Boogle
[spoiler]
I guess I missed the point entirely. I was getting a lot of Twine errors after a search, where it looked as if there should have been links or something. Images that were mentioned weren’t shown. Twine errors on the sidebar too. As a result, I took it for a joke entry…[/spoiler]
To my surprise, I did.
Following the will o’ the wisp gets you nowhere.
Neither will running away from it.
You have another problem.
Check your inventory.
Eat the bread – yeah, that’s not it.
Look at the watch.
What does that suggest you need?
Won’t find your bed anywhere…
But you can sleep anyway.
And wake up.
Yeah, you’re definitely overreading here.
[spoiler]If there is a message to You are a Blob!, it’s that creatures (and people!) can see the world in ways that we might view as very strange but make perfect sense to them. Or something like that, it’s been a while since I checked my node and moral statement map.
Anyway, if I have a problem with Twine games, it’s that they tend to be too linear, not too arbitrary. If a Twine game is poorly made it can often feel like I’m being railroaded through someone else’s story, like all I’m needed for is to click the buttons to progress through the story. (There’s a lot of non-Twine games like that that I actually enjoy, so I’m probably being unfair here.) Still, it’s one of those cases where a little bit of gameplay can go a long way. And I have liked a lot of ultra-linear Twine games too. I dunno, really.[/spoiler]
Authorial commentary on Fish Dreams and Chemistry and Physics (two for one!)
[spoiler]It was rather serendipitous, actually.
When Colin and I collaborate, our typical process has been: 1) we come up with an idea, 2) we plan out our strategy, 3) I take lead on the code and 4) he takes lead on the writing. We wanted to swap roles this time, and since Colin knows Twine far better than I do, it was the natural way to go! That’s our original reason for writing Chemistry and Physics in Twine.
Then I got inspired for Fish Dreams, which I whipped off on the afternoon of the due date. Slowing down to learn Twine on the way by was not going to happen, so it was I7 all the way.
With that said - I actually think both games worked better this way.
As a parser game, Chemistry and Physics would be somewhere between 8 and 13 rooms big (depending on whether the intro/outro were implemented as cut scenes or as rooms). With only 3 hours to code the game… ouch. I like to think I’m good, but I’m not that good. [size=85](Side note: I’m super impressed by the people who are that good.)[/size] Ectocomp carries a certain forgiveness level, but a parser version of C&P would have been badly implemented to the point where I felt sad about it. Using Twine allowed us to pare the interaction options down to what we could feasibly implement in that period of time.
And, in Fish Dreams, I hoped that voluntarily typing ‘eat human’ each time would be creepier than clicking on an equivalent link. I always feel more complicit in my parser decisions than my hypertext decisions. Your mileage may of course vary.[/spoiler]
Disclaimer: I did no entry for this ectocomp. According to the competition rules, I already sent the official judging form to jj guest. Hope it’s ok to put my mini-reviews in this dedicated thread as well, as every post till now has been from authors [emote]:)[/emote]
The Nessa Springs Slasher
SCORE: 8
Comments: Playing multiple victims (a dog also!) is an interesting take on the serial killer subject. Well thought.
Overall I enjoyed it and the execution is not that bad (the hallway has not even a sparse description, for example, but some rough edges are to be expected, given the strict time limit).
Crater Creek
SCORE: -
Comments: Well, I must confess I wasn’t able to complete it.
It would be unfair to judge this entry because I didn’t see much of it.
The Cenric Family Curse
SCORE: 9
Comments: Very good one!
Although the story is a classic, the solution of the skeleton puzzle is quite entertaining.
I liked the difference in what happens when the PC tries and take the holy water with and without wearing the signet. Nice touch.
The Hallway Phantom
SCORE: 5
Comments: A really short CYOA featuring (very) juvenile humor.
Not my cup of tea, to be honest, although it’s an appreciable (author’s first one, I guess) try.
Personality Rights
SCORE: 6
Comments: A peculiar story, about the consciousness of being a ghost.
Not what I personally expected from an ectocomp entry, but related anyway; it wins a few points for being quite original.
Trick Or Treat
SCORE: 7
Comments: Some of the scenes show a good amount of fantasy (say, the monkey and Kate Perry). It’s not a bad work overall…indeed, it’s quite elaborate for the author’s age. Keep it up next year as well, young lady and dad!
Hill of Souls
SCORE: 1
Comments: According to “about”, this entry is supposed to be “An experiment in shifting light and setting”. It seems to me it is just that, indeed.
For example, if the PC goes to a given direction, and then comes back, the starting room has a different description for the omnipresent fog and lights.
