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In Progress Let's play Kentucky Route Zero!

Crooked Bee

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01kentucky_0001.jpg


Yesterday the finalists of 15th Independent Games Festival were announced. Among them is a point-and-click adventure Kentucky Route Zero, described as "a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky and the mysterious folks who travel it." I love point and clicks so it got me interested. So far only Act I has been released, with the remaining episodes set to be released over the course of 2013.

So... Yay, a new point and click adventure? Or Nay, another indie piece of crap? Let's find out. I just bought Act I from the developer's website and I'm going into this blindly, "Let's try" meaning I'm going to abandon it as soon as it gets too boring for me to go on.

01kentucky_0002.jpg

01kentucky_0003.jpg


The game begins as an old truck arrives at a gas station called, enigmatically (but perhaps unsurprisingly given the huge horse's head that graces its exterior), Equus Oils.

01kentucky_0007.jpg

01kentucky_0010.jpg


It is now sunset, but the station lights are off.

01kentucky_0016.jpg


A man and a dog climb out of the truck and look around.

01kentucky_0019.jpg

01kentucky_0018.jpg


Our protagonist is working for an antiques shop and his dog is wearing a straw hat, which adds a certain chic I guess -- or maybe just goes to show the owner's eccentricity.

01kentucky_0021.jpg


There isn't much to explore in this location, but we can wander off a bit to the right and admire the sunset over the highway.

01kentucky_0023.jpg

01kentucky_0024.jpg


Sitting in an antique armchair in the center of the station is a lonely attendant by the name of Joseph, and the area around him lights up as we approach -- even though it was completely dark here just a few moments ago. Upon closer inspection, we can see the light coming from a lantern just in front of Joseph.

Let's see what he has to say.

01kentucky_0025.jpg


Could that have been our truck? Maybe, maybe not.

JOSEPH: What a mess! I hope they don't come down here looking for anything; we blew a damn fuse and it's all shut off!

But it looks like we have already come here looking for something, doesn't it?

01kentucky_0027.jpg


So what is our dog's name and sex? This is important! Or at least would be important in a Bioware game.
 

Crooked Bee

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I'm afraid we can't call him Blue, dear lightbane, but I'll count your vote as one in favor of a female dog companion named Blue anyway.

His name is Homer.
> Her name is Blue.
Just some dog; I don't know his name.


01kentucky_0030.jpg


JOSEPH: Hey, here's some jerky for Blue. I made it myself! Didn't turn out too well, but I bet a dog will eat it.

01kentucky_0032.jpg


CONWAY: I've got a delivery to make on Dogwood, but I'd rather watch the sunset.

JOSEPH: Yeah, it's the truth: you have got to stop and breathe in that road! I bet while you're out driving you let your eyes wander up the tree line and you just... well, I bet you're more of a poet than old Joseph!


So, where is Dogwood Drive?
> How long have you been working here?
Do you like poetry?


How long have you been working here, Joseph?

01kentucky_0035.jpg


JOSEPH: The Zero is a tough route to find, but you can use my computer to look up directions. You'll have to head down into the basement and reset the circuit breaker first. I'll be happy to have those whining lights back up anyway; it's too damn quiet out here.

The basement door is back there in the office. Appreciate your help, friend. Oh, and here:

Take this lamp. It gets dark.


Entrusted with our first task, which sounds easy enough, and a lamp to light our way, we must now make way into the station's basement.

01kentucky_0039.jpg

01kentucky_0040.jpg


With that, a new interface button has appeared that lets us turn the lamp on and off.

01kentucky_0041.jpg


Anyway, with the lamp on, down into the basement we go.

01kentucky_0046.jpg


A bunch of basement dwellers here.

01kentucky_0047.jpg


An oddly-shaped dice? Can this be...

01kentucky_0050.jpg


BOB: (To EMILY) Uh, no. Sorry. I was looking at the rules again.

BEN: (To BOB) It gets easier as you go. Look, you said you rolled a "five," right? That means you get to pick up your marker and move it anywhere on the map.

