Simpossible Personality

Hey all!

It’s my birthday! Therefore, I gave myself some time to work on my passion projects, such as this game, and even explore some old design documents which i’ll probably post about a little later today as well!

So a couple weeks ago I shared with you guys my game Simpossible in this post. Since the, I’ve been working pretty hard in school and all that, but I have had some time to work a little more on my game, and wanted to post to further include my audience on what makes this project really special to me!

The personality I’m trying to give this game is what I feel will make it more than just another text based game. I’m doing this in 2 main ways: Words of Wisdom and Words of Disappointment.

My Words of Wisdom are quirky little snippits that are included at the start of every new game, every upping in difficulty, and every correct answer, and  I hope to make them numerous enough that a player never sees the same one twice. They range from dumb little sayings and goofy interactions to actual advice and fun facts.

My Words of Disappointment are essentially the opposite. They’re dumb little snips of the “character” poking fun at, and antagonizing the player, in a very very softhearted fashion.

A great (and incredibly relevant) example of this approach being used is the new game Smash Brothers: Ultimate. In loading screens, tips, backgrounds, and simply entertaining text tidbits appear. They used the text to input personality into the game. My favorite example, pulling from my favorite game, is their background on Sheik. It goes something like: “Sheik is originally from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, released in 1996. Though her true identity is a mystery at the beginning, we soon found out that she was actually Ze- I won’t spoil it for you“. It’s small little insertions like that which give the game a personification, and that’s just one example of the many embedded within this game. It’s cool to see techniques that I believe very strongly in being used in such a successful franchise, such as Smash Bros.

You can see output of these lines in action on my earlier post about the game. It’s very simple, but effective and easy. I’ll probably end up adding an array of previously selected lines to ensure the diversity in the lines, and that the user doesn’t get the same one twice in a single game session, but for now I’ll share with you the code as it is:

//Words of Disappointment
string incorrectAnswer(){
    
    // Gives rand() a new seed
    srand ( time(NULL) );

    // Creates random int using rand()
    int random = rand() % 16;
    
    
    if(random == 0){
        return "OUCH! I'm sorry, that's wrong... ";
    }
    
    if(random == 1){
        return "SO CLOSE.... just kidding I really don't know.. ";
    }
    
    if(random == 2){
        return "I believe in you! But maybe I shouldn't have that time... ";
    }
    
    if(random == 3){
        return "You wouldve done awesome on that one, if task was to do terribly... ";
    }
    
    if(random == 4){
        return "Well... You tried! ";
    }
    
    if(random == 5){
        return "Nice one!! Just kidding, that's really wrong..";
    }
    
    if(random == 6){
        return "Have you not been paying attention..?";
    }
    
    if(random == 7){
        return "You're wronger than the word \"wronger\" sounds..";
    }
    
    if(random == 8){
        return "Don't you know how long it took me to make this game?? The least you can do is get the answers correct!";
    }
    
    if(random == 9){
        return "Close, but no cigar..";
    }
    
    if(random == 10){
        return "OOF... That one hurt me too :(";
    }
    
    if(random == 11){
        return "Remember Tom & Jerry..? You're really acting like Tom rightn now..";
    }
    
    if(random == 12){
        return "Sometimes... effort just isn't enough..";
    }
    
    if(random == 13){
        return "I wish I could help you... cause you really need it..";
    }
    
    if(random == 14){
        return "Randomly generated generic response to your ignorance #120321: \"You embarass me\"";
    }
    
    if(random == 15){
        return "Eat a can of spinnach.. or do something, just stop being wrong..";
    }


    
    else return "Well... That shouldn't have happened... but you're also incorrect.. ";
}



//Words of Wisdom
string wordsOfWisdom(){
  
   
    // Gives rand() a new seed
    srand ( time(NULL) );
    
    // Creates random int using rand() from 
    int random = rand()%31;
    
    //Random responses
    if(random == 0){
        return "Never look back.. You dont have time for that!";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 1){
        return "Time is the one thing you can never get back... and you're wasting it!";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 2){
        return "Smile more... please!!";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 3){
        return "Don't overthink this..";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 4){
        return "Lightning strikes the earth about 100 times every second... That's like 300 times since you started reading this..!";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 5){
        return "Are you enjoying yourself?? Let me know! +1(805)231-1561";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 6){
        return "Try listening to faster paced music maybe.?";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 7){
        return "Open a window! Fresh air is good for you!";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 8){
        return "Carrot cake is perhaps one of the best collabs we've ever seen.. it evolved from carrot pudding! Sounds much less appetizing..";
    }
    
    
     if(random == 9){
        return "Cool game, huh?";
    }
    
    if(random == 10){
        return "Theres billions of people in this world... your small mistakes really don't matter much!";
    }
    
    if(random == 11){
        return "Can you do a cartwheel?? Show me!";
    }
    
    if(random == 12){
        return "Don't trip chocolate chip.";
    }
    
    if(random == 13){
        return "Simpossible because it's so simple... but still impossible... get it now?";
    }
    
    if(random == 14){
        return "I hope some of these little words of wisdom have made you smile!";
    }
    
    if(random == 15){
        return "You're wonderful!";
    }
    
    if(random == 16){
        return "That was so quick I didn't even see your fingers move!";
    }
    
    if(random == 18){
        return "Check out my mixtape: 11101101000110100";
    }
    
    if(random == 19){
        return "Lo Hicimos!";
    }
    
    if(random == 20){
        return "Don't copy and paste code kids! That's how bugs are spread!";
    }
    
    if(random == 21){
        return "Every correct answer is another byte of RAM I consume!";
    }
    
    if(random == 22){
        return "High levels of arousal are best for simple tasks, such as these! Check out Yerkes-Dodson Law!";
    }
    
    if(random == 23){
        return "They did surgery.. on a grape!!! (This meme is probably long dead..)";
    }
    
    if(random == 24){
        return "RIP all the hours you've spent on this game...";
    }
    
    if(random == 25){
        return "Kanpai!";
    }
    
    if(random == 26){
        return "Salud!";
    }
    
    if(random == 27){
        return "Cheers!";
    }
    
    if(random == 28){
        return "Skål!";
    }
    
    if(random == 29){
        return "Spread love and acceptance, and the world may become a better place yet!!";
    }
    
    if(random == 30){
        return "Read more Tolkien! (Not paid for by the Tolkien Trust).";
    }
    
    else return "Well... That shouldn't have happened!";
}