The Stanley Parable

MusicallyInspired · August 05, 2011, 10:19:53 PM

Guys, this is truly fascinating. You must play it. It's a free MOD for the Source engine. So if you have Steam all you need is the "Source SDK 2007" from the tools section in Steam (which is free) and you can play it. Truly brilliant game design. It's an experimental narrative-driven first person game surrounding the philosophies of choice. I don't even want to say anymore lest I give it away but if you love good writing you should play it. Also, there are multiple...paths you can take. I won't say anymore, but the writing is genius and the voice acting/narrating is very well done. PLAY IT.

The Stanley Parable

There are installation instructions included if you can't figure it out. It should be simple enough, though.

dark-daventry · August 06, 2011, 11:58:34 PM

Considering this is all free, I'm very inclined to give this a try. I just have to find the time lol

MusicallyInspired · August 07, 2011, 07:19:08 AM

It's really not that long. But it is quite brilliant. Definitely worth your time.

Enchantermon · August 09, 2011, 05:30:14 PM

Well, that was...certainly interesting, and not in a bad way. Not sure how else to describe it.

MusicallyInspired · August 09, 2011, 07:19:23 PM

There are 6 different endings. Have you found them all?

Enchantermon · August 10, 2011, 06:58:24 PM

No, I found four.
[spoiler]You die from insanity, you die from blowing up the building, you free yourself from the machine and you free yourself from the narrator.

That last one was the most bizzare, because the whole thing just arbitrarily ended for no reason.[/spoiler]

MusicallyInspired · August 10, 2011, 11:27:34 PM

You can go up and down in the elevator. I can't remember what the last ending was...maybe I haven't found it...

Fierce Deity · August 11, 2011, 12:56:49 AM

I'm downloading the Source SDK Base 2007 for Steam right now. I'll download The Stanley Parable afterwards. Then I can understand what you guys are talking about.

(Posted on: August 11, 2011, 01:55:36 AM)

Woah, this is weird. I could have sworn that I saw The Stanley Parable on Steam. But I looked up mods after downloading SDK 2007, and I couldn't find it. I saw every single mod available, but couldn't find Stanley Parable. I'm now kicking myself, for not doing this sooner.

snabbott · August 11, 2011, 11:55:46 AM

Did you try the URL that MI provided?

Fierce Deity · August 11, 2011, 12:07:32 PM

Ahh, I hadn't noticed that the site had Mirrors set up.

It just looked like a news site for gaming at first. Sorry guys.

Enchantermon · August 11, 2011, 04:48:20 PM

Oh, yeah, I forgot about going up in the elevator. I'll have to try that.

Fierce Deity · August 11, 2011, 11:49:13 PM

So let me see if I got the endings straight:

[spoiler]-Escaping the facility.
-Escaping the machine (but then having to quit the game to avoid getting squished).
-Escape the narrator (or Half-Life 2 ending).
-Going insane.
-Being blown up by the detonation.
-Trapped in the workroom and losing free will.[/spoiler]

Can I has cookies?

MusicallyInspired · August 12, 2011, 11:25:37 AM

Congrats.

Fierce Deity · August 12, 2011, 12:44:21 PM

Thanks, it was a fun game.

[spoiler]My favorite part was when I came to the red and blue doors. I kept going through the blue door, and then the narrator moved the blue door behind Stanley. All of the snide comments that the narrator made were funny as well.[/spoiler]

kindofdoon · August 15, 2011, 04:17:47 PM

I watched the full play through on YouTube, and I found it extremely interesting. There are so many levels of awareness, so many narrative frames, it's quite difficult to try to get a complete understanding of it. It's like every other video game is a stage actor who never looks at the crowd, and just recites his lines, whereas TSP looks the audience right in the eye and questions its own existence, and the fact that he's on stage in the first place. Really impressive. And the writing is great too.

Fierce Deity · August 15, 2011, 05:22:04 PM

Quote from: kindofdoon on August 15, 2011, 04:17:47 PM
I watched the full play through on YouTube, and I found it extremely interesting. There are so many levels of awareness, so many narrative frames, it's quite difficult to try to get a complete understanding of it. It's like every other video game is a stage actor who never looks at the crowd, and just recites his lines, whereas TSP looks the audience right in the eye and questions its own existence, and the fact that he's on stage in the first place. Really impressive. And the writing is great too.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. It never occurred to me that it really puts the spotlight on the gamer. I was taken back by the narrator and how he would react when you disobeyed his directions. Another good ending was:

[spoiler]The one where you get put into a machine and then the narrator has the intention of punishing Stanley by crushing him. Then a second narrator steps in and identifies the first narrator as another character, and then states that the only way to escape the false reality is to quit the game.[/spoiler]

There truly was a philosophical statement to be had in this game. Very interesting to say the least.

kindofdoon · August 15, 2011, 05:32:53 PM

That part really messed with me. It's like the game isn't content to just break the fourth wall, it wants to break the fifth, sixth, and seventh as well!

snabbott · August 20, 2011, 06:35:12 PM

I finally got a chance to play this - it was great!

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The Stanley Parable