Finding Martin-Why has this game become so obscure?

It always takes me a few deep breaths and some time to get ready to dive into these massive games. It’s always a great immersive experience though, keeping me engaged for weeks sometimes. Like reading a brick-sized novel instead of a 2OO-page book.

This is a dangerous pitfall for games based on existing works. Since you’re writing the book yourself, maybe you could give the game a different angle? The events of the story as seen through the eyes of a side-character maybe? Much more freedom to let the protagonist wander away from the fixed storyline, as long as you keep her in the loop of events.

Of course, do whatever you feel is right. Just throwing two cents out there.

Good luck, enjoy your imagination, and if this game is going to be as big as Martin, I wish you the perseverance to see it through.

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I’d be glad to offer hints for Finding Martin via email if you or anyone else finds that convenient. Sometimes written walkthroughs are so spoilery. There’s an email address for me available at Finding Martin, or search Gayla Wennstrom on Facebook.

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I am right now at this moment putting the walkthrough available on IFDB in my Hints&Walkthroughs folder. I agree that full walkthroughs can be spoilery. They can also be too tempting.

I may well take you up on your offer to ask for hints. Via e-mail or on the Hint Request section of this forum. That way other players can benefit from them too.

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Fortunately the story was always intended to be a text game, so the novel was planned with many opportunities for the story to be non-linear. However, I think I will eventually tie up all the possible paths so they turn toward a single happy ending, ie. “winning” the game. The story is supposed to be whimsical, funny, and escapist – I don’t think I would want to change that for the sake of trying to make it into a perfect piece of I.F. art. (This comment refers to my planned IF “Periwinkle Park,” not to my completed IF “Finding Martin.”)

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Maybe someday someone will release a gamebook with an accompanying text game where both were needed to complete each other.

I’m sure Zarf once wrote about ‘Creature of Havoc’, a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that managed to have secret areas that weren’t accessible by making simple choices given in the text.

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See this thread, in which I admit that I don’t remember anything about the book but happily other people find the real links.

No advice except maybe to try to visualize possible branches and then pick one that seems the most entertaining to read. But it’s a tough challenge and perhaps not the right order in which to do things. We’ll see how it goes.

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An excellent game Gayla which I spent many months on. I even went as far as noting down every possible output from the Watch and the Screens; the attention to detail that you put into the coding was incredible. I remember I bogged down a lot when trying to match all the pairs of socks too. That particular problem was not to be sniffed at.

I await your new game with eagerness as and when available. Best of luck with it.

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I came across Finding Martin a few months ago and thought it looked really promising, but the “Play Online” option didn’t seem to work properly: I can’t remember what happened, but for some reason I couldn’t get past the initial Dietary Preferences question.

I’ve just checked it out and it looks like it works (thanks, if someone has fixed it!), so I think that’s next on my list …

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… and I’m now playing it. Even the first area has a lot to examine, so I might be a while, but I’m already intrigued!

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That sounds like a hint. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Could be! And remember toy trains can transport things as well full sized ones sometimes.

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I can’t believe it’s been nine months, but I’ve picked the game up and put it down a few times. Recently, though, I’ve been putting a lot of time into it and have now reached 180/360 points, so I suppose I must be about halfway. I’m enjoying it more and more, and beginning to get into the part that tells Martin’s and his family’s stories. Really enjoying it, and when I finally finish, there will be a review on the IFDB which will hopefully inspire more people to play!

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Make sure you have a few months to spare. Martin isn’t notorious for his gregarious nature.

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Haha, I am still going. In one of my save files, I have 306 out of 360 points, though, so I’m getting towards the end! And still very much enjoying it.

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I’ve found Martin!!!

Thank you so much @G.K_Wennstrom for writing one of the best, longest and puzzliest games I have ever played, with one of the most meaningful and fascinating stories in any IF I know. I will certainly be giving it a very positive review on the IFDB. Hopefully the game will become less obscure, as it deserves.

Thanks also for writing a walkthrough, as I would never have completed the game without some help with a few of the trickier parts. Having said that, given the length of the game, I am quite proud of myself for how much I managed to do alone, even solving some of the trickier puzzles (like opening up the bedside cabinet far earlier than I was supposed to by interpreting Rachel’s mural, and figuring out the three trips in the Sour transformation with just a little initial prompting.

I think I’ll stick to some short, choice-based games for the next few months, now …!

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Congratulations!

Finding Martin is a grand achievement. I too enjoyed the weeks I spent with the game very much and gave it a very positive review.

Every review can help to push this wonderful game to the recognition it deserves.

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I picked it up on and off last summer, but imagine I’m hardly a quarter in. It is indeed a worthy game for recognition.

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It’s made it on to my hope-to-play list, since @mathbrush was talking about games with the most words/lines of source code a month or two ago…

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I never finished Finding Martin. Years ago, I was playing it via Floyd on ifmud with a friend, but we got rather stuck a several points, and yes, there was puzzle fatigue. I think my notes are still online, hopefully, so I can get back to it someday, but I’ll need a good block of time to do it. In my personal opinion, Finding Martin also has more “moon logic” and “spooky action” in it than Mulldoon Legacy has, both of which makes a game more difficult to solve.

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