ZERMATT: ZERO by FireSlash

[raw]
made by FireSlash for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

Zermatt: Zero is a PC-98 inspired adventure game in which you must escape the clutches of an unknown monstrosity using your wits and items you can scavenge from the ship.

idle2.gif

Controls

Best played with a mouse, keyboard arrow keys can be used in a pinch.

Help I'm stuck

The most important part of this game is knowing where the monster is, and staying away from it. The scanner (which can be found in the starting room if you missed it) will tell you what the monster is up to. This can be invaluable in determining whether you're safe. Similarly, your team will call out certain events, so pay attention to the dialogue! Lastly, the elevator is a safe space, so retreat there if you find yourself in a bad situation.

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Credits

  • Code / Writing: @FireSlash
  • Art / Direction: @kiririn51
  • Music / SFX: @Juneji

Ratings

Overall 59th 4.14⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Fun 282th 3.628⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 340th 3.488⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Theme 521th 3.357⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 2th 4.744⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Audio 15th 4.279⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 5th 4.488⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Given 37🗳️ 52🗨️

Feedback

Hellpug
07. Oct 2019 · 23:15 UTC
Creepy! I got eaten :/. But I liked how you built tension with the device that is supposed to keep you alive and the music.
nonagram99
08. Oct 2019 · 01:39 UTC
The game freezes every time "Union members caught with such tools are suspended for two weeks and have their names added to The List." appears.
🎤 FireSlash
08. Oct 2019 · 02:18 UTC
@nonagram99 Whoops! One of the dialogue nodes on that tree wasn't connected. I've pushed a quick fix.
revx
08. Oct 2019 · 03:30 UTC
So fun! I love that the characters call out events. I wish it was a little more obvious how the rooms were connected.
Scott Steffes
08. Oct 2019 · 03:42 UTC
Great music, and amazing art output! Love the aesthetic too.
toasteater
08. Oct 2019 · 04:51 UTC
The art and sound work is outstanding as is expected from this crew. The mood is on point. Great game overall.
Jieyi Na
08. Oct 2019 · 05:09 UTC
Great art and sound! I really like this old Japanese pixel style.
zenpj
08. Oct 2019 · 05:30 UTC
Nice art! I think the game could benefit from maybe a map screen or something like that? Also there doesn't appear to be a way to restart the game outside of refreshing the page, is this a bug?
Franciszek Pyrć
08. Oct 2019 · 06:02 UTC
I really like the mood. I can film the alarm going off on the ship. Also... SPACE (bar)
cirno
08. Oct 2019 · 06:03 UTC
Great art style and music. Gameplay is simple but fits perfectly for the mysterious atmosphere.
Compasslg
08. Oct 2019 · 06:23 UTC
Good Job!
I love the art style. The music is super intense and build up the atmosphere very quickly. I didn't feel the game is hard, but I can't control myself clicking those options that would obviously get me killed...
Bredera
08. Oct 2019 · 09:34 UTC
Wow! I love the art in this game, the music fits the earily atmosphere really nicely. eventually I got eaten as well but damnn was it a fun and cool experience! Great job!
vsquitiro
08. Oct 2019 · 17:25 UTC
Amazing art and concept! Try as I might, I always end up as monster chow... Will plan on coming back to this one!
Death_Is_Cold
08. Oct 2019 · 18:50 UTC
I can't believe you made this in a jam. Fucking fantastic.
Toge
08. Oct 2019 · 22:14 UTC
This vaguely reminds me of something from the past :) Great take on the art, definitely a fan of the stylistic choice! Mood was top notch as well. Found myself pretty lost at times but that only increased the terror. A great entry!
ivananovakova
09. Oct 2019 · 07:24 UTC
Wow, awesome stuff!! Love the art!
tohubohu
09. Oct 2019 · 07:36 UTC
Really liked the atmosphere, and the narrative was good too. How do you not have a humor rating option? Those look actions in the hallways were great! I tried a couple of playthroughs but didn't get too far before getting eaten. I set a trap in a room and the monster still got me. :( Well done though! Congrats on the submission.
selkkie
09. Oct 2019 · 19:29 UTC
Fantastic game. Awesome sound and graphics- really nailed the PC-98 feel. It was a bit difficult to progress - on my first two runs I got eaten every time I stepped off the elevator onto the third floor, and the third run was so much jumping between the top two floors it was difficult to make it anywhere. Still though, each time I played it there was variety thanks to the characters.

