Exhibition

From IFWiki

Drama
Drama
Slice of life
Slice of life
Building
Building
Green IF comp ribbon.png
IF Comp 1999
5th of 37
Three white ribbons.png
XYZZY Awards 1999
Finalists - Best Individual NPC, Best Individual PC, Best Writing
Exhibition
Exhibition small cover art.png
Author(s) Ian Finley
Publisher(s) n/a
Release date(s) 1999
Authoring system TADS 2
Platform(s) TADS 2
Language(s) English
License(s) Shareware
Multimedia
Color effects none
Graphics optional
Sound/Music optional
Ratings
Cruelty scale Merciful

How It Begins

In the foyer of a NYC museum, four people are caught within its mirrors: A) the wife, B) the critic, C) the boy, and D) the student. Who do you wish to listen to?

You are your choice of PC, carrying nothing. You are here to view twelve paintings by the late Anatoly Domokov. The rest of the museum is to the northeast.

Notable Features

  • Multiple PCs. There are four possible PCs: the boy, the critic, the student, and the wife. The player can choose any of the four to play as, and may change to another choice at any time with the CHARACTER command. Characters not used as the PC act as NPCs.
  • Puzzleless, at least in the usual sense of a puzzle. Objects are rarely manipulated physically. However, there is, in some sense, a backstory puzzle, presented as a "web" of observations. The player will gradually learn more about the absent artist as the PCs examine and interpret the artist's paintings.
  • Optional graphics: the title card image, plus one portrait of each of the PCs. Notably, the artist's paintings themselves are not represented with graphics.
  • Optional background music (from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition).
  • Easter egg: Each painting contains a reference to one of the twelve zodiac signs, and the magic word ZODIAC provides a hint to the author's identity.

Trivia and Comments

  • This was the first of two games Ian Finley entered in IF Comp 1999. The other was the joke CYOA game Life on Beal Street, which was entered anonymously and took 26th place.

Versions

Version 2 (Competition entry)

Version 2.1 (Post-comp release)

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General info

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