External Links


moments.z6
Requires a Z-Code interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
walkthru.txt
solution
moments.blb
sound effects, which probably won't work under your interpreter
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.

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Moments Out of Time

by L. Ross Raszewski

Episode 1 of Moments Out of Time
Time Travel
2001

About the Story

"Note: requires a Z6-capable interpreter, preferably with Blorb sound support." [--blurb from Competition Aught-One]


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG

The writing is good throughout the game, but the best-written parts are in the first person and take the voices of the characters; call me easily persuaded, but I was convinced. I found no false notes in the voices of the characters when they set their own thoughts down on paper -- some unappealing aspects, maybe, but very much true to life.

That it’s difficult to give a story/exploration-based game any sort of pace or direction is not news, of course, and I don’t blame Moments for resorting to puzzles to achieve some sort of structure, keep the game from becoming a big lump of facts.
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>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

[T]here are the bones of an amazing game here. The plot revolves around a future time-travel agency, and the world-building evident in the details of this is just wonderful. Also, some of the things that make it inappropriate for the competition don't necessarily make it a bad game. Quite the contrary, in fact -- the number of options available makes for an incredibly rich gameworld...

All in all, a very worthy effort, but I wish it wasn't a competition game. Releasing this game outside the competition would have accrued several benefits. It would have allowed more time to fix those nasty details of implementation and documentation. Players could have approached it as something they could spend a significant amount of time on, rather than having to rush through it to see as much as possible while not giving short shrift to the other 51 games awaiting their attention. And it wouldn't have been presented for formal judging in a not-completely-functional state. Would have, would have, would have. If only real time travel were possible.


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IF-Review
Have Stream, Will Travel
One of your goals, I suppose, is to get a high score on your evaluation at the end of the game. And if you asked the PC about his motives, he say that's his main goal. From the player's point of view, though, replaying the game wouldn't be much fun if boosting your score were the only objective. In my case, what drove me to play the game again and again was the challenge of piecing together the game's fragmentary story, using multiple sets of tools during multiple playthroughs, until, gradually, the bits of the story began to come together.

What's especially compelling, though, is that these two goals are synergistic. Whether you're playing to gain knowledge or just to get a high score, you'll surely end up getting both. This makes the game all the more rewarding. For this and other reasons, if you're looking for a game with a lot of replay value, this is it.
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Page Update History

  v.8: 07-May-2022 22:59 - Paul O'Brian (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed external review links
v.7: 30-Jun-2020 07:15 - Zape
Changed external review links
v.6: 24-May-2020 17:05 - Zape
Changed download links
v.5: 17-Feb-2013 10:43 - Edward Lacey
Changed external review links
v.4: 01-Feb-2009 00:32 - Dave Chapeskie
Changed series name, episode number
v.3: 24-Apr-2008 18:37 - Paul O'Brian
Changed external review links
v.2: 29-Feb-2008 15:24 - David Welbourn
Changed description
v.1: 16-Oct-2007 01:49 - IFDB
Created page