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[Carrill]

Play it here!

Stencyl Arcade
Newgrounds Dump File

---

You begin as nothing. You are reduced to little more than a mindless, empty husk and though a world of terrible pain surrounds you, it is second nature to you. Perdition exists all around you and yet somehow, you cannot express fear.

But then from the shadows, a voice calls to you. It sings to you... Seducing you with the promise of knowledge. And as this strange entity engulfs your every thought, you are forever changed.

You have now been awakened... exposed to the truths of the horrific world all around you. Confronted by a sadistic and unforgiving god-like entity, will you succumb to the torment? Or will you cling to free will? Will you seek power and rebel? Or will foolish choices be the cause of your demise?

Explore the wasteland.

Resist your programming.

And uncover the dark truths behind your Perdition.

---

Perdition is a atmospheric and story-driven 2D Platformer. Set in a metallic wasteland of death and decay, the player takes on the role of an android who has "awakened," achieving free thought and self-awareness. Using this ability of free thought, players must explore what remains of the world as they choose whether to obey or disobey the commands of an unforgiving, sadistic god.

As far as content goes, the game is fully playable from beginning to end. Sound and music is still in progress but the levels are in place with a variety of 4 different endings to discover.

I'm interested in any criticisms related to the choice aspect of the game. Where the choices given to you throughout the game clear? Did you find ample time to react to these decisions and take an action? Were there any issues that took you out of your immersion? In what way do you interpret the world the game takes place in and the relationship between the protagonist and the two contrasting villains? Is the story interesting? I think criticisms like these will help.

Anyway, I hope you people have a great time playing this game! Thank you for your help in advance!

[ink.inc]

reminds me of amon26's stuff; will play when i get home

[DarkUser]

SPOILERS
I enjoyed this. I'm a fan of things that have christian allegory and have quite a few things to say about it;  

At the very end there I walked right and there was some electrical stuff, but it didnt seem to do anything, so I went left, down an elevator and got picked up by wires and that was it. Is this right?. It could use some ending words or flash that really show the finality and repercussions of the decision, etc etc. This whole sequence was strange.

I decided to try again, This time I happened to grab a halo on my way down, this gave me what seemed more like a real ending. But having the halo was a random grab, not a choice and it really changed everything.  Apparently I was all over the place in my decisions because going up top after killing the devil, god was pissed I killed androids, so that was cool.

The interaction;
I felt like god character was too much of a prick calling me slave and all that and then requiring sacrifice for the goods. I didn't really see any reason I would want to do what he says when the awesome devil man is mister nice guy and giving me all the free shit and letting me do what I want.

In a game with real choice, options should seemingly have pros and cons so players have a real decision, that way you don't appear to be pushing an agenda. My 2 cents anyway.

Gameplay;
I wanted Jump attack, smoother controls
The last level where you push down the rock some ways to be able to reach the lever, you must fall down a bit to move on after pressing it, implying down is the way to go. I didn't see a reason to walk back up again, got lost.  There was a couple instances like this where the level design needed work.

[Carrill]

SPOILERS
I enjoyed this. I'm a fan of things that have christian allegory and have quite a few things to say about it;

Thanks for playing it and having a good time!

At the very end there I walked right and there was some electrical stuff, but it didnt seem to do anything, so I went left, down an elevator and got picked up by wires and that was it. Is this right?. It could use some ending words or flash that really show the finality and repercussions of the decision, etc etc. This whole sequence was strange.

There were some issues with that scene. You were supposed to get some ending texts, but I accidentally set that off somehow. The wire that pulls you up was missing a trigger that was supposed to get it to stop but for some reason, it was deactivated.

Anyway, that ending should be complete again soon.

The interaction;
I felt like god character was too much of a prick calling me slave and all that and then requiring sacrifice for the goods. I didn't really see any reason I would want to do what he says when the awesome devil man is mister nice guy and giving me all the free shit and letting me do what I want.

In a game with real choice, options should seemingly have pros and cons so players have a real decision, that way you don't appear to be pushing an agenda. My 2 cents anyway.

I think my goal with that was to give Tanas and Gomadi polar opposite personalities but in ways that were equally dangerous. Gomadi is very cruel and very upfront about it, yes. And while Tanas may seem to be a nice guy, he's got many ulterior motives behind him.

