NSA's Where's Snowden? by Will Edwards
< Satire alert>
A former NSA IT analyst has gone ronin*, sharing the firm's innermost secrets with the outside world and posing a major threat to the agency's credibility with Washington, the public and beyond. If Edward Snowden's leaks keep coming, you can forget the plush Christmas parties, and chances of promotion out of the department.
As the NSA's best analyst-agent it is up to you alone to save the agency from the curse of this ronin agent. Your mission is to ensure that he no longer represents a threat.
Logging in to the Cyber Remote Analyst Portal (CRAP) you can hack flight traffic, track suspects and ultimately guide your own agents onto the same plane as the target. The CRAP has several windows (It is designed to look a lot like Windows 95/ME, the dated feel is deliberate!) which can help you track him down. A bit of detective work is required. In particular, make good use PRISM, a database query interface that allows you search flights and manage a watchlist.
Gameplay & Dev notes:
You get information and can control your agents via the email app.
Using PRISM is central to the game. The PRISM database allows you to see and even edit fights (within limits!). It understands basic SQL (we wrote a parser for this game!) but if you are rusty with your SQL you can always type HELP" to be annoyed our office assistant. We didn't have time to write all the SQL help, unfortunately. Watch the comments section of this entry for additional SQL hints.
There's a map that shows you the airports (click on the airports) and flights in the air.
The Intel Dossier app gives you an overview of people of interest, including Snowden.
Ways to win:
a) Get one or more of your agents onto the same aircraft as Snowden
b) Use flight manifest hacking (via PRISM) to delete Snowden from the manifest (he's under an Alias!) whilst he's in flight. He'll be detained at the airport he lands at. If it's a friendly airport he'll be arrested and deported back to USA so you win. HOWEVER, if it's a neutral or hostile airport he'll get asylum and you lose, so be careful with this power.
We didn't want to make a game that only lasted ten seconds so we tried to embed the theme inb a way that was fundamental yet subtle. So the game is played out at high speed: TEN SECONDS = TEN MINUTES. Flight times are calculated to be realistic based on the specifications of the aircraft. Exact details like flight plans and embarkation lists is randomly generated. NPCs are based on real life people related to the story (see dossier). A lot of realism has been added, including airport locations, airlines etc. It's not all 100% accurate but it took a lot more research than we bargained for.
The game starts with Snowden and several other characters situated in various major world airports. Snowdon and Assange are travelling under fake identies and heading for a safe haven, which will be an airport in a 'Hostile' country. In an effort to keep you off their trail, they will take circuitous routes. The RV destination, routes and aliases will be different every time you play.
This is a Jam entry by William Edwards (concept, coding) and Wombatica (opinions, artwork, research & content). To be honest it started as a solo entry but Wombatica kept sticking his nose in. We had so many big ideas but we ran out of time.
If you move the windows around (please do!), be careful not to move your mouse too fast.
*Ronin. In ancient Japan a Ronin was a masterless Samurai, ergo an agent who goes freelance.
A former NSA IT analyst has gone ronin*, sharing the firm's innermost secrets with the outside world and posing a major threat to the agency's credibility with Washington, the public and beyond. If Edward Snowden's leaks keep coming, you can forget the plush Christmas parties, and chances of promotion out of the department.
As the NSA's best analyst-agent it is up to you alone to save the agency from the curse of this ronin agent. Your mission is to ensure that he no longer represents a threat.
Logging in to the Cyber Remote Analyst Portal (CRAP) you can hack flight traffic, track suspects and ultimately guide your own agents onto the same plane as the target. The CRAP has several windows (It is designed to look a lot like Windows 95/ME, the dated feel is deliberate!) which can help you track him down. A bit of detective work is required. In particular, make good use PRISM, a database query interface that allows you search flights and manage a watchlist.
Gameplay & Dev notes:
You get information and can control your agents via the email app.
Using PRISM is central to the game. The PRISM database allows you to see and even edit fights (within limits!). It understands basic SQL (we wrote a parser for this game!) but if you are rusty with your SQL you can always type HELP" to be annoyed our office assistant. We didn't have time to write all the SQL help, unfortunately. Watch the comments section of this entry for additional SQL hints.
