Show HN: Mystery-o-matic – A daily murder mystery to solve

Post by Geee » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 4:50 AM UTC

galapago wrote: post #16

MD87 wrote: post #10

It's a cool idea but it fell a bit flat for me. > However, it's important to note that every clue you view will have an impact on your overall score. Exercise caution and strategic thinking as you navigate through the evidence and interrogate the suspects to piece together the ultimate solution. That sounds great! But what actually happened was I clicked through clue after clue about person X being in room Y at time…

Hi, thanks for the feedback! > That sounds great! But what actually happened was I clicked through clue after clue about person X being in room Y at time Z until I eventually got told what the murder weapon wasn't three times in a row. I didn't feel like I could exercise any caution or strategic thinking; it was just "Nope, this isn't enough information" over and over until "Yes, this is now enough information". I ne…

Post by laurieg » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 5:25 AM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #50

triceratops wrote: post #46

I've long felt that the mystery game genre is cool in theory but doesn't work in practice on computers. Most games end up being menu clickers. Or you have to add puzzles. Which is fun, but a puzzle game isn't the same as a mystery game. Generative AI changes things. It's possible to make a more open-ended game where you can act like a real investigator. Draw up lists of suspects, order forensic tests, call experts, i…

You won't have to wait long, that space is red hot right now. People are rushing to commercialize LLM powered NPC dialoge. nVidia's ACE might cut everyone's lunch though we will see. There is one tech demo which has you piecing together what happened at an accident by talking with the NPCs. There's also a Skyrim mod that replaces all the NPCs with LLM actors. I think the turning point for that technology will be loca…

Post by thaumasiotes » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 9:01 AM UTC

chrisoverzero wrote: post #48

thaumasiotes wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Slowly piecing together the fates of all the people on the ship is deeply satisfying, sorta like a sudoku puzzle. Return of the Obra Dinn relies completely on the fact that you can make guesses and the game will confirm for your benefit whether or not those guesses were correct. The information you're "piecing together" is not actually present in the game - you have to guess it, and sometimes the game will tell you…

The game is completely solvable with no guessing.

Post by galapago » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 9:34 AM UTC

mpalmer wrote: post #22

galapago wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, thanks for the feedback! > That sounds great! But what actually happened was I clicked through clue after clue about person X being in room Y at time Z until I eventually got told what the murder weapon wasn't three times in a row. I didn't feel like I could exercise any caution or strategic thinking; it was just "Nope, this isn't enough information" over and over until "Yes, this is now enough information". I ne…

I agree a greater variety of clue types would make it more interesting. And then maybe each clue you reveal increases the chances of some failure outcome (e.g. murderer escapes, kills again, etc)? That would definitely prompt more caution and strategic thinking before revealing the next clue.

Post by galapago » Sat, Jul 08, 2023, 9:38 AM UTC

GenericPoster wrote: post #47

Really fun game. From a visibility standpoint, I would recommend improving the visibility of the notebook. Once you're deep into it and a lot of boxes are filled, it becomes harder to keep track of checks and crosses. Native dark mode would be nice to have as well. Another nice to have feature, quick clearing the notebook would be nice. I didn't need it this time and I guess refreshing the page does it. but it also c…