Façade

A seriously interesting game, if a bit clunky. I'm very much looking forward to the Party.

Also, I'm so glad they included my name as one of the player-name options. =]

Personally I was never very impressed by the game's language interpreter. As far as I could tell, it basically just looked for key words in whatever you said (assuming what you said isn't a specific phrase known to the game), and guesses at your meaning. There were a few times when it would interpret what I said as the exact opposite.

Still, very interesting game.

Hints for "winning:"

Ask lots of questions. If they say "that helps me/him/her/us," you're on the right track. Sometimes it's better to let things play out, sometimes to just ask "why." The exact scenario changes each time you play, so don't expect the same things to be revealed. You need to get both of them talking, though, without taking sides, in order to keep them together.

i found this game several months ago. attempting to create an interactive drama is quite an ambitious endeavor. i welcome the effort to transform the way games are played and how a player connects with the world of a game. this seems to be part of a move toward further blurring the line between storytelling and gameplay.

Please someone help me? I waited 2 hours for all the stuff to load....then FINALLY got into the game only to be stumped at the very beginning! I am in front of a door upon which I knock.....and knock.....and knock...to no avail. I call out Grace! Trip! Anyone home? Nothing. I turn around and notice an elevator....oh....I must be supposed to enter the elevator! Wrong! I press the button....and I am back at the menu telling me if I wish to replay, I have to exit and load again...which takes another 10 minutes! Grrrrr! What am I doing wrong? How do I get the door to open?
Thank you anyone!

Ah, but it wouldn't run on my computer. According to the author the program does some pretty funky OpenGL calls, so I am guessing integrated can't handle it. Another reason to get a new computer...

I remember seeing this on G4TV and thinking it looked really cool, but I never got around to playing it,. Thanks for reminding me!

Tiffany: Just be patient. If you knock on the door you should hear Trip saying "oh, she's here!" and Grace saying "what? I thought it wasn't for another hour!" and so on. Then Trip answers the door, and it begins.

Morwen: I know Facade has gotten a good deal of press (both in tenor and volume) but I wasn't aware G4 did a piece on it. Too bad there's no YouTube clip of that.

I can't win. I just can't. I never say the right thing, and I always end up taking sides and .... gah! I like it, but its way frustrating.

This game makes no sense to me. And I can't even be called my own name (James)

Patrick...thank you. I went back into the game though and as you suggested, I knocked and waited....I knocked a few times as after 2 whole minutes went by I thought perhaps I hadn't knocked enough. I waited 6 minutes with no response. Can you (or anyone) give me an idea of the time frame involved? It just seems an awfully long time to wait for someone to answer the door.....but perhaps I am being impatient?

It shouldn't be that long. A minute at the most, Tiffany. I'm not sure why its taking so long for you.

The game was good, but i really wanted to rip my hair out. Not so much because i couldn't really do anything right, but because i hate people like that. yeah... annoying, but good game.

I'm so bad at this, it's really depressing. :( This game is awesome, and I want to help them. :(

Very interesting idea. I personally got stumped figuring out what to say... but then that's how it is in real life. Which makes me wonder, do we really need a game simulating awkward social encounters? I think I have enough of those already...

I would really appreciate some advice from someone who understands computers better than me (ie: a grade 3 child! Lol!) I have tried everything to get past the front door to no avail. I have waited and waited for the greeting...but nothing. Should I remove the game from the computer and reload it? Will I have to re-do all the lead up stuff again (those extra programmes that took forever?) I waited so long for this game to be ready to play...I am determined to see what it's like!
Thank you very much.

Tiffany: Have you moved closer to the door? (Use the arrow keys to move.)

This game looks great! I cant get the bittorrent thing to work for some reason though...

this looks so cool! too bad I have don't have a 1.6GHz. they weren't kidding when they say it doesn't work properly. it doesn't work at all. :( sad sad day. especially after it took so long to download.

HopefulNebula....thank you....yes...I have tried moving closer to the door....I moved so close I was PART of the door! I moved to the sides and back and forth....I did a wonderful door dance....still nothing. Thanks for the help though....if only that had been the problem.

This may be a huge step forward for programming and gaming technology, but I can't like this game.

The characters are just simply ugly people. The sort of folks I would run away from in real life.

The premise is interesting, but the characters lack of ability to understand basic questions, or worse, misunderstand basic questions, makes it even more un-fun.

Hey Tiffany I am having the same problem, I knock and knock and knock and nothing. The first time I played the game I could hear the characters arguing behind the door, and now I dont hear anything except the knocking. I am using a mac, I was wondering if that may be the problem....let me know if you have any luck entering that darn door.

Oh Tammie....at least it's nice to know I am not the only one! I do not have a Mac...so we can rule that out. I've never heard any arguing behind the door though. Isn't it frustrating after downloading all those other programmes in order to work this one, then waiting an hour for the "sound to decompress"....and not being able to play? I can't even exit through the lift (elevator) anymore to get back to the menu screen so that I can see if there is any support to email or anything. Aaargh!

After countless tries and hours playing this game, I got them to DIVORCE!
Wow! Now I'm trying to make an outcome where they are happy and stay together!

