FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD29 → And the Moment Is Gone

And the Moment Is Gone

By maniulo

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Innovation94.19
Coolness1100
Mood663.89
Overall893.71
Humor1373.26
Theme2253.46
Fun2603.19
Graphics2663.65
Audio3343.15

Comments

archieandrewslive-co-uk 2014-04-28 10:01

Love this game.
Great idea.
theme of the game was something I can really relate to XD

jsmars 2014-04-28 10:11

Really interesting and well made! I like how way too many thoughts fly by without being able to think them through, just like the real situation. I like games where you can't see past the "ai" logic at the first glance, it gives you the feeling that it's not just a code logic but that there is some intelligence there.

baboum 2014-04-28 10:52

Really well made!

pierrec 2014-04-28 10:56

I LOVE IT!
This is a really clever way of narration. The game is both nice and creepy, like...why don't we let this poor girl alone? I have mixed feelings about all this and this is what makes the game so great.

Did you record the sounds yourself?

maniulo 2014-04-28 11:17

Pierrec,
The subway sound recording and the font are not mine. Thanks for reminding me to put a proper credit for them!

nushriell 2014-04-28 11:24

well made game.

nushriell 2014-04-28 11:31

Nice game.

lorancou 2014-04-28 12:02

Very nice! Although I'm not very gifted in flirting apparently, I can't manage to "win".

allurious 2014-04-28 12:46

Loved the game, great idea. I often run out a load of scenarios in my head when in a stressful situation, so this is very relatable. :p

local-minimum 2014-04-28 15:00

I'm really hoping there's no way to win. Not for the sake of any pride but for the sake of the inevitable creepy aspects of how the actions you force me to make builds into a narration that says that as long as I have the magic string of phrases whichever girl on the subway will find me attractive. Like they are locks to pick. Only reflecting your actions, no volition on their part.

Nice graphics, style, effects and interactions with the texts.

norse-games 2014-04-28 15:04

Really great interpretation of the theme, good graphics, simple and effective.

maniulo 2014-04-28 15:28

local minimum, I thought about that too, and that's probably the first thing I'd change given more time.

On the other hand, since all of this game is just a fantasy in a troubled boy's head, I'm not surprised he's only making up her responses to his lines.

hyoga-3d 2014-04-28 15:30

nice mood! I fell bad about the guy...

zinfandel 2014-04-28 16:13

Loved this game. One of the best entries I've seen yet.

cupcakemedia 2014-04-28 16:30

This is VERY interesting! I don't know how well-thought out it is, but it plays really well. It's a really cool concept and you did it perfectly. It maybe helps that it's not all-over the place, the focus is what makes it so sweet.

somfunambulist 2014-04-28 17:30

Very interesting gameplay.

hayawi 2014-04-28 17:47

At first I thought the reactions were all the same, but as I kept playing, the game went more and more in depth. Also, I can relate with this poor Tom fellow, poor guy can't seem to find his words. Anyway, nice game, and really good use of atmosphere.

tingham 2014-04-28 17:56

Like life. Hard to play. :) I'm terrible with small-talk.

thisisdave 2014-04-28 19:08

Very nice, I like how the game plays with the concept of overthinking

burgerdare 2014-04-28 19:51

Excellent entry. Really interesting take on mechanically representing how people make conversation.

dookie 2014-04-28 20:44

I really like this idea. The dark thoughts never really played a part unless I touched them on purpose, though. They were easier to ignore than in real life :P

seraphicmedia 2014-04-28 21:24

Can you ever win? ...lol fun game and fun idea!

pancakecity 2014-04-28 21:27

I would enjoy this game more if it was from the woman's perspective, like she's trying to read or something but his speech bubbles keep getting in the way... I kept thinking, she should be getting up and walking away by now! Anyway, his thoughts were really funny.

skymen 2014-04-28 22:33

Good overall for this game. Not really fun or humoristic but pretty cool

tschery 2014-04-28 23:40

this is awesome! I guess everybody can relate to that problem and you used a wonderfull way to make turn it into a game mechanic =) thanks for building this

katamori 2014-04-28 23:47

Can I "win"?

helloworldstudios 2014-04-28 23:52

Fantastic game. I could see this form of interactive story telling the forces the emotion of the character through game play really taking off.
Would love to see a longer version.

themonika 2014-04-29 06:01

I felt bad for the girl. She clearly didn't want to talk to me. I should have just left her alone.

plasterphantom 2014-04-29 07:16

The ambience of the metro is really well done. I really like the whole thoughts mechanic. It also feels natural in some sort of way, her responses don't feel all too random. Really cool graphics also! Great game! (:

pierrec 2014-04-29 09:39

I have to change my audio rating then ^^
I wrote a review of the game on oujevipo.fr but it will be published later this week (I say it now because I might forget later)

donan 2014-04-29 14:18

Wow. Best idea i seen on this compo. Good sound and good graphics. Congratulations :D

eufrik 2014-04-29 16:57

I really can relate to this. Good job!

iambored2006 2014-04-30 11:49

This is almost as frustrating as real life! Good job! I'd love to see a version with voice acting, maybe even for thoughts.

amour-maternel 2014-04-30 17:17

NIce art, good concept. She finally agreed to go on a date with me <3.

terraco 2014-05-01 00:35

That's deep. Great work.

solifuge 2014-05-01 01:51

Ignoring other people's boundaries: the simulator

Or perhaps:

Street harassment: the simulator

I disliked how random the woman's responses were. Playing the game, I'd make the same choice multiple times and we'd have completely different conversations, often where one moment she was fine (or furious) and the next moment she would completely change mood.

