The strange case of Walter Donovan
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
"No one is capable of defeating your own demons,
not even you."
Game inspired by Zork. / Gioco ispirato a Zork.
ENG
Written entirely in C, this interactive fiction will take you to discover the mind of the mysterious Walter Donovan.
One day, Alice, your childhood friend who you haven't seen for ages, sends you a letter, a request for help, asking you to help her to find out what happened to her beloved, and your best friend, Walter, extricating yourself from the meanders of his home and his mind.
Will you be able to solve the riddle?
ITA
Versione JAVA ora disponibile.
(Si tratta di una versione ridotta rispetto all'originale, una specie di alpha a cui potrei in futuro aggiungere le immagini e il resto della storia. L'ho sviluppata come progetto di università e non avevo abbastanza tempo, scusate ^^")
Il gioco è adesso completo di un'interfaccia apposita, suoni e piccole animazioni gif :3
Ci sono due opzioni: un file exe solo per Windows e un file jar per tutte le piattaforme fintanto che Java risulti installato.
Raccomando Java 8, la versione con cui ho sviluppato il gioco.
Scritta interamente in C, quest'avventura testuale ti porterà alla scoperta della mente del misterioso Walter Donovan.
Un giorno, Alice, la tua amica d'infanzia che non vedevi da una vita, ti invia una lettera, una richiesta d'aiuto, chiedendoti di aiutarla a scoprire cosa ne sia stato del suo amato, e tuo migliore amico, Walter, districandoti nei meandri della sua casa e della sua mente.
Sarai in grado di risolvere l'enigma?
KNOWN ISSUES:
- in some rare cases the parser can respond "
You see nothing of the kind in this place." even though a recent description explicitly stated that the thing you want to interact with was in that place. If this happens, try re-enter the commands. If the problem persists, please write a comment about the issue.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- [v2.7] NECESSARY update for English version ownersSep 11, 2023
- [v2.6] Update, minor changes and bug fixes.Sep 08, 2023
- Versione JAVA disponibile in italiano ^^Aug 24, 2023
- [v2.5] Bug fixes.Nov 03, 2022
- English version finally realesed!! Along with some minor fixes. [v2.4]Jul 13, 2022
Comments
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Just completed the game - I liked it very much! In case you are interested, I put a review on IFDB:
ifdb.org review
Thank you very much. I really appreciate that :3
And I'm glad you liked my game very much ^^
I also want to thank you for the help you have given me in making me aware of the issues my game had/has. <3
Thank you for all your help. I am now a lot further. However, I wonder if there is a bug here. I have reached the secret room with the sentence "In the center of it there is a thick sheet of paper on which something has been written."
I can't take, look or read this sheet of paper with any command I have tried though it sounded from the previous "cut scene" that it should be important. So am I supposed to read it or take it somehow? Thanks.
Yeah, it is indeed some kind of bug, cause you must take and read it in order to proceed, I'm trying to figure out why it cannot be taken. I'll update you as soon as I find out.
It is strange cause I didn't encounter this bug before in previous versions. I'll find out.
Hello, I managed to fix the bug: now the sheet of paper can be taken. :3
I also fixed a further bug for which it was impossible to turn back to that room after leaving it.
Thanks again for having made me aware of these issues. <3
Thanks again. Here is a little more feedback and a request for a hint (slight spoiler):
FEEDBACK
1. I think it is important to tell the player upfront when the game starts about using capital letters as it both is important to Alice and the names of the paintings. Nowadays, it is my impression that almost everyone only type lower case in parser games because it is faster and works in most modern text adventures.
2. The pendulum clock cannot be referred to when the alarm clock is present so the player has to leave it somewhere before they can look at the pendulum clock.
3. You could consider if you can replace the "hidden" verb with a new or existing verb mentioned when typing "h". The problem is, that if just one verb is unknown it means that whenever the player is stuck they will try all sorts of verbs in a lot of different locations and they are never told if the verb is understood but not applicable in the situation. For instance, since the tray looks like a frisbee, I tried to "throw" the tray in all outdoor locations but my command was apparently not understood anywhere. So the player will use a lot of time trying verbs that don't work multiple times. In comparison, modern parsers will tell the player if a verb is understood, even when it is not applicable. Another popular modern branch is "limited parser" where all verbs are known. But as you allow for exactly one unknown verb, your game does not fall into that category which might make it harder to reach a wider audience. At least, when the parser is not limited, most players would expect smarter responses from the parser when a command is not understood. A solution could be to check if the player typed a verb which is not understood by the game, then you could respond "Sorry, I don't know that verb" or something but if the verb is understood but not applicable you could still say "You feel a bit confused." So if the player actually manage to guess an existing verb, then they can see they are on the right track.
