The Big Fall: Release 2

The second release of The Big Fall has now been uploaded to the IF archive. I’d like to thank Dan Fabulich, whose detailed feedback was the main driver for a second release.

My goal with the second release is to correct bugs that were reported, make some of the puzzles more fair, and implement a new ending. Any feedback for this new release is appreciated.

The IFDB entry can be found here: http://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=mcap0dgcutsi2rk

For those unfamiliar with The Big Fall, it’s a parser based detective fiction from the perspective of private detective Jake Keems. The setting is 1947 Los Angeles. Here are some samples of the writing from the fiction:

The opening:

My best powder-blue suit was wasted on an empty office. It was just me and a blue-bottle fly and the fly didn’t pay rent. The evening crawled like that horse I’d blown too much dough on. I was running out of patience and cigarettes. I needed a case.

Visiting an estate:

I drove along Sunset Boulevard, past walled and fenced estates, until I reached wrought-iron gates monographed MWR in Holmby Hills. Marshall Reed was one of the most powerful men in Los Angeles. His wealth had afforded him certain vices, like owning judges and a senator.

The house itself was modest. It was smaller than the Biltmore Hotel and probably only had one swimming pool. I parked my crate near the front door.

In a hotel lobby:

I was in what passed for the lobby of the Rundle Hotel. A dollar fifty a day got anyone a room and no questions. It was the kind of dump where people registered with names like John Smith and Robert Jones. A cheap radio blared from behind a long wooden counter and a worn wooden staircase led up to the rooms.

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Good job, I will give it a try soon.

Why authors don’t label their releases with increasing numbers so that anyone can know what is in zip archive?

It’s a good point, the zip files for the first and second releases have the same name.

The new version should have “release 2” in the documentation and when the game starts up at least.

I would suggest a different name or addition to the name. It would minimize confusion. You wouldn’t have to start the game to determine which version you are about to play.

I’m probably not going to upload a new zip to the IF archive at this point, but the new zip is the only one available now, so hopefully everyone should only download the latest release.

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Sorry, It’s not about you, Daniel, it’s a recomendation for all people that works with versions of incrementaly upgraded archives. An increasing number of version, subversion, date etc. can be attached to the archive label. This way allows to sort easily our databases.