I’m almost feeling bad for the low rating, maybe I’m missing the whole point or something, but I didn’t find anything that can, at least, be related to the spirit of the competition. The occasional web or gust of wind just aren’t enough, sorry, as they are part of the random messages and cannot be interacted with.
Blackness
SCORE: 8
Comments: The closet could have been implemented slightly better (say, “search closet” instead of “go closet”), but the vivid descriptions more than make for it. Quite scary!
Jack
SCORE: 7
Comments: The image of a walking scarecrow with a pumpkin head, wearing a machete and a shotgun sure is fascinating.
The end leaved me a bit perplexed, though.
Not a brilliant story, but not terrible either.
A Slight Problem with Zombies
SCORE: 6
Comments: A just-one-path-is-right CYOA, with some surreal moments (the old teeth-launching lady, the fantasy weapons).
Not a big issue in itself, the story being quite short, but be ready to start from the beginning again and again if you happen to choose a wrong path.
I feel the conclusion is arguably not effective enough, as it is in a sense “ruined” by the general light tone of the story (as said above), although the final explanation is more or less adequate.
ZombieDating.zom
SCORE: 7
Comments: Well, it made me chuckle. Both some response to player’s answers, and the dates.
You are a Blob!
SCORE: 2
Comments: Although I generally am open to experimental works, well, this game is just too much idiosyncratic for my taste. Sorry.
The Voodoo You Do
SCORE: 8
Comments: The writing is engaging enough, and the presence of a loa deity and his veve shows the author did some research.
I also appreciated the presence of at least two ways to deal with the doll to end the game. Puzzles with multiple solutions are always wellcome!
Ice House of Horrors
SCORE: 8
Comments: A different point of view on an usual human activity. Interesting experience.
Boogle
SCORE: 7
Comments: It’s a nice diversion for a few minutes; the theme is interesting: dating random persons may be frightning, as you never know who s/he really is, and the automated data collection phase of profile creation is a bit disturbing.
It has sufficient appeal to score ok, IMO.
The Horrible Pyramid
SCORE: 8
Comments: Judging by the title, I was expecting a pharaoh’s curse or something.
Well, I was pleasantly disappointed. Multiple endings, both are good enough for the PC.
Wisp
SCORE: 6
Comments: A false maze in a marsh, and an untangible companion. A dreamlike experience.
Chemistry and Physics
SCORE: 8
Comments: A survival CYOA. Bonus points for the being educative.
The Tale of the Cursed Eagle
SCORE: -
Comments: I have never been a fan of IFs with a very short in-game time limit to find the next good move. Others may find, with reason, it makes a game more engaging and/or challenging, but I don’t. I choose to not vote, for to allow a pet peeve of mine to penalize the author would not be fair.
Fish Dreams
SCORE: 4
Comments: Do fishes dream? If you think so, this game could disturb you; in this hypothesis, I’d give it a 6. The lower rating is due to the fact that the “interactive” part of “interactive fiction” has not been developed almost at all. A static short tale could have been a better medium for this particular
story.
The Profile
SCORE: 8
Comments: A mistery IF with an unusual point of view, the one of the murderer. Quite enjoyable.
Faithful Companion
SCORE: 8
Comments: The companion of the title is a ghost, who repeats the PC actions after a short delay. This mechanics is used in the few, although interesting, puzzles implemented.
The Argument-Winner’s Ghost
SCORE: 6
Comments: Revenge is a dish to serve cold, they say. This story features a (tomb)stone cold one. A decent plot, I guess.
Dead Pavane for a Princess
SCORE: 8
Comments: As the author states, anyone familiar enough with Maurice Ravel would find the title amusing. If you are wondering, Ravel’s original work is “Pavane pour une infante defunte”, which translates to “Pavane for a dead princess”.
In this one room game the player impersonates Ravel, unsurprisingly, who is trying to escape before a zombified collegue and friend catches him.
Fittingly, also the descriptions of the objects are filtered through musician eyes.
Nice game.
Headless, Hapless
SCORE: 7
Comments: A treasure-hunting game, where the treasure is…the PC head, who is an headless ghost horseman. The PC, being a ghost, can potentially go everywhere, although the possible world interactions are essentially limited to look at and open things.
An ironic little game, play it if you can spare a few minutes.
Boogle is rather fascinating. One person has seen it as a cautionary tale/satire about the ever-present modern day Big Brother; another person has seen it as being about online dating and how frightening it can be; and I saw it as manipulation by a crazed Shodan-like AI.
Fascinating.
[spoiler]Oops. Yeah, the Bachmann analogy is a pretty good one - it’s difficult to say that Google’s creepy without implying that that creepiness might have some serious basis. (Particularly if you think that creepiness is a big enough deal to make a game about it.)