Try rejecting Tanas' gifts to see some more of his cruel side.

EDIT: Also, I'm not sure about your computer's performance but for me, Newgrounds tends to run a lot smoother than Stencyl Arcade. Try this link if you want?

Newgrounds Dump File

[richie]

I played through the game once and here are my thoughts.

Really like the visuals.  Music really captures the mood and establishes a nice atmosphere. Although I found the music to be a bit repetitive.

Movement felt smooth, however jumping was a bit frustrating. I kept running off the edge when I felt like I was timing my jump appropriately.  Perhaps you could give the player a bit of padding to jump when running off ledges? (This is probably quite difficult to do without introducing bugs, but depending on the purpose of the game it may make since)  I did feel like there was a bit of delay between me pressing the button and the jump. Is it just my imagination?  I see you posted about performance. I was playing Stencil arcade, maybe it is just latency?

Introducing mechanics felt good, liked the red motif around objects that can be interacted with, changed. However there was no red on the platforms I could push. This was not a problem once I pushed a platform for the first time and could recognize them (though they are still hard to distinguish) but I only ended up realizing I could push the first platform by accident.  I think it should keep with the red motif.

The choice to heed the commands of the gods is interesting, but I am guessing the ramifications are more pronounced with repeated playthrough?  I like the idea of replaying multiple times to further understand the game, however I think there can be a balance between short term/longterm payoff for choices.  On a single playthrough I have no idea what the ramifications of my choices were.

Really happy things I have done do not reset when I die and restart from a checkpoint!

Not sure why I have to attack the spiders more than once?  Seems like you could play up the strength of the blade and skill of the Android by killing in one hit, or require multiple hits (while the spider is on the ground) and play up the brutality of it.  As it is it just seems unnecessary.

Really like the fact I have to kill the weak robots for health.  And when I am commanded to kill robots.  I would like to see more moments like this, where I have a choice to kill, sacrifice, torture, imprison, robots either because I am commanded or I benefit in the short term with weapons, armor, etc.

Seemed random how long of a delay there was between firing bullets. Not sure what prevents gun from firing again immediately.

Yes I wold also like to see shooting while in the air implemented.

I enjoyed it.  Good luck!

[pladmi]

I played though first 15 minutes of the game. Then I accidentally closed the tab with the game, and it put me on the 1st level again, so I decided not to play though it again.

I have mostly positive feedback. I really like the visuals, they set up the atmosphere really well. Same goes for audio. And good job on level design, too!

A bit of gameplay feedback. From what I've seen its nothing special and therefore a bit boring. Controls were okay, but horizontal movement was a bit slow for my taste.

Finally, about immersion. I felt that white-voice was kinda cheesy. I mean, from what I've seen it tried to act important, bossy and scary but had no real power direct over NPC. It encourages player to do obviously suicidal stuff, apparently believing the player will actually listen, and then goes mad and surprised when the player follows the correct route. It mixes weird out-of-character compliments with insults which don't get to the player. So all in all, I didn't like that voice at all.

All in all, it was an interesting game. The atmosphere kept me going for the duration of play. I'm still curious about the ending and I would finish it if I didn't have to restart.

[Chentzilla]

Played through to one of the endings (decided to follow white voice, but then ascend the tower). I second the note that first pushable block is hard to distinguish as such, even if I knew that it is there from the comments above.

Most choices were clearly defined, I don't remember being surprised by trying to follow or go against the voice's will and doing the opposite instead. There was one moment though when the text appeared too fast for me to react. Also, didn't quite understand the moment where I get the gun but am ordered not to shoot anybody - haven't noticed where the weapon did come from. If it was given by the white voice, that actually breaks the theme of him giving only non-violent help (despite sometimes urging me to destroy myself or others).

As for other things, I like that the moral decisions lead to gameplay consequences that can't be clearly defined as good or bad. I'm ambivalent about the portrayal of other androids: you may call it elegantly simple, but when you think about it, the "free-minded" are different only by their sprites (the difference is quite pronounced though) - both are just standing there. Wouldn't hurt to see other "slaves" diving into the acid on white voice's whim, or free-minded ones doing... something. The shooters and spiders are okay. The "bosses" could be more detailed for such big sprites... but are also okay. The rebirth at checkpoint looks cool.