There's a map that shows you the airports (click on the airports) and flights in the air.
The Intel Dossier app gives you an overview of people of interest, including Snowden.
Ways to win:
a) Get one or more of your agents onto the same aircraft as Snowden
b) Use flight manifest hacking (via PRISM) to delete Snowden from the manifest (he's under an Alias!) whilst he's in flight. He'll be detained at the airport he lands at. If it's a friendly airport he'll be arrested and deported back to USA so you win. HOWEVER, if it's a neutral or hostile airport he'll get asylum and you lose, so be careful with this power.
We didn't want to make a game that only lasted ten seconds so we tried to embed the theme inb a way that was fundamental yet subtle. So the game is played out at high speed: TEN SECONDS = TEN MINUTES. Flight times are calculated to be realistic based on the specifications of the aircraft. Exact details like flight plans and embarkation lists is randomly generated. NPCs are based on real life people related to the story (see dossier). A lot of realism has been added, including airport locations, airlines etc. It's not all 100% accurate but it took a lot more research than we bargained for.
The game starts with Snowden and several other characters situated in various major world airports. Snowdon and Assange are travelling under fake identies and heading for a safe haven, which will be an airport in a 'Hostile' country. In an effort to keep you off their trail, they will take circuitous routes. The RV destination, routes and aliases will be different every time you play.
This is a Jam entry by William Edwards (concept, coding) and Wombatica (opinions, artwork, research & content). To be honest it started as a solo entry but Wombatica kept sticking his nose in. We had so many big ideas but we ran out of time.
If you move the windows around (please do!), be careful not to move your mouse too fast.
*Ronin. In ancient Japan a Ronin was a masterless Samurai, ergo an agent who goes freelance.
Ratings
| Coolness | 89% | 2 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.28 | 215 |
| Audio(Jam) | 1.55 | 499 |
| Fun(Jam) | 2.85 | 324 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 2.95 | 369 |
| Humor(Jam) | 3.85 | 30 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.83 | 25 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.40 | 117 |
| Theme(Jam) | 1.98 | 580 |
We ran out of time so the dossier isn't finished and there are few plot setting emails. Might do a minor post compo release just on that.
And the theme is not surveillance.
Congratz!
We kinda put the theme to one side and built the game we (read Will) wanted to. The 10-seconds thing is there in the game speed but we wanted it to be a deep game.
Some play hints.
To play smart you need to figure out the SQL (see help in Prism window).. Look for people who are flying from Moscow (code DME) to hostile locations as final destination (via multiple airports, not direct). Assume Snowden will be under fake ID. then, when your target is in the air on-route to a friendly country, delete their record from the flight itinerary. Bingo.
Or try to get your agents onto the same flight but that's a bit harder I think.
Anyway, well done.
SELECT * FROM AIRPORTS AS A, FLIGHTS AS F WHERE F.DEPART = A.CODE AND A.COUNTRY = 'RUSSIA'
SELECT T.* FROM TARGETS AS T, MANIFESTS AS M WHERE M.PASS = T.PASS AND M.FLIGHT = '<insert flight ID here>'
SELECT F.*, M.REMARK FROM FLIGHTS AS F, MANIFESTS AS M WHERE M.PASS = '<insert suspected passport ID here>' AND F.CODE = M.FLIGHT;
DELETE FROM manifests WHERE flight = 'xxxxxx' AND pass = 'yyyyy'
People should suggest this game to those wishing to learn SQL.
Good luck with the increased surveilance at your house now!
Re speed, agreed. Just one of those things sacrificed for a) the 10 seconds theme and b) build time.
I mean I like such games, (I also had a similar idea if the theme would have been 'Surveillance') but at the moment this is too much SQL for me. Better get some sleep and then try it again.
(It may sound crazy, but maybe this could be used to teach SQL to students...?)
Slowly getting to grips with querying faster, still got loads to learn. I'll let you know if I have any success catching people.
Btw, it is "Caracas Simón Bolívar, Venezuela", on the game it's named a little different the site, or you did that on purpose?