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A jam submission

Pub HubbubView game page

A short game written in PunyInform for PunyJam #1.
Submitted by Christopher Drum (@christopherdrum) — 7 hours, 2 minutes before the deadline
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Pub Hubbub's itch.io page

Do you want this game to be part of the competition, i.e. rated by judges?
In for a penny, in for a pound. Sure, judge it.

What's your previous experience with making adventure games? (optional)
Zero. I tinkered with Inform some 15 years ago, before I knew how to program, and was utterly baffled. I've always been a player, not a creator. This is my first game ever.

How many hours did you spend on making this game? (optional)
Absolutely no idea. Including studying Inform tutorials, maybe 30 hours total? Didn't even think to measure that.

Is English your native language? (optional)
Yes

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Comments

Submitted

There's two reviews on IFDB that comment on the puzzle involving the cigarettes. I've played the game through a few times and examined all 80 packs of cigarettes and I'll be buggered if I can even find the puzzle. Is there really a puzzle or were those reviews just having a go at you?

I've read the advertisements, found the $2.00 in quarters, brute forced the purchase of Claymounts, found and lit the lighter and attempted to light the stove and gas main with the lit lighter (expecting to get blown up), all to no avail. So, where on Earth is this puzzle that the IFDB reviewers are raving over?

Developer (1 edit)

The puzzle was specifically "which pack of cigarettes should I buy?" It isn't a "brute force" decision.
The description of the machine explains how each tier goes back one year in time.
The advertisements have copyrights to explain their position in the timeline.
One ad in particular alludes to a "pack-in lighter" but it's partially obscured by another advertisement... which can be peeled back to reveal more of the cigarette history.

This is all just to have a light source for under the sink to operate the disposal. Nothing deeper than that.

Submitted

Thanks, that's what I thought. But I didn't need a light source to fix the garbage disposal unit. Just follow the instructions on the label.

Developer

Well, that's a bug then. It was supposed to be too dark to see anything.

Submitted

Yes, I didn't want to say anything, but that part of the game is particularly buggy. Would you like me to send you a test report? If so, it will take me a little while to prepare.

Developer(+1)

That's very kind of you to offer. I only had time to "get it submitted" for the jam, and I do want to spend next month giving it polish and addressing the issues that were raised in the reviews I received. A test report would be excellent, thank you, at your leisure.

HostSubmitted

I need to mail you some stuff regarding the jam. Can't find your contact info. Please mail me at punyjam1 at microheaven dot com.

Any hint on how to find work list or password for computer (if worklist is there)?

Developer(+1)

Sure thing. Yes, the worklist is on the computer. If you examine the stool, and read the owner’s behavior, then see what can be seen from the stool, maybe that will get you on the right track?

(+1)

Thank you!

I'm struggling with this as well.  Is it something to do with the letters on the sign?  Just can't work it out.

Developer(+1)

@Dee Cooke Given the Jam deadline, it is likely I didn't give quite enough descriptive hint on the sign puzzle. Perhaps if I had said something about the owner plays a lot of Scrabble, would that get you going on the letters that are lit up in the sign?

HostSubmitted

Please note that your game has been compiled with DEBUG mode enabled (you can tell because it says it uses "PunyInform v2.4 D" where D is for DEBUG, This means player have access to debug commands, essentially allowing them to cheat to some extent. Compile the game without the -D switch to get a non-debug build.

Developer (2 edits)

Wait, without the -D switch? I didn't enable any -D switch. Hmm....
Honestly, I'm not one who discourages cheating, but I'll look into it and fix it in the spirit of learning how to do a proper release in Inform.

Developer

Ahhh... I found it.
I'm using plugins in VSCode, and I see now that the "build and run" is set to -D by default and the hover text says, "[Alt]" will compile for release. Always learning...