Panopticon by kakuremino

[raw]
made by kakuremino for LD23 (COMPO)
A short adventure. Three different endings. Headphones preferable. To play, download the zip file and extract the contents to the desired location. Run panopticon.exe.

To the people not using Windows: You might be able to run the game from source. What is needed is Ruby 1.9.2 (the game might run in previous versions but I'm not sure) and the Gosu gem (see http://www.libgosu.org/), which is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Please tell me if it works (or if it doesn't).

Made using Ruby with Gosu and OCRA. GIMP, Paint and markers for graphics. Audacity, Bfxr and MilkyTracker for sounds and music. Contains a map editor of sorts (needs Ruby and Gosu to run) and some (poor) documentation to explain mapformat in the maps directory.

Controls:
Arrow keys for walking
Space or return to perform action (possible when indicated by questionmark above character).

The Panopticon is a type of building. See wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

WARNING: Small spoiler (hint) in comments. Don't read them before playing. Unless you want to.

Ratings

Coolness 94% 2
Overall 3.29 244
Audio 3.56 62
Fun 2.66 518
Graphics 3.42 203
Humor 1.93 586
Innovation 3.17 328
Mood 4.34 3
Theme 2.44 715

Feedback

bitbof
23. Apr 2012 · 16:28 UTC
Mysterious.
I like the idea of combining minimalist/abstract graphics with paper drawings.
uberneen
24. Apr 2012 · 00:06 UTC
The atmosphere was awesome. As I played the music and general sense of darkness made me think of American McGee's Alice.
RiamuDiMentis
24. Apr 2012 · 00:07 UTC
The art was great, along with the music, having said that, I was disappointed when it stopped.. It was lovely.
TyrusPeace
24. Apr 2012 · 01:45 UTC
Good visual style and atmosphere, but walking around waiting to turn into a question mark got a bit tiring for me. Maybe some kind of mouse control would have made things snappier?
FireSlash
24. Apr 2012 · 03:04 UTC
Nice atmosphere. Controls got annoying when I found out I cant move diagonally.
icefallgames
24. Apr 2012 · 04:40 UTC
It looks nice and has great atmosphere, but I don't really "get it". I just die when I reach the final screen with the 3 rooms with parallel bars...
🎤 kakuremino
24. Apr 2012 · 09:47 UTC
Thank you all for the nice comments and suggestions.

Icefallgames, the sound should help with making a safe choice.
Pierrec
24. Apr 2012 · 10:33 UTC
Very weird.
I love the cutscene screens!
the8donut
24. Apr 2012 · 10:45 UTC
Great art, creepy atmosphere. Very well done!
Arkazon
24. Apr 2012 · 20:02 UTC
Very nice, love the atmosphere. Had to look at the comments to beat that 3 teleporter room though.
StarDynamic
24. Apr 2012 · 20:14 UTC
Well done.
Every piece of the game complimented the rest.
The eerie mood was portrayed beautifully and the game was as puzzling as the plot.
One of the best games I have seen yet.
I really enjoyed it.
devwil
24. Apr 2012 · 20:45 UTC
***I'm posting this on all non-browser games I bring up in an attempt to encourage folks to make browser games next time around. Do not take it personally.***

When hundreds of people make non-browser games, that means that, to play all of the entries, I would need to download hundreds of games to my computer. I typically use OS X, so Windows-only entries are particularly inconvenient.

Please consider making a browser game next time.
netmute
24. Apr 2012 · 21:46 UTC
Couldn't rate because I'm using a Mac. Sorry :(
divillysausages
24. Apr 2012 · 21:53 UTC
really like the mood of this game, though i'm not quite sure if i won or lost :)
also, when going back for the key for the first door, is it just me or is there something else in the corridor, just on the edge of your vision?
Mach60KAS
25. Apr 2012 · 22:38 UTC
Reminded me a lot of Amnesia. I particularly liked the piano music as the start; I was wondering why it didn't loop or anything? I think that would be nice (or even an extended track!) :)
🎤 kakuremino
25. Apr 2012 · 23:46 UTC
First of all, I just want to say that I really appreciate all the feedback.

