New Cat is in Beta!
At long last, New Cat has hit beta! I have some cover art with it, as well as the usual I-found-a-bug command enabled. Check it out on IF Game Testing if you want to take a crack at it!
Asking the Player to Do The Impossible
There is a strange current in IF where games propose something impossible and dare the player to actually do it; I say strange because such actions are clearly impossible, so why would anyone try? Is there some kind of bravado necessary here, where frustrated males yell “I’ll show THAT game designer”? Folks, the game designer isn’t even laughing up his sleeve at you. He’s shouting his derision at you using a megaphone.
For instance, take the game Square Circle. The intro asks if you can square a circle. Obviously, you cannot, so why bother torturing yourself?
Fate is another one. Can you change your fate? Obviously, if you can change your fate, it is not fate. The definition of the word fate removes all hope and all choice. To try to change your fate is futile.
I understand the self-torturing appeal of self-hate, but I’ve never understood the sure call to failure. Back in college, I had a comp sci professor who said something like, “Here is the fastest sort algorithm ever. Try to beat it.” I looked at him and thought, “You just said it was the fastest, and so therefore it is logically impossible for me to try to beat it. I think I’ll make the worst sort algorithm possible instead, since my failure has been guaranteed.”