I sympathise! It’s distressingly easy to make a game that says something that you really didn’t intend. This is why, when making things without a three-hour limit, you get testers who you can trust to say stuff like ‘hey, so isn’t that kind of racist?’ or ‘you realise that the PC is the worst parent ever, right?’[/spoiler]
Boogle
[spoiler]
And I took it as just a joke entry, due to all the Twine errors and missing images. :-/[/spoiler]
I’m glad I’m not the only one who wrote “Boogle” off as a joke entry. Sometimes I see reviews people have written of games and they seem to see all these about the game that I never picked up on, which was the case with “Boogle”.
Boogle
[spoiler]So here’s the difference. I just did a test to find out. It doesn’t work right in Internet Explorer, which is my default .html association. I tend to use Chrome for the web, but didn’t really give it a thought because Twine’s compatible with either. What’s apparently not compatible is the additional scripting in Boogle. As a result, I never got past the “Man or Woman” selection due to a page of errors and no other options. And that’s also why the “submit” button is so tall (almost like a big box) rather than the button it’s supposed to be. The result link in Internet Explorer is even an awkward series of individual letter links, which seemed buggy to me.
All this, despite the “Internet Explorer” warning on the very first screen. For me, I had looked at the first screen or two of all the games before starting any of them (and I remember reading that… now), and the day or two later when I played Boogle, I just skipped the first screen, forgetting about the MSIE warning entirely.
Well, I guess it wouldn’t be a competition unless my take on at least two games was polar opposite of everybody else – one high, one low.[/spoiler]
Re the comment about starting over again and again in my game: you can use the browser’s back button to return to the previous page and try a different option. There’s no need to replay it from the start each time.
With some persistence, I’ve come up with a (the?) winning solution for The Nessa Springs Slasher.
[spoiler]STIR SOUP. READ NOVEL. Z. N. N. ATTACK FIGURE
As far as I can tell, only the dog makes it out alive. It looks like the goal is less about defending yourself, and more about setting up a situation in which scene 4 is winnable. I like the concept, but as with many (all?) of the entries, it could have used maybe twice the time for implementation and polish.[/spoiler]
(Edit)
@busterwrites:
Looks like we found the same solution!
As for technical problems, I found a few things that I noted in the comments for the voting form. These might help for a post-comp update:
Reviews done here; scores undisclosed and to be submitted directly to the organizer later.
Blackness
Pretty standard horror environment. I poked around for a bit before failing to find the janitor’s closet and dying a lot. I ended up seeing very little content.
You Are a Blob!
Well it’s cute, and I could see reading this aloud to a kid being really fun, but the jollity and silliness felt sort of forced and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.
Boogle
I am amused. I like the flavor and attention to graphical detail. There’s no real gameplay, but it’s a creative use of format and I appreciate that. I also dig the cheerfully morbid feel of the thing.
Crater Creek, 2013
This prose is exceptionally purple, which works well with the fact that this author loves them some color-based descriptions. I got stuck quickly, climbing up a hill and then watching a man cuss at an unlit lantern for five minutes. Gave up.
Dead Pavane for a Princess
I’ll admit, I never anticipated having to escape from zombified Claude Debussy, but wonderful things can happen. This game was brief, the puzzle was simple and well-executed, and I liked the flavor. Also, Claire de Lune was playing in my head the whole time, which was great.
Faithful Companion
[spoiler]“You see nothing special about the ghost.”
Is that right.
The atmosphere and language of this game didn’t quite make the grade but the puzzles were well-implemented and I enjoyed the premise.[/spoiler]
Hill of Souls
I had a considerably easier time with this than with the author’s other piece in this comp, and I actually rather liked the strangely-generated room descriptions. Some stuff was a little broken but I’m inclined to be forgiving because I was able to get through. Eerie, evocative, and while the prose was intricate it wasn’t too forced.
Ice House of Horrors
The perspective of a caught fish, made genuinely horrifying through evocative language. There wasn’t too much to the game and I ran into a couple of bugs, but it was fun to play and the sense of urgency was well done.
Jack
I like a good slasher game, and this one started out reasonably fun to play, but the ending was so abrupt and left enough unexplained that I was sorta let down by it.
Profile
This game was lots of fun to play several times, but it was really frustrating to keep getting an unsatisfactory ending just because I couldn’t figure out what to do to prevent tracking mud in the house. A small flaw in an otherwise really clever game.
Personality Rights
Oh hey a Ren’Py game. Well it’s pretty, though I’m not sure that the images actually improved the experience. I played through this several times and honestly I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to take away from it. Some kinda musing on death I guess.
