By John Walker on September 13th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
The Stanley Parable – that extraordinary Source mod from last year – is to receive a reinvention as an independent game, hoping to find its way to Steam via the Greenlight thing. And there’s a new trailer to prove it.
If you’ve not played the mod, then I sincerely suggest you do. I hadn’t until this morning, and it’s brilliant. Why? That would spoil it. You’ll just have to trust me.
If you have played it, then what you’ll want to know most of all is whether narrator Kevan Brighting is on board again. And the answer is: yes!
I want Brighting to read me bedtime stories every night. With his voice precisely halfway between Roger Allam and Martin Jarvis, he makes the perfect, wry guide to this exploration of player agency. (Also, he does the most amazing Kenneth Williams impression.)
Quite why something like this needs to go through Greenlight, rather than just be welcomed onto Steam with a hearty “of course” I’m not entirely sure. But you can of course click on it until it gets there.
13/09/2012 at 19:03 Sensai says:
My only regret is that I can upvote only once.
14/09/2012 at 09:09 kregg says:
Wrong website.
13/09/2012 at 19:06 WhiteZero says:
“New trailer to prove it”
That video was posted May 31, 2012…
13/09/2012 at 20:05 Andy_Panthro says:
There’s even a second video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ-IcS7mRSk
13/09/2012 at 20:28 anotherman7 says:
Damn, I got more enjoyment from that trailer than I do most games. Post about that Walker!
13/09/2012 at 20:33 buzzmong says:
Haha, that deserves an RPS newspost all of it’s own. Amazing.
13/09/2012 at 20:51 AngoraFish says:
I’ve now watched this and the first video and still have no idea what the game is about. I’m guessing it’s not an RTS.
13/09/2012 at 21:24 hello_mr.Trout says:
thanks for posting that! those trailers are great! like deconstructing expectations, and posing interesting questions/directions for gaming i think.
13/09/2012 at 23:54 RagingLion says:
Wow! How have I not seen these till now. That gave me the most genuine laughs I’ve had in perhaps months.
14/09/2012 at 00:37 Solidstate89 says:
If you hadn’t posted that, I certainly would have. I love that response – it’s utterly brilliant.
14/09/2012 at 03:58 benjiming6541 says:
my mage character, even when well equipped and above level requirements can still often be killed over and over by ridiculous scenarios.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24c5jeHGnsU
13/09/2012 at 19:28 AlwaysRight says:
YES
Edit: Yes indeed
13/09/2012 at 19:38 Turkalurch says:
So I just went and downloaded this mod after reading this post.
**Possible Spoilers?**
I started it up, did absolutely the opposite of what the narrator told me to do because that option was open to me. Went through the “World that wasn’t made for me”. Ended up back at the beginning with every option open to me. Went up stairs to an office and the game ended with the narrator telling me how He enjoys being apart of the journey and not the destination.
Mind officially boggled.
Gonna go restart and do everything that fine voice tells me to do.
13/09/2012 at 21:23 Ross Angus says:
Favorite ending: go downstairs, instead of up.
13/09/2012 at 22:22 hello_mr.Trout says:
i think powering the machine/having the countdown is pretty neat also
13/09/2012 at 19:38 DickSocrates says:
Neither the writing or the voice actor are quite good enough to pull off the central idea in my opinion. It’s a bit forced. Like a bad Hitchhiker’s parody, which wasn’t exactly the world’s greatest writing to begin with.
13/09/2012 at 19:51 AlwaysRight says:
Negative Nancy
13/09/2012 at 21:23 Ross Angus says:
Reactionary Roger.
13/09/2012 at 21:34 The First Door says:
I believe we have very different opinions on these things! Although it is a good excuse to go read Hitchhiker’s again as it’s been ages.
14/09/2012 at 05:58 Totally heterosexual says:
I WILL STICK MY DICK IN YOUR EAR
14/09/2012 at 09:31 jrodman says:
Challenge Accepted!
14/09/2012 at 09:46 SurprisedMan says:
I found it to be a brilliant, at times subtle and considering its length extremely thorough exploration of the role of player agency. It’s basically an essay, delivered in game form.
