Found this on Kongregate (all praise the mighty K)
LOVED
Pretty straightforward art piece game, don't really want to say too much about it, very simple platforming (ala. robot wants kitty) and an interesting decision making mechanic.
Quote from the Author:
"I wanted to build something confrontational, that would engage players to give thought to what they are doing both in and out of game.
The result is Loved – a short story in the form of a flash platformer."
maybe playing the little flash game I linked up top would be a good start?
It certainly doesn't punish conformity.
Gameplay Spoiler:
Doing everything the game tells (suggests) you to makes the gameworld more defined and complete, and thus easier to see and navigate... Fighting the conformity makes it harder for you... but...
Take it for what you will, I think that's kind of the point.
Got bored, played through it. The word selection reads like something out of a bad french movie made by emo kids.
Conform to instructions and the game is easy, disobey and it becomes all psychedelic, hard to navigate, difficulty seeing spikes, and eventually you just wander down a hallway to the end.
The moral of the story here is that if creepy people want to think you are a girl you can either go with it, or get injected with a bunch of drugs until you lose your grip on reality.Either way you will be wandering down some random hallway and BAM fade to black.
<pretentious hat on>
I am guessing the game is some kinda weird rape metaphor, wherein your true sex does not matter because horrible things are going to happen no matter what and by calling you girl the violator is merely repressing his own homosexual desires by making it OK since you are a "girl". At least with disobedience you are to drugged to know whats going on. Jump on the spikes, or Go down being instructions your are given as you stumble blindly to the end. All the while responding to barely coherent sentences amidst proclamations of love, seeking validation from you, the victim. At one point it asks you if he has you physically or mentally. Physically being a euphemism for resisting but unable to break free, and mentally for when you have been broken and obey its commands out of fear of displeasing the voice. In the end neither matters as it all fades to black, an obvious reference to the fact you have outlived your usefulness, coming right after you are ordered to go down, and are murdered, hacked to pieces and fed to starving dogs to live on only as a metaphorical photo in a shoebox somewhere or in this case a hit counter*.
</pretentious hat off>
*The proceeding is a complete load of bullshit and should not be taken seriously by anyone. Take off the beret, stop drinking so much coffee, and dear god no one wants to hear your love ballad to 7 of 9.
Got bored, played through it. The word selection reads like something out of a bad french movie made by emo kids.
Conform to instructions and the game is easy, disobey and it becomes all psychedelic, hard to navigate, difficulty seeing spikes, and eventually you just wander down a hallway to the end.
The moral of the story here is that if creepy people want to think you are a girl you can either go with it, or get injected with a bunch of drugs until you lose your grip on reality.Either way you will be wandering down some random hallway and BAM fade to black.
<pretentious hat on>
I am guessing the game is some kinda weird rape metaphor, wherein your true sex does not matter because horrible things are going to happen no matter what and by calling you girl the violator is merely repressing his own homosexual desires by making it OK since you are a "girl". At least with disobedience you are to drugged to know whats going on. Jump on the spikes, or Go down being instructions your are given as you stumble blindly to the end. All the while responding to barely coherent sentences amidst proclamations of love, seeking validation from you, the victim. At one point it asks you if he has you physically or mentally. Physically being a euphemism for resisting but unable to break free, and mentally for when you have been broken and obey its commands out of fear of displeasing the voice. In the end neither matters as it all fades to black, an obvious reference to the fact you have outlived your usefulness, coming right after you are ordered to go down, and are murdered, hacked to pieces and fed to starving dogs to live on only as a metaphorical photo in a shoebox somewhere or in this case a hit counter*.
</pretentious hat off>
*The proceeding is a complete load of bullshit and should not be taken seriously by anyone. Take off the beret, stop drinking so much coffee, and dear god no one wants to hear your love ballad to 7 of 9.
It's just about a lack of control; you have to do things you normally wouldn't in order to make completing the game easier, while forging your own path makes things more difficult.
And man, I wish somebody could view an art game that plays with the player's sense of control and not have it compared to rape. Rape is the most extreme way of having control taken from you. This is just a video game that's kind of a dick. Big difference. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play The Path.
by which I mean put shards of bamboo under my fingernails
I would love to see one artsy "it's not a game, it's a life lesson" thing that praises conformity and compromise.
Just for the novelty of it all.
Lemmings was pro-Communist propeganda. All are created equal, sorted into specific jobs and roles that they will hold for the rest of their lives by a higher authority, and must sacrifice continuously for the good of the group. Success is measured by meeting quotas and nothing else. Also, nuclear holocaust.