BOB: (To BEN) So it's your turn now, right?

BEN: (To BOB) Oh, yeah I guess so. Where'd you put that twenty-sided die?


It's like I'm suddenly in a familiar place.

EMILY: I don't see it. Did you drop it?

BOB: Uh ... It should be easy enough to find. It glows in the dark.

01kentucky_0058.jpg


CONWAY: Did you lose something?

BOB: (To EMILY) I think it rolled down off to the left there, but I don't see it.

EMILY: Well, I'm not going to go looking for it. It's too dark down there.

BEN: One of you go down and get it, and I'll just ... study the rules here.

01kentucky_0062.jpg


CONWAY: What kind of game is that?

BEN: (To EMILY) I think you were right about the instant crisis rolls. There's a whole separate table of them in the back.


01kentucky_0065.jpg


I almost feel like I've heard this kind of argument before. ...Nah, I'm probably imagining things.

01kentucky_0066.jpg


CONWAY: You seem pretty focused on that game.

EMILY: (To BEN) I still don't understand how you win.

01kentucky_0068.jpg


EMILY: That doesn't help.

BOB: I don't think you can win. It says on the box it's a tragedy.


A roll-playing game that is also a tragedy? Hm, interesting. I thought those were all about money, fame, and little numbers going up.

But anyway...

01kentucky_0073.jpg


CONWAY: You said you're missing a piece?

EMILY: (To BEN) OK, so just to get started we need that twenty-sided die.

01kentucky_0075.jpg


EMILY: Bob, go get that die.

BOB: It's too dark down there.

BEN: (To BOB) Well that should make it easy, the damn thing glows in the dark!


Uh, yeah, I guess that's enough of a hint. Off to the left we go.

01kentucky_0079.jpg


Oh hey, a sign.

(A dusty, rusty sign is bolted onto the wall.)

SIGN: THESE ARE THE RULES:


01kentucky_0082.jpg


I'm sure every basement dweller's mum could sympathize with rule number 4.

But what was that about the die glowing in the dark?

01kentucky_0084.jpg


Yep, here it is.

01kentucky_0086.jpg


Time to give it back to those nerdy peo--

01kentucky_0087.jpg


Hey where is everybody gone?

01kentucky_0088.jpg


All right, if that's the way you roll, then finders keepers.

01kentucky_0090.jpg


We have, however, come here for the circuit breaker, so let's turn this thing back on.

01kentucky_0091.jpg

01kentucky_0094.jpg


And with that the place looks just a bit more cheerful now. But the memory of the mysterious nerds in the basement just won't go away. They were kinda spooky, I admit.

01kentucky_0096.jpg


CONWAY: There were some people down in your basement playing some kind of game, but they're gone now.

JOSEPH: In the basement? No, I don't think so. Maybe that lamplight was playing tricks on you, huh?


...But I saw them with my own eyes! No way I could make that shit up.

JOSEPH: Well, strange things happen underground. Especially in the dark...

Yeah, that helps.

01kentucky_0099.jpg

01kentucky_0101.jpg


Oh, I'm sure we will -- right in the next update.
 

spekkio

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Classy pseudo-2D instead of generic shitty 3d? The fuck is this shit?

:incline:
 

CappenVarra

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Yay for mysterious basement dwellers that disappear when you look away...
 

Crooked Bee

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I would've updated this earlier, but my PC died and I'm in the middle of replacing it at the moment. Hopefully I should get this LP back on track sometime during the weekend. Fingers crossed!
 

Crooked Bee

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Not as soon as I hoped but we're back with some more Kentucky Route Zero, or the (futile?) search for it, at least. While we're at it I do suggest you re-read the previous updates, they're pretty short anyway.

Previously on this LP, Joseph said we could find the directions to Route Zero on his PC, which is password protected and of course Joseph has forgotten the password. It has something to do with poetry though...

JOSEPH: Just try to think like a poet.



Let's give this a try.

(CONWAY taps a key, waking the computer from its reverie.)



