A downloadable game for Windows

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How long can you last in this Victorian nightmare? 

  • Use clues from your environment to survive the many perils of city life. 
  • Use items to stave off panic and avoid hazards.
  •  Discover the secrets of an atmospheric, interconnected urban environment. 
  • Randomized items, NPCs and events make every playthrough unique.

Don't trust anyone, don't panic and always keep moving.

Music by Conciliator, go check out his Sound Cloud for more of his awesome work! Additional audio recordings by  www.luftrum.com/free-field-recordings/

Controls:

(Can also be found in the main menu)

WASD to move, SPACEBAR to jump, use E and Q keys to pickup/use items when prompted onscreen 

Updates (Build2.1):

-Reduced spawn frequency of dangerous events

-Made panic system more forgiving i.e. slower to build up and fixed some associated bugs

-Added an "exploration mode" that removes many of the hazards, unlocked after surviving more than 30 seconds in the main game mode

-Reduced movement speed of dangerous and non-dangerous NPCs

-Made some improvements to menus including a help section

-Fixed some miscellaneous bugs

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows
Rating
Rated 3.2 out of 5 stars
(5 total ratings)
AuthorJacob Potterfield
GenreSurvival
TagsAtmospheric, city, First-Person, Horror, Walking simulator
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard

Download

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Click download now to get access to the following files:

TheBitterEnd32bitWindows.zip 255 MB
TheBitterEnd64bitWindows.zip 275 MB

Comments

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I thought I was never going to find this game again, it's one of those I keep remembering randomly

I keep getting an error message because the "XAPOFX1_5.dll" is  missing

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This is a really nice game, it's just too hard and annoying, I made a gameplay but it didn't end up well because my computer isn't nice so welp, not all my thoughts are here. I found it annoying how hard it is to read the notes, where do you respawn and how hard it is to figure out what to do

I only found doors where you are supposed to input a code, and that's it

(7 edits)

I made a pretty extensive review on this but I pressed a button on my mouse and now it's gone.... damn... here's a video. I also took a whole lot of notes while playing this, I am not sure if I should share them, they might be spoiler and will the creator like this? (They are pretty disorganized)

Watch [Test] The bitter end [I am not looking the chat] from Simoneando on www.twitch.tv (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Fucking don't know what to say now, I really love the graphics on the game, that is exactly why I decided to try it, graphics, colors, and horror theme. the game is really interesting, I love the story and how you have to figure it out on your own (even though it ends up being annoying after a while) but there are a few bugs that kind of ruin the game (I don't know if I sound grumpy or something on the video, but if I am, it's not the game's fault, at that point maybe I was already too bored, spent hours just testing obs and reading and wanted to play something like TF2 or Fortnite. I don't think I did, this is a really good game despite it's mistakes, just not something you should spend like 3 hours on)
The longest I had survived is 10 minutes I guess, I usually survive for or a minute more or less (Depends on just how I do)

Bugs:
-I never get to read why I died, this I guess is my fault, I just accidently always skip it. Can you make it instead of making it "Any button" make it "press Y"? a button you don't press usually while playing the game. I  see that other people don't have a problem with this but I do, some found that there being a lot of ways to die was nice but I didn't even get to see how many ways there are, I only know what killed me (disease, acid, water, or stabbed)
-Notes may go through walls... I guess...
-NPC's go through walls
-You can pick notes without looking at them, it's annoying
-You can still panic at spawn
-Panic does not go away after death
-Assuming exploration mode is "easy mode", when you die, the disease comes back and the game becomes hard again
-I am not sure if this is just another area, I think it is, but there's a place where I think the glass factories are supposed to be, they are gone, there's no glass being thrown at ya and you can just go through them and explore. Maybe this is a feature of exploration or this is a bug (Commented on it on 6:10)
-Notes with multiple pages can get stuck somehow, don't know how, maybe if you read them but then also take another note while reading them
-Sound effects and music may appear when they shouldn't? sometimes? I don't know
-This might not be a bug but npc's are so annoying.... they get in your way, they move in a pretty bad manner, and I wish you could interact with them
-I just noticed I don't get acid rain, could it be because of my computer? the balls also move slower for me I guess or maybe they are meant to be like that.... I am watching EyeDisconnected Games play


Tips

-Fishmonger=Fish seller (REMEMBER THIS)
-Exploration mode=easy mode. You can still sleep, panic, and killers could be around, but it's harder to panic I guess and I don't know about killers (I never have a problem with them because of next tip)
-BE CARELESS, don't give an f about anything, this is just a game, don't get immersed by it, just go singing around reading notes about people dying and diseases taking over and poverty. This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP since not being careless will end up making you get distracted a lot
-Read notes, actually read them.... it's annoying to read them but if you die, you'll still have the note, so well, just read, take your time, and die if your character feels like dying
-Take notes, write them on your phone or on a sheet of paper
-You spawn as someone in that world, everytime you die you respawn as someone else. That on the bottom is your name, not where you are.
-You are in England, and hats are popular for some reason.... I forgot why, there was a reason
-Yes, the notes with multiple pages are REALLY important, they basically tell you the full story of one person.
-I don't think you can win in this game, your goal is to learn about that world (Based on another comment and also that I just can't see anything that tells you "You can win")
-Getting drunk could get you somewhere else (I am not sure if that's getting drunk)
-Some drinks are poisoned.... You can know this if you either read some notes or if you click the question mark on the title screen
-Try to learn the map of the world, it could really benefit you and save you a lot of time (I know some places are confusing because they look the same)
-There are no secrets behind the doors that require a password I think, It's just a place filled with killers that also works as a shortcut
-You can guess what's the color of the hitching hills
-You are in England. And these hats are popular for a reason (Don't ask me, I don't remember and maybe I forgot to put it on my notes)
-It's important you take track or try to figure out who writes each note.... I know it's hard, at least find one of them, it's the easiest one. Taking track of relatives and other information is really helpful
-When you panic, there's a sentence saying "I know him" or something along the lines, "I recognize him" maybe, HMMMMMMMMmmmmmm
-I found out you can get on one of the buildings.... I don't know if it helps or if you can do it on more buildings, but there's definitely one that you can get on top off

