Gatekeepers
One way in, no way out - What will you find out?
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For the Practice Jam #6:
A small portion of a game that is a vertical slice from my future game. (It's not a horror game, just a creepy and dreamy atmospheric game, for those worried)
Explore the confined area and talk to the characters to progress the game. (All interactable characters are displayed in the screenshots)
[W] [S] and mouse to move
[1] [2] [3] to pick a dialog option
Assets used: Music, Ocean Shader, 3D Assets
Tutorials used: Cutscene Animation, Ocean Shader, Interactions
Theme (and probably some spoilers)
The game fits the theme because you have to learn from the NPCs to progress and the reason they are giving you all the information might not be out of generosity, but you'll have to reach the ending for that.
Download
Comments
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Really liked this! Especially the ending - very fitting for the questions posed before it. Not much more to say, other than it was enjoyable and induced some good thinking.
As technical feedback: I had problems with the web version and mouseview in Firefox on Manjaro KDE Linux - it seems like even in fullscreen mode, the mouse did not get captured. I would have to check, but I think Godot has a way to force mouse capturing within the... window manager? Something like that. That could be a quick addition (probably after the jam).
The downloaded version worked like a charm in wine, though, so no issue in enjoying the game :)
Good work!
Hey, thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you liked the experience!
Appreciate the feedback, the project wasn't playtested enough on the web version before the release, and this bug became apparent after the game jam ended. The fix is easy though and I'll make sure to get it resolved after the jam is over.
Here's the video with the solution for my or anybody's future reference:
Hi! its pretty nice, i think the ending was a little buggy for me, some text flashed on the screen as i got teleported, but it doesnt change the fact that it was a pretty cool ending that i honestly didnt expect ^^ is there alternate endings?
also i dont think i saw something that was obviously a "gate", theres a temple in the distance and a waterway, did i miss something or did you mean for the gate to be ambiguous in which case can i consider that i passed some sort of metaphorical gate to become a statue?
cheers
Hey, yeah this project was poorly time managed and the emphasis was on the atmosphere, more than on the gameplay. The ending especially was rushed, and it was meant to play out a little differently, but the original idea was too ambitious for the game jam timeframe. So there is just that one ending.
The gate is supposed to be the entrance leading to the temple, which should represent the "true knowledge" or the "happy ending" where no person is allowed - people are left to wander with their questions on the outskirts of the "promised land", never fully getting their life long satisfaction and peace. Ending unfortunately does not fit the metaphor, but that's the beauty of the game jams, find the way to finish the project!
Cheers and thanks for playing!
hmmm i think theres value in the ending, i see it as "the simple resolution offered by the temple/gate is an illusion", instead, the true accomplishment is accepting the quest is endless, life-long, never over, which is represented by being a self-questioning statue ^^ admittedly this doesnt feel very emancipatory but at least it makes a lot of sense to me.
Is the big project this is a vertical slice of the same one from the observer or is it a different project?
It is not emancipatory but it strikes closer to the human experience. Love the interpretation!
This project is different than the observer. I want to make something with more freedom to explore environment building and game dev in general, to be able to tackle a more serious project like the observer later. This one is for the liminal game jam which started a couple of days ago. It would be nice to see you joining the competition!
i love the liminal jam but IRL commitments dont allow me to participate this time. I do want to check out all the results though so I'll see you there xD
"you are one of the satues of wisdom now, hope you are ready to answer questions for eternity"
An immersive atmosphere, the dialogues really left me thinking
Glad you liked it and thx for playing!
nice
Hey, thank you for the video!
There was a bug during your playthrough, not sure why but the first statue was not giving you choices, I'll try to see what's up with that.