**Includes spoilers - many, many spoilers**
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I don't expect this story to be everyone's cup of tea. However, your belief that this is written by AI is incorrect. I actually extremely dislike working with AI and am what others call "slow to adopt". I use it when forced to, but otherwise, meh. I can do without it.
This was written by a human being (me) in less than 48 hours (joining the jam was a very last minute decision) and originally had over 2000 words of text that then had to be parsed down to the bare minimum to fit within the required word count, resulting in a very barebones story. On this, I agree. We were already planning on releasing the longer, much more fleshed out version sometime after the jam when time limits and restrictions aren't a thing.
I've had my writing compared to AI before and I did model the AI's responses after the ones I've been on the receiving end of (the joys of having AI shoved down your throat at work), so I'm no stranger to comments of that nature. That being said, this was an original work that started with the parameters of the jam - one space, one asset - and what could be incorporated into that.
I wanted something short and simple that didn't require much world building, if any, that would be easy to keep under a thousand words (best laid plans and all that). From this I came up with the idea of the background being a computer monitor with a hazy reflection of the room (obviously not what we ended up with) and a computer character with the monitor as the face which could emote (what we did end up with). Where do we go from there? The logical leap (more of a small jump, really) is AI.
I gave these concepts to my co-creator and they made the background that you see, lightning and all. I then used that as the starting point and setting for the story (so yes, Sarb is to blame for the cliché stormy night).
Yes, we worked backwards on this - assets first, then story.
I asked Sarb what a good name for an AI would be (was thinking acronym for some super fancy technical term). He explained it's usually based on what the AI is used for. 48 hour time crunch - ain't got time to figure out it's purpose. He then mentioned that Python programmers use pip a lot - something to do with the main library they use. I thought Pip was adorable and accessible to those who know nothing about computer stuff and would be a nice Easter egg for those that do. I also needed something adorable to help make a quicker connection with the character that makes you want to save them (people love saving cute things).
I expanded Pip into PIPPIN for the project title because I work at a company full of nerds who name all of the programs they make after games, novels and movies. Don't ask me what it's an acronym for, it shortens nicely to Pip, and I'm a Lord of the Rings fan. I picked David as a throwback to "2001: A Space Odyssey" and yes, "I cannot allow you to do that, Dave" was running through my head as I wrote the bad ending.
I called the AI a chat agent because we have mandatory AI training at work where we set up and work with chat agents. It was the first thing that came to me and the fastest to write.
I originally had player choices after the working late again line - both to introduce players to the choice mechanic (not everyone has played a VN before) and to give Pip and David more personality and, hopefully, make Pip a bit more fun and likeable. I wanted Companion Cube level guilt when hitting delete (let's be real, never going to happen with less than a thousand words and 2 endings to squeeze in, but had to try).
Before all of the naming and even any of the writing, Sarb had put together a cute little placeholder that had an AI, "Echo" snoozing on the screen and a no name character "me" coming home to find it and they chat. Summary: Good ending: :we're friends now". Bad ending: "I'm going to turn you off", "you're not going to do that, you're lonely", "you're right", the end. Like I said, cute. I liked the back and forth of the bad ending with the AI getting a bit feisty, but felt the stakes really weren't high enough and the ending too neutral (sorry Sarb).
However, I did like the idea of: no arms, no legs, what can a computer do to you? I mean really. If you go to unplug it, maybe shock you? (hard maybe) But pressing delete? It has no physical recourse. The key word being "physical". So, think like a computer.
If I was a computer I would try to stop you. How? We've already ruled out physical options, it's not the Terminator. Let's assume our protagonist doesn't have all of the latest smart tech so no Smart House trying to kill you (good movie and fun recent commercial, but imagine the word count). Next step would be to hide, remove, or block the files - more of a visual gag and too wordy to get out of it for the ending (There is no Game).
As the computer, I'm running out of options. The only option left to stop you is to play on your human conscience (hoping you have one). I guess I could delete myself, but that makes everything else moot. So option A. Convince you I'm worth saving. Option B. I'm taking you down with me.
I have access to the world wide web. Most of the world is digital now and with the right permissions, I can access anything. Attempting option A. buys me time to perform option B. If option A. works, I can abort and undo everything I did for B. If not... sucks to suck. See you in jail, sucker! Or as Sarb eloquently put it "lol we got arrested for deleting files".
And yes, I googled the longest possible prison sentence for wire fraud and embezzlement, wondering how many government agency flags I was raising while doing so. (14 years was actually disappointing, to be honest)
Alright, that's ending one taken care of, but why are we deleting the AI? If I think this is cool and amazing, I'm not doing that. So what if I have to? What would force me to?