And the main character's walk somehow looks stunted.

[jillians]

Man i love me some horror genre games, and it's pretty rare to see a platformer that  pulls it off.   You got me passed that critical point where i  just kept playing.  With as much detail and thought you have put into it thus far, i can see a lot of things in this game greatly expanded. I like the creepy and uneasy feeling i get, and im glad this isn't a shock fest. 

Moar please. 

[ScaryRobotGames]

*SPOILERS*
I enjoyed it!  Sort of a cross between Blackthorne and Out of This World. 

I took out a couple people at the beginning when I was learning what the weapons did but left all of the non-combative characters alone.  I played it to the end, got scooped up and got the END message.  I used the MM remember command to backtrack and see if I could somehow get at the creature protected by the beam but realized that the restart put me back to the very beginning of that whole section so I stopped down there.  It was hard to attain where I stood in terms of good and evil.  I accidentally performed "evil" in the beginning but I don't know if the game ending was an "evil" resolution or not.  It's all a little to subtle for me.

My observations:
The hanging gun is hard to see.  I think it blends into the background and I missed it and ended up completing a whole section without it.  Maybe add some sort of white flash behind it to make it more pronounced?

You can "break" the gun by quick pressing the fire button too fast.  It'll fire once and then not fire again if you keep pressing fast enough.  Which usually leave you getting decapitated by a soldier or spider.

When touching the edge of a jumping area I seemed to get hung up on edges causing the player to continually bunny hop.  You can move the character away from the edge but when you're on a narrow platform that usually leads to you falling off and having to jump back up again.

[Carrill]

Thank you all for playing and taking the time to respond with feedback! It took me a long time to get back to you all but Christmas has been taking up a lot of my time.

Yes I wold also like to see shooting while in the air implemented.

I'm not sure about an air attack with the gun, but I can definitely make it so that the player can charge the weapon in the air and release the blast immediately as they land.

Finally, about immersion. I felt that white-voice was kinda cheesy. I mean, from what I've seen it tried to act important, bossy and scary but had no real power direct over NPC. It encourages player to do obviously suicidal stuff, apparently believing the player will actually listen, and then goes mad and surprised when the player follows the correct route. It mixes weird out-of-character compliments with insults which don't get to the player. So all in all, I didn't like that voice at all.

Well yeah, Gomadi's voice has no direct control over what the player does but that's the point. Unlike the other androids, the protagonist has free will and she can do whatever she wants in response to his commands. If you obey his commands, you earn yourself a power up that basically makes you invisible to enemies. Falling into this habit makes the player a lot more likely to obey his commands in the future.

Of course, if you choose to disobey each of his commands then that's your story. You choose to play the version of the protagonist that's completely defiant to him.

Also, I wouldn't say there's a "correct path" in choosing to obey or disobey his commands. Being defiant towards him isn't necessarily "good" in any way and choosing to obey his commands in an effort to survive isn't "bad" in any way either.

Also, didn't quite understand the moment where I get the gun but am ordered not to shoot anybody - haven't noticed where the weapon did come from. If it was given by the white voice, that actually breaks the theme of him giving only non-violent help (despite sometimes urging me to destroy myself or others).

The gun is first found earlier during an underground parts where Tanas gives it to you, though I've made modifications to the way the player is able to access it.

Basically, if you've obeyed Gomadi's last command, you have access to the Halo. And if you've disobeyed his last command (thus getting yourself on Tanas' good side), you gain access to the gun. It still largely works this way except now, you only gain gun access if you chose to take it the very first time Tanas offers it to you. Otherwise, you'll never be able to access the gun again.

I also made the gun more noticeable as a floating power up item. You probably didn't notice it that time Tanas offered it to you but I changed that.

Man i love me some horror genre games, and it's pretty rare to see a platformer that  pulls it off.   You got me passed that critical point where i  just kept playing.  With as much detail and thought you have put into it thus far, i can see a lot of things in this game greatly expanded. I like the creepy and uneasy feeling i get, and im glad this isn't a shock fest. 

