The 10-Second Murder by Rose

[raw]
made by Rose for LD27 (JAM)
In the middle of a dinner party, the power goes out for just 10 seconds - but that's long enough for a murderer to strike! Can you figure out who was responsible before you become their next victim? Use an innovative questioning system to reveal the secrets of four quirky characters and find the killer's motive.

HTML5 with Quintus (http://html5quintus.com/)

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Improvements that I hope to add later:
- Loading screen.
- Music and sound effects.
- More art (e.g. backgrounds, character expressions.)
- A way to tell which topics you've already asked about.
- Currently the buttons are a bit buggy, so I'll be sure to fix that.

* FYI, there are 14 topic to unlock (so the last space will appear empty even after you've found everything.)

* Some people have commented that they don't know how to figure out the murderer. I admit, it's a bit subtle. If you're still stuck after trying it yourself, here's a walkthrough: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eFSIkX7-nXIiWgcUrWNSL66vat4yGXFh7EbaREwOunY

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For more games I've made, visit my website: http://roseabernathy.com

Ratings

Coolness 48% 1156
Overall(Jam) 3.48 126
Audio(Jam) 1.38 515
Fun(Jam) 3.18 189
Graphics(Jam) 3.53 222
Humor(Jam) 2.22 340
Innovation(Jam) 2.93 315
Mood(Jam) 3.20 186
Theme(Jam) 2.49 528

Feedback

megashroom
27. Aug 2013 · 03:43 UTC
Heh, that was pretty enjoyable.
The level of detail in endings was pretty crazy too.
Is it wrong that I accused everyone of the murder?
Btw, some of the light grey buttons were unpressable.
dancingflame
27. Aug 2013 · 04:25 UTC
The story is really detailed. It makes me think of Conan the detective.
The graphics are quite good now. Hope to see the whole game when you finish!
Pitzik4
27. Aug 2013 · 04:31 UTC
This game seemed very complete. I completely forgot that it was a Ludum Dare game most of the time and just enjoyed the game, which, unfortunately, is not true of all of the games I've tried. The correct option ended up being one of the last ones I tried, though. I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it to others.
theholychicken
27. Aug 2013 · 07:50 UTC
"the professor has been shot and it must be by someone in this room!" I was like no shit? A nice tribute to the detective stories.
The writing was great and quite detailed, and kept the game entertaining to the end.
In the end it told me I caught the culprits but did I really?
Shugor
27. Aug 2013 · 08:00 UTC
It seemed pretty tedious, but it's more likely because I'm a bad detective. There's also the known issues so yeah.
GSM Productions
27. Aug 2013 · 09:28 UTC
I love investigations, so I quite enjoyed the game! I'm not sure I found all the possible clews though since a spot was left empty at bottom right. So I'm a bit frustrated I had to try several options out of feelings to end the game instead of having found one last good clue...
It was still pretty enjoyable! :)
Zephyr89
27. Aug 2013 · 14:41 UTC
I really suck at being a detective. Also after 3 or 4 good attempts I found that clicking every box in frustration at the beginning didn't work. So I have to ask, how did you decide who did it?
JaJ
27. Aug 2013 · 14:51 UTC
I liked it, but I didn't like how after getting all the clues pointing out the killer was still just a wild guess. Still don't know who did it.
porglezomp
27. Aug 2013 · 15:00 UTC
Very fun!
Capro
27. Aug 2013 · 15:12 UTC
Very interesting game, but not much related with the theme.
martymon
27. Aug 2013 · 15:13 UTC
I like the characters. They have unique personalities
Lightmare Studio
27. Aug 2013 · 16:02 UTC
Wow, simply wow. Although the relationship to the theme is pretty loose, the game is really enjoyable, well structured and well written. Exploring the possibilities is very cool and reminiscent of the best investigation games!

It's really cool to see that you get to uncover dirty secrets through simple questions. Very nice, I tip my hat to you! The graphics are good too, but it could have used some sound.