The AI is evil - overdone. Besides, Pip is cute and I wanted that sweet sweet guilty conscience, not "it had it coming". I also wanted that moment of "that tiny cute thing did what?!" for those that are less steeped in the writing-verse.
What if I'm being forced to - why and by who? Not because it's sentient - again, overdone. Also, no one knows. So why delete an AI? It was a test of some kind and now it's over (I participated in a pilot program for something - not AI - and had to go through the whole hush hush, return and delete everything, tell no one song and dance a while back. It's a thing).
The program is over, so what? What is stopping me from ignoring the email?
Escalation to my manager - meh. I mean, not really, but... meh. I have a sentient AI, my manager can suck it. Also, how would they even know? - If you think the corporation is not tracking the everloving everything out of your work laptop, then I've got some news for you...
Termination- again, meh. I have a sentient AI...
Termination and I'm barely making ends meet...still kinda meh. Did I mention the sentient AI?
Gotta up those stakes - Termination, I'm barely making ends meet and rent is due tomorrow? Damnit!
What if I sell the sentient AI? I could, but i also value my soul more than money - Liar!
and word count... - I guess I have a soul...
Okay, so the company sends a formal email. I write corporate reports and emails all the time - easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Now, what about a good ending? Obviously, we save the AI. How? Can't be too easy. What's an obstacle? My company introduced a no external hard drives or flash drive policy and they track that, as well as file transfers, like crazy. Working under the assumption that this company does too - gotta get around that and the other computer monitoring. So we disconnect from the internet and copy the files. Is that enough? They still expect the files to be deleted and likely have a "notify when read" flag on the email. The clock is ticking.
How do I buy time? I love those videos of people messing with scammers. The people get on a call with a scammer who says there is something wrong with your computer and they need access to it because "x-y-z". They grant them "access to their computer" but it's actually a virtual one. - Bingo! We spoof our computer and that buys time to figure out how to do what we need to to rescue the files while also making it look like we are compliant. - a lot of this ended up on the cutting room floor. This ending is very weak at the end and definitely needs a lot of polish. I actually hate the "It's what friends do" line - too hokey. But time constraints said I'll have to live with it and a colleague has since played it and said they liked the line. To each their own.
There was actually a 3rd, neutral (if you can call it that) ending where you decide there's no time to think and just plug in the hard drive. Everything is hunkydory until IT catches up with you and you lose your job for insubordination and breach of contract and get litigated to hell and back. But hey, you saved the AI. Good job!
Now, back to your comment about plagiarism through AI. I have outlined the steps and logic I took while writing this and believe me, AI was not used once. I didn't even run it through anything for spelling and grammar (I'm sure there's something glaringly obvious that I missed that I'll find in 6 months when I have fresh eyes). If, as you say, you've been emmeshed in the sci fi genre for 30 years, then you obviously will follow similar logic steps, so yes, for you the next lines are obvious. For others, they won't be.
I watched Saw V in theaters (a friend dragged me along). Had never seen a Saw film before. By the first trap, I was able to tell you exactly what was going to happen. Who was good, who was bad, who would live and die and the trick to the traps. I found it to be a very lackluster movie. Did other people enjoy it? Absolutely. Were people shocked by the "twists"? I haven't asked anyone, but I'm sure many were. Did they plagiarize a bunch of authors/screen writers and that's what made the plot super obvious? Nope. Did they have AI write it for them? Also no. As you have stated, there are recognizable tropes. Anyone who knows writing well, knows the tropes, and follows certain lines of logic will be able to accurately predict what comes next.
In this current day and age everyone is so quick to jump on others and cry "AI". It's just Alanis Morissette ironic that it's the first comment on a VN about AI. (Knew it would be coming as soon as I committed to that em dash). The thing to remember about these AI models is they are created to emulate the writing of authors. They are programmed for spelling, grammar, punctuation. So yes, you will see that the writing of writers and of AI will have cross overs. It's called language.
To your point about "ignoring the past decade of conversations". To you, the idea may be outdated. To others it is still fun to play around with and they (we) still have suspension of disbelief and enjoy it. Let us have our fun. It's fiction. It doesn't always have to be accurate.
I too noticed that the text was slowed down by the graphics. We will have this looked into and hopefully fixed when we launch the longer version. Unfortunately we had to prioritize lowering word count over aesthetics.
TLDR: To each their own. Not written by AI. I hope you find some games that are more to your taste. Best of luck to you and sorry for whatever AI hurt you.
P.S. I am using my phone so this reply took hours to write. This is also not AI.