... I wonder if how many PC games from the early 90s actually meet the current definition of 'indie'. A lot of games with fairly trippy ideas, coded by 1-4 people working out of a bedroom, with some pretty experimental gameplay and whacked out ideas.
The multiple-ending aspect of the game looks interesting if nothing else, and will have to give it a try.
Lemmings was pro-Communist propeganda. All are created equal, sorted into specific jobs and roles that they will hold for the rest of their lives by a higher authority, and must sacrifice continuously for the good of the group. Success is measured by meeting quotas and nothing else. Also, nuclear holocaust.
A++ will rofl again
ronya on
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Raneadospolice apologistyou shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
i completely disobeyed the game and it was still pretty effing easy
I got practice with the tf2 announcer lady so I just did the opposite of whatever I was thinking
got bored when the game stopped being contrary
Paladin on
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Went through completely obeying, and then went through again, started disobeying.
The first disobey sends you back to the beginning, and just as I was approaching the spikes again, and a couple colored blocks showed up, that was pretty sweet. The effect lost its impression on me as I went further in, though.
Also is it possible to
disobey the "DO NOT FAIL" at the end, and still actually get to the ending? Every time I disobeyed it, it came back up when I got back to that area.. So I'd disobey again, and same thing. Or is that part of the commentary?
Every single last pretentious indie game is about rape, i really hope they catch the sick bastard raping all these game designers and leaving them to express their pain through their work.
psycojester on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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BethrynUnhappiness is MandatoryRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Disobeying didn't make the game harder. The only thing that ever makes these games hard is their terrible control sensitivity.
Bethryn on
...and of course, as always, Kill Hitler.
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TrippyJingMoses supposes his toeses are roses.But Moses supposes erroneously.Registered Userregular
edited June 2010
Oh, look, now I just have to avoid the red blocks now. How ingenious.
I, for one really enjoyed the game. I thought it was quite nice and just an easy play through, you're supposed to make of it what you will, there's no clearly defined message. No reason for people to be dicks about it.
NegativeSkill on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Silly. Crap floaty controls. Dashed to bits on the spikes a lot.
Lemmings was pro-Communist propeganda. All are created equal, sorted into specific jobs and roles that they will hold for the rest of their lives by a higher authority, and must sacrifice continuously for the good of the group. Success is measured by meeting quotas and nothing else. Also, nuclear holocaust.
A++ will rofl again
This is going into my sig. One of the best comments I've ever read here.
It didn't help that the platforming was sub-par, and the whole message of the game just seemed off.
Disobeying doesn't really make the game any harder, which I think was the designers point, and another flaw is that you have no reason to disobey the commands either. The majority of them are just helping you, and if someone's going to offer me good advice, I'll take it.
The dickish opening to the game didn't help either, no idea what that was supposed to prove.
Played through both ways, not that impressed. The 'color' thing that started happening made me think the game was glitching out, as opposed to punishing me or whatever. Mainly because the opening 'tutorial' made me want to disobey that asshole out of spite, so it didn't occur to me at first that the game would change based on obeying or disobeying. The color blocks probably could have been handled better.
I would love to see one artsy "it's not a game, it's a life lesson" thing that praises conformity and compromise.
Just for the novelty of it all.
I read an excellent article on the Matrix movies that pointed this out. Everybody with an internet connection, blog, or point of view (i.e. 99% of westerners) likes to believe they are the ONLY ones who see through the web of lies that the EVIL (unquestionably and without exception) government, corporations, religious bodies of the world imposes on their free, uncontrollable spirit. But ask yourself, what kinds of messages are being sent out by those bodies? Probably something to the effect of, "YOU are an individual, YOU go out and change the world. See our movie which supports this idea, follow our religion to help you achieve it, buy our products to make it possible."
Played through it, and yeah the controls are clunky. Ideally they would be better, so that relatively simple platforming would not be made frustratingly difficult, but alas.
I'm gonna be a bit a crazy here and suggest that this is sort of a perfect example of videogames as art, in so many ways.
Could the dynamic between obedience and defiance and the statement the artist makes about the consequences of each be demonstrated so clearly in any other medium? Would it be as "powerful"? Imagine someone trying to convey this message in a poem, book, song, movie, whatever. You are given a choice to either obey the floating words that tell you to do weird things, or to ignore them. You are given this choice several times.
