Bitstream - (MAGS August 2015) - Joint winner!

Chicky · Fri 04/09/2015 21:02:41

Hack your way through complex folder structures in an attempt to bring down a mysterious organization,
set in a hostile world where the vast majority of it's inhabitants are completely reliant on respiratory breathing aids.

Created for the August 2015 MAGS competition.

The game has permadeath, but it's (hopefully) not too annoying.

Game and sound design by Chicky

Music by LostTrainDude and Alfonso Gordon

Thanks to Mandle and LostTrainDude for some last minute bug tests

Download Bitstream (332MB)

Mandle · Fri 04/09/2015 23:27:42

Congratz on the release mate!!!

I only had time to check out a very brief segment of the game but what I did see had the appearance of a game released by a professional studio: simply mind-blowing!!!

I can't wait to play the final release!!!

MiteWiseacreLives! · Sat 05/09/2015 03:44:01

332 MEGS! holy cow

that's a big mags game!
Not sure if I'll be able to download this monster...

Chicky · Sat 05/09/2015 04:05:10

I tried to keep the sprite count to a minimum but alas, the thing is indeed a bit of a monster. Sorry about that, it was the trade off for the CRT warp and glitchy bits of animation.

Cuiki · Sat 05/09/2015 23:13:43

Oh wow, that was really amazing while it lasted. Great immersion with all the heavy breathing and music and all!

Is that what real hacking looks like?
Might as well for all I know.

Spoiler

So the game ends after you open the PRIVATE folder? And it's inevitable to DROWN.EXE?
I played it and got to that same point 3 (!) times before I eventually realised that might be where the game actually ends.

Hopefully I'm just missing something??

[close]

Chicky · Sun 06/09/2015 00:30:22

Hey Cuiki, that is indeed where it ends, there should be some credits too! I would have liked to expand the game further but this was the best I could manage in an otherwise super busy month

You're the first person who has confirmed completion, thanks for playing and the kind words

Cuiki · Sun 06/09/2015 00:44:24

Yeah, I saw the credits, but I don't know why I thought they would show up either way, whether you win or lose...

Heh, really? Maybe the other people are just too scared to say it out loud.

AprilSkies · Sun 06/09/2015 19:03:07

HANDS DOWN, Best AGS game ever.
No kidding!
Going to vote this 5/5.

One of the best immersion I ever felt.
And please nominate this for the next best music award!
During the puzzles there's an electronic glitch based track simply amazing.

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/09/2015 20:43:31

Uhm...

AprilSkies · Sun 06/09/2015 21:06:20

Yeah!
I loved this same way I loved "Pi" that movie by Darren Aronofsky (with Autechre and Orbital tracks in the soundtrack)

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/09/2015 21:19:37

LOL

Not doubting you love it, it's just me, I don't get it and have no idea what to do... walkthrough? Or at least instructions.

Mandle · Sun 06/09/2015 23:58:30

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sun 06/09/2015 21:19:37
LOL
Not doubting you love it, it's just me, I don't get it and have no idea what to do... walkthrough? Or at least instructions.

Just channel thy inner hacker, Cassie!

Shadow1000 · Mon 07/09/2015 04:02:55

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sun 06/09/2015 21:19:37
LOL
Not doubting you love it, it's just me, I don't get it and have no idea what to do... walkthrough? Or at least instructions.

It's quite different than other games. For starters, did you read the README_FIRST document that came with the game folder?

SHADOW

Dualnames · Mon 07/09/2015 09:23:53

Let's be honest with each other as Game Developers, when we don't want to draw a game, we think of a hacking simulator. It's just text and barely any visuals. So more work goes on its design. What we love. But, how many good hacking simulations do you know?

Yesterday my answer would be almost none.
Today it's "Bitstream".

Literally the breathing and permadeath feature add so much to the game, and the glitchy nature of everything on my screen is impeccable. The fact that you can hear someone respiring, supposedly yourself, gives me a feeling that when the breathing increases, that I'm about to commit a fatal mistake. Before I continue with the praise, holy fuck, accept lowercase when it's not a password. I spent 1 hour figuring out it needed B17 instead of b17.
Aside from that I like how nothing is explained, it adds more to the game (no sarcasm, I'm serious).

The introduction even thought it's minimalistic and a bit cliched, the fact that it doesn't only use one word, switches from the typical trope that's done to death, and actually works in favor of Bitstream. I felt that you were actually describing a world to me through these 5-6 words. And most of all I wanted to see it.