For such a sensitive subject, this only serves to vindicate people who play off women's responses to harassment as irrational, hysterical, etc. Social anxiety is a pain in the bum. Social anxiety does not force you to repeatedly escalate your pickup lines to someone who has shown they're not interested in your attentions, lest you be overcome by doubts.

hyouko 2014-05-01 02:50

Playing this on public transportation (specifically, commuter rail on the way home at night) made it all the more effective.

One suggestion: make the characters remember conversation points they've already gone over. If I ask her about her music *again* she should probably get annoyed if she didn't respond favorably the first time.

solifuge 2014-05-01 06:46

Feedback: I ran into situations where it was really tough to guess what I was supposed to say (I didn't know what to say when I was supposed to Be Myself, etc). Also, when she was interested in hearing about interesting facts (hottest Spring day), I was surprised that talking about the Library got me called a Nerd... it didn't seem like I was talking to a human being, and lacked consistency that would make it easier to play.

It's tough to simulate the complexities of conversations between people, but I really liked the way the conversation bubbles worked... interesting way to simulate avoiding intrusive thoughts, or finding the right way to word something. It'd have been funny to say what was in a black bubble you rolled over... blurting out "My fly is unzipped" or "Will you marry me?" to someone you are barely acquainted with, and maybe a steeper penalty for the black bubbles could be brilliant.

In a longer game, I'd like to see more hints about personality, maybe the ability to pick who you talk to from among a crowd; take coercing a stranger into a date by telling her what she wants to hear, and expand it into a simulation of how to talk to and get to know strangers on a subway. Let them talk to get an idea of who they are, and talk about things you think they might be interested in, maybe make a friend, whatever. Interesting and pretty well-made jam game, nonetheless!

maniulo 2014-05-01 08:27

hyoko, the point of the game was to show how he tries different combinations of an imaginary conversation in his head, over and over; so every new conversation after a black screen is effectively a new scenario in his head - so the girl doesn't 'remember' anything from the previous playthroughs.

maniulo 2014-05-01 09:35

VictoryGarden, thanks for the feedback! I appreciate such a thoughtful response.
Yes, I was thinking about simulation of personality traits, but wasn't able to do that in time, so I had to scratch that and replace them with the guy's random thoughts about 'what he thinks she wants to hear'.
This does lead to a situation when we have to say something intelligent one turn, and on the next turn intelligent response is not what she wants to hear which causes her to call us the nerd. This could seem random, but I prefer to think of this as a poor's guy not actually knowing how a real girl would react to his lines - remember, all this dialogues are just scenarios he's running in his head. Maybe I should've stressed that better.

ellian 2014-05-01 10:36

Hah, interesting game here! Very well made, and very... deep I guess? I mean it's the kind of stuff you go through all your life - thinking back on what you should have said to people. And making it a game... it's strangely compelling.
Very good work here!

crocantidepollo 2014-05-02 12:13

Nice art! I liked how you represented being overwhelmed by thoughts. As for the game itself, I found it difficult to read her emotions. Her lines were a bit random. It's hard to simulate emotions with a few lines of text but maybe there could be a way to identify whether she's feeling uncomfortable or she doesn't mind some friendly chat

oddly-shaped-pixels 2014-05-04 21:20

Great idea! I dont know if it's possible to win but only making her answer something feels pretty rewarding... Just like in real life!

snoother 2014-05-05 20:41

I love games like this. Games that I can relate to. Games that depict the stress and exhaustion of conversation that people seldom notice. Thank you for making it.

A very interesting take on the theme too, with a mechanic that could definitely be taken further in a longer, more extensive conversational game.

I agree with some of the other comments that question the women's responses. There doesn't seem to be much consistency and her character seems pretty empty because of it.

And some of the suggestions were a bit too subjective. "Be myself" or "say something interesting" -- one of which is hard to guess and the other will likely vary from player to player. Though, it the latter's case, that ambiguity is arguably part of the stress and confusion of the conversation.

I'm almost tempted to argue that not being able to win would have made it a better game. Maybe a more true game. Though there's nearly-always a way to overcome social anxiety, so I suppose "winning" is suitable. God, I'm going to be thinking about this game all night!

Anyway, overall it really is one of the top games this LD.

meedoc 2014-05-06 11:14

The gameplay really fit to the situation;
I love the mood and how you make the player feel introverted!

