Antagonist Syndrome
Entry for Pirate Jam 14 - "It's Spreading"
This is our first game, for everyone involved. I am extremely proud of what we put together.
Apologies for any bugs you encounter, we tried our best to get them out but a few were very resistant with our skill levels, still, how far it came from early prototype to final product is a very good feeling.
Story:
The Algorithm is taking control over what social media people can see. Things are getting scary... Antagonism is Spreading.
CW: Some of the dialogue talks about abuse.
Team members: Twilight, Krysta and BitBlush
Extensive use of Modern Interiors and Modern Exteriors by https://limezu.itch.io/
Download
Development log
- Our First GameJan 29, 2024
Comments
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This was a nifty little game! I enjoyed it! I wish it was longer, even haha!
We very much appreciate hearing this! Especially heartening as we're in the early drive going from Jam Edition to something full and complete. We hope to have that ready in the relatively near future.
It definitely caught me off guard when the first 'fanatic' appeared, haha.
I really liked the photo uploading mechanic, and made me chuckle seeing that bunch just yeet themselves into the hole.
The final step definitely was too dark, but I found a weird angle in my screen that let me see a bit. I couldn't stop myself from trying again, it's got a really captivating feel.
Great job! I really enjoyed this one.
Oh man, what started off as kind of cute and a little strange quickly becomes really sinister!
Love the thematic application and mimicking the cultural reaction to social media over time.
First of all, congrats on all the team for submitting your first game done! Coming up with a full experience on a short time is never easy. I agree with the other comment, the hole falling on another hole would be perfect ahah
I finished playing your game~~
I've gotten the ice cream girl to her friend by letting her get stuck at the g'bage and then trigger her again a second time.
Found a new strategy where i stack two tables on top of each other on the long hallway and slowly push them so the fanatic algorithm slaves are slowly pushed along like a tidal wave.
the...last level? its too dark that i cannot see anything. I had to just replay it over and over again.
the falling hole mechanic is such a fun little doodle-bob. I couldn't try this because after awhile its just too much to restart all over BUT--can you make a *hole* fall down a *hole*? Its so satisfying to hear them "frummmm". The girl in the library said that 'not moving' makes it stop chasing you....but it doesn't...do that? was that intended?
The world building and character dialogue is amaze-zing except the whole...overall plot of having an algorithm master feels--too game-like. Nevertheless, it is a game jam and trying to apply a more complex embodiment of society would require more detail.
Thank you so much for the detailed comment!!
That's a very clever way to push the tables, in a future version we'll definitely need to address that, but I'm honestly glad to hear you played enough to discover that :)
A few people definitely complained about the darkness. What I would have liked if I had time to figure it out would have been to make the player's phone light much brighter, or found a way to turn on a flashlight in a way that would draw enemies, but also give you more visibility.
The falling hole mechanic was one of my favorite things, I was so happy with how it turned out. That idea for a hole falling in a hole... that's honestly genius, since it would only happen with the moving holes. Either that, or I'd 'infect' the other holes. Unfortunately, the game as released, there's just no effect, but I absolutely love the idea.
Unfortunately, not all the NPC dialogue was made true in world. I'd have loved to make the hole move if you threw things in it, or make what she said about not moving true, if I'd had more time to think it through. I mostly just wanted to portray her being scared, but 'stopping' to stop the hole could have been a pretty interesting mechanic.
I hear you for sure on the algorithm. I was hoping to get as much nuance as I could into it, but it's rough on such a tight time budget, especially with how little time I had to make the levels after we finished basic programming. In a full version, I believe I'd still want there to be an "Algorithm", but it would take much longer for it to reveal itself, and I'd have the player pushed into positions of doing things that get its attention. Considering how much I liked the writing in your game, you liking the dialogue really means a lot to me.
Again, thank you so much!
Was I supposed to be able to get the hungry girl over to her friend with the ice cream? She kept getting caught on the garbage.
What a terrifying reality brought to game form and why we all need a break from social media. Maybe a long holiday to live our lives is in order.
There were some last minute bugs introduced in pathfinding meshes that were difficult to track down. The goal was to get her to the friend, yeah, though we didn't have much planned for when she got there. And yeah, social media has been difficult to contend with these days.
This game was an adorable little descent into madness. Great job.
That way of phrasing it absolutely brought joy to me, thank you!
I'm glad. I see why you liked my jokes, we have similar humor I think XD
Lovely game! Great work.
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Loved it!
So happy you did!
Great take on the theme! Really makes you think. Inteligent, clever, pleasing. Good job team!
I'm glad you felt so! Our whole team wanted to make something really meaningful, no matter how long we worked on it. Thank you for your kind words!
10/8 broken tables, found god. gg & good luck