COMPUTER: Password.



CONWAY: I talk and listen to him talking.

> (Typing) Nobody saw the accident.
(Typing) The moon throbs.
(Typing) It's late.


Whenever we input another line, we get three more to choose from. I'm guessing our objective is to construct something resembling a short poem out of it.



CONWAY: You just breathe road.

COMPUTER: Password accepted.

JOSEPH: (Shouting) How's it going in there? Figuring it all out? Sure you are.


We are indeed. Our poem-like password accepted, the computer now asks us which submenu we'd like to access.



Games maybe?



I knew that all along!

Then maybe the messages?

Message one is from "donald@hotmk.mail".

Message two is from "accounts@consolidated.mail".


We choose to read message one first.



Nevermind. I can't remember why I even started writing this. I miss those days in the lab, with you and our dear Lula. Maybe you've found your own "Xanadu." Well, so have I!

End of message.


Cryptic. Let's check out message two now.



Consider making a payment immediately to obviate the need for us to switch you to "Sustained Brownout Select."

Sincerely, your friends at the Consolidated Power Co.

End of message.


Evel publishers energy companies!

But let's see if we can find the directions to Zero here somewhere. The only option that remains is the Address book.



Ah, here it is.



:rage:

> Dogwood Drive

Address "Dogwood Drive" is not real.

> Marquez



JOSEPH: (Shouting) Got it? Out there on Macondo somewhere, right? Yeah, that's it.



Um, who is Weaver Marquez and why exactly should we help you return an old TV when we have a shipment to deliver in time?



Um, yeah, sure thing... I suppose.

Whatcha thinking about this, Blue?



CONWAY: How's it going, Blue?

...

CONWAY: What do you think of this place?

...

CONWAY: It's odd, I never noticed it driving by.

...

CONWAY: How about a treat? Here's some jerky from the gas station attendant.

...

CONWAY: He's a bit odd, isn't he?

...

CONWAY: I guess the night shift will do that to you.




Time to hit the road.
 

Crooked Bee

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The world map in Kentucky Road Zero is presented as a black and white road outline with a truck wheel marking your current location. It's pretty well animated, too.

Interestingly enough, and this is just one of the things I like about the game, we can immediately return to the Equus Oils gas station and get a different scene:



In fact, whenever you re-enter a major location you get a new scene. Sometimes it's just a formal thing, sometimes, however, things really change.

Like this time.



Instead of just Joseph, we see Joseph and the angel a stranger here.

(A man with a large pair of antlers slung over his shoulder is speaking with JOSEPH.)

JOSEPH: ... and that's only a few miles outside of Hodgenville anyway. I don't think you could do much better for accessibility, and they got that new gas station if folks get lost --



JOSEPH: Well that's a way to look at it, I guess...



CONWAY: Sure, I know a furnite warehouse you could probably break into.

:smug:

CARRINGTON: This isn't some illegal drug party!

But I'm obliged you'd stop a moment to help me work this through. Let me explain my charge:



CONWAY: How do you mean "experimental"?

CARRINGTON: Well, drama is really my second love. My higher calling is Pseudoscience.


> Yup. Pseudoscience.
So when is the performance?


CONWAY: Yup. Pseudoscience.

CARRINGTON: Pseudoscience is the eternally fruitful marriage of whimsy and process that has yielded such poetic specimens as: astrology, phrenology, canals on mars, and homeopathic medicine.

I hope I have the time to explain how my pseudoscientific theorypoetics find expression in this play, but now I am in a delirious rush...



So like a hawk, in fact, that I failed to keep an eye on my gas meter. I'm here waiting for the tow truck to bring my car so I can get back at the task.


Well, I don't mind keeping an eye out for spot; I'm on a drive anyway.
> So what kind of venue are you looking for?




I wonder if Joseph has anything to add?



CONWAY: Here I am.

JOSEPH: Yep. I'm hard at work, as you can see. Now, don't distract me! Ha!

You like your work?