Things I can't figure out
-White square on the bottom right, what does it mean? appears sometimes for some reason
-Why do I need the gas mask? (no, you still need to move while wearing the gas mask)
-WHERE ARE THE HECKIN CODES! I can't find any codes for the doors or the vaults. I did read a lot of notes, most of them probably and either the ones I need have a smaller rate to appear or I did actually get most of them. Maybe the notes don't tell you the answer directly and there's some puzzle into this

How to make the game better
-Fix bugs
-Maybe add more features
-Be more rewarding, doesn't have to be really rewarding, just more rewarding, give something that makes the player say "it was worth it" for finding something, just that though
-Flashlight! :D..... no? ok, it was worth trying pwp (Why does no one add a flashlight to their games! they are making me try to get in the habit of always having a flashlight around IRL)
-Get more exposure? This game deserves more exposure, but no idea how..... no, I am not trying to get someone to make a walkthrough, I promise. Though this is one of those game that certain theorist should do a video about yet they don't since they just don't want to try new things (And certain theorists just want to stick with mainstream stuff to get views.... I dunno how can't they at least expect people to doubt their reasons)


I don't know what else to say, but I bet there's still things left to say, like just feedback or some more bugs

Deleted 2 years ago

Those are some good suggestions. It's odd that you're not hearing the sfx for the rain and NPCs I'll have to look into that. Thanks for playing and I appreciate the helpful feedback.

(+1)

Hello, I made the music for this game :)

You can find me at https://soundcloud.com/conciliator

I'm looking for new projects.  I love the themes in this game and I'm open to surrealist, transgressive, experimental, or abstract projects.  Please check out my music if you like and hit me up if you're looking for music for a project.

Really good job on the music, it's pretty immersive and really well made

Feels a lot like if it came from a movie, I would love to see you work on a movie filled with mystery or with some stuff similar to the game

(+1)

Hey, thanks a bunch!   Maybe one day!

I like the idea of the "beauty of chaos" you put in the game. Really well done. I only wish you would restrict the respawns to spawn us in open roads and such. Not to mention the npcs were moving a bit fast and the panic meter rose faster then I can manage. But it looks like you took care of those issues. I look forward to this game developing further.


I appreciate you taking the time with it, Thanks for playing!

That was...unique. The graphic style is very artistic and the atmosphere is frantic. I feel like with a little more instructions it could be a decent game. maybe in the respawn room you could give some tips. 

With a few tweaks it could be really good.

Great video! I just released an update that potentially addresses a couple of the things you mentioned, but still a bit of a work in progress. Thanks for checking it out.

(+1)

I had spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out exactly what I needed to do in order to succeed at this release. However it was not until much later in the game did I come to the conclusion, at the very least, this game isn't meant to be played to completion. What I take from this game differing from Ramble, Ramble had very little mechanics and was a seemingly "Soak in the digital Environment" experience. In this game, I was finally able to accept the madness for what it was, instead of trying to make sense of it. I conclude that perhaps the point of this game is not to succeed, but rather observe the confusion as a testament to madness and insanity itself.I was unable to fully figure out what "I needed to do" and began to accept the environment. This game has interesting mechanics such as the state of drunkenness or the alley stabbing. Once I encountered the blue specter which chased me around until I did succumb to madness. This is ultimately what brought me to this decision, although there are mechanics and goals in the game, there is not enough given time to accomplish anything. So perhaps instead of trying to play this as another game, we need to fix our perception of gaming. If this is the case, You are a genius, if not, I believe I have let your game infect me with insanity. Wonderful game all together. 

 

(+1)

I don't want to color your perceptions too much so I'll just say is that the trappings of style and systems are a broad, cumbersome analogy for anxiety, or at least that was the initial spark for the game. The inevitability of it all is the point.

That being said, I do plan on adjusting things a bit. As you pointed out in your video, the player needs more time to explore and acclimate to the systems (as chaotic as they may be) before being hammered repeatedly by “the point”.

Anyhow, I truly appreciate the thoughtful analysis, really helps me get better at making these things, I'm glad you got something out of it.

(-1)

Graphically this game is amazing, one of the better ones by far. so much thought. i do like there are so many different ways to die. this game was alot of fun
(1 edit)

Thanks for checking it out! Still tuning the difficulty and systems, it's meant to be hard but  it's definitely a bit much right now.