![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cobaltnineThe 12:54 to Asgard, by J Robinson Wheeler.
Today's Digression is on Trains:
There was, and there was not, and only secret government files know, but once there was a girl who took the train to work. One day, she got to the train, and two of the train cars had been gutted entirely; one was taken up by a strange magical box, and the other had nine soulless guards standing at pedestals. Then, given that the guards had removed many of the seats, the citizens crammed onto two cars where there used to be four, and arrived at work disgruntled.
And the men and women who took the 7:45 train starting taking other trains, because they were only implementing this on one set of cars, in hopes of implementing it on others, because apparently finding out if someone has a bomb while they're already on a train is logical in the Kingdom's infinite celestial wisdom. One day, the magic box, which detected sandwiches, and the guards, who didn't do much of anything, disappeared, like nothing had ever happened. The End.
Game down below:
I don't know if there's a train in 'The 12:54 to Asgard,' because I never finished it. I never finished it in part because I spent the last half hour of my two hours trying every command I could think of while nailed to the floor. I think it's the old 'Cheese Sandwich' problem, common in older games; if the 'walkthrough' is anything to go by, I made it unwinnable very early on, with no indication.
The walkthrough is a mess. The objects are a mess. I could access objects or the descriptions of objects in places where they weren't and where I couldn't know they exist; in other places, doing certain interactions which were even suggested by the NPCs - showing the suitcase, for instance, in the scene where I WAS STUCK FOREVER - just don't work. Suitcase was implemented well, though.
The writing isn't bad, but there are far too many locations, I think, and the inclusion of so much stuff at the beginning feels lopsided. I can't just take it all. I'm supposed to put a bunch of things away. Which do I take? What do I leave? Why the fuck can't I fix this hole? I guess I'm not union. Wouldn't stand for these working conditions, that's all I'm saying.
There's a potentially nice game in here, but I think it's lost among wanting to do too much. You don't need to put every idea for a puzzle in one game. Write storylets of the puzzle and hold onto those fragments; use them when they make sense, and don't cram them in for completeness.
Today's Digression is on Trains:
There was, and there was not, and only secret government files know, but once there was a girl who took the train to work. One day, she got to the train, and two of the train cars had been gutted entirely; one was taken up by a strange magical box, and the other had nine soulless guards standing at pedestals. Then, given that the guards had removed many of the seats, the citizens crammed onto two cars where there used to be four, and arrived at work disgruntled.
And the men and women who took the 7:45 train starting taking other trains, because they were only implementing this on one set of cars, in hopes of implementing it on others, because apparently finding out if someone has a bomb while they're already on a train is logical in the Kingdom's infinite celestial wisdom. One day, the magic box, which detected sandwiches, and the guards, who didn't do much of anything, disappeared, like nothing had ever happened. The End.
Game down below:
I don't know if there's a train in 'The 12:54 to Asgard,' because I never finished it. I never finished it in part because I spent the last half hour of my two hours trying every command I could think of while nailed to the floor. I think it's the old 'Cheese Sandwich' problem, common in older games; if the 'walkthrough' is anything to go by, I made it unwinnable very early on, with no indication.
The walkthrough is a mess. The objects are a mess. I could access objects or the descriptions of objects in places where they weren't and where I couldn't know they exist; in other places, doing certain interactions which were even suggested by the NPCs - showing the suitcase, for instance, in the scene where I WAS STUCK FOREVER - just don't work. Suitcase was implemented well, though.
The writing isn't bad, but there are far too many locations, I think, and the inclusion of so much stuff at the beginning feels lopsided. I can't just take it all. I'm supposed to put a bunch of things away. Which do I take? What do I leave? Why the fuck can't I fix this hole? I guess I'm not union. Wouldn't stand for these working conditions, that's all I'm saying.
There's a potentially nice game in here, but I think it's lost among wanting to do too much. You don't need to put every idea for a puzzle in one game. Write storylets of the puzzle and hold onto those fragments; use them when they make sense, and don't cram them in for completeness.