You can either choose to defy all the little things, or none of them, or you can do some of each. Defying all the commands makes the game super colorful to the point where you can barely tell what is going on at times, but hey color so cool I guess. Obeying everything brings more definition to the black and white world and makes it slightly easier with the slopeyness I guess. Of course, the things you do to make the game "easier" are actually making it harder, things like going through a platforming thing instead of just walking over it, or saving your progress instead of waiting for the next checkpoint. It's like getting achievements to unlock easy mode. Meanwhile, there's the seldom-performed third option, which is a mix of both. You get some color and some definition, and neither are overpowering. So hey maybe it's trying to say that going totally balls out one way or the other makes things dumb? I don't know, but I've heard once or twice that art is meant to inspire discussion/interpretation, and here this paragraph is.
The beginning gender thing is a little silly, yes. I see it less as "oh I'm changin your expectations up oh man so artistic" and more the floatywords' attempt to assert control. Like the whole four/five lights thing, but it's a flash game and not a cardassian so who cares. Also the whole love angle is like what. It seemed sort of tacked on, but yeah. I'm definitely not saying this was perfectly crafted, just that it's a pretty good example of videogames as art, they are two wildly different things.
Going off of that is its format and presentation. It is a free flash game on the internet. What else would something like this be? It's not like an artist is going to hire a game company to produce his little thing and sell it. If it's just one dude who wants to make a game where the game aspect is a vessel for a message and not the other way around, he or she will learn enough flash to make it work and be done with it. This is also a pretty good reason for why the controls are somewhat sloppy. Is it an excuse? No, I'm not saying it's fine the way it is, especially if so many people focused on the bad controls instead of the whole message thing.
Of course, with Flash as a medium comes assumptions. The typical Kongregate member is not necessarily there because they want to experience some artistic thing. They want a relatively quick, relatively simple game they can play for a while to kill time. So while some will be like "oh cool a thing", others will be like "ok but this isn't a TD or shooter so what the heck".
Anyways, that's just what I thought about this whole dealie. I'm not saying that it has no flaws or that its flaws should be ignored, just that its cool parts should not be overlooked either due to those flaws, you know?
Posts
Infinity Mog 21 and over Free Company Sargatanas Server. Recruitment currently closed.
OK?
I'm sorry is this not the forum to post random online games that you find interesting so that others may find them interesting as well?
if not I'll go away.
uh.. man.
"No, you are a girl."
"Will I teach you how to play? Or not?"
play
"You do not deserve it."
ok, pretentious game, then fuck off
....
.... nevermind
Just for the novelty of it all.
It certainly doesn't punish conformity.
Gameplay Spoiler:
Take it for what you will, I think that's kind of the point.
Conform to instructions and the game is easy, disobey and it becomes all psychedelic, hard to navigate, difficulty seeing spikes, and eventually you just wander down a hallway to the end.
The moral of the story here is that if creepy people want to think you are a girl you can either go with it, or get injected with a bunch of drugs until you lose your grip on reality.Either way you will be wandering down some random hallway and BAM fade to black.
<pretentious hat on>
I am guessing the game is some kinda weird rape metaphor, wherein your true sex does not matter because horrible things are going to happen no matter what and by calling you girl the violator is merely repressing his own homosexual desires by making it OK since you are a "girl". At least with disobedience you are to drugged to know whats going on. Jump on the spikes, or Go down being instructions your are given as you stumble blindly to the end. All the while responding to barely coherent sentences amidst proclamations of love, seeking validation from you, the victim. At one point it asks you if he has you physically or mentally. Physically being a euphemism for resisting but unable to break free, and mentally for when you have been broken and obey its commands out of fear of displeasing the voice. In the end neither matters as it all fades to black, an obvious reference to the fact you have outlived your usefulness, coming right after you are ordered to go down, and are murdered, hacked to pieces and fed to starving dogs to live on only as a metaphorical photo in a shoebox somewhere or in this case a hit counter*.
</pretentious hat off>
*The proceeding is a complete load of bullshit and should not be taken seriously by anyone. Take off the beret, stop drinking so much coffee, and dear god no one wants to hear your love ballad to 7 of 9.
It's just about a lack of control; you have to do things you normally wouldn't in order to make completing the game easier, while forging your own path makes things more difficult.
And man, I wish somebody could view an art game that plays with the player's sense of control and not have it compared to rape. Rape is the most extreme way of having control taken from you. This is just a video game that's kind of a dick. Big difference. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play The Path.