Spoiler

And that didn't happen, you bastard, but you teased endlessly with the castvids. You made sure I was shown the world, but never given it. BASTARD. But I liked that element too

[close]

There's like one typo in the readme and another on the game, but pfew, who gives a shit. The ending sequence and whatever happened there got me nervous as hell, and was very enjoyable. For a game made in a month, it's pretty impressive and overall a wonderful experience. Kudos sir, it was 1.5 hour well spent (even if i got stuck with the lowercase thingie). I give this a

Good Hideo Kojima Design Doesn't Need Boob Physics out of 10

And that's the complimentary plaque you get with that rating.

EDIT: OH AND BEFORE I FORGET, I SAW UR AVATAR, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE GOD OF DETAILS LIKE THAT.

Stupot · Mon 07/09/2015 09:33:53

Quote from: DualnamesBefore I continue with the praise, holy fuck, accept lowercase when it's not a password. I spent 1 hour figuring out it needed B17 instead of b17.

But... I've been trying upper and lower case and still got stuck.

Anyway, I'll work it out. It's gorgeously stylistic. That's all I can say at the moment. I'll update my thoughts when I've worked out what to do $:-\$

Dualnames · Mon 07/09/2015 09:44:00

@Stupot: I wouldn't mind sharing hints, I'm sure Chicky would also be able to share hints.

Chicky · Mon 07/09/2015 10:01:46

Thanks for the lovely comments

AprilSkies: I'm really happy you liked the game, it sounds like you *got* what I was trying to achieve, thanks for the kind words and smile you put on my face yesterday. Although best AGS game? Heh, not sure what to say to that

Cassiebg: If you need a little advice to point you in the right direction just drop me a PM

Dualnames: Thanks for an awesome write up! I was worried that I was being a little too vague when presenting the player with nothing but a login screen but it seems this wasn't the confusing part for most. I really didn't want to break immersion so having any kind of pop-up message explaining the controls/concept was a no-no, glad you liked what I was trying to achieve. I agree completely about the upper/lowercase thing, wanted to implement it but ran out of time. The next update will include some bug, typo and typing fixes, If there is enough interest I'll release a 'deluxe' edition with some of the cut content I wanted add but didn't have time.

Funny you should mention Kojima, MGS's menu vibe and the ending of Sons of Liberty were an influence

Stupot: Thanks for your initial thoughts and compliment, keep trying, there are imaginary people to save! (Also happy to give hints)

Not a bad reception so far, if a little controversial

Bulbapuck · Tue 08/09/2015 12:28:40

This was indeed incredible. The only bad part is that it's too short.

What really made this game was the immersion, I was genuinely freaked out trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do and not do.

Spoiler

After it ended I was sure that I did it wrong, that if I had done things differently I could have accessed things in that private folder. It's a bit of a shame that you can't (or can you?), understandably though as this in and of itself is very impressive for a MAGS entry. Still, I think this game could be one of the best AGS games I've ever played if there was more to it.

[close]

Really well done!

Shadow1000 · Tue 08/09/2015 19:10:07

I completed the game. What was the theme of the MAGS entry?

SHADOW

Chicky · Tue 08/09/2015 19:48:38

Quote from: Atelier on Wed 05/08/2015 00:23:04
So yeah...This summer's MAGs theme is DROWNING...

Interpret this theme any way you like:

Literal drowning, saving someone from drowning, drowning in paperwork, feeling like you are drowning in a relationship...etc.

I went with 'drowning in the Bitstream' or put more simply, drowning in data. I wanted to give the player a similar feeling to drowning in the ocean - claustrophobia, helplessness, loss of navigational bearing, lack of sound par your own body and breathing apparatus.

Bulbapuck: Thank you for playing! I'm really happy with the response this is getting

I wish I could have made it longer and judging on the response so far I most likely will, I'd loved to have added more after Terminal 2 but time did not permit. I'm a little shocked at how two of you have mentioned the word 'best', it's too short for that but this does make me want to release more things

selmiak · Tue 08/09/2015 20:47:28

Just been hacking my way through this while playing in a dark room in fullscreen. What a great experience! I feel 1337 now!

Mandle · Wed 09/09/2015 07:46:27

Just finished the game:

OH MY GOD!!! Things got intense!!!

I feel like I just saved the world!!! Or did I doom it?

Freakin' INCREDIBLE GAME!!!

Somebody hack into William Gibson's cyberspace and send this game to him ASAP!!!

He's an old guy so HURRY!!!

EDIT:

OHHHHH!!! After watching Bulbapuck beat the game I realised what happened at the end I think:

SPOILERS ALERT:

Spoiler

I'm thinking the government/corporation sells Oxygen(TM) to the population in breathing devices and that otherwise the entire society is a sealed vacuum. So: either work for the system and get your oxygen or "drown", which is another way the game fits the theme!!! Not just drowning in the bitstream but actually drowning!!!

