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pale broadcast's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #4 | 4.250 | 4.250 |
| Innovation | #22 | 3.938 | 3.938 |
| Theme interpretation | #23 | 4.062 | 4.062 |
| Overall | #40 | 3.688 | 3.688 |
| Graphics | #65 | 3.750 | 3.750 |
| Gameplay | #72 | 3.312 | 3.312 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/ryle-e/pale-broadcast-jamgame
Game description
!! In case you get stuck, the answer to the first puzzle is in the readme on the GitHub repo :))
An eerie, short puzzle/walking sim centered around a radio you can tune through. Inspired by real numbers stations and alarms, and with a (my first time) focus on audio design and atmosphere.
Use Q and E to tune the radio, the top number keys to type, and WASD+left click in the second part.
Theme interpretation
I've interpreted "WAVES" as radio waves for this project! I wanted to have more of an obvious representation of the waves (like particles or smth) but didn't have the time to finalise it before the deadline :(
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Comments
So unsettling in the best way, fantastic audio and game design.
So much more suspenseful than many big budget games. I second those that ask for a more fleshed out version.
It kind of reminds me of PT, essentially likening you to Kojima. Thanks for the experience!
Wow, thank you so much for that!! I think it'd be remiss of me not to try to expand on the idea a little lol. And thank you in particular for the PT/Kojima comparison, that's really high praise and means a lot :))
Please make a full-length game of this, with this mechanics and overall eerie (and just terrifying) vibe. It is VERY unsettling and chilling, the kind of horror that I like most!
I like the puzzles, specially the first one, but after I read a tip and understood what I had to do I got mad that I didnt take the time to figure it out, because it is very well designed and its 100% MY fault that I recurred to the hint... Maybe if the game had some sort of easier, simpler puzzle at the beginning, to be sort of a tutorial that also introduces the game, it would make the players more familiar with the mechanics and the the hints would not be necessary... idk.. Im only saying that because I already think this game can go very far and those sort of things dont necessary apply to a game jam.
About the second part, I thought the puzzle itself was a little less ingenious than the first, but the whole thing, with the whispers and all, was TERRIFYING and I loved it! Really cool game, congrats!
Thank you so much!! I'm definitely thinking of expanding on this game with feedback like this :))
Introducing the puzzles with something easier would definitely be helpful, you're right that I kinda came out swinging with a difficult one from the very start. As you know that's just a jam thing, but that's really valuable advice for expanding, thank you!! In a way I'm glad that the hint helped though, as much as it can spoil the puzzle a bit I think it'd be unreasonably difficult if I didn't have them there lol. And the second part is definitely less of a puzzle than the first, I'm really glad the whispers and everything made up for it!!!
Thank you again!!
I can see this as a part of a horror game. A good horror game.
It kinda reminded me of the first few times I saw Dimension X in Stranger Things. Same chills, or actually not, BIGGER chills - the sounds and VFX really make an impression. Congrats!
Issues I had (or almost had):
Congrats again, man!
(or woman or someone else)
Ahh thank you!! Really glad the chills came out, that was exactly what I was going for :)
For the first issue, honestly I think I should've made the sounds a bit more clear as they can absolutely be mixed up, I'll have to work on that if I carry this game on.
I should also make sure it's clear how the volumes are set up in the second level because it is slightly different to the first one. Possibly another sound control panel when you switch levels? Unsure.
Thanks for the feedback though!! I'll definitely have a look into fixing those issues
Cannot open the Mac version.
Thanks for letting me know, checking up on this now
Alright, third time lucky :) Just uploaded a fixed build that's definitely working. Would love if you still felt like giving it a play!
Thanks, it works now. I tried listening for the codes but I did not find the right numbers probably. The game is lagging a lot, but I have an old Mac. This type of game should work on basically all computers. Anyway, I know Unity can be difficult to optimize. The idea is really original I just wish there was some help to get started. Besides, I noticed a lot of noise when dragging the volume controllers but otherwise the sound design was perfect.
Yeah I noticed some performance issues on my Mac too, could I ask which model you've got? That'd give me an idea of whether it's just a Mac-wide thing or more about our specific models. And thank you for the feedback! I do think the game needs a bit more info to help kick it off when playing, and yeah the volume sliders are quite loud lol I do need to look at that. Thank you!!
Sorry for my late reply. It's a Mac Book Pro from 2017. Still, it usually has no problem displaying 2d games, but maybe your scene is in 3d.
Reminded me of Inscryption and also, perhaps somewhat obviously, Oxenfree. I'm really glad there was no monster, or I might have been spooked out of the experience. The whispers alone sent shivers up my spine. I like the choice to go Grayscale with the fat outlines, the style felt all its own. Nice work!
Inscryption comparison is very very appreciated, and I haven't actually had one for Oxenfree before- though I'm checking it out now :)
I'm very glad it didn't spook you out, I scare like an idiot so I was adamant on there being no jumps lol. Thank you for the comment on the visuals as well, super happy it felt unique!
