Her Majesty's Apathy Bomb by ianburnette

[raw]
made by ianburnette for LD32 (COMPO)
My homage to The Stanley Parable.

It's a short, narrative game with six different endings, depending on how well you listen to the narrator.

Made for Ludum Dare 32 compo. Please vote!

WASD + Mouse
OR
Limited controller support

Source: https://github.com/ianburnette/IanBurnetteLD32

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 4.10 26
Audio 4.15 19
Fun 3.68 134
Graphics 3.71 197
Humor 4.27 7
Innovation 3.34 392
Mood 3.97 31
Theme 3.91 136

Feedback

jordyadan
20. Apr 2015 · 05:41 UTC
Interesting idea
Danman9914
20. Apr 2015 · 05:48 UTC
Very cool narrative experience! The narration was quite good and I loved the narrowing parapet; gave me a real sense of height.
jk5000
20. Apr 2015 · 05:49 UTC
A really fun game experience. The game fits perfectly into the theme. Try It.
Yaroslav Kravtsov
20. Apr 2015 · 05:55 UTC
Brilliant! This is kind of games that Ludum Dare exist for. I haven't enough word to describe how I'm amazed.

In additional, I want to say thanks for tutorial. Many games there have lack of it.
BraindeadGeo
20. Apr 2015 · 05:59 UTC
Very good! A fitting tribute to the Stanley Parable and made me chuckle. It was also oddly pretty for such simple graphics!
feizenbara
20. Apr 2015 · 08:15 UTC
Great one, fun narration and good theme usage.
Dyn
20. Apr 2015 · 11:14 UTC
Awesome work. Thank you!
Zielak
20. Apr 2015 · 16:53 UTC
Lovely non-linear and humorous game :)
shrapx
20. Apr 2015 · 18:27 UTC
I love the narration, excellent acting and funny! a pretty world; blending pixel art and 3D. The story fits the theme perfectly. The 2d sprites remind me of games like wolfenstein. This was a fun experience :D
ChrisGaudino
20. Apr 2015 · 18:27 UTC
Fantastic. Loved the little details, like the mouse sensitivity going down when the apathy bomb exploded. Also, making the user press all the controls before starting is genius.
texdata
20. Apr 2015 · 18:29 UTC
wow ! great narrative and non-linear story! awesome
DKoding
20. Apr 2015 · 18:30 UTC
SIMPLY AMAZING. Narrator deserves a medal.
EvilTroopa
20. Apr 2015 · 18:52 UTC
Absolutely loved it!
The text is great and the interpretation is really good.
Got all 6 endings and got a smile on my face the whole game (yeah that is just 5 to 10 minutes, but still...)
Thank you.
Andrew Adams
20. Apr 2015 · 19:26 UTC
Excellent. Pure delight to play. I got 4 out 6 endings. I was blown away by this game... get it "BLOWN" away... cuz it's a bomb... hehe.
Hyoga-3D
20. Apr 2015 · 20:08 UTC
It's my personal view but I don't like minecract style of art, Game ideia was nice, gameplay were really nice. Goof overall.
benmcnelly
20. Apr 2015 · 20:40 UTC
High marks all around! Its hard to find a balance of game mechanics, story and production value, but you really nailed it. Bravo!
Awpteamoose
20. Apr 2015 · 20:47 UTC
Awesome!
Prize for SAD in controls!
Also, big thumb ups for the narrative and the endings!
Hectate
20. Apr 2015 · 20:51 UTC
This was a silly little game but I loved every minute of it. Finding all the endings (or 5 of them anyway) was a nice treat.
internetpaulicy
20. Apr 2015 · 20:54 UTC
This is a really inspiring entry. The narration and incidental cuts are really fun to play out. I hope this gets lots of views.
DouglasOliveira
20. Apr 2015 · 21:05 UTC
Very consistent art style and creative narrative =D. Congrats!
OnErrorResumeNext
20. Apr 2015 · 21:08 UTC
Played all the endings. Cool idea and the story was good... Thanks for this.
Lacaranian
20. Apr 2015 · 21:33 UTC
Nicely done! Just the right amount of repetition in asset use, with some solid use of space/lighting. I kept trying to throw the bomb before the game let me though...heh.
skiper4e
20. Apr 2015 · 23:01 UTC
Awesome game!!!
incobalt
20. Apr 2015 · 23:23 UTC
I kept having problems with the controls, like I was constantly bumping into something. At one point, descending the stairs, it actually turned me around entirely (it's also easy to just fall off the stairs, if you're determined). Still, I enjoyed it enough to get all the endings :)
Rulrite
20. Apr 2015 · 23:39 UTC
A wonderful entry! How you did all this in such a short amount of time is beyond me... I loved the atmosphere, and the narration is very well done. The entire game feels extremely polished.
MightyToast
20. Apr 2015 · 23:43 UTC
