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amcha421's Façade (PC)
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| [October 13, 2006 11:42:43 PM]
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I couldn’t say anything out of the ordinary or else I would get a canned response. For instance, in order to keep the player on track, the scripting got a bit obvious when Grace kept mentioning wanting to talk about their relationship. Key words such as the wedding picture and Tripp’s parents keep the story moving. When I mentioned a divorce Tripp got angry. I also thought it was cool that they remembered my past comments and brought them up in a fluid way.
TRIP
Amy, come on -- yes or no...
TRIP
Do you really think that...
TRIP
asking if we're okay?...
TRIP
telling me I'm not communicative...
TRIP
suggesting that we get divorced...
TRIP
but especially what you said about giving advice to your wife...
TRIP
and you don't even say 'yes' when I ask you if you want the truth...
TRIP
that we'll somehow realize something about our marriage?
TRIP
Is what you've said tonight supposed to add up somehow, to something?
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| [October 13, 2006 11:32:19 PM]
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The second time around, I took a better look at the set-up. The game first immerses the player by making him or her choose a name, most likely the player’s real name, suggesting that the player play him or herself. I chose my own name from the list and found it a bit disconcerting to be addressed in the game. I understand that the game needs a name to call the player, but calling the player by his or her real name was also an effective tool in bringing the player to attention; as Grace and Tripp asked me for my opinions, I felt the pressure to assume a role that would answer correctly in order to placate them. At the end, the game even generates a script of the players and characters’ dialogue like a soap-opera or something. I thought this feature was interesting to track what kind of dialogue elicited whatever response, which, second time around, is clear cut now—just be polite, don’t choose sides, and… I don’t know yet, because I found it difficult not to choose sides. I found myself thinking about what I would say next and Grace or Tripp would take my silence as offensive or awkward and that got to be circuitous. At the same time, I also appreciated how the characters responded to my prolonged silence (I didn’t think my silence was that long—just a few seconds, but I could see how it broke the flow of the story). Even though it was frustrating at first, it was a nice departure to not be so calculating in my moves… maybe I don’t play enough games, or maybe this is a reflection of how I’m a loser at life, simulated or otherwise.
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| [October 13, 2006 11:30:07 PM]
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Um... sorry for spamming...
Façade is set up like a play. Its loading sequence displays the image of a curtain, hinting at how the player will view and navigate the characters and space. However, instead of just watching the action as you would in a real play, the player takes the role of another character and interacts with Grace and Tripp to resolve the story in multiple ways.
The setting of the game is extremely simple and the navigation is fluid and responsive. When the characters started speaking, it soon became clear that the visuals only served as props for the dialogue and expressive voice acting and interactions.
I had heard about Facade before, so I already knew the gist of the storyline before I started playing. Even so, I found that it was difficult to find a resolution to the conflict because the characters were so temperamental. This resulted in some circular dialogue, such as Grace or Tripp saying one-liners like, “Let’s talk about Grace/Tripp/both not just one of us” where I gleaned a few clues to goad the characters in another direction, but it took some time before I got to some juicy Grace-Tripp conflict, that is, here they monologue/yell at each other. During these extended Grace-Tripp dialogues, I found it difficult to change the direction of the conversation, and even I tried harder, I guess they would have just plowed through. I found that my interruptions (which I used because that’s what I would have done in real life or even chatting online) amounted to nothing most of the time; the real cues for me to respond was if they addressed me directly, which I found to be a bit contrived at times.
I found myself playing the role of a polite visitor in order to find more clues to resolving the game. Unlike a traditional game where the goal is clear, I’ve never really played games involving social situations so this experience was a little ambiguous to me. When I finished my first play I got Grace to leave Tripp. I’m not sure if I was supposed to get at a happier ending, but at least the game ended somehow…
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amcha421's Façade (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 13 October, 2006
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