Where is everyone? by GAZArts

You have been living the same day on a loop for over a year, your monotonous routine never varying. Each morning, you rise from your slumber, feed your beloved feline companion, Felix, before attempting, and failing, to connect to your home's WiFi.

Then, you set off on a venture to seek out your neighbours, hoping to make some connection with the outside world. But it seems that fate has other plans for you.
Each time you step out of your abode, the snow begins to fall, heavier and heavier with each passing moment, forcing you to retreat back to your isolation.

Something is amiss, you can feel it, and your intuition does not deceive you. It's been almost a year, and you haven't seen a soul. No one seems to come out of their homes, no cars on the streets, and no planes in the sky. It's as if the entire world has vanished, leaving you stranded in your solitude.

The last thing you remember is hearing the sirens, the kind that usually accompany an air raid. Then, everything went silent, and the snow began to pour.

Author's note:
*Best played with headphones.
*Downloading is the recommended way to play.
*There are three different endings.

Play online

Comment GAZArts

02 Feb 2024

@Daeun thanks for your response and understandable my games are a pretty slow burn in terms of action lol, as for the errors, again I couldn't get them on both the downloaded and browser versions. I'd be curious to know if these errors can occur if your downloaded version of the Quest client has been modified by yourself while you've been creating your own games?

Comment GAZArts

02 Feb 2024

@Daeun - Thanks for checking out the game, It bums me out that you didn't have a good time but I guess such is life. I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to replicate the errors you've received and ultimately failed to do so. Were you playing the game in the internet browser or a downloaded version of the game?

Review Jennifer Wren

22 May 2023

This is a great game. I found it really easy to imagine being stuck in this house for a year because of the way everything was described. My favourite part was Felix. I read the detail about the car in the driveway (before I discovered Felix), and mistook the word car for cat, which made me wonder. So, it's a good thing Felix was IN THE HOUSE. I also loved the sound effects of the snow. Walking through the neighborhood was immense fun. I haven't figured out all of the puzzles, so there are a few places I still haven't seen. I did die, once, and was pleased that I still got to keep my collection. (I like scary stories.)

Comment GAZArts

20 May 2023

Special thanks to DavyB, a remarkable author on the platform, for offering invaluable guidance in key aspects of the game. His work can be found here --> https://textadventures.co.uk/user/view/7qpskitase20yvxfw5quqq/davyb

Comment GAZArts

18 May 2023

Progress: Waiting to be checked by a moderator.

Comment GAZArts

17 May 2023

After a month of solid writing / coding my second text adventure is finally complete!
I hope those that try it will enjoy it and thank you for your patience. - Gaz

Comment GAZArts

13 May 2023

Hi DavyB, thanks for the comment / offer - I've dropped you a Message.

Comment DavyB

13 May 2023

Out of curiosity, I've had a quick look at your evolving game. I'm happy to test it and provide feedback when you are finished? For the moment, you may want to drop in a function that indents items in the 'places and objects' and 'inventory' to show nested relationships, making them easier to read:
```
<function name="GetListDisplayAlias" parameters="obj" type="string"><![CDATA[
if (HasString(obj, "listalias")) {
result = ProcessText(obj.listalias)
}
else {
result = GetDisplayAlias(obj)
}
containers = ListExclude(ListParents(obj), game.pov)
containers = ListExclude(containers, ListParents(game.pov))
foreach (c, containers) {
result = "   " + result
}
if (obj.scenery or not obj.visible) {
return (null)
}
return (result)
]]></function>
```

Comment GAZArts

11 May 2023

Progress Report: Most locations finished and feel 'lived in' all puzzles work. Commencing work on the game's ending(s) - finally heading into the home stretch.

Comment GAZArts

09 May 2023

Progress Report: Added more snow!

Comment GAZArts

07 May 2023

Progress Report: Boss battle completed, another puzzle involving tools added, a whole heap of sound effects added.

Comment GAZArts

05 May 2023

Progress Report: New locations built: Neighbouring houses and street. | More lore added both for the player and their neighbours. New timer events added to keep things interesting even when player is stationary. More sound effects added to increase immersion.

Comment GAZArts

05 May 2023

@ifforclassroom

1. It’s been fixed
3. I have still yet to replicate this error but I’ll continue to beta test, thanks for the response.

Comment IFforClassroom

04 May 2023

1. <span style="font-family:Impact" is displayed up top in the browser tab.

3. I avoided being too specific to avoid spoilers. I think I've isolated the bug. If I use my groundhog's day knowledge and get the coat before going downstairs, it works fine. But 2 of the times that I went downstairs, read the hint, got the coat, and then tried to "open front", the game froze.

Comment GAZArts

02 May 2023

Progress Report: Felix the cat NPC added.

Comment GAZArts

02 May 2023

Progress Report: Fixed issue with Code being shown in browser tab.

Comment GAZArts

02 May 2023

Hi there IFforClassroom, thank you for checking out the game and for providing invaluable feedback. I'll try to respond to the points you raised:

1.
One thing I'm curious about is when you said that "Your title reads <span style="font-family:Impact" do you mean to say that you're seeing that code on the actual opening screen in the game? or that you're seeing it displayed up top in the browser tab. As you can imagine one of these is a bigger problem than the other lol.

2. The capitalisation of random words is in fact my error, as the game is a 'work in progress' gramma is something I generally leave towards the end of the game's development. Some capitalisation however is usually when I'm describing a product brand.

3. The front door is locked, it shouldn't cause a crash, the door prevents you from going outside because as the game states "Your attire isn't particularly suited for snowbound adventures." basically meaning that you have to go back upstairs and get warmer clothes from the closet. I've never seen a situation from various playtests of it actually freezing the game.

4. I'm having a lot of fun with the sound design, I'm glad you liked it :)

Comment IFforClassroom

02 May 2023

Very, very cool sound design.

Comment IFforClassroom

02 May 2023

In all rooms, random words are capitalized. I can't open the front door. "Open front door" sometimes freezes the game.

Comment IFforClassroom

02 May 2023

Great opening screen. Your title reads <span style="font-family:Impact"

Comment GAZArts

28 Apr 2023

Progress Report - Finalised the 'look' of the game in terms of colour and interface,
Player's house location completed with sound effects added.