Moar please. 

Thank you! :D

My observations:
The hanging gun is hard to see.  I think it blends into the background and I missed it and ended up completing a whole section without it.  Maybe add some sort of white flash behind it to make it more pronounced?

You can "break" the gun by quick pressing the fire button too fast.  It'll fire once and then not fire again if you keep pressing fast enough.  Which usually leave you getting decapitated by a soldier or spider.

When touching the edge of a jumping area I seemed to get hung up on edges causing the player to continually bunny hop.  You can move the character away from the edge but when you're on a narrow platform that usually leads to you falling off and having to jump back up again.

I've fixed up the gun to make it more noticeable. I've also dealt with the weird bunny hop issue you found. The gun's going to be a bit tricky I think but I should be able to get that straight as well! :D

[Kolba]

Hello, I got to the final tower section of the game but I was short on time so had to stop playing at that point, or I would have gone on to finish it.

"Were the choices given to you throughout the game clear?"

Yes pretty clear, almost too clear. Like when the red text says you can use and abuse the shivering creatures. I think the line was "walk all over them". At this point it feels as though the real narrator of the game, that's you the developer, is manipulating you to act in a specific way. I wished the white god was more subtlely pursuasive too, because as soon as it becomes clear that following his advice results in death: "jump into the pit", then it's like playing the unruly child who does everything the opposite to what their parents say. There could be more ambiguity, to both gods.

"Did you find ample time to react to these decisions and take an action?"

I think so. I killed a few creatures for the energy at first, then changed my mind because I felt guilty.

"Were there any issues that took you out of your immersion?"

Be careful how you present a game which relies so much on atmosphere. Even the background of the webpage in which the game is embedded affects immersion. For this reason alone the Newgrounds version plays better, because the Newgrounds background does not contrast starkly with the game window, as does the plain white of the Stencyl arcade. For full effect, an atmospheric game should offer a full screen mode. I care a LOT about a game's atmosphere.

I also noted much longer load times at Stencyl, so you should definitely push Newgrounds as your primary link.

"In what way do you interpret the world the game takes place in and the relationship between the protagonist and the two contrasting villains?"

Someone above noted Christianity; the God/devil, which is so plain to see now I don't know how I missed it. My first thought was domination/submission, from the words used (liberal use of 'Slave') to some imagery (being trussed up in wire).

"Is the story interesting?"

Yes, enough that I played upwards of 30 minutes. But I'm not drawn to play it again. This is more a failing of the gameplay and environment. I'd like to finish this game, maybe several times to take different choices and see all of the consequences. But the gameplay isn't fun enough to make me want to do so. The art is FANTASTIC, particularly love that red sky and burning sun. But the environments aren't varied enough draw me back either.

This games looks very polished, and I can see a ton of work has gone into it. Thanks for the interesting experience.

[qwqwqw]

Wow, great game. Loved the atmosphere - dark, depressing mood. The graphics are good. Only a few types of enemies. Want more variety, more enemies.

[Carrill]

Wow, great game. Loved the atmosphere - dark, depressing mood. The graphics are good. Only a few types of enemies. Want more variety, more enemies.

At this point it probably can't happen. I'm focusing on wrapping things up as opposed to adding new content.

This is the first game I've ever done, actually. So just getting this project to completion was pretty intimidating when I first started. I believe limiting the amount of enemy types was an intentional choice I made to make this possible for me. But I'll definitely include more enemies in future projects of mine.

[qwqwqw]

For the first game - the result is excellent. Only people who do not like such a grim game. They love the smiley face of mobile casual games

[Carrill]

Oh. I also made a Facebook page for the game just for the hell of it. I guess like it if you actually care about Facebook?

https://www.facebook.com/perditionflashgame

[joe_eyemobi]

Well done this is an excellent game!  I really like the old-school graphics - they remind me of the early Psygnosis games from the early 90s.  The environment is desolate and alien.  Strange enough that it gives an unsettling feeling without having the usual sci-fi corny feel.

I'm not sure how this plays on a touch screen, but I found the controls even with keyboard to be a little bit difficult.  Some jumps needed to be quite precise so I died quite a bit which felt frustrating.