August 23rd-26th 2013 :: Theme: 10 Seconds
Ludum Dare 27 — August 23rd-26th, 2013
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RATED PG FOR IMPLIED SEX-DOINGS
I've been wanting to try Twine for a long time, so this LD provided a good excuse to.
1 AM is an interactive fiction piece about how choices shape romantic relationships. I was inspired early on by the idea that the 10 seconds referred to by the theme weren't necessarily consecutive moments, and could be simply important ones that happened great spaces of time apart.
Read and enjoy!
***SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON***
I'm very happy with how this turned out, and I think it gets across most of the themes I was trying to represent. The story is very personal to me, as it mirrors (not necessarily in specifics) the progression/end of my last relationship. The whole process of writing it was very cathartic.
I hope I provided enough feedback for the player to realize how the choices they made impacted (or more specifically, didn't impact) the ending. I've always found the illusion of choice an interesting concept in game design, as well as the rejection of traditional win states, especially when the structure of the game leads the player to expect them.
I made some stylistic choices with how the player character's significant other is presented. I left almost all details to the player's imagination, with the exception of her eyes as something to start the image, so to speak. I also purposely avoided directly quoting anything she said, with the exception of her breakup speech. I found that in the aftermath of a difficult breakup, it can be hard to remember the good times, but painful endings can be recalled with near-perfect clarity.
Finally, I really wanted to leave the story on a hopeful note, and I hope I did so. I also hope that I left enough motivation for the player to attempt the game multiple times before seeing the ending, as I think it has more impact that way.
Anyways, thanks so much for playing! Please share any feedback you have, this is my first attempt at interactive fiction and it's something that really interests me.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 91% |
| #18 | Mood | 4.00 |
| #282 | Overall | 3.35 |
| #568 | Innovation | 2.94 |
| #610 | Humor | 2.15 |
| #631 | Theme | 3.10 |
| #752 | Fun | 2.69 |
| #943 | Audio | 1.41 |
| #1167 | Graphics | 1.59 |
Comments
Wow that was deep. I like how it seems as though you have choices but you don't.
Incredibly well written, you created a very believable atmosphere. I tried every path and enjoyed the idea that there was no particular 'win' state. Good job :)
Awesome job. A great use of interactivity to explore a theme, and good writing too.
Man, this is some depressing shit. Very well done. And great idea with the 'do it all again' too.
I don't usually play purely text based games but i really enjoyed the writing in this.
Terrific. This has got to be one of the most polished and complete games here. Also one of the richest. Thank you for that.
good writing, and like a lot of others said, i really liked the way you could start over and over, but in the end it's not really that simple, and that may not be a bad thing.
A second begins:
OMG THIS IS SO GOOD T_T!!!
WONDERFUL WRITTING!
The idea seemed a bit pretentious at the beginning but then you find that your writting is just epic!
A second ends T_T !
Just one more thing:
Is it me or just like in real life no matter what you say you lose her ? XD Y is this so realistic T_T
Haha good job, try write some more! maybe publish a book one day no kidding, it was a flowing story not too heavy but flowingly moving from lite to heavy it was fantastic <3 it !
PaperBlurt: You might be right, but in a game making jam you don't expact to find a pretty well writen story, I mean the story itself might be banal but the way the story is told is quiet good!
You might not believe me but this far this is my favourite entry and it got some damn good score!
LOL now I found the story is kinda real, so no way it's banal, but hi I was right about the fact that it was realistic :D
This was probably better written than most of the published books I read. I would've liked for it to have been impacted by my choices (I understand the author doesn't want a "good" ending, but it would've been interesting if the relationship had progressed in different ways and still ended in a break up), but I still enjoyed it thoroughly and maybe teared up a bit upon ending it the first time :)
That was some amazing writing, and considering it is very similar to a situation I'm currently going through, it really hit home.
Lie Down.
Try Not to Cry.
Cry A lot.
Wow. That is impressive!
Add some visuals and it could be really entertaining.
This is a really cool impression... play so much platformers today (my own platformer too) thta this is a really nice surpirse. I dont't need graphics because my brain is creating the pictures to this story! Thanks 9/10
Nice game, Its cool that you have such an in depth story, I included it in my video compilation of LD27 games, if you want to check it out; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhxp6zWGaGM
I really like it, loved the idea. But the writing, perhaps, could have been a little more succinct. Also I really would have loved some sound effects for the places that you were or the things that you were doing. That would have made the game for me :)
Not the kind of story I'm usually interested in, but the quality of the writing is very high. One or two sentences felt a bit melodramatic, but that's about the extent of my nitpicking. Time permitting, I'll come back to this to see how the story changes if I make different choices.
A typo: "laying on a threadbare blanket" should be "lying".
Recently I was trying to describe to another game developer, that games are valuable experiences, and that they need not be fun.
This entry is compelling, intriguing and made me ask myself some questions. But it was not fun, and this is not a bad thing.
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Fantastic writing. Really cool idea. I'm gonna go slit my wrists now.