Nobody Cares

Started by xBRANEx, Mon 01/08/2016 22:59:27

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xBRANEx

Nobody Cares

An adventure that takes you in the shoes of a writer who is about to finish his masterpiece but, somehow, nobody else shares his enthusiasm.

How to play

Left Click to Interact
Right Click to Look
To access the inventory, save or load your game, move the mouse to top of the screen.

Credits

Testing: Cassiebsg
         My friends
The Rain animation: I took and adopted the rain you see in Eternally Us.
Everything else: xBRANEx

Screenshots








DOWNLOAD

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2080/











Mandle

I've been following the WiP thread avidly. Congratulations on getting finished and getting the game released!

Can't wait to try what looks like a pretty unusually themed AGS game! We need more of those so cheers!

Shadow1000

I just played the game. The difficulty of the puzzles should be easy enough for most players. But the point of the game is to evoke the writer's feelings of despair and I have to say that it really does so.

Really well done.

SHADOW

CaptainD

Grats on the release, will definitely try to give this one a go.
 

Danvzare

Congratulations on the release.
This looks like a fun game, downloading now. :-D

Mandle

#5
I just got finished playing and I totally LOVED this game! Right from the opening title screen I knew I was in for a special experience made by someone who had worked very hard on every small detail (The red glow from the digital clock flashing on and off is subtle and awesome!)

The depressing mood of Francis really shows through in the graphics, music, and dialogs. And the...

MASSIVE SPOILERS...DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE GAME:
Spoiler
...unexpected ending was a jaw-dropper...
The ending should have been obvious to me from the book writing scene at the beginning, but somehow it wasn't...Well done there! Also, I loved the Kafka book thing...it freaked me out as I assumed it was a bug the first time, but then Francis says "I have done this before" and it was just so creepy every time after that. And then when it tied into the ending I actually got a shiver up my spine. And I laughed out loud when he told the Jehovah's Witness "I finished my book" straight up out of the blue and then slammed the door on him. I wouldn't have laughed if I had known what was coming next though, and I'm thinking you planned it that way, tragedy following on the heels of comedy: Very well done again! I'm going to remember this game for a long time. Thanks for the great time!
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A few slight nags:
Spoiler
Were the spelling mistakes and wrong words done on purpose to show that Francis is not really a very good writer? E.g: "Make diner" on the to-do list...If so, then maybe you should somehow draw attention to that fact so the player doesn't just think the game dev made them by mistake...If not, then maybe you should fix them as it is a bit weird to have so many typos, spelling, and word mistakes in a game about a writer.

I found only one bug. After dinner and after Zoey leaves I went back and looked at the paper in the typewriter again and the Zoey sprite was superimposed over the paper in the close-up shot. When I looked at it again she was gone.

Minor points though in a great game!
[close]

By the way:
Spoiler
What does "Traitor" mean in the end credits if it's not too personal...
[close]

EDIT:

I had an idea for an extra scene after the end credits:

MASSIVE SPOILERS...DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE GAME:
Spoiler
I don't know if you feel this is too heavy-handed, and it's just my idea anyways so please disregard if so, but I thought that after the end credits it might be deliciously ironic, darkly funny, and tragic if we cut to

SIX MONTHS LATER

and we see masses of people lined up outside a bookstore to buy the book. And there is a banner saying:

Quote
BEST-SELLING MASTERPIECE BY SUICIDE-AUTHOR FRANCIS XXXXXXXXXXX:
                  A vast talent taken from us too soon by an uncaring world.

(I don't know his last name, hence the XXXXXXX's). The vegetable guy, the plant lady, and Zoey, the bum, and maybe even a guy with a Jesus T-shirt and bible, could be in the line...And maybe even his editor is there making a speech and sobbing openly (all that might be going a bit too far though)...

Like I said: just an idea of mine. Feel free to use it if you like it, or not if you don't. Either way: cheers again for the amazing game!
[close]

xBRANEx

Thanks guys, you are awesome!

Mandle,

Spoiler
No, the mistakes are not on purpose and I just can't believe that one slipped through. English is not my native language and I tried to avoid mistakes as much as possible. That one is even a little bit embarrassing!

Will look at the typewriter bug for sure, it is interesting as I probably sent Zoey to exactly that room when she leaves.
[close]

Spoiler
The traitor in the credits is an inside joke because my close friend, for some reason, couldn't start the game on his computer and test it out for me. I didn't told him I put him in and I am hoping he will play it one day and find out. A little leap of faith right there!
[close]

Spoiler

The extra scene is awesome. Will definitely try to make that one! The reason is I named Francis WEIGNER because the famous philosophy writer Weininger killed himself and the theory is he did it because nobody cared about his phenomenal book. After his suicide (in the same house where Beethoven died) his book suddenly got really popular! Thank you for that, that is simply great idea.
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Mandle

Thanks for liking the ending scene.

I thought of a way also that...

