Hues of Infection

Thank you everyone!

I agree with Darius about everyone having the same voice. If it were intentional – done for some purpose – it'd be neat. But alas that's not the case. Instead, it contributes to the story being harder to read than it aims to be.

I will share there is one path that leads to Roja having her guards attack you – but it doesn't go well for them. Still, more variety in responses would help keep the floors feeling distinct.

If anyone wants to stumble onto this ending, you need to skip the fourth floor (lie about crisis on the engineering floor) and visit the sixth's resident (investigate). Generally, there are some differences on the eighth floor depending on if you skip prior ones or not, since then you get to the bottom slower or faster. If you skip fourth and visit the sixth as per the above, and then also kill Czarny before running into Roja, you can do the identity theft ending.

I'm not expecting much traffic if I don't re-release this, so I just wanted to mention this somewhere for posterity's sake.

Regarding some of Wizzy's comments, the story does aim to offer variety across a few playthroughs. Reading more than that, such as trying to see everything, and things can get repetitive – but if the writing is solid, and mayhaps the page names distinct, it might be doable. A pain to script, since one incorrect calculation and suddenly an ending can't be reached.

Otherwise, some of the endings could've definitely been longer. Just a few scenes more to wrap things up. This is especially true for some of the easier to reach endings, so it kinda sucks that they aren't more satisfying.

I do think that a stronger and clearer delivery with certain plot scenes would also help improve the story by a lot. I'm also bothered by the near certainty that not all stray %'s have been caught. I guess they look sci-fi-ish enough to not ruin immersion completely.

Cyclonis, Haemorrhoids are serious business even in the future. (They're called Remroids because: roid = robot & REM = rapid-eye-movement, a stage of sleep where dreams happen).

RJman, I even had plans for dlc!

- Shooting Turuncu when you meet him, allowing for a 'kill everyone' approach.

- If you don't send up any infected, that path could've been expanded to cover three different things: the Remroid Reinforcement, Blakitny's Fabricated Life, and Czarny's (optional) mention of Ramadi (and thus details on his whole situation).

Sending up Cian as the only infected leads to a short unique ending, where the lift is dragged down, but it could’ve led to the depths of the 7th floor, the infection, and Blakitny too (or what's left of him).

Another spot is a continuation from you running away from the site, after the infestation has spread to the surface (because of you sending any infected up).

And, finally, joining the infestation instead of using the Remroid's Nill satellite cannon. (This would've been a split from the ending where you only send up infected, while keeping the non-infected inside the facility).

It should be clear how some of these push the scope way too far, and hence why there wasn't time to implement them. Long paths that are hard to reach are also iffy, but I really don't mind making them if it's fun to do so! They are lower priority though.

DireRyse, glad to hear about the writing's impact. Now, imagine how good it could've been if all of it was 100% intentional, aha! (Even having a difference of voice between the Remroids, humans, and infection could've done a lot).

Overall, I'm still proud of this, and I hope to carry what I've learned to future projects! And should any errors be noticed, feel free to message me.

P.S. Characters being named after colours is why it is called Hues of Infection.

This is a storygame with a premise that I haven't seen on this site. In addition, it's actually well-executed (within the constraints of the story). This means it's essentially a unicorn. Overall, this story is a short but sweet adventure with some replay value, cool--albeit unexplored--lore, and solid writing.

The story works really well within the word count constraints. The plot is concise, action-packed, yet full of worldbuilding, and I feel like it lends itself to at least one or two replays--depending on how well you do your first time around. Despite the fact that it does feel complete, the plot also suggests a continuation of the story, one which could easily be incorporated to bring the plot to its total conclusion.

Atmosphere is pretty on-point, but I feel like some of the choices aren't clearly conveyed in the context of the situation. We're forced to make choices from the POV of a character that has vastly more knowledge than us. Simultaneously, this kind of forces you to play through more of the story, so I guess it accomplishes a goal. I did feel like I had a pretty comprehensive understanding of the main story, but the lore that is mentioned isn't explained at all--although it's implied that there might be a correlation between the events.

The atmosphere is enhanced by the writing, and the story had few SPAG errors or awkward lines as icing. I felt like I could comfortably set myself into the MC's shoes after playing through once, and I could logically deduce some of the plot points to reach what I assume is the best ending. Although they weren't entirely clear on the first readthrough, they made more sense with the context gleaned from that reading.

I actually enjoyed this a lot. It was cool, it didn't over-stay its welcome, and it left me wanting more.

In the brain cubicles I found a coding bug. Plus in the eighth floor

%%BLANC%>%0%"I am not impressed by superficial observations, Principal Investigator, just as I am not impressed with needing to clean up your mess."
"Blaming me already?"

"You know what awaits you."

"Of course," his cheer is diminished. "It was always a risk I took, taking on all that I did. But all I did was for Organ, and I am sure they will come to see that. And besides, look at you acting like this mess has been sorted out, we aren't at the finger pointing stage just yet!"0BLANC%=%0%"I am not impressed by superficial observations, Principal Investigator."

"Remroids are so hard to please."

"You've interacted with us before?"

"Can't say that I have. Not much at least," he adds.%%

The dialogue was a little difficult to read through. It almost feels like there was only one person talking. Everyone had kind of the same voice.

The descending floors was a fun element and it was a fun thing to anticipate what the lower level might bring.

I was surprised that no one tried to attack you when you say to the other people to stay put. Wouldn't any of them downright panic and threaten you, but they seem to take the infection quite well.

Very suspenseful.

It reminds of a 2000's era survival hour game in ways.

In any case, you make not only a great reviewer, but also a writer as well, Zake.

Cool game where you play as a Remroid, which I'm not completely sure but I think is a kind of sci fi slang for a Hemorrhoid.

It was nice, but got over quite quickly.

I think this was a very interesting storyline and world. You did a great job making the reader want more by the end of it. Aside from the usual spelling mistakes or grammatical errors - it wasn't too bad technically speaking.

Story-wise it was very enjoyable to read. I liked how each floor played a different role. Starting off with the 8th floor being completely shut off and had no contact was a great way for me to start thinking what could be down there. After reading your post in the forum about the story, I'm glad you decided to keep it short and to the point. The point blankness of the writing actually made it seem like I was really an android.

Great job!