Unbelievably cool! I accidentally fell off the tower in an effort to avoid the guards. Immediately your narration stops and calls me out for being an idiot haha. Love it, awesome work.
rectangular Tim
20. Apr 2015 · 23:44 UTC
Getting a single ending was too movie-like. Getting all the endings was too repetitive. I'm just not into narrative games, I guess. But the voice acting was decent, the graphics were interesting and the story was sufficiently wacky to be fun. Well done.
madameberry
20. Apr 2015 · 23:58 UTC
The narration was fantastic. The first time I jumped off the tower after setting the bomb, it gave me the "meh" ending anyway. Guess I didn't hit the trigger.
All six endings were great!
benjamck
21. Apr 2015 · 00:37 UTC
Brilliant little game. (I found 5 of the endings!) A fine tribute to a modern classic ;) Great job on the voice-overs too. The whole thing felt like a complete game, which doesn't seem easy to do given the limited time. And one with multiple endings. Well done.
Fanttum
21. Apr 2015 · 00:54 UTC
Sweet dude. I loved it. So big and nice voice it all came together so nicely. An I loved the little touches here and there. Ahhhh! so many good things to say but I can't find the words.
emmelineprufrock
21. Apr 2015 · 03:16 UTC
Interesting and kind of funny. A little quiet, but I think that's my bad for not listening in the opening tuner.
davidcmcdonald
21. Apr 2015 · 03:54 UTC
hahahahaha this game is great!! well done very innovative :)
Chronodrax
21. Apr 2015 · 03:56 UTC
Nice take on the Stanley Parable narrative style :)
some endings were really funny!
...I obtained the 3rd ending first :p I felt so stupid afterwards. Good job narrator, good job.
Ossi
21. Apr 2015 · 05:31 UTC
Funny and silly! I really like the narration and the graphical style fit well with some of the goofy dialogue. I enjoyed this a lot!
peterkirk
21. Apr 2015 · 11:43 UTC
I thought it was too short at first, but once I knew there were multiple endings I had fun finding them all. Good work.
strawfield
21. Apr 2015 · 16:59 UTC
This is brilliant, funny and well done. I almost gave it less than 5/5 humor because of the overthrow joke, almost.
Chris M
22. Apr 2015 · 15:00 UTC
Good take on Stanley Parable ideas, esp. good to move the narrative to a fantastical setting.
runvs
22. Apr 2015 · 15:29 UTC
Such a nice entry. Great audio and nice voice recording. plus the speaker is also very good. The pixel graphics are also awesome.
Don't stop making such games!
cgmorton
22. Apr 2015 · 17:31 UTC
So I managed to jump off the parapet before the game expected me to, landed on the roof of the palace and made it out onto the balcony where I killed the invisible queen. Was hoping to get a secret seventh ending but NOPE.
🎤 ianburnette
22. Apr 2015 · 20:07 UTC
Haha, yep, jumping off the parapet early is a problem I've run into before. I ran into it a couple times during testing, but I guess crazy people who jump off of balconies at sneaky times can manage to kill the invisible queen. :) I'll have to make that a secret ending for the post-jam version. "Uh, the bombmaker managed to survive a hundred foot fall, scrambled onto the empty balcony, and further subverted the gamemaker's expectations by killing the invisible queen - who was the REAL villian, pulling the strings all along! Uh, good job, bombmaker. Very, erm, clever, I guess." Achievement Name: Invisi-Queen, the Puppetmaster
NoorStudios
23. Apr 2015 · 01:18 UTC
Awesome! Very entertaining narrative. great graphics and sound. also the tutorial forcing you to notice it by clicking the buttons is brilliant.
JenniNexus
23. Apr 2015 · 01:51 UTC
Loved it a lot - Ian did you also do the voice acting? Very entertaining... :-)
🎤 ianburnette
23. Apr 2015 · 02:04 UTC
Yep, the voice acting was me as well. Besides game development, that's another dream of mine :)
NIGIC
23. Apr 2015 · 02:21 UTC
To be honest, jumping off was the first thing I did -- and I must say, the castle looks gorgeous from afar. Aside from that one random palm tree sticking out from the wall. That looked silly.

Fun, high-quality adventure game. The narrative and atmosphere are pretty good. Good job!
jesterswilde
23. Apr 2015 · 02:40 UTC
I take my job seriously, and have pride in my work. How my work is used...well I don't care. Not my job. I made the bomb and delivered it promptly. GG.

