The Blackthorn Chronicles: The Rutherford-Zwist Anomaly

You had just finished an exhausting hockey game at your local hockey arena, and opted to take a nap in the dressing room after changing. The rest of your teammates left you there, figuring you'd need the rest. You wake up hours later, seemingly the last one in the arena. You start heading for the front entrance, and accidentally stumble into something very unusual...

This is a game set in the universe of my Blackthorn Chronicles Story, like my prior game, The Mountain Heart. Here you play as a regular Civilian rather than any particular Agent of the Organization. This is to explore another element of the world and the type of work Blackthorn does, show another facet of the organization VERY Different from what you see in The Mountain Heart. 

This game is better optimized than Mountain Heart, I managed to pin down what was making it lag so hard, It might be a tiny bit slow for the first minute but it should even out, and if it doesn't reset the game. I also added a few more game mechanics, so its not holding W and reading text like Mountain Heart. There's coins scattered around and you can buy stuff from the vending machine to increase your stamina and movement speed. This is not a great game, but its one I can be proud of. I put a lot more heart and passion into this one than I did with Mountain Heart, expanded my horizons. It was meant to be simple, but I got sucked into it and couldn't help myself.
I thank you for playing, and I hope you enjoy. 

Controls:
WASD - Movement
Left Shift  - Sprint
Space - Jump
E - Interact
R - Advance Text


This game was made for DarkCookieSF's Liminality Jam.

I've always liked liminal spaces, and was struck with inspiration by the phrases "Transitional Space", but was especially hit by the phrase from the description "Most liminal spaces invoke nostalgia. Make it seem like you've been there before". Hence, I based Harwthra Arena off of my local Hockey Arena, tried my best to remake it from memory, then tried to look up the blueprints. Its been undergoing construction for the last year or two, so its possible the place as I remember it exactly doesn't exist anymore. I spent way too much time trying to recreate those early 2000s/2010s Pepsi Vending Machines, but it was such an important landmark in my head, the corner next to the snackbar with all the Vending machines. The snackbar too, and the brick tile seating area. I almost completely forgot about the walkway above the place, and the offices to the left of the snackbar. Around the corner from the main area, you'll find a blue door under the stairs, which is the one way side entrance into the "Left Arena" we called it. Next to it is a vending machine that was the first time I ever had a nestea because I was trying to decide between a Coke and a 7Up and some young kid ran up and started hitting the buttons, making my choice for me because I had already put my money in. I hope he didn't get in trouble. The Corner across from that that leads to the gym is a place I remember Crystal clear as day. I wonder if they've upgraded the waterfountains in the last decade. I wonder if they still have the steel girder struts we used to shimmy partway up in the arena. I wonder if the Pro Shops fries still taste the same. I wonder if they still have those one of a kind bumpy stone ridge wall panels by the changing rooms in the left arena, the ones that were also by the vending machines. I remember popping into the Pro Shop on a frequent basis to get tape or get my skates sharpened with my dad. I wonder if the front wall is still green. I made it bigger in my game, it was a lot more cramped in my game, only really had 1 window, and most of it was taken up by the chalkboard. I realized over the course of making this, I got a lot of memories tied up in that arena. The player character as I imagine him is based off a counsellor at a hockey march break camp I did when I was 12, who claimed he was Sidney Crosby. I didn't believe him, but now that I know what he looks like, I think it coulda been him. I didn't mean for this to turn into a longform monologue, just goes to show what nostalgia can do to a person. I'd wipe this away, but I feel like all of this would help you understand a bit about where I was coming from with this.