I have never been so frustrated with a game! It sounds like it's probably fun, but waiting hours for the exe file to load and then for the game to load and then the sounds, and then the game to open, just to accidentally hit the elevator, and now it won't reload. I almost don't want to give up because I've come so far!

So, how long are we supposed to wait for this thing to load? It says three hours remaining, and that's just ridiculous. This game looks like a great idea, but I can tell there are some bugs in it. Like the door thing I've read about? Three hours is a long time to wait to get a picture of a door.

Yeah, this is crazy. It's been a long time, and it still hasn't loaded. Should I wait?

Talk about frustration, I've tried every keyword I can think of. Anyone up for showing a few in spoiler mode? The only thing I seem to get right is how to get kicked out. I've got that down.

I'm on a PC I can hear them argueing but I also have to keep knocking and knocking on heaVENS DOOR....

Wow! Facade is exactly the kind of game that shows the true potential of an immersive gameplay while leaving outside of the scope of the game the graphic quality. It's not a genre that is easy of approach for everyone, but it's certainly a good idea to follow in the future.

to say the least, this game truly is impressive. having the interactive speech capability is an awesome way to go. granted, it's still nowhere near perfect, like they might answer questions i didn't know i asked (sometimes, i think they just look for key words in what you say and base their dialogue off of that), but it's still a daring and impressive way to go.

while glancing at the credits, i noticed that they referenced the neo-futurists... i've heard of them before, and regret not getting a chance to see one of their TMLMTBGB shows while i was in chicago. anyway, i scrounged around their website, and found a page (http://www.neofuturists.org/neofuturism.htm) that pretty much sums up exactly what this game did... they tried to break that separation between actor and audience, in order to make the audience a direct part of the scene... and hot dang, this game nailed it. i found myself emotionally struggling with trip and grace, trying to find the right words to bring them together... i say, cheers to making that oh-so-necessary connection, and props for using the right inspiration to go about it.

my biggest gripe... and really, i'm not sure if this is about the game or myself... of the two times i've played this game so far, i couldn't get them to stay together (which is my goal). part of it is, in real life, i really do know how to talk with people in order to resolve conflicts... but this game brings that ability crashing down. i found myself speechless at times, trying to find something helpful to put into the conversation. nada. i had nothing to add. that, OR, i had something to say, but the ability to only put in one line of text really limited what i could say. i could try to rephrase what i wanted in fewer words, but doing so usually took too long, and they've already moved on to the next topic of conversation.

maybe i'll have more to add to this later. i dunno. let me play a bit more, then i'll see how i feel.

wow i just finsihed downloading this game for 12 hours and i didn't even work!!!!!

wow. i usually suck at games.
not only was this game really cool and unique, but i actually did what i wanted to do on the first try. i got them to stay together.

whoo.

Okay, somehow the two of them argue too much, Grace went inside her room and both of them sulk, doesn't respond to me at ALL, and I can't get myself out of the door and leave. Perhaps I can't fit through the door? and it's so frustrating to have to reload it over and over to start a new game (and hearing the same message from Trip...)

Please help me! I knock at the front door, but Grace and Trip won't open. And the elevator dosent seems to be working too. Tell me how to get in the apartmen. Should I say something?

All that arguing and junk. Blechh. Too much like real life. It's depressing as all get-out!

For all of those having the problem with the door: It's (as far as I know) an OpenGL problem. There is no fix except to buy a new video card or try a different system. I had the same issue on my old desktop, but it works on a laptop I use now.

Great, interesting experiment. Emotional and interesting.

hm... bizarre... i think i might have had a revelation... i'm not exactly sure, but i think i might have had a winning situation...

as mentioned by hopefulnebula above, it really helps to ask a lot of questions, and "why" is a very helpful question to ask. to quote from the screenplay,
GRACE - Ah, good, you're asking questions, see, that helps...
but i think it also helps if you really attempt to direct the conversation, instead of follow it. i used a few leading questions that helped to push the conversation toward where i wanted it to go. such as,
PAUL - Why did you let him do that?
PAUL - Are you sure?
PAUL - Grace, why can't you be happy?
At some points, I actually made direct commands, such as telling trip to tell the truth, repeatedly. i think that to "beat" the game (if what i did was beating the game, and it very well could have not been), controlling the conversation is key, even if you have to repeat yourself to get your point across. i'm tempted to post the transcript as a file, just to see what other people might make of it.

haha, i tried to break them up and get with grace but i got them back together

This game is hilarious! I got into a big fight with them and got thrown out. It was so much fun. I was insulting, kissed Grace, etc. At first they were in disbelief, but then I made Trip so angry he just kept telling me I had to go. I laughed so hard I cried.

How do you make Trip admit his affair with Maria?

Its a fun interactive game however i hate it when they start blaming things on your like..

Me: You love grace..
Trip: You tell me i dont love grace!!!
Me: no im telling you that you do love grace
Trip: and i thought you were my friend

sometimes they can say nothing at all! thats funny x]

i once had a glitch too where grace arms stretched she looks eek lol!

if you want to see something funny kiss grace or trip when you enter! They do the best face ever