SPOILER ALERT:
Spoiler
...Nat could be in the line to buy the book even though we don't know what she looks like: Maybe have a woman in the line wearing a "The Scream" T-Shirt, and maybe crying into a tissue...She gave "The Scream" painting to Francis so it makes sense...
[close]

:)

Also, I forgot to mention before but:

Spoiler
I liked the Easter Egg where you can try to call 911 on the phone and Francis gives a unique response...But one thing I noticed was that if you try the glass on the faucet he just says "Bad idea"...As this is something that almost every player is going to try maybe a custom reply here also like: "Naw, I'm not thirsty right now." would work well?
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luisdementia

Congragulations on the release! I've been following this game since it was in the WIP section. I'm going to play it now :D

xBRANEx

Hello!

Thanks everyone for playing! (and caring)

71 download is not bad at all, I thought it will be a lot worse.


Joe

Congrats on your release!
It might sound stupid but I got stuck :S
Spoiler

I tried to use the glass to pick the weedkillers so i can get rid of mrs farmer but i have to pay for them so i try to give ahmed the coins but it's not enough so i try to get more coins from the piggy bank but he says 'I think i don't need more coins'. Zoey came and got angry so the note on the table is gone and I don't remember the editors number... I need some hint.
[close]
Copinstar © Oficial Site

xBRANEx

Thank you very much!

Spoiler
You probably didn't see what Francis says when he feeds the dog. I'll bet it has something to do with that.
[close]


Joe

Ahhh! It was that.

Spoiler
The hidden wallet. It was tricky to pick it up. As I had to skip the text so that I had time enough before the dog moved down his head again.
[close]

As you said, it was more an interactive movie than an adventure game. But I liked it very much, as it was very poetic. I felt identified in some situations, well I guess we all would feel identified since we live in a world where normally nobody cares...

Spoiler
I didn't expect the end, it was pretty shocking and made me quite sad cause I wanted more... But, after all "more" would have been too much suffering :p
[close]

Congrats again on your release! And keep the good work!

Cheers!
Copinstar © Oficial Site

nihilyst

I very much enjoyed Nobody Cares, and I think you nailed the mood. I think everyone who does some kind of art can relate to the feeling that you want to tell the world about it, and nobody cares, because why should they. It also managed to make me uncomfortable, especially in the dinner scene, where I didn't like to choose one of the dialog options because they all seemed so mean to me. Usually in video games, there is at least one option which the player can relate to, but it's refreshing to see a character for which I want to care and whose life I want to get better, but I can't. Congrats on that.

In a way, I like Mandles idea of an epilogue, because
Spoiler
not only does it mirror Weiniger's live and death, but in a way, also Kafka's, whose works also have been published posthumously. But in a way, I also don't like it, because I feel it should be left open if his last work really was a masterpiece or if it was just another piece of trash by a delusional writer.
[close]

It is sad to hear that all the typos weren't made on purpose, because I think that would add another fine layer to it. There is an expected connection between the quality of writing and the quality of orthography, when many good novels are surely riddled with grammatical mistakes and typos before the editor got hands on it. I also
Spoiler
tried to tie Francis' mistakes to Natalie's notes, implying that Natalie (or at least the notes) was just a figment of his imagination and the notes were made up by himself.
[close]

xBRANEx

Thank you very much for that beautiful comment.

I shouldn't have said anything about the typos! The Natalie part is something I agree with you perfectly. ( I shouldn't have said anything about that too )

Just yesterday I watched a movie called Still Life (2013) and I was amazed how much we tried to attack a similar topic but from a totally different angle, so if someone is interested in the "caring problem" I suggest that he/she takes a look at the movie.

Thanks everyone for caring and I hope you'll play the next one too, it's gonna come out in the next few days.


Mandle

Quote from: nihilyst on Mon 29/08/2016 15:11:01
In a way, I like Mandles idea of an epilogue, because
Spoiler
not only does it mirror Weiniger's live and death, but in a way, also Kafka's, whose works also have been published posthumously. But in a way, I also don't like it, because I feel it should be left open if his last work really was a masterpiece or if it was just another piece of trash by a delusional writer.
[close]

The other option though is: (**MAJOR SPOILER ALERT**)
Spoiler
That the novel isn't actually very good but the story of the writer's suicide struck a note with the public and caused the popularity of the book. So, in this case, nobody would have cared if the author hadn't killed himself.
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Creamy

You've got a nice little review on Adventure Gamers
 

Mandle

Quote from: Creamy on Thu 29/09/2016 17:53:28
You've got a nice little review on Adventure Gamers

Also "Waiting For The Loop" has a link at the bottom of the review in the "Other New Releases" section! GO AGS GAMES WOOOOHOOOO!!!

sthomannch

Nice game with good graphics and interesting story. I liked especially the atmosphere, well done! Was fun to play through it.

reg42

As other people have said the typos took me out of it a bit. Maybe next time see about getting an English speaker to spell check for you? I wouldn't mind helping out with stuff like that.

Other than that I really enjoyed it. It had a nice atmosphere and the tone was brooding and moody. I also liked the look of all the art and sprites. Good work overall!

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