I haven't got a lot of options.
> It's better than being in a ditch.




We climb back into the truck and drive to the nearby wreck.




Is this the wreck we got into earlier? Did we even get into a wreck? Or was it someone else's wreck that Joseph heard the sound of earlier?

We certainly look like a wreck, that's for sure.



The way I see it, this choice essentially lets the player decide whether it was our protagonist who got into this wreck or not.



Talking to Blue here.

CONWAY: Guess you never liked the stuff anyway, did you?

....

CONWAY: Not the way I liked it.


Let us go back to the gas station again.




JOSEPH: Oh yeah, his tow truck came so he gassed up and left. He's awfully proud of that car.

Yeah I guess he's back out looking for a venue. He said he hoped to run into you again, though. Or maybe we'll hear about it on the radio; I'll keep an ear on it for you!


Thanks, I guess.

We can return to this location an indefinite number of times, and every time we do marks the beginning of a new scene:



Nothing essentially changes any of these new times though, and no new characters or dialogue appear.

I wonder if that's the way in-game time goes? And I wonder if that influences anything?

Stay tuned for some text-adventuring next time.
 

Crooked Bee

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The game is unashamedly "artsy" which is the kind of thing I normally stay away from, but yeah, it does look great and it is also really well-written and presented.

In contrast to the few major locations like the gas stations, minor places or events in Kentucky Route Zero are designed as elegant (and atmospheric) little text adventures. In this update, I'm going to show some of them off.



Take Buffalo Creek RECC on Shady Land Church Road, for example.



Conway looks in through a window.

A sinewy shadow obstructs the view through the window.


Let's try the door, then.

Conway enters the front door.

The floor is loosely covered in dirt. Parts of the carpet have rotted with exposure to rain. Wild mushrooms grow in some corners of the room.

The wall behind the front desk has been mostly rotted away; it looks fragile.


> Push through the back wall.
Leave the building.


Conway pushes through the moldy back wall.

Conway finds himself what may once have been a conference room. The floor has fallen away in places, and filled with a dark green mire. The walls of the conference room are decayed and damaged.


> Push through another wall.
Leave the building.


Conway pushes through the wall.



After a moment of silence, the frog chorus resumes.


Next stop: a diner on Gotts Hydro Road.



Conway tries the door.

The door swings open easily. A bell rings nearby. The interior of the diner is pitch black.


Walk in.
> Wait a moment to adjust to the darkness.
Leave.


Conway stands in the doorway, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

A bit of errant light from the nearby highway creeps through the open door, and gradually Conway is able to make out a few figures inside:

Two old men in trucker hats sit in a corner booth, with a checkers board set on the table between them.

A young woman standing behind the counter in an apron must be a waitress.

The cook stares blankly from the kitchen.​

The door slams shut, and the room is dark again.


> Sit down at the counter.
Try to open the door and leave.


Conway walks in the direction of the counter.

He hits his knee on something hard and metallic, winces quietly, and then carefully finds his way to a stool. He places his hand on the counter.



A cup of coffee would do it. Black ... oily, even. Hot, familiar dinner coffee. Conway runs his hand down the menu. The surface is uniformly flat, and slick with condensation.

He feels a warm hand against his cheek, and freezes. Her fingers run across the stubble of his chin. He feels like apologizing. She leans forward, and so does he --


:hug:

(What more did you expect?)



Next event: a swarm of dragonflies.

The truck jerks toward the shoulder, nearly run off the road by a swarm of dragonflies. Their wings beat briefly in the headlights, and disappear into the night.

This particular dragonfly event ends here, but we can follow the dragonflies to the next one, on Griderville Road:



The dragonflies vary their pace. As the truck approaches, they scatter.

After a minute or two, Conway can hear a swelling whine to the southeast.


We investigate, coming across a lonely house.



There are no lights on in this house. A stencil on the mailbox reads: "2880 Beaker Blvd." And below, written in marker: "NO SOLICITORS. I WORK FOR LONG HOURS AND RETIRE EARLY."