Homage indeed. Quite enjoyed this. Especially when you explained the overthrow joke, I didn't get it the first time.
🎤 ianburnette
23. Apr 2015 · 03:15 UTC
Aw geez, I figured no one would see that palm tree! I mostly left it because I thought it was funny!
Horsed
23. Apr 2015 · 09:20 UTC
Very nice setting and story. I never played a narrative game before, so yours will be forever in my memory :-)
Mantlair
23. Apr 2015 · 12:31 UTC
Being a stanley parable here i loved this thing. I will probably try to make a narrative game at some time. The only thing felt bed was the meh ending. I donk know i expected some cool stuff happening on there. Like "The Win" you are the "Winner" quotes. But yeah. Awesome! You can make a series maybe.
LimeniusTeam
23. Apr 2015 · 12:36 UTC
Very good and funny! I normally get a bit bored with games heavy on the narrative side, but yours is simply awesome!
OneTrueAaron
23. Apr 2015 · 12:48 UTC
Well this was just about the most fun thing ever.
BubuIIC
23. Apr 2015 · 13:02 UTC
Awesome entry, loved finding all the endings!
Jasonsumm
23. Apr 2015 · 14:16 UTC
Really nice! :D
dallonf
23. Apr 2015 · 14:33 UTC
Makes me want to play the Stanley Parable again! I especially liked that you listed out all the possible endings so I knew when I was finished. I'm a bit of a... completionist and I can get stuck on games like this otherwise!
Taldius
23. Apr 2015 · 18:21 UTC
Really nice game, it's really funny to play. My only concern is that this needs less walking, or a sprint button, because it seems long after some replay.
Anyway, great job!
🎤 ianburnette
23. Apr 2015 · 18:44 UTC
I anticipated that it would start to feel a little tedious walking everywhere, but I tried my best to time the audio trigger zones so that there wouldn't be huge silence times. If the player is able to sprint, then we'd have a lot of clips cutting each other off. I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing, but I couldn't think of a more elegant solution.
BeardoGames
23. Apr 2015 · 19:09 UTC
The humor is spot-on and really well voice acted, and I enjoyed playing a game that encouraged me to subvert things. I'm sure I'll end up going back to this game later since I missed a lone ending. Great job, I had a lot of fun!
FeniX
23. Apr 2015 · 21:32 UTC
Great game in almost every aspect! Starting from the controls tutorial (I started thinking about something like that after posting my own game here), throught very nice graphics and great narration, to the idea of multiple endings. Well done!

One thing I missed is more music, as it's not everywhere.

And BTW, those guards looking at me when I'm passing by are creepy. :D
daredevildave
23. Apr 2015 · 23:10 UTC
Great! Enjoyed the story-telling :-)
hexdie
23. Apr 2015 · 23:58 UTC
Very cool game! I really enjoyed it! I don't really have any criticisms. Keep up the awesome work!
igoramendola
24. Apr 2015 · 03:46 UTC
I've completed the 100%! I really liked narrative thing, also the different endings. Besides, it's pretty funny. It's the kind of game that I like. Well done :D
Octopus Melange
24. Apr 2015 · 04:00 UTC
Fantastic Job!
JenniNexus
24. Apr 2015 · 06:46 UTC
Hi Ian .. posted my gameplay here: https://youtu.be/VmBLdXjU4sg?list=PL9QBjNDhgNwRu1uylSCRTgLiHGXuevr5h Cheers!! :-)
Prowler
24. Apr 2015 · 12:44 UTC
A nice interactive story!
recursor
24. Apr 2015 · 19:45 UTC
The narration is great and really help to set the mood. Well done on pretty much everything. Great job.
12 Pechás Of Souls
24. Apr 2015 · 22:02 UTC
The best game I have played this ludum. Great job.
grillaface
24. Apr 2015 · 22:36 UTC
Very nice branching story and I absolutely love the pixel / 3D visuals. Great job!
syncxzoz
25. Apr 2015 · 14:34 UTC
i don't get it..
Crowbeak
26. Apr 2015 · 06:03 UTC
The narrative was good and although it's clear how The Stanley Parable was your inspiration... I dunno, it felt like it was missing something. Hard to say if that's because I have played the crap out of The Stanley Parable or not.
DeltaF1
27. Apr 2015 · 01:10 UTC
That was awesome! I'll definitely try and get the other 2 endings :)

The voice acting was terrific, and I encourage you to follow that dream. The graphical style was really neat. Some of the textures were stretched a little too much, but all in all it looked fantastic as well. It was funny, and had some awesome little touches, such as the way the queen followed you in little bursts, like how people in long gowns do in movies. As Danman9914 said, the parapet narrowing was also an awesome effect. It was funny and self-aware, and I hope The Stanley Parable is proud to be your influence.
Split82
27. Apr 2015 · 15:59 UTC
Excellent! :) Super awesome narrative.
esayitch
27. Apr 2015 · 17:21 UTC
Found all 6 endings xD Pretty cool game, and a great homage! The apathy bomb is a great concept that can be even made into an action arcadey/puzzle game where you throw it at people to temporarily disable their aggression, etc. But this is a neat way to explore the concept as well :)

Good luck!
norwalnate13
27. Apr 2015 · 18:22 UTC
It's not often you see a narrative game in LD. I enjoyed finding all the quite humerus endings and the voice acting was top notch! Nice work.
Mase
27. Apr 2015 · 20:15 UTC
I greatly enjoyed the views from the palace.

