:warning: Try Again is a narrative game, SEVERE spoilers ahead. :warning:

Try Again... Again?

I already wrote a postmortem on my entry a couple of days ago, but I realized I didn't actually dive very deeply into the issues with the most important part of an interactive story: the interactive story.

I am pretty happy with the narrative I wrote. I think it's fairly interesting and engaging, I'm pleased with my writing style as well as the overall arc--with the help of a Feature Film Story Outline Structure I found on openscreenplay.com. So the while story is fine, the issue comes with the interactive part which is the relevant bit that actually makes this a game.

In short: the choices the player gets to make are either superficial or they get the player killed and they loop back to a previous waypoint; a slap on the wrist telling you to make the correct choice instead. Now dying is a story-relevant act as the game has a Groundhog Day vibe going, but it merely affects the player experience of the story, and not the actual direction of things. The choices do not have any real deep impact on the events described.

What Choicery Is This?

I will list each and every choice present in the game. I am leaving out story parts that aren't directly relevant to the choice, but you can imagine these are all :warning: big spoilers. :warning:

Act 1

1. You are hungover - take your last pain killer?

• If yes, then you do not have a pain killer anymore.
• If no, then there are several moments that point out your headache in act 1. Also, you can choose to give it to someone else later on. You also get access to choice 3 (see below).

2. You stink - take a shower?

• If yes, then you are simply clean.
• If no, then there are four additional little moments where people might comment on your smell.

3. Take a nap before you the apartment?

In case you didn't take the pain killer, if yes, then you cure your headache. If no, then there are a few points during act 1 that comment on your headache.

4. Talk to the occupants of the car?

• If yes, then you are shot and killed, and loop back to the start. Note: the first time you get to this scene, this is the *only option, meant to introduce the looping Groundhog Day system.*
• If no, and you choose to pickup the briefcase from the trunk instead, then the story continues. This is one of those slap on the wrist and try again choices.

Act 2

5. Rescue a man from being robbed?

• If yes, then you are beaten to death by Lethe, and return to the Act 2 waypoint which describes the events of Act 1 without having to go through them again. Your choices in Act 1 are noted in this description.
• If no, then the man is killed while you persuade Lethe to let you leave. Another slap on the wrist and try again choice.

6. Tell Lethe you are alone?

While Lethe is about to beat you to death, you can tell her you're alone or lie and say there are five more guys. - If yes, then she kills you, calling you dumb. - If no, then she kills you, indicating she doesn't believe you.

7. Your handler calls you - pick up?

• If yes, then you have a conversation with Zach with no further results.
• If no, then you skip the call and your handler notes in a later call that you didn't pick up previously. (Fun fact, here is where I accidentally left in the handler's old name, Eddie, by mistake, which I only just noticed now.)

Act 3

8. You approach the drop-off location - tell the bouncer the password?

• If yes, then he leads you into the building and the story continues.
• If no, then you get two more chances to choose yes instead or he'll beat you to death, sending you back to the Act 2 waypoint. Another slap on the wrist and try again choice.

9. A mysterious stranger calls you - pick up?

Whether you choose yes or no, the call will happen, there is simply some extra text if you chose not to accept the call. This is meant to show that the stranger, Antediluvian, is a powerful hacker.

10. You've dropped off the briefcase - say goodbye or just leave?

Another meaningless choice that leads to the same next scene, just with an extra line of text explaining it. I added this on the last day of the jam because I felt there were too few choices, but I had no time left to add anything meaningful.

11. Shit is about to go down - wait for the distraction?

• If yes, then you immediately arrive at choice 12.
• If no, then you are killed and return to the Act 3 waypoint. Slap on the wrist and try again.

12. They're distracted - grab the gun?

Immediately following choice 11. - If yes, then you shoot a guard and continue the story. - If no, then you are killed and return to the Act 3 waypoint. Slap on the wrist and try again.

13. A woman is in pain - if you have the pain killer, give it to her?

• If yes, it notes she feels better.
• If no, then you hang on to it. No other effect. If you do not have the pill, you mentioned that you know what having a headache is like as a callback to the start. This is all the pain killer I established at the very start is good for.

14. The bad guys are coming - buy Antediluvian and the woman some time?

The final choice of the game. - If yes, then they escape. You are killed, but your sacrifice loops you back to the alley where Lethe was killing the homeless man and this time you save him. - If no, you try to escape with them to no avail. They die. You die. Return to the Act 3 waypoint. Slap on the wrist and try again.

In Conclusion, a Conclusion

So this story is essentially not even a branching story. Sure, there are some parts that are different depending on your choice, but there are only a few small moments where you actually get different content from a choice. But they are more fluff in order to paint that specific picture, rather than anything meaningful. The end of the game is determined by the final choice, and earlier choices have no impact on what those choices are.

So why is that? It's two-fold:

1. This one is simple, and the same answer each Ludum Dare: time. I finished and submitted by the time I really needed to go to bed in order to be sane for the next work day. I told myself to just keep writing, finish the story, and edit later. With that target I then kept things largely linear, being happy with a written section and moving on to the next rather than to something parallel.

2. The entire try again premise kept me in the mindset of the player going back and fixing what they did wrong previously, and rather than taking a different route earlier in the process before death, it was the choice at your death that makes the change. I had established the pain killer at the very start of the game. I had planned to make it have significant impact on the story (though I didn't yet know how). As I was writing I felt bad if the pill was a defeat/win choice at the very end, and not having it available would be a defeat and you'd have to start all over. I should have made it significant at the end of Act 1 instead, and a fun call back later on.

So that's what I have learned from all this. If I were to do another text adventure at any point, I'll be more aware of the need for actual branching. I'll also need to keep myself from overscoping on the length of the story so I can put more time in the width of it. I should also really read up on branching story writing, because this was all just based on experience from playing games instead of learning to write these things.

If you made it this far down without playing Try Again, then I am sorry for spoiling it, but you were warned! :wink: I may have focused on my failures in this postmortem, but that's what these are for. It's still a pretty good story, and I left some characters and scenes out, so it'll still be worth playing. Give it a go, and thank you for reading!