December 14th-17th 2012 :: Theme: You are the Villain
Story:
In the 14th century, the bubonic plague wiped out over a third of the European population. Entire villages are being decimated, and you've been separated from your children. Your goal is to reunite with them and leave the village.
Controls:
WASD or Arrow Keys to move.
Confession:
Sorry for the absence of real gameplay. I tried a few new things this time around (hand-drawn artwork, music, etc), all of which took far longer than I had anticipated to implement, and so I had no time left to add more depth. Also, you might notice there are no side walls on any of the buildings and that everything looks rather plain. This is due to my having at the last minute to scrap the 3D effect I had worked so hard on for the walls. While the effect looked good initially, once it was applied to the full map, the framerate dropped way down and I just didn't have enough time to make it efficient enough to be playable. In the end, I decided scrapping the effect altogether was the best decision.
Bug fix:
(12/16/2012 8:35PM CST) Fixed the ending screen so that it doesn't fade out immediately upon becoming visible. Now, you should actually be able to see it properly.
Post-Compo Version:
For those that are curious, I have finally optimized and fixed the 3D effect that was originally planned for the game and included it with the Post-Compo version. The gameplay is still the same (which is to say virtually nonexistent), but I may decide to expand on it at some point if I feel I have any really good ideas for it.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 100% |
| #57 | Mood | 3.56 |
| #202 | Audio | 2.93 |
| #423 | Graphics | 2.80 |
| #444 | Theme | 3.03 |
| #510 | Humor | 2.09 |
| #576 | Overall | 2.61 |
| #676 | Innovation | 2.16 |
| #727 | Fun | 1.84 |
Comments
Is your character supposed to be the black death? Cool take on the theme to be the disease or some aspect of it. I liked the mood, and the sound effects added to that. Not too deep of gameplay as you mentioned. Good job of finishing something playable!
The thought balloons that appear as I walk gives me the background while letting me explore. The rats following me felt sinister! If you continue developing, I'd like to know where to go after I've gathered half a dozen rats.
Quite a sad game- depicting the plague as a traveler with no home is rather depressing.
Cute, enjoyable, interesting mood, and telling a story without too much exposition - I think I can forgive that there's not much gameplay. The little squeaks and the queue they are forming: Adorable!
Though somewhat dark, I thought this was cute. It's a relaxed game more like Knytt and such. Good atmosphere because of the graphics and music. Not sure how this even could be a full game, curious what you'll come up with!
a little bit too short. But I like how you simulate clouds and buildings.
I actually really enjoyed this despite the lack of challenges. Walking around was fun and the game was the right length so that it didn't get tedious. I definitely felt like a really evil person playing this game, which is saying a lot since a lot of these games feature actively killing innocent people (like mine) and in this one you just walk around talking to rats. But you do in a really villainy way.
This game has some pretty fantastic mood. There's not much gameplay, but hearing all those squeaks from the mice made me smile.
Great mood, felt kinda evil, kinda depressive, but fun. Liked the effect you had going on with the art. I would say keep going with this, see where you can take it.
i liked the writing, and the mood. i like how the graphics scroll, too. it's too short though! i wish there was more here.
Great mood, and characterization. Even if he is a personification of the Black Plague, I definitely feel a little sympathy for him. I also like the parallax effect on the background. Wish I could preview the 3D effect you scrapped!
I really enjoyed the graphics and the mood, and I also really like the mechanism where the little rats would squeak when you got close to them to let you know which way to go.
At the beginning I was like "How is this supposed to be related to the theme??" and then I saw the first child and then I was more like "Yeah, I see what you did there, niiiice"
I loved the mood and the story telling, It really amazing how much you managed to tell the story with almost anything
Very nice mood and cool idea. I also liked the way you made walls '3D'. Well done.
You came up with an interactive story. The history are cool, the graphics are nice, as the music.
I just think that you worried too much about working on this '3D effect', time you wasted while you could be working on more things like a map and how much rats the player are supposed to find. You know, things that add to the gameplay and are comfortable to the player.
Excellent atmosphere. Please finish it it is very promising. Beautiful art and music. Nice 3D effect.
This kinda reminded me of Pathologic and it was quite nice, albeit without any gameplay.
I like the atmosphere you're cultivating here. It's sinister but also friendly. It's a shame the 3d effect didn't make it -- the post-compo version looks really good.
the mood is indeed really nice and the idea is pretty sad x) I like it
I actually really enjoyed this. Perhaps I've had my fill of killing this that and the other, this little interactive vignette was delightful! The text was very amusing, and it was just the right amount of challenge - if I'd had to hunt too much harder it could have become annoying but actually you ended the experience before it got old. I really liked the weird avatar and Cagney - what a star ;) Would have like to have seen some kind of graphic for the promised "Town" - I was expecting a twist ending. Were you supposed to be a metaphorical bacterium or something? Great, thanks
The shortness of the game was a bit disappointing, but the mood and theme were very good. I'm guessing the character is the black death, right?
Interesting idea, but as you said, there is not much gameplay. The mood and story kept me till the end, so that's a plus! Good job finishing this.
I like the character design, looks like one of those apothecary back in the medieval days. Really cool story and mood. Got a little tedious walking around the level though.
It really is a shame there isn't more gameplay, but still, it was an interesting experience.
More of a story than a game, but I enjoyed this greatly. The concept is great, and the graphics and sound create a creepy enough ambience. Good job.
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I really liked the music combined with the visuals. The mood was really good.