Lemmings was pro-Communist propeganda. All are created equal, sorted into specific jobs and roles that they will hold for the rest of their lives by a higher authority, and must sacrifice continuously for the good of the group. Success is measured by meeting quotas and nothing else. Also, nuclear holocaust.
... I wonder if how many PC games from the early 90s actually meet the current definition of 'indie'. A lot of games with fairly trippy ideas, coded by 1-4 people working out of a bedroom, with some pretty experimental gameplay and whacked out ideas.
The multiple-ending aspect of the game looks interesting if nothing else, and will have to give it a try.
A++ will rofl again
got bored when the game stopped being contrary
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Also is it possible to
This is going into my sig. One of the best comments I've ever read here.
It didn't help that the platforming was sub-par, and the whole message of the game just seemed off.
Disobeying doesn't really make the game any harder, which I think was the designers point, and another flaw is that you have no reason to disobey the commands either. The majority of them are just helping you, and if someone's going to offer me good advice, I'll take it.
The dickish opening to the game didn't help either, no idea what that was supposed to prove.
How Disappointing.
And yeah, the controls suck.
I read an excellent article on the Matrix movies that pointed this out. Everybody with an internet connection, blog, or point of view (i.e. 99% of westerners) likes to believe they are the ONLY ones who see through the web of lies that the EVIL (unquestionably and without exception) government, corporations, religious bodies of the world imposes on their free, uncontrollable spirit. But ask yourself, what kinds of messages are being sent out by those bodies? Probably something to the effect of, "YOU are an individual, YOU go out and change the world. See our movie which supports this idea, follow our religion to help you achieve it, buy our products to make it possible."
So really, who's fooling who?
No checkpoints? Or did I jump over all of them? Didn't have the patience to go back and do it all again. Someone post some spoilers?
I KISS YOU!
You can touch the rest.
Anyone wants to make an "artsy" game should first be made to make an actual game that plays well
I'm gonna be a bit a crazy here and suggest that this is sort of a perfect example of videogames as art, in so many ways.
Could the dynamic between obedience and defiance and the statement the artist makes about the consequences of each be demonstrated so clearly in any other medium? Would it be as "powerful"? Imagine someone trying to convey this message in a poem, book, song, movie, whatever. You are given a choice to either obey the floating words that tell you to do weird things, or to ignore them. You are given this choice several times.
You can either choose to defy all the little things, or none of them, or you can do some of each. Defying all the commands makes the game super colorful to the point where you can barely tell what is going on at times, but hey color so cool I guess. Obeying everything brings more definition to the black and white world and makes it slightly easier with the slopeyness I guess. Of course, the things you do to make the game "easier" are actually making it harder, things like going through a platforming thing instead of just walking over it, or saving your progress instead of waiting for the next checkpoint. It's like getting achievements to unlock easy mode. Meanwhile, there's the seldom-performed third option, which is a mix of both. You get some color and some definition, and neither are overpowering. So hey maybe it's trying to say that going totally balls out one way or the other makes things dumb? I don't know, but I've heard once or twice that art is meant to inspire discussion/interpretation, and here this paragraph is.
The beginning gender thing is a little silly, yes. I see it less as "oh I'm changin your expectations up oh man so artistic" and more the floatywords' attempt to assert control. Like the whole four/five lights thing, but it's a flash game and not a cardassian so who cares. Also the whole love angle is like what. It seemed sort of tacked on, but yeah. I'm definitely not saying this was perfectly crafted, just that it's a pretty good example of videogames as art, they are two wildly different things.
Going off of that is its format and presentation. It is a free flash game on the internet. What else would something like this be? It's not like an artist is going to hire a game company to produce his little thing and sell it. If it's just one dude who wants to make a game where the game aspect is a vessel for a message and not the other way around, he or she will learn enough flash to make it work and be done with it. This is also a pretty good reason for why the controls are somewhat sloppy. Is it an excuse? No, I'm not saying it's fine the way it is, especially if so many people focused on the bad controls instead of the whole message thing.
Of course, with Flash as a medium comes assumptions. The typical Kongregate member is not necessarily there because they want to experience some artistic thing. They want a relatively quick, relatively simple game they can play for a while to kill time. So while some will be like "oh cool a thing", others will be like "ok but this isn't a TD or shooter so what the heck".
Anyways, that's just what I thought about this whole dealie. I'm not saying that it has no flaws or that its flaws should be ignored, just that its cool parts should not be overlooked either due to those flaws, you know?