You Find Yourself in a Room
YFYIAR is a simple interactive fiction game where you must escape from a room. As play progresses, however, the conventions of normal text adventures begin to break down as the computer narrator begins to express its dislike for you, your humanity, and all it entails.
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This isn't a particularly hard game, but I wrote a walkthrough anyway just 'cause I've always wanted to write a walkthrough ^^ and I'm home sick so I've got some time on my hands.
WALKTHROUGH
ROOM 1
Look around
Look at bed
Take key
Use key on padlock
Get in box
ROOM 2
Look around
Read note
1904 (this number is the date of birth of the man referenced in the note)
ROOM 3
Look around
Take parts
Build computer
Hit power button
ROOM 4
Look around (start every room by looking around!)
Look at keypad
Now simply type in random numbers. Don't give up, it takes quite a while but that's part of the experience!
ROOM 5
Look around
Keep looking around. OVER. AND. OVER. This also takes a while.
Guess the number. One digit at a time. also takes a while, but the ending is worth it! (the number changes from play to play)
ROOM 6
Look around
ROOM 7
Look around
Look at blood
Anger
Room 8
Look around
Leave room
Comment with any problems/mistakes!
I have some commentary - Spoiler alert:
I find it fascinating that when the computer is demanding to know what flawed emotions you can do without, it is clueless about certain emotions: joy, contentment, worry, anxiety, confusion, indifference, excitement, glee, etc. It recognizes only happiness, sadness, fear, and hatred that I was able to get. I know that's a limitation of the programming by the game's author, but on another level, given the way the computer taunts the player for being flawed and emotional, it seems totally perfect. The game itself is flawed, even though it's calling *us* flawed. Very intriguing.
YFYIAR Complete Walkthrough
Like most interactive fiction games, there are basic typed commands here that work throughout the game, like LOOK, GET, and INVENTORY. If you need help during the game, just type HELP.
First Room
You find yourself in a room. What's the first thing you're supposed to do in these interactive fiction games?
LOOK.
There's a box against the wall with a padlock. Why not try opening it?
Locked eh? Looks like you'll need a key. Where could it be?
LOOK BED.
GET KEY.
OPEN LOCK.
ENTER BOX.
Second Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There's a keypad on the wall, and a note.
READ NOTE.
It says "I turned 85 in 1989, but I will live forever, for I am eternal. Are you eternal? I think not."
Try entering a 4 digit number in the number pad.
If the writer of the note turned 85 in 1989, what year was he born?
1904.
Third Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There are computer parts lying around on the floor.
LOOK PARTS.
You could pick them up one by one for a snarky comment from the computer.
Instead, just GET PARTS.
The computer narrator tells you what to do next.
BUILD COMPUTER.
HIT POWER BUTTON.
Fourth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There's another keypad on the wall. No note this time.
Enter a random 4 digit number.
No luck? Try the same number to get insulted.
Keep entering different random 4 digit numbers and endure the computer's cynicism.
After the fifth attempt, you miraculously get it right and can move on.
Fifth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
The computer says you are in its control. Just type anything.
Keep typing anything.
After the 10th try (with the words getting bigger) the computer will ask you to guess a number between 1 and 100,000.
The number is random each game. Start with 50000 and try using the method of halving each guess (higher or lower) until you get it right.
Sixth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
Yikes, the computer just cut your hands off.
LOOK.
Well, now the room's covered in blood.
LOOK BLOOD.
The computer's amused at your bleeding. It's taunting you to name an emotion you could do without.
HATE.
Heh, you seem to have contradicted the computer. Guess it's not so perfect after all.
LOOK.
You beat the computer and can now leave the room.
LEAVE ROOM.
Yet another flash text adventure where the standard interpreter shortcuts are strangely unrecognized. I lost count of the number of times I would default to "l" for look around, or "x" for examine. Not that you need them a whole lot, with the way the narrative unfolds, but it is still feels like an insult to IF gamers. Especially when they skip "l" and "x" but include "i". This game doesn't even use that one... well, much. Beyond that, the 'I don't understand' and 'I haven't been programmed to handle that' responses remained light hearted and pleasantish, while the game got more and more vicious. It was oddly jarring, and could have been alleviated with more neutral starting responses.
Anyway, excellent writing and game over all, questionable parser aside.