A Slight Problem with Zombies
I’m not as sick of zombies as a lot of people are. I’m not even sick of zombie-themed comedy, and this game is clearly going for that. Thing is, the language that A Slight Problem uses is so casually flippant and loaded with colloquialisms that it almost seems bored with its own theme. Sadly, so was I. Also, the “it was all a play and you are arrested for murder” ending is … not plausible.
The Cenric Family Curse
Aaaah! Why did I wait until my birthday to read this note that my dead dad just kinda left out? Also, where’s the undermoss! Classic style parser horror. A lot of unimplemented objects, but that comes with the SpeedIF territory. Well done, all things considered.
The Hallway Phantom!
Between sloppy multi-page HTML, numerous breakages of the fourth wall, and a bizarre obsession with the number ‘googolplex’, this game plays like something I might have written in middle school after registering a Geocities account. Cute but definitely not a contender.
The Horrible Pyramid
Functional, implemented parser gameplay with relatively straightforward and unlethal lock-and-key gameplay for the most part. I enjoyed the deadpan, dry humor of the game and was happy at how not-buggy it was for parser SpeedIF. Pretty solid entry!
The Nessa Springs Slasher
The IF equivalent of a slasher flick – you play a bunch of people who get offed one by one after taking a single action. The last character you play is a dog and the dog dies too, which made me cranky. Maybe it’s possible to solve this game but there’s a lot of unimplemented stuff and winning this one would be a guess-the-verb affair that I am not going to struggle through.
The Tale of the Cursed Eagle
I enjoyed this game and played it multiple times. Like our entry, it involves being stalked by a murderous creature, but the framing for this one was very different. Add a compelling story and few bugs, and this one may be my favorite of the comp.
The Voodoo You Do
A simple little story about a guy trying to get revenge on his girl. I’m not totally sure I’m comfortable with the use of Voodoo here, and the ending isn’t particularly insightful, spooky, or hard-hitting. Still, it’s decently implemented and the writing is good.
The Argument-Winner’s Ghost
I ran into a lot of bugs, both in terms of implementation and in terms of guess-the-verb. I like this theme and the humor and I would love to see a cleaned-up version of this game but it’s not very playable as it is.
Trick Or Treat
This is clearly meant to be an homage to old-school CYOA books for kids. I’m not sure about this framing: The writing clearly targets a young audience, but they won’t care about ‘turning to pages’ because they grew up with hypertext CYOA already being around. Anyway, like classic CYOA, the results of your choices very rarely have much to do with what you decided to do, and endings are abrupt and nonsensical. At least the writing’s pretty good.
Wisp
In its own words, “a morsel of a game.” A single, conceptual puzzle that I was able to get after not-too-long. Not too remarkable but decent implementation for what it is.
zombiedating.zom
Definitely more ‘internet quiz’ than game, but still good for a mild subvocal chuckle. More interactive than Boogle but not as funny.
EDITED to fix formatting mistakes.
@inurashii (re: Trick or Treat)
Her only real exposure to IF so far has been honest-to-goodness CYOA books (most recently, #27, The Horror of High Ridge). That’s where the “turn to page” stuff comes in. For a time, I’d read her one play-through before bed, sometimes stopping in the middle if it was long. Now that she’s becoming old enough to do her own reading, she’s going for other stuff – A Series of Unfortunate Events, for instance. Like any dad, I’m proud of her regardless, but she’s in third grade with reading test scores equivalent to 5th, so I’m pretty happy. [emote]:)[/emote]
Quick heads-up, though I agree with you, you should also be aware that “g”, “again”, and in some interpreters pressing the UP key will bypass that entirely, and if the game encourages you to repeat the same action again and again…
Haha, I was about to post “Oh, an eight-year-old actually wrote this!” – I hadn’t read up adequately and only just saw that it was a collaboration with a kid as I started looking at other reviews.
All things considered, this is some pretty great storytelling. I would have been happy to put something like this together at her age. [emote]:)[/emote]
The insight I was hoping to provide was: whose soul are you really damaging when you decide to take revenge? idk I was high.
Yep, I wasn’t happy with the ending either…hopefully fixing that in a post-comp release.
@MTW:
I think this would have come through if we had a clearer picture of the protagonist’s mental state. Because they were so blankslateish I found myself bearing pretty much no ill will toward the ex we were supposed to hurt.
@JasonLautz
I think that injecting more of the mythos around Jack Halloween and maybe providing a few more meatsacks to kill would make it a really fun romp; I’ll look forward to the post-comp release.
[spoiler]Oh, there are plenty more bugs where those came from. The true horror of Ectocomp is seeing the bugs, knowing how to fix them, having time in your day to fix them, but having already used up your three hours.
Thanks very much for the kind words. I’ve only played a handful of games so far, but Chemistry & Physics is among them, and I think it’s excellent.[/spoiler]