13/09/2012 at 19:40 Wut The Melon says:
Currently starting Steam. This is probably one of my favourite games/mods/things on a computer of all time, so I’d definitely buy a copy on Steam. And one on GOG. And one extra to give to a friend. Maybe two.
All I’m saying is, I should be allowed to give ~40 000 upvotes to this. Now.
13/09/2012 at 23:03 BooleanBob says:
Likewise. Absolutely one of my favourite things of all time.
13/09/2012 at 23:56 RagingLion says:
Thirded. And even people who haven’t played games before should get a lot out of it. It’s brilliant.
13/09/2012 at 19:57 Hilden2000 says:
Defying authority in the first mod was just amazing, most satisfying thing ever.
14/09/2012 at 16:29 maninahat says:
Not spoiling it for those who haven’t tried, but my very favourite part was when you do what you’re told right up until the climax, when you take the “wrong” option. It has very uncanny results, and a lovely bit of game satire.
13/09/2012 at 20:06 Andy_Panthro says:
A truly great mod, much better than Dear Esther, imo.
13/09/2012 at 20:31 Dervish says:
Isn’t this a trick that only works once? Everyone familiar with it will start off with a “poke around and try to find all the endings” mindset already.
13/09/2012 at 23:42 Cakebread says:
Heyo, game’s creator here. The reality is that anyone who’s played the original won’t be 100% caught off guard. But we’ve found a really cool new perspective on everything from the original that I think will make your playthrough interesting, just enough to think “oh, huh, I hadn’t thought about it that way.” The game is also for all the people who never got a chance to play the original (not THAT many people played the original). There’s no perfect answers but I’m really proud of what we’ve come up with and I think rookies and vets will both enjoy it.
14/09/2012 at 03:14 jrodman says:
Everything in this presentation says “IT IS ALL A TRICK!”
Is that intentional? It seems like it ensures no one will be completely caught out.
To me it also puts me off from wanting to play it at all, but that’s probably personal.
14/09/2012 at 04:11 Cakebread says:
There’s no good solution. I believe the game is best experienced knowing nothing about it ahead of time. The purpose of the greenlight is primarily to get the attention of people who already know something about the game, my hope is that there are enough such people to get it greenlit (if not, my strategy changes). And if anyone who hasn’t heard of it is intrigued enough by it to upvote, then fantastic! There have been a number of comments to the effect of “I know nothing about this and I’m intrigued.” Ultimately though I know many people will not be on board.
13/09/2012 at 20:56 maninahat says:
Would YES, if only steam didn’t freeze as soon as it boots up. Thank god I can still access the library.
13/09/2012 at 21:26 x3m157 says:
After reading this article, Stanley realized that he must go to Steam Greenlight and upvote this as soon as possible.
13/09/2012 at 21:37 The First Door says:
I’m really looking forward to the remake and I’m really surprised how good the two videos they’ve released so far are.
My one problem though, is that every time I see that picture at the top of this story, I think of this sketch now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24c5jeHGnsU
EDIT: Apparently the spam bots have copied me below. I wouldn’t click on that link if I were you!
13/09/2012 at 23:34 SkittleDiddler says:
This is one of those British “things”, isn’t it?
14/09/2012 at 07:24 MadTinkerer says:
If by “Things” you mean “Brilliant game mod that totally deserves to be remade as a full commercial product” then yes it is a thing.
Go play the original. They managed not to spoil it at all in the trailer for the new version, so go and enjoy and then you’ll get the idea.
EDIT: Here’s a link to it.
14/09/2012 at 09:33 jrodman says:
The original seems to require a thing called “Half Life 2″. Is that available for download somewhere?
14/09/2012 at 13:16 The Random One says:
You can buy it on Steam, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a drab corridor shooter with some laundry machine pushing sequences.
15/09/2012 at 05:26 Shodex says:
Don’t scare me like that you guys, my sarcasm sensors are in low power mode tonight.
14/09/2012 at 00:42 rapchee says:
yep, google first the question that pops in your mind, then make a post, if necessary
actually, screw that.
is “to those whom it may concern” a cat’s cradle reference, or just a boring old sentence, and i’m just trying to show off how well read i am?
14/09/2012 at 03:57 benjiming6541 says:
My one problem though, is that every time I see that picture at the top of this story, I think of this sketch now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24c5jeHGnsU