LudumData

The Last Question by xaedes

[raw]
made by xaedes for LD 39 (JAM)

An Visual Novel Adaption Of "The Last Question" From Isaac Asimov

Screenshot.png

This Ludum Dare I didn't really have to the time to make it in the main competition. But the theme wouldn't get out of my head.. Sunday out of a sudden I remembered the most brilliant short story "The Last Question" from Isaac Asimov. That is the perfect story for the theme "Running out of Power". Running out of time myself I decided to make a Visual Novel adaption from this story for the Ludum Dare Jam using existing assets.

It is my first visual novel and the first game ever (for me), where I put in actual story and content.

The visual and music resources are from the Humble Game Making Bundle (from June 2015) [1].

The characters where made using the Anime Character generator with the "Guy Sprite" from SilverHyena[2] (integrated in the generator by Vixeria[3])

I enjoyed making this and reading the story over and over again for testing. I hope some of you might enjoy the story as much as I do.

[1] http://www.indiegamebundles.com/humble-game-making-bundle/

[2] http://silverhyena.deviantart.com/art/Guy-Sprite-412450628

[3] http://vixeria.deviantart.com/art/Character-Generator-Guy-Sprite-500764848

HTML5 (web) http://cloudnovel.net/play?n=ba84a7c55ee
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/the-last-question

Ratings

Overall 685th 2.952⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 837th 2.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 646th 2.667⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 392th 3.524⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 433th 2.895⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 447th 2.316⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 386th 3.286⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 24🗳️ 20🗨️

Feedback

m11
01. Aug 2017 · 10:49 UTC
Great choice of source material (perfect for the theme!) For a first effort as a visual novel/game, it's a good start - and you've clearly put a lot of effort into the characters' expressions changing, but I personally would have liked more scene changes - in chapter one, for example, more of a series of establishing shots before we're introduced to Adell and Lupov, and then some variation in mid/close/far shots. I also think the 'game' element would be vastly improved by the use of dialogue trees, rather than a single 'advance' button - I know it would mean that you'd have to stray from the original text, but it'd make it feel more interactive/immersive :)
Terribly Awesome Games
01. Aug 2017 · 17:20 UTC
Hey! It looks like we had the same idea! It's a great story huh, and perfect for the theme. Nice job on putting together your first visual novel!

Cheers
OboShape
02. Aug 2017 · 08:53 UTC
nice way of putting across a great short short, well done :)
azziliz
04. Aug 2017 · 19:36 UTC
I don't know what to think about this. It's beautiful, innovative, very different from all other entries. But can this really be considered a game?
MichaelTWG
06. Aug 2017 · 12:03 UTC
That's not really a game but that's an interesting adaptation, well done!
multiplexor
06. Aug 2017 · 12:17 UTC
It got me hooked until the end, altough it's more a visual book than a game itself, still, the music, the graphics and the chapters are all quite well put together!

Keep up the hard work!
joebeard
16. Aug 2017 · 21:00 UTC
This is one of my favourite stories of all time, I hadn't even considered that it fit so well with the theme. Of all the games in LD39, surely this one fits the theme most perfectly. If there were 6 stars for that, I'd surely award them. The music and graphics were of course great, and the scene selection was handy when I accidentally refreshed my browser.
abductedPlatypus
16. Aug 2017 · 23:23 UTC
Very interesting. I watched this with a free Audiobook I found. ( https://archive.org/details/ISAACASIMOVSTHELASTQUESTION ) Very nice and thank you for shining some light on this story.
GistNoesis
19. Aug 2017 · 08:48 UTC
42 :) I know the answer for I've read the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Nice mood, nice audio. Not a game.
Jason200101
21. Aug 2017 · 22:38 UTC
I've seen similar games. I haven't done any research, but I'm quessing there is an engine that allows you to creare such stories, and maybe pre-made art. If you're going to make a story type game, I suggest actually programming all of the interactions, and not just writing the script on a programm made specifically to save time.

Based on other comments I saw, the story wasn't even yours. I'm demotivated to read all of it. Nice idea, but you lack originality and programming. I can't call this an actual game, and it defintly doesn't meet the level that the jam requieres. Better luck next time.
🎤 xaedes
22. Aug 2017 · 07:44 UTC
@jason200101

Too bad, you really miss out on a cool story! If you don't like my interpretation I suggest another one, the actual story is great! The audio book that abductedplatypus found is good for example.

"not just writing the script on a programm made specifically to save time."
Wow! Do you really only program in assembler? ;) Wait, No! Even that is specifically made to save time..
Saving time is the essence

Anyway thank you for taking the time to write feedback =)