Lemma Soft Forums

Trapped

Plot
You find yourself trapped in a... special place. You've been wrongly imprisoned, but what are you willing to do to get out?

Statistics
Play time: about 20-30 minutes for both endings (if you skip to the end the second time)
The game contains 714 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 6,698 words,
for an average of 9.4 words per screen.
The game contains 0 menus.

About
Although I've been working on another game for more than a year now, and it's not the first that I've started, this is the first game I've ever finished.

I finished it in 3 days, though not 3 days in a row. It's something different from my main project, but I had this idea in my head that wouldn't leave me alone so I made it into a game before I could lose interest.

The (creatively titled) game, although a kinetic novel, has 2 endings. The first time you play one of the endings will be randomly picked for you, the next time you will see the other (hopefully, if my coding is good). It's a bit of a social experiment, out of the two endings I want to know which do you think is the real one (if any), and are you influenced by which of them you saw first.




Credits
Images from morguefile.com
Music from Incompetech.com
Sounds from Soundjay.com

Sorry for the file size, most of it is the music.
Let me know if I've made any mistakes, I'm looking forward to reading your feedback.

Here, I'll just say my little crits.
It's hard to see typos when you're the one writing.
"I never expected they'd keep my in total darkness. A surprise."
my -> me
"Without realizing I start playing with a strand of my hair."
realizing -> realizing,
"Hearing my own voice and not expecting a reply is something I'm accustom too"
too -> to
"In time cases like these became few and far between..."
In time -> In time,

I only played through the game one time but it was very good, I really enjoyed it
It was so short and simple but you used those simple sound effects, music, and visuals to really enrich the feel and the story. Great job

I got the good ending by the way.

*downloading

*edit: I got the ending in which Quite impressive that you finished making this game in three days

I've played it and it's good. If you didn't write it, I wouldn't know that there are 2 endings in this game. Is 2-in-1 that you wrote on the title means the 2 endings?

I usually don't go around downloading random games, but this one seemed both interesting and brief (I find shorter games appealing). Now that I've played through it here's a little review from me (it isn't so much a review as a couple bits of feedback):

Interesting implementation of multiple endings; I got what I assume is the good one.

I thought the sound direction was great. Fitting music, punctual and well-timed sound effects and a good use of silence. The only track I didn't find so hot was the very last one in the good ending, though that is probably just personal preference.

The minimalist aesthetic worked well with the intended tone. Putting aside the one blurry photo during the Christmas flashback, everything seemed to fit together well. As with the sound effects, the visual effects such as blurring, shaking, and blinding light were all handled with care and enhanced the experience. It was the mysterious visual style coupled with your brief summary that made me want to download the game, so kudos.

On the subject of the story, I don't really have much in the way of feedback. I didn't know what to expect (which is good when your story is in the mystery genre), but I was pleasantly surprised. The adventure was appropriately tense and the game length/interest curve was just right. I liked how you introduced the paranormal elements gradually as some stories tend to get out of hand really quickly in that regard. If I had one complaint to make, it would be that Thankfully, I found the ending itself to be fine as the foreshadowing was done properly; I kinda figured that the ending would be something along the lines of what it was. I guess you could say I was expecting Ba-Dum, pish~

Overall, I enjoyed Trapped and am glad I downloaded it. You should be proud of having made something like this in the span of three days. Thank you very much for sharing this with us!

Downloading to have a look-see. Will review in an edit later.

@ZaisConsultant
Thanks for pointing those out. I'll try to correct them as soon as possible.
And thanks for playing the game.　:)

@PearlSpring
Thanks. I'm glad you got the good ending. It seems most people did.

@LVUER
Actually you can't miss any of the endings since it should play them alternatively. If you somehow skip it the first time, the third time you can see it again.

@Percon
I'm glad you liked the music and sound effects. Since there's not much to the art I relied on it more.
In regards to the ending, I realized I was dumping the whole explanation on the player, and I wish there was another way to do it. Initially it was even shorter and I'm glad I revised it.
LOL @ the pun. I have no idea why I chose the name Oliver (it was supposed to be a placeholder and it just stuck), but now I'm glad I did.

Thanks for downloading and reviewing! ♥

@DarkSpartan
Looking forward to your feedback

That was really... whoa.
I first got the good ending. My mind instantly turns to the happy ending to hold into, so I can't promise no bias.

Uh oh, the bad ending is convincing, though. It makes sense, especially when you first get the good ending.

The interface is simple but elegant. I love it. The textbox makes me coo, although I have no idea why. The main menu is gorgeous, too.
Now on to the spoilers.

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad you liked the game! I wish someone got the endings the other way around ("bad" one first). I think it would make sense that way too. Damn me and my crappy programming, I must have messed something up if everyone keeps getting them in this order. XD

This game is this week's Group Play http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 53&t=16576

So, first of all, I'd like to congratulate on you on an original KN. Your KN is dripping with atmosphere and emotional effect, and that's only a good thing.

The writing, too, is (for the most part) solid. While the ending -- and I'll get to that later on -- suffers some severe flaws, and some earlier exposition is rather obviously delivered, the dialogue and the narrator's voice sound realistic and well-written. In particular, Mark was perfect. Creepy and ambiguous, both in morals and ability, I didn't exactly know what to make of him; again, I mean this in a good way! He escapes easy definition.

The backgrounds and ATL effects and the music were moody and pitch-perfect. While I wish you had character art, I can see why you'd hold off: the lack thereof enforces the vague and ever-shifting sense of what's real and what's not. Maybe you could have accomplished this with silhouettes or shadowed faces, but what do I know? (Nothing. I know nothing.)

With such a short VN, though, we rapidly come rushing to the major flaw: the ending.

@TheTourist

First I'd like to say thank you for taking the time to write such a long and detailed review. Even if it's not all positive, it feels good, you know? haha.

I know writing isn't my strong point, especially in English, so I'm glad there were no huge mistakes. I still don't think I'm very good at descriptions, but hopefully I'll get better at it.
Sounds like I'm making excuses for myself so I'll stop now.
Thanks again for playing and commenting.

Not until I just looked at your profile and saw "Romania" did I realize that English might not be your first language. Haha, I would never have guessed so from the writing in the game itself! You're a very careful editor, I'm guessing; the writing is far above-average for a VN.