Protocol
A downloadable game for Windows
You were chosen to carry out the Protocol program.
Your objective is to make "first contact" with an alien life form.
Any violation of the Protocol will lead to the elimination of you and the entire operation.
Remember, the fate of the humanity may depend on your actions.
Once signed, the Protocol must be promptly implemented.
Have a nice day!
Plot
The action of Protocol, most likely, takes place in the near future. You are a flippant soldier who signs up for the Protocol program implementation. Packed in a landing box and dropped off somewhere in the Arctic Circle, not far from the Terminus research complex, your main objective is to follow a mysterious AI's orders, who uses you to make ""first contact"" within the Protocol program framework. Any deviation from AI's orders is considered to be a violation of Protocol; leading to the elimination of the complex and staff.
Features
Protocol is a sci-fi comedy with a hint of horror, action and a twisted love story.
Uncover an intriguing plot filled with conspiracies, plot twists, countless expletives, dark humour, and some light-hearted mockery.
Have a Nice Day!
This is a phrase you will love AND hate because you have violated the Protocol AGAIN. If you think that hardcore is when you can defeat the biggest bosses, then try not to die when taking a snowball.
Genre ambiguity
We still can't decide which genre suits this game. Adventure? Puzzle? Shooter? Immersive sim (seriously?)? Walking simulator? Crazy trip? Or, maybe... All in one?
PC or VR?
Both! You can play on PC using a keyboard and a mouse, or in VR using a headset.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $17.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- Full game is available!Jan 08, 2019
- A secret message from Protocol.Jun 21, 2018
- You have violated the Protocol. Have a nice day.Jan 10, 2018
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This game seems pretty fun, But I can't make it into to the complex with how low the field of view is. I just get a headache within 10-15 minutes of playing.
Really cool demo! Very original! And love the graphics. Sometimes it becomes very difficult in some parts. The only thing missing is a good main menu. Anyway, the game is very good.
I'm trying to play the game on linux with wine but it's not working, can anyone help?
What issue is it giving you ? Any error message ?
While I can't speak to the full version the demo from Itch.io is working with Wine for me. I just downlaoded it, extracted it, right clicked "Protocol.exe" and chose "Open With Wine Windows Program Loader" and the game laucnhed.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 18.3.3 | Manjaro Mate | Kernel 4.20.11-1-MANJARO | Wine 4.2-1
I run it from the terminal and It opens a window saying "fatal error" then it closes.
Intel® Core™ i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz × 4 | GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 | Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS | Wine 3.0
May be an issue with that version of Wine and Protocol. Wine 3.0 was released 15 months ago so there could be a lot of bug fixes and feature releases in that time span. To put it in perspective Wine 4.2, which is what I used, was released last month.
I'm not sure how to update Wine version, still new to linux.
Have you checked if there are any updates for Wine in the Software Center ?
Ohhh! i played demo and really enjoyed it ! Too cool the full game is now availble ! Can't wait to play !
Yaaayyyy!
Played this demo on my channel a little while back. I've been looking forward to the full release ever since I made it a drinking game. Love this and Can't wait to show it off!
Hey there! Thanks for your video! And apologies for the delayed followup - these weeks have been crazy! Working to make Protocol looks awesome! Have a nice day from AI ;)
No worries, Just waiting for the final release so I can Showcase this game. I love the concept of it so much that I've been talking about it for a while with my friends. I can't wait until I can hop back in and finish this game. Keep up the epic work!
Thank you! Nice to hear that :) we work hard on the game and will try to release it in the first half of November this year
Tried to play in VR and ended up inside the floor :( is this an issue with rift support or with my settings?
tries to load in oculus vr every time i load it up and cant play /:
This demo is have only HTC Vive support, however the released game will definitely have an Oculus support. The good news is the demo is playable on PC, so maybe you could still try it.
Yes, we know about that. The demo has only HTC Vive support, however the released game will have both HTC Vive and Oculus :)
Just tried out the demo and I like where you're trying to go with this! I think the real test will be what happens after the assistant is created to see how you balance adding an NPC to the mix so things don't start to feel busy or messy, like having too much dialogue or interruptions. I love the main character's voice, by the way!
My main feedback is to tighten up the interactive elements so clicking and other actions register more quickly and cleanly. Also to maybe add a zoom mechanic when picking up objects and documents to make them easier to read or examine if possible.
I hope as the game progresses that things get more difficult and require more abstract thought, but keep in mind that the harder you screw gamers over by having the game end whenever they "violate protocol", the better the content of the game needs to be to make it worth jumping back into it and the more mindful the checkpoints should be. So far you're on the right track. Good luck with development!
Wow! Thanks a lot for your detailed feedback and the video :) Really appreciate that! And will definitely mind your suggestions. (Side note, the name of our VO Artist is Michael Neeb. And yes, we love him too :)
I hope this game could able to run on 32bit PC someday .
BTW this game is very cool.
Thanks for saying that! We appreciate that a lot :)
I really like this game.. It's so frustrating but I guess it's designed to be :D
Thanks for the video! Btw, you were almost there! 5 more minutes and that's it. P.S In the finished version playing will be less frustrating - we polished the demo and fixed the bugs ;)
unity OR UE4 ???
UE4
I'm sorry but unity is better! UE4 has amazing graphics and unity can to if you put a ton of work into it but my preference as a programer is that unity is better!
i never tried UE4 but its graphics looks fantastic, i'll definitely gonna try it one time
Are there any plans for a Linux version ?
A Linux version would be great indeed.
Hi there! We didn't plan to make a Linux version, but we might consider that. Thanks for the suggestion!
I'll take any hope over none haha. Thanks for being open to the idea.
Updated info! We're actually making the game on Linux and Mac as well, but it's going to be after the game is released on Windows.
That is awesome news. I don't mind waiting if need be. If you run into any issues I would look up Ryan C Gordon, he ports games to Linux and receives most of his funding from Patreon so he can sometimes port for free or close to it.
https://www.patreon.com/icculus
https://icculus.org/resume
Looks nice, but a demo would be cool!
Now you can download the demo.