Can you ESCAPE the WILHELM GUSTLOFF??? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is a platformer based on the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff during World War II. IMPORTANT: Please read ALL the stuff in the instructions and the notes! (It's a lot, but everything is important!) DOUBLE CLICK FLAG!! Sorry, it's pretty glitchy... :( _____________________ BACKSTORY: You are a German refugee who is fleeing from the Soviet Union's ruthless army. Luckily, you receive passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a massive evacuation ship. But war is never safe...your ship gets torpedoed, and the Gustloff will start to sink soon. Will you be able to get onto a lifeboat, make it off the ship, and get rescued?? _____________________ INSTRUCTIONS: ▶ You are the person in the green/pink shirt. Press 1 to make your character a boy, press 2 to make it a girl. ▶ Use arrow keys (left, right, up) to move around Reach the other side of the screen (each time you pass a level, you are "climbing up the ship") ▶ Avoid glass shards or falling into the water ▶ You have 3 lives/hearts; game over if you die 4 times! ▶ Blood (red stuff) is sticky, but it won't kill you ▶ Ice (light blue stuff) is slippery ▶ Press r to restart a level if you get stuck ▶ Press space to hide/show the text box _____________________ THE ENDING: After you complete all 9 levels, you will receive a randomly generated ending. You can: ▶ Get on a lifeboat and be rescued ▶ Your lifeboat overturns, and you fall into the water ▶ The lifeboats are full, so you still sink with the ship (Yes, that's how much we care about your life; just randomly generating an ending...) heeheehee :)
By January of 1945, it was clear that Germany was going to lose World War II. Hundreds of thousands of German, Lithuanian, and Prussian refugees seeked escape through the Baltic Sea. The Wilhelm Gustloff was one of the main evacuation ships. Many fought for passage aboard the ship; although it is uncertain, historians estimate that there were over 10,000 people aboard - even though the ship was originally built to hold less than 2,000. The Gustloff departed on January 30th, 1945 and faced multiple threats, including mines and Soviet submarines. After receiving a mine warning, the crew decided to risk sailing through deeper waters and turned on the ship’s lights. Alexander Marinesko, captain of nearby Soviet submarine S-13, spotted the Gustloff and at 9:15 p.m., fired four torpedoes at it. Three hit the ship. - 1st torpedo: hit crew cabins and blocked crew's escape - 2nd torpedo: hit the swimming pool area and caused its glass ceiling to shatter, raining glass shards everywhere - 3rd torpedo: hit the ship’s engine room and rendered the Gustloff to float listlessly in the water Many died in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. Some fell into the frigid sea, while countless others sunk with the ship. An estimated 9,000 passengers died on board that tragic night. But, despite the overwhelming death count, the sinking is still a little-known event in history. Please give a voice to these victims of war and remember the sufferings and hardships that countless German refugees had faced. Every story, every war, has two sides. Remember the Wilhelm Gustloff. _____________________ NOTES: ▶ This is a collab for a school project about World War II. ▶ We spent HOURS working on this project, both with research and coding, so please ❤️ & ⭐️ ! _____________________ CREDITS: ▶ Art: 100% ▶ Coding: 100% ▶ Music: Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy ▶ Thumbnail font from cooltext.com ▶ Research Stuff: Salt to the Sea, the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum, the Smithsonian, Britannica, and a bunch more
