Adventure Gamers - Forums

Karlok - 17 September 2016 05:18 AM

You’re enjoying the game a lot, aren’t you.  Violet already getting on your nerves?
Can’t win them all, you can pick the next game.

Didn’t mean it in a derogatory fashion. Was just wondering out loud about the different directions the game could go. It was unclear then. Now it looks like the Babelfish idea is going to be a pretty close approximation: jump through hoops to get rid of all distractions that keep you from writing.

Karlok - 17 September 2016 05:46 AM

Karlok’s confession: If someone called me dundeecake, wallaroo or budgie every 5 seconds, I’d smack him over the head and throw him out.

Karlok - 17 September 2016 06:07 AM

Violet IS more than a bit suffocating, isn’t she.

wilco - 17 September 2016 06:22 AM

I already hate her…

I just hope that our image/projection of Violet is an exaggerated one, and that’s not the real her. Otherwise, I wonder why we want to stay with her…

wilco - 17 September 2016 06:51 AM

I’ll take it. It’s as good as “you have made a difference”

LOL.



I have to say, though, I’m a procrastinator myself, and can take it up to ridiculous levels at times, but I have nothing on this main character.



LOL @ the zombie gathering.

> x zombies

>get on desk
You climb onto your desk.  Be careful, chocolate crackle.

You’re looking out the window again.  There are maybe a dozen zombies in the park now, lurching and milling about.  Two unfurl a blood-spattered banner that says, “What do we want?  Brains!  When do we want them?  Brains!”

>fix blind
You squint at the whatever for awhile and fiddle.  Squint, fiddle, still stuck.  I think when I said you could easily fix it what I really meant was that, if I were there, I could easily fix it.

Squint, fiddle, SNAP.  You did it!  Or, wait, maybe you broke it.

Looking closer, you’ve definitely broken the whatever.  Perhaps you’ve also fixed it.  I can’t tell.

(BTW: you know full well that Marty is not a dwarf.  He isn’t even especially short.*)

>*
It’s interesting how your mind consistently malforms men who have crushes on me.  Colin has three tiny birthmarks on his cheek and you call him “Splotchy Boy.”

>put key in vent
Why would you think you can reach the vent from here?

>x zombies
It’s sad they have to have the Zombie Lurch in the park instead of downtown.  It just takes a few rioting undead to spoil things for everyone.

You are distracted by Julia saying especially loudly, “Sure, she’s cute.  If you can get past the mole.”

Hey!  Watch it, Julia.

Oscar - 18 September 2016 12:01 AM

>push stool to door
>put key in vent

I had to go back to the first “look” description to be reminded of a stool…

I don’t think we’ve done this yet:

> x stool

I’ve added a “look” and “i” for convenience sake.

>push stool to door
(getting off the desk first)
The stool is now by the door.

>put key in vent
Why would you think you can reach the vent from here?

>x stool
Remember?  Me, looking triumphant as I haul the flimsy stool into our apartment:
“Look what I found in the dumpster!  Just what you need!”
“Do you think it will collapse if I stand on it?”
“Not immediately.  Just be careful.”
“I can’t believe the secretary said I was ‘undeserving’ when I asked if I could have a stool.”
“This stool is better, anyway.  Maybe I’ll paint it!”

Meanwhile, it has become officially disconcerting just how much you’re distracted by Julia’s strumpy perfume.

>stand on stool
The stool creaks as you climb onto it.

>put key in vent
Unfortunately, the key doesn’t quite fit between the bars of the grill in front of the vent.

>x lighter
The lighter is promoting some race car driver whose car is #67.  Our Number.

I was tipsy at a party and you were one of four random dudes trying to talk to me at once.  I interrupted to tell my favourite joke.  “Why is six afraid of seven?”
“Because seven eight—”
“No!” I shouted, “Because seven [the sickest thing I could come up with at the moment] nine.”

The other men chuckled uncomfortably.  You laughed so hard you spit Guinness on my face.  That was when I decided I liked you.

>burn origami
That’s a lot of paper.  It goes up in flames nicely, but the smoke drives you out of your office.  Julia grins wickedly at you as she pulls the fire alarm.



