We Were Made To Perish

 

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The dreams are getting worse...

 

Michelle's life wasn't exactly simple before her boyfriend Aaron's cancer diagnosis. Now, it looks like the stress is getting to her. A blue stranger haunts her dreams every night; instigating and insisting, provoking and prodding, speaking endless, disjointed nonsense – his presence must mean something for Michelle, but what?

 

And a better question still: Does she really want to know?

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Download

UPDATE: Check the post below for action sequence screenshots!

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We Were Made To Perish is an interactive short story about coping with loss, fear and the inevitability of death. It has some basic RPG-esqe exploration and NPC interaction, as well as a few custom mini-games: chase sequences and stealth sections. It's about half gameplay, half story, but be warned -- it's definitely catered to people who like words.

 

I'd be very interested in feedback, critiques, and bug reports (I've had several friends play-test it and no one's reported anything wrong with the latest build, but you never know!)

 

Thanks for taking the time, and good luck to everyone else!

 

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Controls

 

Movement -- Arrow Keys

 

Examine/Confirm  -- Z

 

Menu/Cancel  -- X

 

Run (Not available during stealth segments)  -- Shift

 

Hint: If you're going for the good ending, make sure you save at least 1 bullet!!!

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Took some screens of the more action-oriented bits as well.

Chase sequences!



Stealth Sections!



Mutant Battles!

Final screenshot before I go to bed.

Who doesn't want to play a game with this guy in it? He's a blast at parties! Or would be, if he got invited to any.

Downloaded! Will check out soon, this looks very cool!

More screenshots (Mo' Monsters, Mo' Problems Edition):

Eye See You!



Baby, We Were Born To Run!

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to everyone who's played, reviewed and critiqued my game so far!

You -- you're the real heroes (after, like... firefighters, cops, EMT's and the X-Men)

I've been extremely impressed with the submissions I've played so far as well. Seriously, people are amazing...

Just reviewed your game in the reviewing thread -  it's really great! Thanks for posting it - I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

Just dropped a couple more game reviews over here!

Also, you should probably go play Peace of Mind, like... right now!

Yeah, I'm using my own thread to promote someone else's game -- it. is. that. good.

Finally, I'm pretty sure I'm all caught up on promised reviews, but I if swore a solemn vow to review your game and then sorta... didn't, drop me a line and I'll get on it ASAP!

Just played this!

And I liked it, too. It has the vibe of an outer limits episode, and it's quite well written. And I think that one is your game's best quality, because it is an enjoyable reading.

Graphics and Music just add to the general experience, creating a creepy environment that never dips too much into horror territory. 

The bad thing about the game is... the "game" part. The player is confined to some exploration and a couple of easy action sequences before the game ends... I did the whole game (with the good ending) directly on my first playthrough, because the enemies' moves are just easy to see and dodge.

But anyway, this game is good because of the neat story, and is a good experience overall.  

Sorry my review is so short, but I really don't know what else to comment on. What is done is well executed, and maybe it's because it's short that there are few drawbacks (appart from being so short, of course).

Thanks for the review!

I completely understand that the game's short length puts some people off a tad.

When I get time, I'm planning on an Extended Edition with all the content I cut to make the contest deadline.

Appreciate your feedback, though!

Just uploaded an RTP-free version of We Were Made To Perish.

If you've been wanting to check out WWMTP but were too busy with cat gifs/cataloging all the ways the new Star Wars movies are gonna suck/STOCKS AND BONDS AND BUSINESS to download the massive full version, YOUR TIME HAS COME!!!

Time to fulfil my mind with science fiction. 

And I choose this. 

The game was shorter than my thought! 

But overall, the game is... not bad, not really great. But I like the personality of the protagonist, hmps. 

Here's my very quick and sketchy take on the game (link for info on why it's so short and all that jazz)




+Good writing.


+Nice setting.


+Decent mapping (some locations are a bit lackluster but overall nice.


-The main character suffers from the writing, not because she’s badly written, but because she’s used to convey everything the plot dictates and comes out having a really weird and erratic unexplained personality and reactions.


-The “gameplay” aspects are really very tacked on and don’t create any real tension.


-The game lacks any real “tension”, especially in the later parts. There’s just no reason to be tense when the game is so piss easy and the setting so bright and colorful.


-The music can be really hit and miss, and doesn’t help with the presentation much.


To the developer: I enjoyed this game for the writing alone. The “gameplay” as it was didn0t really draw me in at all and felt more an annoyance than anything else, since I wanted to get to the next text bit faster without the gameplay fluff. It felt really useless in that sense.


Outside what I already commented above about the main character, the writing is what made this game for me, and I enjoyed it for that. The last scene with the “boss” was definitely cool, and kudos to you for not taking a fake “happy ending” that would have come across as really fake.


For your next project just take some care with the characterization of the protagonist (let them have their own voice rather than just serve the plot disregarding their position) and try to compliment the game with suitable gameplay rather than tacked-on, and you’ll be set.

Thanks for seeing your crazy ambitious review process through to the end.

I'm a big fan of your videos, and have been nervously waiting for your thoughts. It was a long wait because of my game's title (Damn you, W!), but ultimately worth it!

I totally agree the game-play is rather lackluster. I set out to tell a story first, and then felt obligated to make it a "game" halfway through, and that definitely shows. And originally, there were three main characters (cut for time), so it suddenly fell on Michelle to carry the entire plot (which caused some of her dialog to feel very... explainy, for lack of a real word).

I'm overjoyed, however, that you dug the writing -- that's really the highest compliment I could receive about WWMTP, and I thank you for it.