The main character has a main tank of oxygen and also a reserve (screen: bottom right) and is trying to hack into the controllers' computers to VOID the supply of oxygen (that is being rationed out) into the vacuum of the closed system that the society lives in before his/her own supply of oxygen runs out...

The last sound at the end of the game sounds very much like somebody pulling a breathing mask off their face and taking the first deep breath of real air that they have ever known...

I may be way off base with this theory of course...Hope the author can confirm or deny...

[close]

Cassiebsg · Wed 09/09/2015 21:48:26

Okay, gave this one another try and using Dualnames's "hint" I finally figured out what to do...

(Honestly, I hadn't seen the letters as they are very dark, so was just trying the numbers...

).

Spoiler

Nice puzzles, though, once one figure what to do becomes a bit redundant after the first 5 "locks". Liked the 2nd one much more... Took me a while to figure that one and then a while more to "un-mess" what I had done while trying to figure it out.

Must say, felt kind of short too. But I like the "wink" at end.

I Thought I had died!

You evil one!

[close]

Chicky · Thu 10/09/2015 16:00:34

Selmiak, Mandle and Cassiebg: Thanks for playing!

Cassiebg: I'm sorry to hear the letters were too dark, this was something I was worried about for some players but I had already exported all the assets for that puzzle! I'll take this on board for any future updates

Selmiak: Glad you had a go, perfect setting for playing aswell - I was hoping people would play fullscreen (screen edges are ablsoloute black to fit in with the bars you will see on a 16:9 monitor).

Mandle: You've definitely got what I was going for, I really appreciate your enthusiasm towards this release. The ending is up for interpretation but you have pretty much hit the nail on the head for what I had in mind.

Has anyone else played? I would love to hear your thoughts!

cat · Fri 18/09/2015 20:49:32

Hm, after playing the video, the cursor disappeared. Is this intentional?

Edit: Ok completed the game, the cursor did reappear after some blind navigating.

Amazing game! I have to point out that I'm using one of those super old IBM keyboards (and with super old I mean it doesn't even has Windows keys yet) which also makes the appropriate hacker sound

Great atmosphere, with the breathing sound, monitor effect and old console feel.

tsa · Fri 16/10/2015 16:04:41

I finished it too.I didn't know what to think of the game but your explanation helped Chicky, thanks!
It's a great game; I've never seen anything like it. I had fun playing it and only just made it to the end

.

homelightgames · Fri 23/10/2015 06:22:02

Wow, that was an intense experience! This is a great example of how powerful the atmosphere of a game can be, with the character's reflection, and the breathing.
I also appreciate Mandle's Spoiler explanation, because I was a bit lost on the meaning of the end.

Great job, Chicky, on such a unique and intense game.

visionmind

Chicky · Sun 25/10/2015 17:05:33

Thanks for the lovely comments cat, tsa and visionmind

I'm really happy you all liked the atmosphere I was trying to achieve, it seems to have worked

cat, that clicky keyboard was practically MADE for this game!

Happy to see people consider the game a unique experience, i'll be building on the concept and re-releasing something in 2016, a v0.2 so to speak.

HanaIndiana · Mon 26/10/2015 01:32:56

Wow, just lovely! I haven't finished it yet (a bit stuck). I may have to check the hints section because my patience is waning these days. The visuals are A+.

SilverSpook · Thu 26/11/2015 07:41:27

Awesome game! Definitely deserves the featured spot on the AGS site. The audio and visual effects are brilliantly used. When you have that CRT monitor with text scrolling, is that like a series of full-screen images animating? Which of the effects are things you do with manipulation in AGS or are they pretty much all created outside AGS?

Chicky · Thu 26/11/2015 11:25:29

Hey dude, thanks for the kind words

I'm not much of a programmer so all of the effects were composited in Adobe After Effects, this soon became a massive pain when I ended up with a painfully long list of rooms. I think if you were using Unity or similar you would use a graphics shader to warp the screen and then overlays for the static/glitches etc. In Bitstream's case each 'screen' is a static AGS background with the warped text built in, then all the glitches are room specific pre-made views to run at the appropriate places, a semi transparent static overlay is used to tie it all together.

Now seems a good opportunity to say thanks to Cat for picking Bitstream as the AGS game of the month! It inspired me to enter MAGS this month and I'm now a few days away from having another game for you all to play

Thank you Hanaindiana for the lovely comment too!

SKYY · Wed 06/04/2016 17:55:40

I'm confused.

Spoiler

I might have missed something, but I did a large glyph puzzle, read a file for a login/pw, did a tile puzzle, used the login, and got to a point where the screen turned red and jumbly. Then I kept blindly navigating the .dx files until I found a drown.exe, and when I ran that the game ended. Is that it?

[close]