HINT REQUEST (Mild spoiler):
I still haven't figured out what "bespectacled poppy" refers to so I really need a hint for that one.
Ok, so, I will reply in order:
1. It is clearly stated when starting the game and in the help that sometimes the player will be expected to insert exactly the name of the objects, in these cases the name will be explicitly specified.
This statement was written as a specific reference to the paintings and to the books you will find later. It can also be adapted to the name of the female png Alice as well.
2. This is due to the fact the pendulum and the alarm are referenced with the same word, that is "clock", I'm adjusting this with the next update by changing the reference to the alarm clock with the word "alarm".
Thank you for pointing it out to me.
3. My game is really simple in its structure.
The verbs you can interact the environment with are stated in the help.
The "hidden verb" you are saying I think refers to this phrase from the help:
"Furthermore, IN ONE CASE, it will not be possible to use normal interactions, but you will have to think about possible verbs (always the infinitive form) to use in order to proceed."
But read carefully, it says "IN ONE CASE, it will not be possible to use normal interactions", this case will be explicit, you will know when it is time to think, and even then the verbs can be understood from what the game tells you.
But it will happen only once. For the rest of the game the verbs are always those written in the help.
Referring to your trying of throwing the tray, why would you do that? Why would you need to do that?
I understand you were stuck, but remember that the game is more like Zork than Monkey Island, if you catch what I mean.
The only thing you have to know is "read the descriptions carefully and think logically".
For example, you have noticed the space between the pedestal and the chicken statue, good, keep that in mind for later.
SPOILERS:
Also, you have seen the water in the fountain, maybe there is a path in the garden you didn't find, like....over or beyond(?)
Look at the list of verbs you have and read the descriptions ^^
Finally, about the hint, I would say that a bespectacled poppy is literally a poppy with glasses, thick glasses ;)
Does it remind you of something?
I played some more and think you perhaps would like to know some more issues? There is a problem with Alice and also the book when I first enter the living room.
You can decode the following on rot13.com
---
Arne gur svercynpr naq arkg gb gur oebxra craqhyhz pybpx, lbh frr Nyvpr,
fgnaqvat hcevtug naq vagrag va ernqvat n obbx.
.
. [veryinag grkg erzbirq gb znxr guvf genafpevcg fubregre]
.
> s
[Lbh guvax va lbhe zvaq.]
Jung qb V unir gb qb?
> gnyx
Gb jub?
> nyvpr
Lbh frr abguvat bs gur xvaq va guvf cynpr.
> s
[Lbh guvax va lbhe zvaq.]
Jung qb V unir gb qb?
> ybbx gnoyr
N zntavsvprag qvavat gnoyr.
Gur yrtf, svaryl naq fxvyyshyyl pneirq, erzvaq lbh bs gur Neg Abhirnh fglyr.
Lbh pngpu fvtug bs fbzr tbyq vaynlf.
Cynprq va n pbeare gurer vf gur obbx gung Nyvpr jnf ernqvat.
> s
[Lbh guvax va lbhe zvaq.]
Jung qb V unir gb qb?
> gnxr obbx
Lbh gnxr gur obbx sebz Nyvpr'f unaqf.
Fur fgnerf ng lbh, fubpxrq, naq fnlf gb lbh jvgu n shevbhf ibvpr:
"Jung ner lbh qbvat? V jnf ernqvat vg."
Gura, fur natevyl teno gur obbx sebz lbhe unaqf naq, nsgre tynevat ng lbh, fur erfhzr ure ernqvat.
Oh, yeah, this is a bug, I will fix it as soon as possible! Thanks for letting me know!
Pheraps I need some info, this happened the first time you encountered Alice, or after the Studio event?