By the way, I found the right answer on my first try! ^^
Orni
27. Aug 2013 · 19:22 UTC
great use of the theme - loved the game
kind of reminded me of the 'Case Closed' anime/manga
Ludum Dare surely needs more games like this one

well done :)
Catmoo
27. Aug 2013 · 21:45 UTC
I thought it was awesome, the questions were great and it was interesting being thrown towards believing others were the culprit. It could of done with a little audio but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed it great job on the characters too!
lordjosephdeburg
28. Aug 2013 · 00:54 UTC
Dammit Wayne I know its you just fess up already! A great game a nice change of pace.
BlackBird
28. Aug 2013 · 02:26 UTC
I played for a bit then started accusing people. I like that you need to dig up the proof before making accusations and the idea of telling a story that the player feels they dig into. If you find the time please comment / rate my game: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-27/?action=preview&uid=1888
KevinZuhn
28. Aug 2013 · 03:24 UTC
Woo, I figured it out!
I had trouble clicking on the buttons, most often with Wayne. I either had to back out and talk to him again, or hunt around the corners of the buttons to get them to work.
Anyway, the story was fun to unravel and I liked the questioning system. Would have liked more opportunities to combine subjects, but I'm sure that would have taken far too much time for the jam!
Diptoman
28. Aug 2013 · 10:15 UTC
Wow, I'm such a bad detective!
I found it difficult to remember their names. It'd be really helpful if you show their names alongside their portraits.

But overall, I enjoyed playing the game. The characters were really well drawn!
Nick Weihs
28. Aug 2013 · 12:36 UTC
Very enjoyable with a good amount of detail.
FireZenk
28. Aug 2013 · 16:08 UTC
Nice characters, good game :)
Ithildin
28. Aug 2013 · 16:39 UTC
I enjoyed a lot the questioning mechanic, and the story was very interesting, with clearly defined characters. I managed to guess it right the first time, but I think it was mostly out of luck, as even though I had enough evidence, it wasn't that strong compared to the others' possible reasons.

Great job!!
Misfit
28. Aug 2013 · 16:47 UTC
Wow.. very polished one.
lesterpig
28. Aug 2013 · 19:22 UTC
Nice graphics but quickly boring and repetitive. Nice one, though :)
Pinktreeleaf
28. Aug 2013 · 19:23 UTC
hard, but impressive that you did all this story pathing and writing in a short amount of time.
Jupiter_Hadley
28. Aug 2013 · 19:50 UTC
Loved the little clue like game! Very fun to play! I featured it in my compilation video of Ludum dare 27 games, if you'd like to check it out http://youtu.be/PSym67k7zBg
PaperBlurt
28. Aug 2013 · 19:52 UTC
Like a good Agatha Christie story and also that even though someone has died they have the same facial expressions all the time! Love it!
imef
28. Aug 2013 · 20:52 UTC
An amazingly detailed story. And the dialog system is pretty cool!

Clicking on buttons was buggy at times (maybe because my pc is terrible).
JimmyDelaney19
28. Aug 2013 · 22:16 UTC
Pretty enjoyable game!
Ariake81
28. Aug 2013 · 22:27 UTC
great graphics and design, lots of work involved in the detailed questionning, interesting take on the theme

nice work
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
29. Aug 2013 · 20:37 UTC
Ha! Wow this is so well-written!

The characters are detailed (nice illustrations btw!) and the whole thing was just a lot of fun!

Bonus points for having 2 girls as well as 2 boys.
TobiasW
30. Aug 2013 · 23:24 UTC
That's the best story-based game I've found here so far. Great dialogues, and I like how you could take every option alone or in connection with somebody else. It was fun learning about the relationships between the characters. In the end I needed the walkthrough though - I guess it was too subtle for me. Now that I think about it afterwards though, [SPOILER OMITTED] the only with with motive AND a way to do it - I guess I should've thought more about the line of motives :)
drkrunk
31. Aug 2013 · 04:33 UTC
I really liked this, it was fun trying to figure out whodunit. Although I realized I'm not really cut out to be a detective! Great work.
dekart
02. Sep 2013 · 17:36 UTC
That's the amazing piece of work! I still didn't get the last clue so I don't know who's the murderer...