To the people not using Windows: You might be able to run the game from source. What is needed is Ruby 1.9.2 (the game might run in previous versions but I'm not sure) and the Gosu gem (see http://www.libgosu.org/), which is available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Mach60KAS, I did not want the music to get repetitive so I decided not to loop any of the tracks. I would have liked to do more with the music and sound, but I ran out of time. I also think that periods of silence can be interesting, and when the music stops one might hear quiet noises that were drowned out before (I would have liked for there to be more to hear, but as I said, there wasn't enough time).
runsintowalls
26. Apr 2012 · 02:00 UTC
LOVE it. wwwwwwow. What games should be like.
Tom 7
26. Apr 2012 · 02:46 UTC
Man, this is a creepy game. Good sound design and I love the drawings. The top down graphics and character movement could have used some polish. I didn't quite understand the end of the game, whether I beat it or not. But I did definitely feel creeped out, so high marks for mood. :)
Jack
26. Apr 2012 · 18:57 UTC
wow... spine-chillingly beautiful, and spine-chillingly strange. Really excellent
Pacifist Games
26. Apr 2012 · 20:42 UTC
Very moody, I like it. The ending seemed rather abrupt, but you did make it in 48 hours. Good job! :)
dansludumdare
26. Apr 2012 · 22:00 UTC
Real nice game. My suggestion would be that text at the end (the one I got) was a bit too dramatic/Matrix Reloaded. Oh, and love the slinky sounds.
johnfn
27. Apr 2012 · 06:19 UTC
Terrifying. Very clever way to show 'getting hurt'. Loved the stylistic choice of having separate images when you inspected things. I was playing this at night in the dark and ended up having to turn down the music because I was getting creeped out :-)
SusanTheCat
29. Apr 2012 · 01:47 UTC
CRREEEEEEEEEEPY!
Cake&Code
29. Apr 2012 · 02:02 UTC
What an intense mood! The visuals, the music, and the interactions all made it feel so... so dark and brooding. The only other game that made me feel this way was Clock Tower for the SNES wayyy back in the day. I am thoroughly creeped out.

Amazing creation you've got here. Simple mechanics and the eerie quality blend together to make for a great experience. The pen-drawn screens were fantastic.

I only wish I could move diagonally sometimes. Besides that, well done, very cool game.
Cyboot
29. Apr 2012 · 18:41 UTC
very mysterious atmosphere
audio and graphic fits perfectly

nice game with great mood
Rectifier
29. Apr 2012 · 20:26 UTC
Simplicity at it's finest.

That was inspired. Great presentation, great mood.

I approve of your decision to not loop the music, it made things better. My only complaint is that I didn't see what was "tiny" about the world.
Nick Cash
01. May 2012 · 02:21 UTC
I enjoyed the mood, and the graphical style as very interesting. Lack of diagonal movement was a little annoying, but overall didn't matter too much. On my computer the movement was so slow it was hard to enjoy.
Niavlys
03. May 2012 · 20:34 UTC
Wow, at first I was skeptic, then I loved the mood, idea(s) and audio. Still, I think it's weird how the music stops quickly in the beginning ; and I didn't like very much the three doors again and again where you have no way to guess which door is the right one. The gameplay was perfectible (annoying controls...) but overall the gaming experience was great. :)
elvis75k
03. May 2012 · 23:19 UTC
Very Burton-esque mood in the beginning, i got scared with so minimal art. I didn't finish the game yet, i will surely do tomorrow morning ;)
Thotep
04. May 2012 · 12:10 UTC
While the art & audio are simple, they manage to create a sinister atmosphere. Combining hand-drawn art was a good idea. It crashes in certain situations though.