Imaginary
A downloadable game for Windows and macOS
DEVELOPMENT CANCELLED.
You Are a being of existential horror...
Formless... Curious.
Use your personal deduction skills to find key terms in conversations, use the key terms to go deeper into the subject's psyche and clear the what causes its stymie.
****An abstract Visual Novel Experience, Reading is required to progress... Sorry. If you find yourself stuck, please leave a comment and I will shoot you the solution to the puzzle right away.****
*NOTE: YOU ARE ABLE TO PLAY FROM BEGINNING TO END IN THIS RELEASE.
Playtime Est.:4+hrs
Recommended System Requirements
RAM: 8gb
Processor: any intel i5
Graphics: 2gb of Video Memory
Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
CONTROLS
>WASD = Movement
>Space = Jump
>E = Interact(Basic)
>Q = Perspective Switch
>Right Click = Interact Options
INTERACT MENU
>A/D = Scroll Through Options
>E = Select Option
DECRYPT MENU
>use the decrypt menu to spell out a key word you think applies to a character or object to dive into its psyche.
ALTERNATE PERSPECTIVE
>If you feel stuck in a location, switch perspectives to reveal hidden platforms and ramps... use the E key to highlight what platforms and ramps would disappear if you switch back to avoid death.
A Michael T Moreno Game
***NOTE/TIP***
post prologue... you can use perspective and the interaction menu...
at the end of the area... use the DECRYPT menu to spell "END" to progress...
Also, the key to investigation...
Interact then decrypt... that's the best approach.
Download
Comments
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Agree with some of the other comments that this outing was pretty slow going, but as someone who appreciates a good visual novel I wasn't too bothered by that. Having played a large portion of your projects I'd have to say that this is my favourite, really neat art direction. Out of curiosity, any particular reason these projects were scrapped? I'd say they definitely show a lot of potential as far as abstract gaming experiences go.
Thanks, I appreciate your giving it a go and being patient with it :3 as for why the projects were scrapped... ehhh it's complicated.(sorry)
That being said, nothing is really scrapped for me... I am working on something I cancelled in 2012/13; this project doesn't really resemble the version of it from then, but the idea is there; cancelled games tend to come back in spiritual successor or interpretive forms. using the word "Cancelled" is easier on me, to allow me to properly step away and refresh my mental health(which it always comes down too.) but again, these things are complicated in motivation. I'm really sorry I can't be more accommodating with this info... it just dives into info that I feel I really shouldn't share lest it affect the way the games are seen or reviewed. I'd rather the games not carry my "excuses"; if its not a good game, then I will have to try a different approach next time around rather than explain why its bad, thats for the reviews and gamers to tell me if they want.
Major thing though, I really appreciate you asking; out of minor curiosity or etc... I just am happy to see that people wonder why. also, I really appreciate that you have given my games a try... and left feedback, that really does help; again, I am so sorry I couldn't really answer your question and went on a bit of a tangent... but I kind of feel like I'd rather not have that tangent stay in my head lol.
Thank you again,
Mike :3
p.s.
I totally respect people feeling the game has a suuuuper slow start, I totally agree. There's a lot of stuff I will do differently if I go for this approach again :3(also, that was a concern I had while developing lol.) I have learned a lot developing this... and from the feedback as well. :3
Gave it a shot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18XpZjZkidk
Hey Danny,
Glad you found it interesting enough to give it a go, sorry that you fell through the level lol... you are awesome for the posting the playthrough :3 I enjoyed the vid a ton, thanks for that :3
I am happy you played as much as you did, and actually read through the dialogue, lol not my favorite part of the vid; I am not crazy about the direction I took the game in really.
again, sorry it pretty much broke on you, but glad you gave it the attention you did. I really appreciate that :3 it really does help me learn and grow as a developer :)
Did it break? I had no idea. I totally thought that was just what was supposed to happen based on the narrative leading to that moment.
I mean hell, if that's the case, I'd be glad to give it a second go round and actually review the whole game. I have your game An Evening Alone in my queue as well and I'll probably be giving it a play in the next couple of weeks or so. I actually do really appreciate the artistic direction of your works, from what I have seen so far.
Let me know if you have any other examples that you think show your talents well and I'd be happy to review them. If you want to be kept up to date today, I post videos nearly every day on my channel as well and give previews to each review I'll be doing next in the proceeding videos as well. A subbie or following me on Twitter would let you know when I get to both of those reviews, if it pleases you.
Cheers mate, have a good evening!
Hey Michael, I had just made an attempt to do a play through of An Evening Alone and was super confused on how to play. Will attempt again soon, but I happened to notice both that game and Imaginary were cancelled projects. I was wanting to know what you thought would be the single best piece for me to pick up, play and review. I've made my videos a lot more focused on being critical (fair though, and not mean) and I know you had mentioned that you appreciate the criticism as well. If you'd prefer to hmu on Twitter btw, you can find me @DannyVNCR.
Cheers!
hey Danny,
lol that's a pretty tough pick... they both have issues lol. Imaginary is more of a slog to play through if your not up for the visual novel type of game... and an evening alone is missing a lot; from story text, to audio... but is more of a game. I have no idea lol to be honest. I guess imaginary, it's complete with more direction than the other. Thanks again for taking an interest again bt 👍👍 it's really appreciated 🤗
I noticed you have a small handful of things posted on your page, I was wondering if you thought any of those might particularly be a better example. Or conversely, if you have anything in the works that you may want me to review as well.
Extremely slow start but fascinating art. I got totally stuck though.
hey, I am so happy that you gave it a chance... it totally made my day :3. Im so sorry you got stuck, the game is super dialogue heavy and really requires you to read through the text to find out the solution to some puzzles... but yeah... Its my first sort of legitimate usual novel... thing... so i guess I figured it was going to be rough... and sort of boring; but all that aside...
*****Spoilers*****
to progress from where you were... The person in the chair ends the dialogue with a memory of dying... referring to only seeing lights on the ceiling move from the bottom of his vision... to the top... while being rolled down a corridor on a bed.
SOLUTION
so all you have to do is look as far up at the ceiling from one end of the hall... then move to the other end while still looking up at the lights.
again, sooooo sorry you got stuck... there was tons of stuff I didn't consider before cancelling development.. like leaving the dude in the chair, rather than having him disappear and stuff... but yeah; I am just still so happy you gave it the chance you did. Thank you soon much, its really appreciated :3
Take care and thanks for your time,
~Mike.M
p.s.
sorry it took me so long to respond... I am currently locked away in isolation working on a new game for iOS... lol :3
Half the text is always off my screen. Really wanted to play this.
Feels bad man.
hey,
sooo sorry it took me so long to reply... just caught up in some stuff at the moment...
I am so sorry the game doesn't display as expected... I sadly don't have a fix for that issue, as common as it is. Its really an example of unnecessary choices that turned out to be very poor in retrospect... I chose to not display the resolution(quality) selection window unity displays by default... and because of that... the only fix is not even an option. I am sooooo sorry about that... and unfortunately I cancelled development, so there just simply won't be a fix because the files are trashed...
I am just happy that you found it appealing... and am sorry that you could not play it.
I just hope life is in a good place for you and continues to be in such a place...
Take care; thank you so very much for your interest,
~Mike.M
No problem! I need a new monitor as it is, but appreciate you getting back to me when you could. Looking forward to your next creation!
I think this looks very interesting. Can't open the application though. Help?
Heeey, sooo sorry for the late response...Glad you found it appealing, and sorry you're having an issue starting it up. so if you'd like, can you walk me through what you did after downloading it; also, what os are you downloading it for?