Awesome work!
bryvox
10. Oct 2019 · 02:49 UTC
This game is so cool! I absolutely love the art style, music and creepy vibe. I was eaten on both of my playthroughs, but I feel like I got pretty far on my last one. Really amazing work :)
paulhocker
10. Oct 2019 · 03:15 UTC
best game i have played so far -- art style, music, theme, mood -- you nailed it -- great work
randdir
10. Oct 2019 · 16:16 UTC
Totally my type, what else to say. I could said the famous "take my money and s*** up !" but why it's free xD. Nevermind well done team graphics, story, ambiance, sound & music are great keep this thing up !
neonlare
11. Oct 2019 · 06:55 UTC
This is god damn incredible work.
NinjaCatz
11. Oct 2019 · 13:17 UTC
I immediately recognized the drawing and soundtracks of the developers of Va-11 Hall-A (This can be guessed from my profile picture) I looked into the description once again - I was right)) Cool game btw!
ketura
11. Oct 2019 · 22:57 UTC
Good mood, but it seems like past a certain point it's ripped enough holes through floors that you can barely outrun it via elevator.

Also I get that the point is to keep the monster unseen, but even a little bit of wall-cracking animation or something as it shows up would be a huge improvement to just "you died".
Chocolat-Endive
12. Oct 2019 · 21:26 UTC
Woooh, it's super cool. Awesome graphics and music. What did you use for making the soundtrack? The game is really difficult but the mood is great and playing the game multiple time is not boring.

I found that it is quite hard to make a "map" of the ship. But it helps a lot to understand how to play the game.
Savvy Community
14. Oct 2019 · 08:30 UTC
Cool art and mood, and interesting gameplay
Nice job!
OccultOne
21. Oct 2019 · 00:53 UTC
This has some incredible art and music, a great job using both to establish a consistent mood and feel throughout the entire experience. It evoked memories of Alien for me with always earns points in my book! The Gameplay felt good, the kind of "Wandering Monster" feel felt pretty good, and if I'd been spending more time with it, I'd probably start mapping out the ship on graph paper like I did in the 90's.

Really a fantastic entry! No complaints.

Minor Bug: I think something went wrong on my playthrough, the monster seemed to get stuck in the 2nd floor, moving between the officer's mess and the hallway over and over.
Unlockingcube
22. Oct 2019 · 00:53 UTC
Love the art.
jusw85
27. Oct 2019 · 20:03 UTC
- Would've loved some keyboard controls e.g. spacebar to advance text

- Not sure how to go back once I've entered an option e.g. can't select scan if I accidentally click move

That said, I enjoyed the game, it was really tough but I managed to beat it after multiple tries

![Screenshot from 2019-10-28 03-56-40.png](///raw/814/2/z/29e0a.png)
23. Apr 2020 · 03:32 UTC
Great idea art and music, and the gameplay is cool but I've been at this for 2 hours and keep getting to the last item I need until I can repair the escape pod and then the monster will just sit in the hallway/room area I need. Making it aggravating way beyond what it should be. Keeping getting killed even trying to get to the room and no matter how many traps I set or doors I close it won't leave that area. I don't even know if it's worth finishing at this point which is annoying because I really like it.
Also this isn't that big of a deal but it seems the 1st floor is the top floor while the 3rd floor is the bottom floor and the dialogue queues for the monster moving implies this as well, but the elevator art shows the 1st floor as the bottom floor and the 3rd floor as the top floor, which made it confusing.