A Dark New Dream: Proteus Modded Into Purgateus

If Proteus is the warm yet anxious dreams one has after a Tuesday night with a bottle of fizzy wine and a Princess Mononoke DVD, then Purgateus may be what happens after a Friday night of listening to witch house while scrolling through Tumblr blogs, you know, that sort with lots of triangles and pale ladies draped in black. The mod turns Ed Key's walking simulator into a new dream, still bound by the same rules but with a new look, a new sound, and certainly a new tone.

Created by Devine Lu Linvega, Purgateus replaces hundreds of sprites and sounds with new, eerier, slightly more abstract ones. Triangles, circles, dirty tones, and drones. I sometimes still enjoy wandering around new islands, so Purgateus's quite different islands have me struggling to tear myself away and finish writing this. You can download Purgateus from Venus Patrol, though you will need to pop in your e-mail address to get a download link.

Purgateus was inspired by an idea of The Floor Is Jelly creator Ian Snyder, and has itself sparked a fair bit of interest in modding Proteus. ProDeus, for example, reshuffles the colour palette, sprites and sounds each time it's launched, while Strangethink is hacking into the world generation, and glitchwizard Michael Brough is "doing a thing."

I've recorded a quick look around Purgateus, but wasn't fastidious about seeing every creature and event so there's plenty more for you to find on your visit (I do shut up after a bit of idle chatter):