    *** Our relationship is over ***



We don’t have to end this way.  You can UNDO the last turn.  You can also RESTART or RESTORE a saved game.  If you’d rather finish breaking my heart, then by all means, QUIT.

> undo
Careful!  You know how you get nosebleeds.

[Previous turn undone.]

>l
Many graduate students would be jealous of your having a door that you can close, high ceilings, and, most glamorous of all, a window.  You also have a huge desk, a resplendent yellow chair, a cabinet, an admittedly incongruous cactus, a tall bookcase, and an incredibly cute stool.

On the desk are your computer, my itinerary, a framed knockout and a pile you cannot even contemplate.  The bookcase contains a book.  A wastebasket is on the floor. 

You’re looking out the window again.  The zombie march has attracted counter-protesters.  One of them is an older man in overalls who is holding an American flag in one hand and a sign saying “These colors don’t lurch” in the other.

>i
You’re carrying a shiny little key, a lighter, an empty plastic bottle, a very odd balloon, a piece of Two Bob Slobber bubble gum, a notebook, a stupendously intricate origami trophy and a smartly-done snowglobe.

>

Good heavens, Violet has left her artsy-fartsy mark on literally everything in this airless, stuffy studio. If this game ends with our protagonist finishing his dissertation and living happily ever after with this smothering bitch, I’ll be devastated.

I haven’t been playing ahead, I’m just following orders, so this is not a hint how to solve the distraction puzzle: We still haven’t looked at everything.

>x balloon
It’s about 25 centimetres across, milky white rubber decorated with purple ink swirls.  A strange furry thing is inside, its three long legs pressing against the sides.  At the bottom of the balloon is a bright yellow tab on which I’ve written “Pull me!”

>put key in bottle
I’m not sure what that would accomplish.  If you put the key in the bottle, you’ll just be able to get it back out again.

You are distracted by Julia saying “She makes things that look like summer camp crafts and tries to convince people they’re art.”

I wonder if I’d get away with it if I killed her right before my flight leaves tomorrow morning.

>put bubble gum on cable
I don’t see what you are talking about.

>put bubble gum on key
Clever, pollywaffle.  Unfortunately, the gum’s not that sticky.  You’d just peel it off again.

>

Go for it, Julia! 

>pull tab
You pull the tab and the balloon deflates with a pop and whoosh.  You hear me shout “Happy birthday!” and zestily toot a kazoo.

What’s left is a white rubber square with a message written on it.  You are also holding the three-legged furry thing, which you now realise is an electronic device.

> read message
> x device

And I think there was some merit to the key-in-vent idea. The “tall” description for the bookcase might be an alternative:

> push stool to bookcase
> stand on stool
> put key on bookcase

And to make sure we can’t reach it again:

> smash stool ?

(obviously don’t do this if the key-on-bookcase idea is a dead-end)



Edit:

What does the “last try” say?

The last-try line hasn’t changed in ages: computer distractions

>read message
You stretch the rubber square so that you can read what I’ve written:

Happy birthday!  I know you wanted a boring ordinary music player, but I got my brother to send the latest piece of consumer electronics GENIUS from the kangaroo corridor.

Behold: the platyPod!  Why three headphones?  The middle one attaches by suction to your forehead for complete hands-free and display-free control.  Not to mention kick-[bother] extra bass.  Why is it furry?  Don’t ask me: Melbourne is in the throes of an epic fake-fur fad I don’t understand.  But this is going to be a HUGE hit, and not just among the armless blind.

Charge it with your computer.  Then SCRUNCH YOUR BROW to turn it on.  I’ve already put some bonus presents on it.

You are my FAVOURITE!
Violet

>x device
It looks like a set of over-the-head headphones, except there is a third one and it’s covered with short, brown fur.  There’s a little plug that allows it to connect to the USB port of a computer.  Tiny letters on the plug say “platyPod.”

You are thinking about your bag again.  Honestly, you probably don’t even really need a pen, except now you’re obsessing about how you’d have a pen if only you hadn’t forgotten your bag.

>push stool to bookcase
(getting off stool first)
The stool is now back in its intended location by the bookcase.

