Hello everyone!
I recently created some web-based interactive fiction in audio form. I’d really love any feedback people have on it.
Here it is: A Simple Card Game. Please be aware, it’s horror/creepy, with some audio violence.
I’d like to do more with this kind of thing, assuming it’s something people enjoy. So far so good I think, but it’s kind of niche. Anyway- many thanks to you all in advance!
Took this one out for a spin- what a ride! I really enjoyed the audio balancing- a lot of the time in similar audio experiences, there’s a bit of a problem between the SFX being way too loud and the narrator being too soft, so it’s either having your ears be blown out or not being able to understand what’s going on. This didn’t really have that problem, and the subtitles being on screen were really helpful.
ETA: I checked out your profile, and your experience with audio wrangling makes this bit make a lot more sense, haha.
One suggestion I would have is if possible, a way for the player to pause the experience- while there weren’t any sections that felt overly longwinded, being able to pick up or put down the work like you’d tap on a podcast or audio book to pause it would be helpful, especially if they’re in a scenario where you might be listening to the game on the go, like transit or a waiting room. It’d probably also be helpful for players who might have varying reading speeds, (though I didn’t personally struggle with this part, and showing the full text on screen rather than a line-by-line or letter-by-letter approach was the right move, I think.)
I ended up getting 27 points on my first spin around, and the narrator said that I’d navigated to the best ending, which I was jazzed about, since I am generally not a super lucky person and picked mostly on instinct. The coughing sounds were nasty, but like, in a good-for-horror way.
Very well done. This would have been a perfect Ectocomp entry. The narration is executed very well and carries most of this on its own. I’m going to tag @AmandaB because of their interest in audio IF; I feel like they would be highly interested in this title.
With that said, I only wish I had the option to turn off the subtitles. I definitely feel the subtitles should be there, but I’m a fast reader and found myself spoiling your masterful delivery of the lines. I eventually started playing with my eyes closed and only opened them when prompted to pick a card.
ETA: Oh, belatedly, welcome to the community! Thank you very much for sharing your game with us!!
Thanks for tagging me, @pinkunz .
This is EXACTLY what I’ve been blathering about. Absolutely awesome. @pgpsound , I really enjoyed this, and I think it’s an excellent direction for IF. Here’s a thread I made about this just a few weeks ago, trying to get people to think in this direction.
I loved the game, and I’m thrilled to see people taking IF this way. Welcome, welcome, welcome!
Thank you for the response! I really appreciate your comments. Good point about the subtitles- I didn’t even think about that. I’ll def look into that.
Thanks Amanda! So glad you enjoyed it. I agree that voice command seems important. But, many people I’ve shown this to don’t seem to miss it, so there’s that, too. I have a version that uses Annyang.js, but it goes crazy on iOS. It actually increases the volume when “listening,” oddly. So really getting something to work well is going to be a bigger challenge than I hoped for. Might be best with a full-on app, as opposed to web page.
Thank you Sophia! You’re right—I should def incorporate pause and probably playback speed controls. I was thinking about a whole audio mixer panel too, the way many video games do it. Might be less immersive, but maybe some folks won’t want all the sfx.
I love the idea, but in practice this game is not my cup of tea.
But this idea has potential. We’ll see in the future…