DemonApologist's IFComp 2024 Responses

Competitions IFComp
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67
31 | BREAKFAST IN THE DOLOMITES

31 | BREAKFAST IN THE DOLOMITES
by: Roberto Ceccarelli

Progress:

  • I was able to finish this game in around 40 minutes. I did look at the walkthrough for a small bit of assistance (I needed to do the command “turn paper” to proceed), but otherwise, despite some parser command struggles I was able to sort things out. I apologize for forgetting to start a transcript until the buffet scene, but I’ve attached that partial transcript here in case it’s still useful.

Things I Appreciated:

  • I think what this game does that is interesting is that it realizes that struggles with parser gameplay can be inherently comedic, and takes advantage of that. Because the game’s front matter explicitly frames it as a comedy, I went in searching for the comedy, and realized that I was actually producing comedic moments by struggling to maintain my manners/decorum while doing tasks that would be automatic in real life. Take, for instance, this exchange between myself and the game, where I struggled to accept a drink from the waiter:

“May I serve you a hot beverage?” — the waiter asks, then explains: — “I can offer you a coffee, a cappuccino, a hot chocolate or a tea.”

> order cappuccino

“Don’t change the topic.” — Monica says you.

> ask for cappuccino

“Don’t change the topic.” — Monica says you.

> talk to waiter

You are already talking to the waiter.

> tell waiter that i would appreciate if they gave me a cappuccino at this time

“The only hot drinks that are available are a coffee, a cappuccino, a hot chocolate or a tea.” — the waiter states.

Reading this, it’s hard not to feel like I was co-writing a comedy sketch with the game. This made my experience more fun, rather than frustrating. Instead of getting annoyed at my aeons-long struggle to spread apricot jam on a slice of bread, I thought how funny that I go through all this and then accept my fate to just eat a completely unadorned piece of bread:

Monica spreads the portion of apricot jam over the buttered slice of white bread.

> spread portion of apricot jam on slice of white bread

Which do you mean, the buttered slice of white bread dressed with a portion of apricot jam or the slice of white bread?

> slice of white bread

Which do you mean, the buttered slice of white bread dressed with a portion of apricot jam or the slice of white bread?

> the slice of white bread

Which do you mean, the buttered slice of white bread dressed with a portion of apricot jam or the slice of white bread?

> spread portion of apricot jam on slice of white bread on plate that i just set down

You typed a rather long command and I didn’t understand it. It’s better to stick to simpler things like TAKE CRISP LINEN.

> spread portion of apricot jam on slice of white bread

Which do you mean, the buttered slice of white bread dressed with a portion of apricot jam or the slice of white bread?

I chose to find the fun in these situations and let myself become the source of the humor in the game, and that made it more enjoyable.

  • My favorite moment in the game was probably when Monica asks me to get a glass of juice for her, because there was something that felt very wholesome about focusing on the simple labor of going over, learning to use the machine and chop the carrots properly, etc. It assuaged some of the anxiety I felt at the beginning of the game as I am in real life, a gay guy who has never dated a woman, I started to get nervous about what exactly Monica expected from me. So I appreciated here that she voiced what she wanted and it felt like a very caring gesture to go through all the steps to make the juice for her.

  • I enjoyed a really small moment of linguistic discovery. I hadn’t encountered the idiom for a “bull’s eye” as a description of a fried egg before, but I instantly knew what it meant as my mind called up this image. I think it’s fun to encounter details like this that I wouldn’t otherwise come across in my day-to-day life.

Feedback/Recommendations/Questions:

  • In my transcripts, you can see how I struggled with the parser commands, but I don’t necessarily think that is such a bad thing—the struggle seems to be kind of the point of these games. I will say that in one case, an unexpected response “spoiled” the puzzle for me. When trying to find a glass for the first time, I tried “x containers,” which gave me the response, “Which do you mean, an apricot jam portion jar, the left drawer, the right drawer, the juicer bowl, the juicer recess, the white bowl, the white basket, the brown basket, a blueberry jam portion jar, an orange marmalade portion jar or the wallet?” This alerted me to the existence of several “containers” that I had not discovered yet.

  • Overall, I appreciated elements that added to the atmosphere of the game, and just wanted more of that. More description, and so on. The longest description in the game was the description of the hike, which I thought was written in a somewhat mechanical way that was overly focused on the distances (e.g., 2405 m) that distracted me from the narrative of what the hike might be like. Another detail I think would be to have the hotel feel a bit more lively—there are a lot of mentions of the staff working, but not much of a sense that there are other people also here enjoying the hotel. That might help contribute to the romantic atmosphere, to see that other people are also enjoying the Dolomites.

  • In terms of structuring the narrative, I guess I find the ending a bit unsatisfying—the final scene is you using the bathroom (thankfully not in too much detail), and then the entire cast breaking the fourth wall to applaud you for doing so. While that is funny in its own right, I suppose, I think having a few more turns after that of at least starting toward the hike with Monica and ending on more of the scenery description or what this time spent together means to you both, would be appropriate.

What I learned about IF writing/game design:

  • I haven’t had enough opportunities to play Dungeons & Dragons to properly test this theory, but I have a theory that D&D doesn’t have to try to be funny, because the friction in its game mechanics inevitably causes funny things to happen. I think I would apply that theory to parser gameplay as well: it can be inherently funny to struggle with the grammar of a parser, and that’s an excellent tool that the writer can use (as happened here) to create humor out of moments of player vs. parser conflict.

  • There was a small moment where I felt like there was a continuity error. When I opened the left drawer, it starts with 10 glasses. I take one, and Monica takes one, so there should be 8 left. But when I check back later, there are still ten glasses. One can infer in-universe that the waiter has restocked the glasses, so I don’t think this is a true “error”. Instead, the point I want to make with this is: why tell the player exactly how many glasses are here? If it had just said “several glasses” I never would’ve questioned it. So I take this for myself as a reminder that sometimes a numerical detail like this can cause friction with immersion and would be better off withheld; I think that’s especially true in a game like this where so much of the focus is on small-scale tasks.

Quote:

  • “A sweet nectar with the delicate flavour of freshly picked pears.” (The relief of finally getting to drink this!)

Lasting Memorable Moment:

  • Being invited to use the juicer and do something nice for Monica.

DemonApologist_Dolomites_Partial.txt (27.1 KB)

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