Ah! Huh... puh-huh... ahn? Huhg...
Huhwuh!?
Play visual novel
Epimetheus: The Show Must Go On's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Originality | #790 | 3.657 | 3.657 |
| Overall | #1801 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Presentation | #2025 | 3.029 | 3.029 |
| Fun | #2234 | 2.714 | 2.714 |
Ranked from 35 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
A stage play, but you don't know the lines. Other actors will interrupt you if you hesitate. You may not be who you think you are. But no matter what the mistakes, the show must go on!
Did your team create the art for this game during the 48 hour time slot?
Yes
We created all art during the game jam
Did your team create the audio for this game during the 48 hour time slot?
Yes
We created all audio during the game jam
Comments
this is a nifty visual novel! the idea of a play going out of control and stage hands and actors trying to get things running smoothly is really funny and a really clever and fun interpretation of the theme. the art is nice, and the voice acting / sfx (especially the eagle screech) are great too. this could definitely be expanded into a really fun visual novel. normal that's not a genre i really like all that much but i had a good time with this one!
Submitted
SUPER SIM FIREFIGHTIt's awesome seeing more visual novels in the jam! I like the fact that no matter what you do, there's no control over how the play ends, despite the choices you make. The fact that characters move forward through the play regardless of your actions is great too! It really sells the theme. Good job!
Submitted
Limo LimboA visual novel! Let's go! Love the art! Can't believe it was made in 48 hours! Great job! This game makes me go YES!
Submitted
Teacher SimulatorHow fitting, that you cannot change the ending no matter what, and it's a Greek tragedy. And yet, you're still playing around with the conventions of both stage and VN! (I especially liked the stage manager cutting you off.)
Side thought: Why where people ever supposed to root for Zeus anyway?
Submitted
Race a la ModeI think I ran into the other thing as well, but I was playing on a laptop mouse-pad instead of with a proper mouse I just thought I had clicked by accident. In any case, it felt a bit less deliberate than the clearly ‘way too long’ answers that where on screen for clearly ‘far too short’.
Good point about Zeus.
Yeah I definitely spend too much time bouncing around how I would add the "you fail to respond" option. I wanted it to capture the feeling of improv that isn't going well, where other actors you're not vibing with might cut you off, but I also wanted it not to feel like a bug (like you accidentally clicked or that it went on accidentally without meaning to). The stage manager cutting you off after 0.3s with two huge paragraph choices was supposed to be essentially a tutorial for that mechanism [and a joke], but going forward I'm going to need to add a visual indication that this is intended design without giving an explicit timer.
I also was considering randomizing the turn timer within bounds, like 2-5s, but I ended up ditching that and going with an overly forgiving timer (like 6s) for most of the replies because I hadn't yet come up with a proper solution to it seeming accidental. Thanks for the extra feedback!
Interesting approach on the theme and very good execution. Game is short, but it made me laugh few times and i really enjoyed playing it. Great Work!
Submitted
Budget CutGreat way on using that medium to fit the theme! If only i knew more about greek mythology... Really fun playthrough though!
Submitted
Scrap Den 40.000A lot of fun! Loved the acting and gameplay:) Impressive work!
Submitted
Launch Day (GMTK 2020)I like how the play begins to fall apart due to certain decisions you make in helping the show go on. It's an interesting take on the theme!
Submitted
Regular HandCool theme and it has some nice educational things in it too. I don't really understand how it fits with the theme though.
Submitted
Cosmic PilotThanks! I tried to make the NPCs stick to the original myth as much as possible so it would have some semblance of accuracy. That's actually one of the three "themed" features -- that you can't change the plot like in most visual novels. The other two are spoilers: there's a hidden turn timer so that NPCs can interrupt you if you don't respond quickly enough, and the protagonist is not actually controlled by the player; you are merely a voice in their head. If you have a better way to get those across, I'm all ears!
My favorite part was the sound effects. I'm not much of a visual novel person, but this was fun and the dialog was witty. Good job!
Submitted
Super Daycare NightmareI hope you mean the awful eagle screeches! The neighbors probably think I'm slaughtering pterodactyls. I'm glad you sat through the game despite not being a visual novel person -- I'm generally not either, but I felt it would be a unique take on the prompt, and Ren'Py is not a very programming-intensive environment.
Thanks! I frantically self-recorded about 40 random grunts and 2 eagle screeches at the last minute just to have some semblance of sound. It was a blast. Unfortunately I don't think a play that goes horribly wrong is the best setting for telling a story correctly -- but I do see how this medium could be used for that kind of thing. Really interesting concept.
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