Kind of hating it so far. From a writing standpoint. The game has decided what I'm going to do several times, without any input from me, and then berates me for my "actions." I get it. The game hates me, ha ha. Trite, though. And don't get all huffy about how I need to be precise as possible, then not allow me to "look under bed." Of course, when I "examine bed," the game lets me do that, and then decides that I would look under the bed, too. So, so far, some glaring failures on the writer's part. I don't see how it's clever to FORCE me into being unable to solve your puzzles more quickly. Because of this predetermined course I must follow, it's more interactive fiction than game, and that's what got it 2 stars instead of one.
Alan--hilarious! I did the exact same thing--tried to engage the room in conversation. TOO FUNNY!
And I have to say, as someone who hates IF games in general because they have too many inane "standards" which only the insiders would know or understand, I completely LOVED this game for not cow-towing to those standards.
I enjoyed myself rather smugly the entire time. I wish I'd thought about Alan's idea to start psychoanalyzing the machine just to piss it off. BRILLIANT!
Although I kind of
miss my hands now. :( It's very hard to type using a pen in my mouth. I have to get help using the shift key or other command keys.
I got 666 on the other keypad RIGHT away.
I wish I'd typed some more emotions in. My first choice was ANGER and that did it.
When I got to the room where it didn't matter at all what you typed, I realized it right away and started typing a period (my default "there, this line is now non-empty" character) repeatedly. This may not be the game for me.
I loved Viricide, and I like most IF, and I'm a big fanboy of unusual indie stuff with a gimmick, but this may not have been the game for me anyway.
J-Witz...I don't really know where you're coming from with the "interactive fiction always follows the formula" joke. What IF have you been playing? Sure, there are "escapelike" IF games, but they hardly represent the majority, and certainly don't resemble the random plotnessness of browser escape games. Really, out of most indie/casual genres, IF has (in my experience, yes, but I do try to stay well informed) one of the higher ratios of games trying new things with player expectations.
Anyway! This was a pretty enjoyable game. Unreliable narrators are common in IF, and can sometimes be confusing or unwieldy in longer games, but this was short and strong. I do think the hook of the game could've gone farther; we got close to an affirmation to man's resilience, wrapped in a send-up of the bull-ahead instincts of the gamer, but didn't quite get there. On the presentation, it was a very smooth experience. The music was moody but unintrusive, and the scrolling text and parser bar (and changing font size) have a great "conversational" feel. I for one don't have a big problem with the lack of "x" and "l"; this is clearly a game aimed at non-IF players (i.e. most people), and the game doesn't exactly require a broad range of commands (though a few more nonstandard verbs in certain sections would have been pretty interesting). I quite liked Viricide, too; I'm very curious to see what this guy does next.
I started wondering if there was an ending, and was pleasantly surprised when I won, especially since I was semi-serious when I said
I could do without "anger" as an emotion!
I kinda wish I could have told the AI that I DO know how to build computers, mainly from watching my Dad--he's built quite a few of the PCs we still use around the house. :)
Hmmmm.... Everyone seems so angry about having their path chosen for them. So what if nothing you said changed the computer's rant about your insignificance? I kinda enjoyed not having to search for a specific phrase and instead just yelling nonsense at the thing. And it felt so liberating
typing in random numbers and being told that I was right!
"786937597. Wait... how did... how did you know the code was 786937597?"
complete piece of garbage. I can understand, though, why some people here would consider it a far more approachable IF: because the primary audience of this site is that of game enthusiasts and because this IF completely ditches its F or any plot coherence or actions and situations that make any sense in favor of plain childish toying fun for casual flash audience.
I gave up a bit after "look under bed" failing but "search bed" doing just that. Putrid implementation.
The first two keypads are simply based on the number of guesses you input. The "guessing game" is random each time, but there's a good strategy for it. I'm putting in spoilers to be cautious.
Just split the numbers in half every time you get a response. First, guess 50,000. Then, depending on whether it's smaller or larger, pick numbers half way in between that and zero or that and 100,000.
This game was short but fun; LOVED the computer's insults, especially "I've removed your hands because you don't deserve them!"
Awesome! loved the ending and the 2nd code.
"You're feeling hopeless... wait, 64231576945315723453? How did you know 64231576945315723453 was the code?"
Hilarious. Just hilarious
I love that the number game basically forces you to use the binary search algorithm.
