December 13th-16th 2013 :: Theme: You Only Get One
[ Real World Gatherings | Ludum Deals | Warmup Weekend ]
SCUMBAG is a game that throws you into the first-person view of a character whose actions you'll figure out by playing through this short visual novel a few times.
The depressing game is sort of a mix between visual novel and text adventure, in the way it conveys the story in a world of anonymous-looking, agender-looking people whose feelings are conveyed not only by postures, but also by colours.
You get only one chance to redeem your actions and make peace with those you've hurt. Who knows if that one chance is worth anything, though?
Just point and click. No instructions necessary. I usually work in C++, but I wanted to try Unity this time. This is what I ended up with. I've never made a visual novel before either.
Made by me posting this, Ava Skoog of the Swedish game development studio Royal Railway, and my friend Mehdi Forozandeh. The music was, incredibly, generated by Wolfram Alpha, and then I just messed with it a little in Garage Band. It gave a perfect, gloomy mood!
Downloads and Links
Ratings
| #138 | Mood(Jam) | 3.31 |
| #253 | Audio(Jam) | 2.94 |
| #299 | Innovation(Jam) | 2.76 |
| #305 | Theme(Jam) | 2.65 |
| #328 | Graphics(Jam) | 3.00 |
| #332 | Overall(Jam) | 2.94 |
| #439 | Fun(Jam) | 2.38 |
| #1479 | Coolness | 28% |
Comments
Wow, the music is trippy, can't believe that was generated. Gives the game a really cool tone and feel. Nice concept and execution as well, very deep!
Interesting.
It's enjoyable to piece things together, but no so much to repeat the same scenes after you've exhausted their options or just want to explore a later thread. Being able to click to speed up the text would help. Being able to jump to a scene you reached earlier would also make a big difference. As it is, I got tired of the repetition (of the earlier scenes, of the music, of the word 'scumbag', of the seemingly meaningless dead ends, and of the unrelenting mood), and stopped after buying the train ticket.
Now that was a depressing experience :_(
I tried too hard to find the good ending, but in the end I never got it. I just got to the train, but then bought a ticket (was I not to? why did they place me at the station then? XD) and died again. I like the question-over-text thing, too bad I missclicked on next so many times :(
I'll give you five for mood, as in it makes you feel sad XD
I kept getting crushed under a bridge. Over and over. So that was kinda sad...
Really dark game. I was a bit down after I played it, but I think that's a testament to the mood and emotions you got out of the player with your game. I sort of agree with others that the audio was a bit grating.
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Appropriately dark. Well done.
The music was neat from a technical perspective but got irritating in time. My ear is always searching for a pattern so its absence is disturbing... though I guess that fits the theme of the game.
Had 4 bad endings and 1 extra bad ending. Guess I'm a scumbag!