Ok, so, I checked, the problem here is that the program wants the objects you interact with to be referenced with the exact same name they are saved and referenced in game files, this means that writing alice and Alice is not the same. Although it's not a big deal, this is in fact an issue, I will fix it in order to make the parser case-insensitive.
(during development I thought that the players would write objects' name as they read them, but I didn't think about the fact the 99% of the object are written low-cases, so yeah, I'm not very perceptive ^^" ahahah)
On the other hand, the book being on the table is not correct, and that is an issue cause the descriptions of what you see is a core feature of the game and can soft lock or show things that should be hidden.
Thanks again.
In the end, if you'd like to go further without waiting the upload of the game patched, you can simply put Alice instead of alice, but:
vs lbh jnag gb gnyx gb Nyvpr ntnva abj gung fur vf znq (V'z fbeel, lbh qvqa'g vagraq gb fvapr lbh ernq gur obbx jnf ba gur gnoyr), nyy lbh unir gb qb vf vafregvat gur npgvba "ncbybtvmr" va beqre gb fcrnx gb ure ntnva.
I will upload the patched version as soon as I can ^^
Also, I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, but I had been busy lately @_@ and I also changed my phone and had to pass all accounts and forgot to pass the email account associated with itch, so I only noticed the comment notification today.
I apologize for making you wait.
No problem, I'm sure you have other things to do as well :)
Capital Alice did the trick so I have now talked to Alice. Note that there is an art studio which may confuse a little when told to reach the studio.
Your game has a lot of rough edges but it is still enjoyable. I think asking for testers on intfiction.org could improve the game a lot. If so, it would be very useful if the game would store a transcript in a text file for that purpose.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
I realize that the blocked door is to the "real" studio. I am still wondering how to get it open though Alice gave me a hint. Still, not sure what four-eyed poppy is - perhaps the two fish so I have to open the trapdoor somehow. I also notice the space between the pedestal and statue. I tried to put the stone etc there without luck. And i can't apparently "look under" the statue. Ok, that's all for now...
I'm happy you're enjoying the game anyway.
SPOILERS:
About the hint, after some research on Google I decided to change its words a bit with the next upload.
Since English isn't my first language I didn't know which words would fit better for it, so I think that "bespectacled" instead of "four-eyed" would be a better choice of words for what I had in mind.
(If you know Italian, the original word is "occhialuto")
So the riddle becomes "The key to the studio lies under the bespectacled poppy."
I hope you find out what it means ^^, it can be tricky, but not necessarily.
Oh, and about the stone, I'll tell you this: not every in-game object that can be taken will have to be used somewhere; the fact the player can take nearly every object that appear in the descriptions is for "realism", but some are useful, some not. I'm telling you this cause I don't want you to waste your time, for example, trying to use the stone on every single object ^^.
I hope you won't find any more problems ahahah ^^
But if you do, do not hesitate to comment here as you've done so far :3
I am enjoying this so far. The parser is a bit simplistic so it is great that you tell the main verbs up front. My only "complaint" so far is that when the game begins, some of the commands seem disabled such as L for look. But after reading the letter, L starts working. So perhaps somehow help the player past the start (read and open letter does not work - TAKE is required). The more intelligent the parser, the better is the experience. I hope to play more soon :)
Hi ^^, thanks for the comment and for playing my game, I'm happy you're enjoying it so far :3
Yes, some commands are disabled when the game begins because the letter part is some sort of little tutorial (a practical one after the initial wall of text ahah), in which the player is remembered that 'f' must be inserted before inserting any other action verbs.
In fact, as you noticed, after that the game opens up entirely.
I also wanted the player to think about the commands to insert, I didn't want the game to tell them directly, because other parts of it will require this type of thinking.
This part can be seen as the very first enigma of the game, too.
But maybe I should state that it is the tutorial part, cause actually you're not the first one to get a little stuck there, one friend of mine got stuck there too ahah ^^".
I recognised it would be a bit difficult at first to know how to proceed, so I left a hint, but it seems it is not enough ahah.
However the game is not too long, so wasting more time than needed in this section is not a big deal for the longevity of it >:3 ahahah
Anyway, if you have any other problems or comments about the game, or parts of it, do not hesitate to write :3
I'll be glad to respond and help you as best as I can ^^
Reading you comment better, I understand what you're saying towards the end. I'll eventually improve it as you suggest, thanks ^^