 UTC
Really cool idea. I enjoyed this one
🎤 SirDuck
28. Apr 2021 · 01:28 UTC
Nooo @sdata I am sorry haha! We definitely want to make modifying the programs clearer as to what is going on. Thanks for trying our game and all of the feedback!
InfiniteRecursionLoop
28. Apr 2021 · 03:08 UTC
I totally liked the CRT effect like most of the other commenters. I lucked out and created the right programs to defend and attack with that got me to the end. If I could have somehow spied on the attributes of the enemy, or better yet, take over the enemy program and use it for myself, I think that would have made it a better game. Also, when I won bits, I was like, "Yes! Now I can make my programs THICC!!" but when attacking and defending were over, the bits just got lost in the ether. Did I miss something or was there just not enough time to implement a bit counter? Great job making the game though. It definitely is a neat gameplay concept you created.
NoahJ
28. Apr 2021 · 03:25 UTC
Thanks @infiniterecursionloop ! That's a really interesting idea, copying enemy programs, might have to try it out :) Yeah, sadly the bit counter and point notification got left behind; after getting 100 bits, each of your programs gets an additional point you get to work with!
kel
28. Apr 2021 · 03:42 UTC
The curvature of the screen is such a nice touch
frasboi
28. Apr 2021 · 06:19 UTC
neat idea that's easy to get engaged into, the UI is very satisfying to look at and to interact with, and the music fits well into the theme of the game. very cool game.
LDJam user 234120
28. Apr 2021 · 13:14 UTC
Innovative and fun AND made in Godot? Whats not to love! This would be a great game to expand on.

I agree that the CRT effect is nice at first, but being able to toggle that off would be nice too. Also I got stuck in the tutorial my first play through via clicking too fast I think.

Overall this is really good and fits the theme well. Were you a Netrunner fan?
TomatoLamp
28. Apr 2021 · 19:10 UTC
I agree with almost everything that has been said - there's a fantastic foundation here and with a little more polish on the tutorial side and speeding up combat, it's something I'm very into! Great work!
🎤 SirDuck
28. Apr 2021 · 19:48 UTC
@cyzaine Thanks for the kind words haha, gotta love Godot. I have played Netrunner a little! (Love that you could pinpoint that.) really dig their take on the hacker theme!
Annie Owl
28. Apr 2021 · 20:54 UTC
Yeah, I'm the ultimate hacker man!

Fun game! The visuals and sounds fit together perfectly, and the BGM helped to create the feeling of urgency. I felt like I'm hacking into some evil corporation's mainframe and every second matter! :smile:

I'm not sure if I made an OP defense combination, or you just decided not to make viruses dangerous, but my defense never was breached, and I've hacked pretty much every file I've seen.

Nonetheless, had lots of fun playing your game. Good Job!
joe.z
28. Apr 2021 · 23:25 UTC
@annie-owl So glad you enjoyed it!
Lighty_the_Light
29. Apr 2021 · 06:07 UTC
Very impressive, styled art. The gameplay design is quite interesting.

I wonder how did you made the opening animation? By simply hard-code or made by some video editor like flash or AE?
Rawrasaur
29. Apr 2021 · 06:07 UTC
I'm a really big fan of the art!
joe.z
29. Apr 2021 · 17:49 UTC
@lighty-the-light I wrote a function that adds a string to a text box, and a function to add a string character by character to a text box, then used a combination of those and delay timers to create the effect. For the SFX I recorded myself typing on my keyboard and then adjusted the timing so it roughly matches the text.
themorfeus
29. Apr 2021 · 19:52 UTC
Wow, i really love games with such theme. Do you plan on expanding upon this concept into a full game?
joe.z
29. Apr 2021 · 23:19 UTC
@themorfeus We are definitely considering it! We would want to flush out the game and fix all of the shortcomings that came from the time limit. If you join our Discord (https://www.discord.gg/z4kbnqb) you will be the first to know if we do :)
Lighty_the_Light
30. Apr 2021 · 02:10 UTC
@joe-z Hahaha, that's interesting! Learned a lot! Thanks for sharing!
Cinsynate
30. Apr 2021 · 21:29 UTC
I love your take on the theme! Incredibly refreshing. It was a fun game- The allusions to different types of programs being better versus others didn't really seem to matter much in my playthrough though- I managed to win without switching my queue up from one file to another. That said, it was a really interesting take on the theme and well executed- I just wish there was a little bit more strategy to actually being successful!

I think the graphics and audio both do their jobs here- Neither of them steals the show, but they do help draw you into the fantasy of a hacker fairly well. I also thought the writing was pretty good and liked many of the jokes.
joe.z
30. Apr 2021 · 23:07 UTC
@cinsynate So glad you enjoyed it! We are with on wishing there was more strategy to winning. We got rushed towards the end and we weren't able to polish the game balance as much as we would've liked to.
Okamit
30. Apr 2021 · 23:49 UTC
Really like the screen effect, looks very polished! Gameplay is interesting as well
Great work!
animatrix1490
01. May 2021 · 00:20 UTC
I liked the visuals and the information they gave you. I feel like if this were to be a full game it would work better to introduce colors too slowly. I didn't really want to try and find every good color combo, so I just kind of winged it and hoped I'd be ok, haha. I did have fun, though! I really liked renaming the programs, too! Mine were Program0, Abababa, Xmas, wallz, and Program 3
Bodaciouslycrazy
01. May 2021 · 03:35 UTC
Very well polished and put together! This is a great idea executed to perfection. Top notches!
Fis
02. May 2021 · 22:50 UTC
Really pretty game! For my personal taste the distortion is a bit too strong, especially when you have to click a lot in the corners. A tweak would have been nice in the options :3
One quality of life improvement would be a toggle for Egress/Ingress - having Egress selected should disable Ingress, because clicking it gives you the feel of a buggy behaviour (first unselect Egress, then select Ingress).

But nevertheless - beautiful fellow godot :D
AndideBob
03. May 2021 · 15:33 UTC
This is a really fun idea for a game and it is well executed though. Also this game has hands down the best intro to a gamejam game ever! It is so stylized!

The mechanics seem a but weird at first, I could not figure out the difference between speed and rate, but other than that it was really cool! The music fit too and the chiptune sound effects fit in nicely. The tutorial you did put together was brief and to the point and that's a pretty good accomplishment for a jam game.

Really well done, one of my favourites so far!
axelrinaldo
03. May 2021 · 16:04 UTC
I love this! Would absolutely play a more finished version of this in the future. I would have liked to have more info about what the effects of the different types of programs and their stats were though.