The Salvation Project

“*Be careful. Because if you don't care, T̸̀̿H̵̑͑Ë̵͝Y̶̙̐ ̸͑̇Ẃ̸͛I̵͑͒Ĺ̷̛L̸̋̇*”
― Tagline
***The Salvation Project*** is a first-person adventure horror game developed by Tihan with his team for the *Haunted PS1 Summer of Shivers* game jam. The game was released on September 2021 at itch.io for free.

## Summary

Experience "The Salvation Project" with your lovely host, Seth! He only says what's good for you! Most of the time...

In this game you will explore the house of a lone mother, left by everyone but the TV set in her living room. You play as this mother, and try to not lose your slowly deteriorating mind, fueled by the endless PSA's on your TV.

## Gameplay

The player takes control as the lone mother named Karen, who was willing to follow every single instruction from Seth, the frog mascot of the fundamental Christian tevangalism network "The Salvation Project". Through her insanity, she would do everything she can to defend her own house against Satan.

On the first night, she was demanded to go around her house to find and take three of her sons' belongings deemed as "satanic": Mentallica rock audiotape, Mentallica poster, and Dungeons & Demons board game. After collecting all three objects, she proceeds to burn them in the furnace.

On the second night, Seth made a statement that 8:00PM is the Devil's hour. Karen's task is to turn on all the lights from every room within her entire house.

On the third night, Seth declares that people must protect their homes against the Devil and his demons. Karen will do so, by going around her house to board up all the windows, fix the upside-down crucifixes, and cover the mirrors.

On the fourth night, Karen's final mission is to perform a ritual and summon a guardian angel. She must obtain the chalk, candles, and the lighter (which was found in her kitchen at the start). Once the task is completed, everything ends with a twist. Seth, revealing his true colors, has actually tricked Karen into summoning Satan himself instead of the guardian angel, and the demon starts attacking. The whole scene cuts to black.

At the end, Karen wakes up in the morning and found herself in the living room, where she comes over to the kitchen aisle and picks up the phone. There are 2 different endings, depending on the player's action:

* **Good Ending:** If all the torn photo pieces are collected, the man on the phone will speak to Karen, wanting to make sure if she's alright. Karen responds, needing help since she has missed her family. This ending reveals that everything happened before is all a mere delusion. The game is closed with a credit list screen of developers showing while a calm happy music plays.
* **Bad Ending:** If all the torn photo pieces are not collected, Karen will hear the screams of the damned from the phone, and when she turns around, Satan is right behind her. During the closure, a distorted version of the Good Ending theme plays.

## Credits

* **Tihan:** Team Lead, Game Design, Music and SFX
* **Lenat\_1:** Technical Lead, programming, 3D modelling
* **Landy:** Voice of Seth
* **ze6ypo:** Voice of Seth (Russian)
* **G\_SHOLAR:** Demon design
* **North\_Air:** Seth design and model, 3D art, and beta-testing
* **0wa:** Location Design, early concept, and beta-testing
* **Konstantin Kushko:** Early concept
* **Spicy Crab:** Placement help, Russian localization, and beta-testing
* **dRedder:** Beta-testing
* **Wildvlad:** Beta-testing
* **RaDick (Radomir):** 3D art
* **Megisk:** 3D art
* **Izanaki:** Programming
* **RedWolfe7:** Cover art

## Trivia

* The game's plot theme is inspired by the infamous Satanic Panic events that commonly occur around the 1980s-1990s.
* The "satanic" items to collect and burn them are spoofs to real-life media: Mentallica is a parody of the heavy metal band Metallica, while Dungeons & Demons is a play on Dungeons & Dragons.
* It took the team 48 days to finish the game's development.