Design Statement
Even before the theme was announced, I had wanted to make a game centered on negative emotions, especially PTSD. Coincidentally, the theme music sounded very much like an alarm I once used. Although it is very gentle, when combined with scenes such as waking up early, it can easily produce anxiety. Therefore, drawing on my own experience, I designed a story in which the protagonist develops PTSD in response to ordinary ringing sounds because of certain events, and how he fights against PTSD. The part about fighting PTSD was turned into a mechanic of using a lighter to disperse black fog.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
[LAUNCH]
Download the ZIP and double-click "Étoile rouge.exe" to start the game.
Select Start to begin a new game. Please make sure you have read the opening
warning before continuing.
The game defaults to English. You can switch to Chinese and adjust the volume
in CONFIG, from either the main menu or in-game.

[CONTROLS]
- Left click / Space / Enter: advance dialogue and confirm choices
- Click an on-screen choice to decide; some options may be locked or unlocked
depending on earlier choices.
- SKIP / LOG (top-left of the text box): fast-forward / review the last 10 lines
- SAVE / LOAD / CONFIG / EXIT: save, load, settings, back to the previous screen
- Special mechanics: please refer to the in-game guidance for details.

[ABOUT THE GAME]
Étoile rouge is a psychological mystery visual novel about a fire, a name
nobody can confirm, and a voice that keeps asking, "Do you believe me?"
Across a prologue and five days, read the dialogue, make choices, and reach
different endings.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://youtu.be/R2_f774jh_8

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
AI tools were used to a limited extent to assist with programming and
technical implementation. All visual and audio assets in the game were
produced in-house by our team members or obtained from publicly available
resources licensed for commercial use. No generative AI was involved in the
creation of any in-game artwork or audio.