Save the Date

[gekiganwing]

One more thing I found which might be of interest -- a freeware visual novel called Save the Date. I heard about it through a brief news article while seeing what's notable on the Indie Games Weblog. It's stated to be a short VN with quite a few choices and endings. (I'm kinda tired right now, so I'm wondering if it will resemble the experimental game Facade, or if this is what Ariane B would create with minimalistic graphics.) Meanwhile, the creator just describes it as "...a game about a lot of things. Friendship. Stories. Hope. Destiny. And above all else, dinner."

[Obscura]

Ah, I was wondering if this had been posted or not. Thanks for posting it, gekiganwing!

This game. Freaking amazing.

[pwisaguacate]

I want my 150+ tormenting days of life back.

EDIT: So then I finally became a haxor and beat the game. Not to mention reaping my well-deserved rewards in bed.

[Taleweaver]

Interesting idea. Great writing. So-so execution.

I am a bit divided about this game. Essentially, it's one of those Stories I Wish I Had Written Because Now Somebody Else Has And I Will Look Like A Copycat. Really, this game contains all I think storytelling should be about. It's a little like what the IgNobel prizes claim they're about: first they make the reader laugh, then they make him think. (The Igs don't actually succeed with me in that respect: most of them only make me laugh, and if I start thinking, the only I thing I think is "and this is actually science? Save The Date, for a change, succeeded in making me think)

I realize that a truly legendary ending to this sort of story would have required absolutely mad Ren'Py skillz, the kind only Py'Tom and maybe one or two other code wizards on this forum have. But I couldn't code something like that, and this game's maker probably also couldn't, which is why he went for a very meta solution. The scene on the starry hill (especially the conversation elements near the very end of it) is very gripping in that respect, forcing you to actually overthink what you're just trying to do, and what that means. But I think he didn't go far enough with it. I liked the ending, and I liked the message. But I didn't feel guilty. By all means, I should have been. But he narrative isn't making enough of an effort to achieve that. And that's a damn shame because I believe the writer would have been able to pull it off, skill-wise.

"Save the Date" is almost impossible to discuss without spoiling it, and I'm not going to do this, so I'm stopping here. Let it be said that this is the sort of games we need more of. They have the potential to be culturally relevant.

[papillon]

I dislike the ending in the context that it's presented, but it's a bit hard to really get into why.

[Sheridan]

I realize that a truly legendary ending to this sort of story would have required absolutely mad Ren'Py skillz, the kind only Py'Tom and maybe one or two other code wizards on this forum have. But I couldn't code something like that, and this game's maker probably also couldn't, which is why he went for a very meta solution.

What kind of ending are you thinking of? I'm wondering because I thought the meta, philosophical solution was very fitting, and I can't think of an ending that would require mad coding skills,* so I'm curious what direction you hoped the game was heading.

* [spoilers below]

Mad coding skills on the part of the game designer, at least. I was kind of disappointed that the hacker ending was so simple to get. Looking into the script files was the first thing that came to my mind when the suggestion to think outside the game came up, but I expected it to require a bit more effort and coding knowledge on the player's part, not just instructions on how to change a single variable.

[Taleweaver]

What kind of ending are you thinking of? I'm wondering because I thought the meta, philosophical solution was very fitting, and I can't think of an ending that would require mad coding skills,* so I'm curious what direction you hoped the game was heading.

Ahem. Spoilers ahead.

The ending I am thinking of would have - inside the game, without having to edit the code - a way for the player to permanently rewrite the ending. Basically, a text editor that opens inside the game and that allows the player to write exactly the kind of ending he wants, and then play it, and then it is permanently the ending of the game. Maybe with a "reset" button on the title page. But this is the sort of game that should physically alter/destroy itself in the end, an idea I have been toying with for a long time.

[Sheridan]

The ending I am thinking of would have - inside the game, without having to edit the code - a way for the player to permanently rewrite the ending. Basically, a text editor that opens inside the game and that allows the player to write exactly the kind of ending he wants, and then play it, and then it is permanently the ending of the game. Maybe with a "reset" button on the title page. But this is the sort of game that should physically alter/destroy itself in the end, an idea I have been toying with for a long time.

That's a fascinating idea! I don't know if I would have liked it as an ending for this particular game, because I like how

ultimately the ending is more about when you decide to stop playing than what happens in the story.

But I hope you get a chance to explore that concept sometime.

[SundownKid]

Me, the traditionalist, was kind of hoping that the player would actually discover the malevolent force behind the attacks, even though that never happened in Groundhog Day. Even if he still decided to break up with his girlfriend at the end, the ending in its current form was anticlimactic considering all the action that was happening before.

I don't really wish I had written it since it's too similar to Groundhog Day to call it very original. Heck, I was going to write a similar story a year ago but decided it was too cliche and canned it. But, it is clever while it lasts.