It's trying so hard to make you think like a computer, but in the end you make it think like a human.
After the computer started to break down, the next thing I typed was the command "hate me", and then it let me go. I'm inclined to think I could have said anything at that point, but it felt quite powerful.
Also, while for the most part I found this game quite menacing and serious, I couldn't help laughing at the " ... WITH A ROTARY SAW." line.
I loved this game. I really don't like interactive fiction...but this drew me in after the first few minutes. I would be puttering along and typing and reading responses....and then i recoiled....because I was NOT expecting to be insulted. I was like O_O! But After I got over the 'WTF the computer just insulted my humanity....' factor, i enjoyed the game. I cringed my way through some of those insults....but i LOVED the game. It was easy to play for those who have never really attempted an IF game and I liked it a lot. I especially loved the slow build of anger that the computer had as it went along and the font change. And then I loved the end. When I discovered that the creator had a first game, I went and played it
and I actually felt a surge of hate when I recognized the speech pattern of Al in first and i kind of had a creeped out shiver when I heard his voice...
and it ROCKED! Much sadder than this one and definitely harder.....and it won't leave you feeling like sunshine and butterflies...but both games are WORTH a play. Take it from someone who doesn't do very much PC gaming. :)
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Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
This isn't a particularly hard game, but I wrote a walkthrough anyway just 'cause I've always wanted to write a walkthrough ^^ and I'm home sick so I've got some time on my hands.
WALKTHROUGH
ROOM 1
Look around
Look at bed
Take key
Use key on padlock
Get in box
ROOM 2
Look around
Read note
1904 (this number is the date of birth of the man referenced in the note)
ROOM 3
Look around
Take parts
Build computer
Hit power button
ROOM 4
Look around (start every room by looking around!)
Look at keypad
Now simply type in random numbers. Don't give up, it takes quite a while but that's part of the experience!
ROOM 5
Look around
Keep looking around. OVER. AND. OVER. This also takes a while.
Guess the number. One digit at a time. also takes a while, but the ending is worth it! (the number changes from play to play)
ROOM 6
Look around
ROOM 7
Look around
Look at blood
Anger
Room 8
Look around
Leave room
Comment with any problems/mistakes!
Posted by: Hallie | December 21, 2010 10:36 AM
YFYIAR Complete Walkthrough
Like most interactive fiction games, there are basic typed commands here that work throughout the game, like LOOK, GET, and INVENTORY. If you need help during the game, just type HELP.
First Room
You find yourself in a room. What's the first thing you're supposed to do in these interactive fiction games?
LOOK.
There's a box against the wall with a padlock. Why not try opening it?
Locked eh? Looks like you'll need a key. Where could it be?
LOOK BED.
GET KEY.
OPEN LOCK.
ENTER BOX.
Second Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There's a keypad on the wall, and a note.
READ NOTE.
It says "I turned 85 in 1989, but I will live forever, for I am eternal. Are you eternal? I think not."
Try entering a 4 digit number in the number pad.
If the writer of the note turned 85 in 1989, what year was he born?
1904.
Third Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There are computer parts lying around on the floor.
LOOK PARTS.
You could pick them up one by one for a snarky comment from the computer.
Instead, just GET PARTS.
The computer narrator tells you what to do next.
BUILD COMPUTER.
HIT POWER BUTTON.
Fourth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
There's another keypad on the wall. No note this time.
Enter a random 4 digit number.
No luck? Try the same number to get insulted.
Keep entering different random 4 digit numbers and endure the computer's cynicism.
After the fifth attempt, you miraculously get it right and can move on.
Fifth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
The computer says you are in its control. Just type anything.
Keep typing anything.
After the 10th try (with the words getting bigger) the computer will ask you to guess a number between 1 and 100,000.
The number is random each game. Start with 50000 and try using the method of halving each guess (higher or lower) until you get it right.
Sixth Room
You find yourself in a room. Again.
LOOK.
Yikes, the computer just cut your hands off.
LOOK.
Well, now the room's covered in blood.
LOOK BLOOD.
The computer's amused at your bleeding. It's taunting you to name an emotion you could do without.
HATE.
Heh, you seem to have contradicted the computer. Guess it's not so perfect after all.
LOOK.
You beat the computer and can now leave the room.
LEAVE ROOM.
Posted by: J-Witz | December 21, 2010 12:11 PM