Is this where the whine came from? Maybe, maybe not.

Next drive-by location: Barren River RECC.



Conway looks in a window. The windows are too dirty to see anything inside but a few dim shapes. Furniture, maybe, or livestock.

Front door it is, then.

Conway steps through the front door.

The room feels empty with no furniture other than the built-in front desk, host to a disconnected telephone and a few empty beer cans. Meandering lines of color have been spraypainted along the walls.

Behind the desk, a hallway leads into darkness.


> Pick up the telephone.
Enter the hallway.
Leave the building.


Conway lifts the telephone receiver to his ear.

There's no dialtone. The phone is disconnected.


> Listen closer.
Put the phone down.




Conway steps into the hallway.

The hallway passes several smaller office doors. It quickly disappears into darkness. Something is glowing in the distance, barely.


> Walk to the dark end of the hall.
Try an office door or two.
Return to the front desk.


Conway walks to the dark end of the hall.

The door at the far end of the hallway is tightly closed, but a warm glow bleeds in from its edges.


We open the door.

Conways opens the door at the end of the hallway.

The handle is loose, and the door swings open easily. The hallway fills with warmth, light, and the smells of smoke and coffee.

About a dozen men and women sit around a campfire in the middle of a large room. Cubicle walls have been cut into pieces: some leaning up against the walls, and some arranged into stacks of firewood.

One of the women waves to Conway, and offers him an empty chair. It's missing wheels, but it's comfortable and easily adjustable to his height. Someone takes a pot hung above the fire and pours coffee into a styrofoam cup. Conway accepts it, and they all return to watching the fire.


Set theme: hospitality.

Next stop: a guitar player.



A young man in gray-stained clothes sits by the side of the road. He is playing a worn guitar. To his left is a blue mug, and to his right a weathered dog.

Listen.
> Pet the dog.


Conway pets the dog. The dog closes its eyes and pretends to be asleep.

The young man strums absently on the guitar, hums tunelessly, and occasionally mumbles a word.


Put a dollar in the cup.
> Listen.


:keepmymoney:



As he walks back to his truck, Conway finds that he can hardly remember a word the young man spoke.

Let's also check out the nearby church.



A large LED display glows in the parking lot:

"LIGHT OF THE LAST GREAT AWAKENING BAPTIST CHURCH"


Enter the church.
> Listen.
Drive away.


Conway stands and listens to the chorus.

The muffled chorus drones at a steady volume, repeating the same two verses without rest.


> Enter the church

Conway approaches the church doors.

The front doors of the church are modest and worn. They are locked.


The doors are locked, but we are stubborn.

> Walk around to the rear of the building.

Conway walks to the rear of the building.

A ramp leads up from a few dusty metal trash cans to the church's back door.


> Look in the trash cans.
Enter the church's back door.
Go back to the front of the building.


Conway opens a few of the trash cans and looks in.

One has a bit of something leafy and rotten stuck to the bottom of it. Another is full of unlabeled videotapes.


> Enter the church's back door.



Conways pushes open the plastic doors and walks through.

Vacant pews sprawl unevenly into the church. A small raised stage lies to Conway's right, bare except for a tape recorder.

The tape recorder's power cord runs to an outlet near Conway's feet.


> Unplug the tape recorded.
Go back to the kitchen.


Forgive us, o god worshipped here by the mechanical chorus.

Conway unplugs the tape recorder.

The singing stops. The lights fail.


And our last stop today: an airplane.



This one is animated and not just text, even though it is a side scene too.



Truly a labor of Sisyphus.

Just look at these wheels.



And look at these men.



Still, they continue to drag the airplane...



...until eventually fading out of sight. I guess we're done here.

So much for the random world exploration for this update. I must admit the tone of the exploration and the way the world is packed with little events are really well done. They are, of course, pointless side-things, but still.

Next time, we advance the plot, and maybe go on some more text adventures too.
 

SoupNazi

Guest
I guess I'm gonna have to acquire this because you're too fucking slow with the updates.
 

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