>stand on stool
The stool creaks again as you climb onto it.

>put key on bookcase
Curious, cuttlefish.  Done.

You are distracted by Julia loudly saying “I bet when they first hooked up, she was like, ‘Would you like to see my didgeridoo?’”  (That has to be the most gallingly inept fake Australian accent I have ever heard.  She sounds like a Norwegian parakeet.)

>smash stool
(first getting off the stool)
Gently, but irreparably, you break the stool.

Ugh.  I know it was practically broken already, but I loved that stool.  I realise you are desperate because you don’t want me to leave.  You can do this.  I am cheering for you.

>save
Ok.

Success!! I know what the next command will be, so here it is:

>write
(first sitting on chair)
You try again.  Within a few seconds you start wondering what the fear of writing is called.  Scribophobia?  Graphophobia?  You go to look it up online.  You can’t.  You itch to check your e-mail.  You can’t.

So you start thinking about Chapter 3 again.  Woo-woo!  The train of ideas is finally pulling into keyboard station.  I can see the first sentence now.

But then you hear another loud fake laugh from Julia and everything derails.  Ugh.  I didn’t think I could possibly hate Julia any worse than after she posted my cell phone # on those marsupial fetish listservs.  You cannot let her win.


(last try: distracted by Julia)

I’m very much looking forward to meeting Julia. Unless we don’t meet her at all.

Karlok - 18 September 2016 07:39 AM

I’m very much looking forward to meeting Julia. Unless we don’t meet her at all.

She sounds like an utter bitch. I’d rather not meet her.
At least our smothering Violet still has the benefit of the doubt because she’s just a projection by an obvious basket case.

Did we break the blinds or did we fix them? I forget.

> x blinds
> pull cord

> put platyPod in computer
> wear headphones
> scrunch brow

TimovieMan - 18 September 2016 07:57 AM

Karlok - 18 September 2016 07:39 AM

I’m very much looking forward to meeting Julia. Unless we don’t meet her at all.

She sounds like an utter bitch. I’d rather not meet her.
At least our smothering Violet still has the benefit of the doubt because she’s just a projection by an obvious basket case.

Yes, the wishy-washy procrastinating protagonist has an extremely bad taste in women. But me being me, I prefer Julia with her remarks about “getting past Violet’s mole” and “showing her didgeridoo”.

>x blinds
(standing up first)
As I’ve already said, I wish the blind was more colourful.  It’s raised.  There’s a cord.

You’re looking out the window again.  A wood-panelled van pulls up on the street in front of the park.  “Wood-panelled” doesn’t perhaps describe it right, as it’s more like someone put wood veneer around the entire frame of the van, to make it look like a ship or something.

>pull cord
You pull the cord and the blind lowers halfway, then stops.

>put platyPod in computer
You plug in the platyPod.  It will beep when it is fully charged.

You glance over to the book.  You’re fidgeting.  You know you’ve already more than enough ideas for a first draft.  Just put the book out of your mind today.

>wear headphones
(first taking the platyPod)
The platyPod fits nicely in your ears and against your forehead.  It is switched off.

>scrunch brow
You will need to charge the platyPod before you can turn it on.

You are distracted by Julia laughing and mock-shrieking “Or maybe, ‘Touch my kiwi!  Touch my kiwi!’”  Ugh.  How can someone almost have her Ph.D. and not know that kiwis are New Zealand, not Australia?

>put platypod in computer
(first taking it off)
You take off the platyPod.

You plug in the platyPod.  It will beep when it is fully charged.

>x van
The van has a bumper sticker that says “God Is My Co-Pirate.”

You have another incredibly annoying swoony moment because of Julia’s perfume.

>z
I have goals of my own, you know.  I don’t want to waste any more time.

>z
Sometimes I feel like you are not even trying.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!  The platyPod is fully charged.  You retrieve it and return to what you were doing.

You’re looking out the window again.  The back door of the van opens and ten pirates storm out of the back, swords raised.

> pull cord again

(although the spectacle outside is amusing )

> wear headphones
> scrunch brow

Should we have put the book in the cabinet with the internet cable???