The option to restart from various points is good, but the "beginning" button is confusing & possibly buggy. It seemed to send me to the location closest to the ending I'd just triggered, rather than the beginning of the game.
Andrew Quartermain
27. Apr 2015 · 20:33 UTC
Very enjoyable. I love the narration. It was a good idea to list the possible endings.
Evergreen Games
28. Apr 2015 · 00:53 UTC
awesome! i loved stanley parable and this lives up to it. i got all endings but the dumb bomb maker one. you are a great voice actor! all around solid entry.
LukeZaz
29. Apr 2015 · 00:48 UTC
Great voice acting, and it was fun discovering all the endings.
Xanjos
30. Apr 2015 · 20:59 UTC
I love how the narrative dynamically changes in a humorous way plus it was really fun working out how to get all 6 endings.
dreamlogician
01. May 2015 · 01:13 UTC
Nice simulation of tabletop roleplaying with a passive-aggressive GM. ;)
NightShadow0
02. May 2015 · 00:15 UTC
Hahaha loved this, your voice acting is on point. Great entry!
ruerob
04. May 2015 · 06:56 UTC
Very great entry! I've got 6/6 endings! WHOA 100%.

First I want to say that your voice acting is very nice!!! I'm native german and a little bit unsure when it comes to understand spoken english, but you are perfectly understandable! I like your voice!
The story is nice, too. And I like the mostly non-violent approach!
One little bug I've found, but it isn't game or fun breaking. If I finished the game once and warp to somewhere except beginning and reach the end again, warping to beginning doesn't work! But halway is next to it and there is no need to get back to the beginning, so I can live with that!

I like your game very much! So thank you for this piece of fun and keep coding!!!
zerocreativity1
04. May 2015 · 07:27 UTC
Love the narration. Fun little game.
IamAcoconut
06. May 2015 · 00:17 UTC
Nice little game, very funny! It'd be nice if there was more gameplay.
castlecake
06. May 2015 · 18:24 UTC
I enjoyed it so much that I recorded a lets play for YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mU3PR-knwg
Druid
06. May 2015 · 21:53 UTC
Wow, i really love this entry. (that puns are best XD). Nice funny game :D
nassi
07. May 2015 · 00:13 UTC
Impressive work for a compo entry. Of course I went for all of the endings since you also went the extra length of making them so easy to discover :).

It was a neat experience even if the gameplay elements were pretty light. I had a good time though, so thanks are in order.
ButtonMasherBros
08. May 2015 · 16:00 UTC
Pssst - you are in todays Ludum Dare to Believe! Check it out! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xsoaSeVzGQ
Mach60KAS
08. May 2015 · 17:36 UTC
Quite a nice interactive fiction piece, the humorous presentation brought it all together! The only real issue I have is that it all felt very slow - but I'm sure this is necessary to stop clips running into one another mid-sentence. Great work, keep it up!
PianoRacerCollective
09. May 2015 · 09:57 UTC
So good! Loved the narration.
crazya02
09. May 2015 · 13:53 UTC
Simple yet effective, and funny! Though the endings that involved jumping off of something didn't always trigger. Was this fixed in the post-compo version?
🎤 ianburnette
10. May 2015 · 18:54 UTC
Yep, I didn't make the trigger zones big enough, so that was something I fixed in the post-compo version (I think, at least).
jhell
11. May 2015 · 14:01 UTC
Very impressive entry, I have only positive things to say: great art, atmosphere, audio quality, voice-over work, etc. The only thing that bugged me ever so slightly was that the writing could have been a tad more mature; sometimes, at least for me, it went from game to joke and that broke immersion.
pixzleone
11. May 2015 · 14:04 UTC
Cool graphics and nice idea. I don´t like the stepping sounds though :)
OddballDave
11. May 2015 · 14:16 UTC
Loved it. Loved all of it. Great entry. Good stuff.
lochmann-apps
11. May 2015 · 14:55 UTC
Reminds me of some Game, a really good approach!
TeamCalcium
11. May 2015 · 15:07 UTC
A really great hommage to Stanley Parable. Great job!
apple_pie981
20. May 2015 · 20:15 UTC
To put it bluntly,this game is just copying Stanley Parable (you said that as homage) and Minecraft. The tone of narrator is too intentional and artificial. It looks like a optional story more than a game. The only thing I appreciate that is the lighting effects are quite impressive.