Congratulation !

garethiw 2014-05-06 19:43

I feel creepy now.

anoarith 2014-05-06 23:51

The game is well-made but I dislike the patriarchal aspect :/ it looks like a "soft-Galge" to me. VictoryGarden already said all.

Anyway, the black bubbles apparition to create stress was a great idea and the graphics was amazing :)

mcapraro 2014-05-08 00:47

really interesting take on the theme

stvr 2014-05-09 17:58

As nerve-wracking as talking to strangers is in real life!

ithildin 2014-05-10 22:53

Great idea, and interesting execution!

I've toyed with the concept a couple of times in the past, but I haven't managed to come up with anything decent for a game yet. You've managed to nail a very nice game out of it, congrats! =)

Also, kudos for the nods to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's my favourite movie <3

mokujinzergman 2014-05-11 14:42

Very nice, and so true.
Very good AI, i didn't manage to get to her like in the real life :)

The sound is amazing, i'm really in the metro while playing.

The graphics are simple but effective.

joe40001 2014-05-13 06:07

I am from loserville and I find this game highly offensive. :P

Nah, interesting concept, but where do I click for "she seems to be enjoying her music, she would probably not want to be bothered, particularly by somebody like me?" Also there is a "bug" with this game though... because I won the game and if it were an accurate simulator I would not have won.

I could make jokes about the theme all day, but it is innovative and well made, so good job.

maniulo 2014-05-13 08:10

joe40001, sorry, but you didn't win. Even if you managed to get her number, there was a black-thought screen saying that this is just a scenario in the boy's head ("This couldn't have happened" or something like that). :P

striwx 2014-05-13 15:04

Very cool, the narration is great and true ! Perhaps it's a little frustration to not continue conversations (like talking about music and etc...)

mortus 2014-05-14 08:05

Great game! I'm not sure I understand how it works, though, because sometimes I'm doing better when I'm just clicking random phrases (or maybe I'm just such a creep?). Also, does it have some sort of ending, except black screen with some text? I've got a positive message few times, but mostly it was window escape and such. Anyway, great mechanics (gotta remember it and use in a dialog in a game some time), great mood and quite fun game!

maniulo 2014-05-14 10:35

mortus, no, the only ending you can get is a black screen with a more (bad ending) or less (good ending) depressing thought. I didn't have time (or skill, for that matter) to make proper animations. :)

neekobus 2014-05-14 14:18

Super idea. Like the overthinking mecanics.

It's really frustating (yeah as in real life). Sometimes she react strangely : looks happy then agressive (while talking nicely - i think).

Maybe you should add information about the progression (remove the headphone, getting closer, looking at you).

Good idea & work ! Curious to see how you make the tree of the discussion.

2014-05-17 23:07

That was awesome

blanky 2014-05-18 04:55

Nice concept

diptoman 2014-05-18 10:57

That was really interesting. Well, I figured out that she gives a good response if you select the correct thing to say according to the situation written below, and then it became more of a remember-match thing. The conversation wasn't fully coherent due to that. Couldn't figure out all the matches, however. Overall, a very well polished entry- and the idea is seriously innovative. I'd love to see this concept expanded.

Jeremias 2014-05-18 20:07

Makes me feel uncomfortable but I think that wasn't your intention. Anyway, very interesting concept!

javadocmd 2014-05-19 05:41

A fascinating concept and well executed. A game like this is hard to pull off under a time constraint, but I think you captured the soul of the idea very well.

Lucariatias 2014-05-19 16:05

I want to like this, but it feels very repetitive and very little way forward. Perhaps if there was a general hint as to how to continue, and more variety in situations.

illugion 2014-05-19 19:05

Wow that was really cool! It made me try repeatedly and I got really addicted to it haha

jacques_le_lezard 2014-05-19 19:22

Nice idea!

misterwalter 2014-05-19 19:43

This game was physically painful. Beautifully done.

sk16games 2014-05-19 21:22

Very interesting game :) Is there a way to win? (or maybe I'm just very poor at flirting xP)

mase 2014-05-19 23:09

This was good enough to be replayed a few times. After several failures I wondered if this was an unwinnable game but eventually I figured it out and "kind of won." yay!

The changeable thoughts are cool and it felt good when I found something clever, and frustrating when I clicked past something.

I liked the mechanics but I thought the fairly mundane scenario was a little overly dramatized, particularly the darkening screen which seemed like a cliche way of representing despair.

Interesting work.

gfm 2014-05-19 23:13

Aaaaarg. >_<
If you hadn't said it's possible to win in the description, I wouldn't have tried it for so long... And I was able to get further in the conversation, meaning it can have an end point (different than getting messe by your thoughts).

This was really interesting. And kind of a simulator of how I feel lots of times. XD (though I always keep quiet)

P.S.: After reading your response to VictoryGarden, I see this game in a different light. At first, I thought the game was resetting, not that it was a scenario in his head... This just went from "great game" to "this is way too awesome"! =D

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