Thank you for playing and for the comment!!
Oh man I have chills. What a fantastic entry. I love the “old timey” radio broadcast vibes. The ambient whispers and heart beat are creepy as. I thought the hints system was very well implemented, without being over the top obvious and handing me a solution. I didn’t notice but the creepy whispers had me on edge the entire time, and when the ending hit my heart skipped a beat. Very cool, loved it. Great work!
Thank you!!! I'm so glad you liked the atmosphere and the audio, I'm relieved that it turned out well. Very happy to hear that the hints worked too, it's so hard to test them when you already know the answers 😔 Thank you for playing :)))
Wow, what a mood!
Honestly, you've done such a great game when it comes to sound design. As a sound designer, I really enjoyed how both the puzzle mechanics utilizes audio, I haven't seen anything like this before.
The first puzzle was initially too hard for me, but later I realized that Q and E could be used to change the radio channel and I managed to figure it out without hints. I would've loved to see some hints in the UI in terms of the keys available to use.
Game play felt solid, you had some legit puzzles and you used audio and the theme very creatively. I could easily see a fully fledged game built around these types of environmental puzzles. Reminded me a tiny bit of The Witness.
Thanks for making the game :)
Thank you very very much! Especially for the feedback from the sound designer perspective, that's super valuable to me and I'm over the moon that you liked it :) I would love to explore environmental audio puzzles more, but I fear I may have some audio design practice to do beforehand lol
I definitely need some more guidance for the controls, that's a good point. Some sort of indication to use the top number keys would be good too.
Thank you for playing!!
Outstanding, honestly. The mechanic of the game is incredibly unique, I loved the second part the most, Its something I haven't really seen done before personally as a mix of the radio tuning and the guiding whispers. This game has great potential to be expanded upon if you wanted to, especially with the ending. Tbh I did need the github solution for the first puzzle but thats just because i couldnt figure out the ordering although I didnt really need hints for the rest of the game so good job!!
Thank you so much!! Really glad you enjoyed it, especially the second part- I was less confident about that part when submitting the game, but it makes me happy to know you liked it :))
Also really appreciate you saying it could be expanded upon! Your feedback definitely makes me want to lol
This is a really excellent entry, one of my favorites. After the ending I want more of it. I played it with headphone on and the ambiance is really great, walking around the second part is very unsettling. Having the audio settings be on the main menu is a great choice. Puzzle games are really tough to do for jams, but the in game hint system plus the answer on your GitHub allows everyone to see the whole thing. Making the radio system work just in Unity rather than use a 3rd party tool like FMOD or Wwise is one hell of a job too awesome work.
I think the only thing this game really needs right now is a tutorial for the controls. I didn't read the game page first before playing so it took me a while to get the controls down, but even longer to figure out how to enter the numbers. I first tried the number pad on my keyboard, followed by trying to tune to those frequencies. It didn't even occur to me to try the top numbers for a long time. I also may have bugged out the whispers in the second part. At the main menu I toyed around with the volume settings, and when I got to the forest section I couldn't hear whispers. It was only after reading the hints that I went back into the settings, adjusted the volume and I could hear them again.
Excellent job I look forward to seeing what else you make!
Thank you very very much!! Really glad you liked it :))
Thank you for that comment about the radio! The system itself was made to be a separate open-source package I've since put out, but my intention is to make it code-only and have separate implementations for other engines and audio tools- now that you've mentioned them, I'll add FMOD and WWise to that list :) (unless they already have their own radio equivalents!)
A tutorial for the controls is a really good idea. I couldn't work out a way to make one cleanly integrated and look good before the end of the jam, but I definitely agree that it's needed. Some direction towards using number keys in the first part would come in really handy too now that you've brought it up, numpad integration at the very least.
The whispers being inaudible is very interesting, I might need to make it more obvious which volume slider they're tied to so that they're not as easily missed- there used to be a bug that caused them not to play at all, which I thought I had fixed but would be worth me hunting for again if it happened to you too
Thank you again for the feedback! Would love to see more projects from you too :))))
This was awesome! Really interesting game design, and I love the artistic choice. I could really see this as a full-on game. Only "issue" I encountered was not realizing that I needed to use E and Q to tune the radio, but I'm a little slow :}
Thank you so much!! I would love to expand on the concept more sometime given the opportunity so I'm really glad that's seeable :)
And yeah, the controls can definitely range in intuitiveness depending on the person-. In retrospect I should've at least thought of the arrow keys lmao
Thank you again for playing :)
This was really cool! Unfortunately I’m too stupid to complete it but it’s a compelling idea and convincingly feels like you’re hunting for number stations.
Ahh thank you !!! I think I'll just post the solution to the first puzzle so people can progress to the second, I had a suspicion I made it unreasonably difficult lol
Very glad you liked it :)))
Just in case you felt like having another try, I've popped the answer to the first part in the GitHub repo. No problem if you've moved on from it though!
Thank you again for playing !!! Ill hop on your game too when I can :))))