Structure · In-game text · Design document

Two Soloists

Nocturama Bononia · 2021

A promising pianist, a ruthless killer. Two soloists.

A pianist plays the most important concert of his life. At every passage, a flashback shows a murder in the past. Why the two are linked is revealed only at the end.

Structure

↺ Only at the end: the demon and the pact.

Now · passage 1Carlo gathers himself; three keys, hidden timer

↑ in timemissed ⇡

Then · murder 1carried out, or not

Now · passage 2Carlo gathers himself; three keys, hidden timer

↑ in timemissed ⇡

Then · murder 2carried out, or not

Now · passage 3Carlo gathers himself; three keys, hidden timer

↑ in timemissed ⇡

Then · murder 3carried out, or not

Now · passage 4Carlo gathers himself; three keys, hidden timer

↑ in timemissed ⇡

Then · last victimcarried out, or not

↓

Tally of passages played in timetwo or more?

↓

Two or more · Faust endingthe pact with the devil is fulfilled

Fewer than two · The Hatchet Jobthe critics tear the concert apart

In time: the music flows and the murder in the past is carried out. Missed: the chord breaks, and the killer did not have the courage.

How it plays

Four passages. Before each one, a frame of Carlo gathering himself, concentrating, wanting to get it right.
Then a keyboard frame: the player physically presses three keys within a hidden time limit.
All three in time: the music goes on correctly, and a flashback shows a murder carried out. Some or none: a murder that never happened. The cause sits in the past, the effect in the present.
Two or more passages in time lead to the Faust ending, where the pact with the devil is fulfilled. Fewer lead to the Hatchet Job ending: the critics tear the concert apart.

Why it works. The player thinks he is deciding whether to play. Each flashback shows what that decision cost in the past, but not why. The demon appears only at the end, and closes the circle: Carlo plays well because he killed, and he killed in order to play well.

In-game text

Writing sample · In-game text

Before the passages · Captions

Carlo (caption): Breathe. Are you afraid? No.

Carlo (caption): Let the flow come out of your hands naturally.

Carlo (caption): You can play. Or not…

The refrain returns before every passage, and frays as the night goes on: “You can… play. Or… not…”

Faust ending

Demon: And so, among the stone faces of Palazzo Tartagni, you found me. A face hidden among faces.

Demon: You kept your deal. You will get what you ask for.

Demon: Without a doubt, my greatest performance.

The Hatchet Job

Critic: Poor performance. Very, very bad.

Carlo (caption): And that’s how I got panned by critics. I’ll never play the piano again.

In the Faust ending the last word goes to the demon: the performance was his all along.

From design document to game

Writing sample · Original design document

Frame 13 · Choice 1

The player chooses LEFT HAND (right) or RIGHT HAND (wrong).

Carlo (caption): And now the left hand.

Right: go to frame 14. Wrong: go to frame 18.

In the design document, four binary choices: right or wrong.

What changed, and why

The team wanted the music to carry more of the story. Once we had checked that the student team could build it, we decided together to replace the binary choices with a keyboard the player actually plays.

The logic of the design document stayed: playing well still means a murder was committed.