trip facade lines

In Façade , there are seven possible endings; six "bad" and one "good."

• 2.1 Door shut
• 3 Trip or Grace leaves
• 4 Nothing changes
• 5 Reconciliation

This ending is the easiest to get, as the player simply press the elevator button and leave. They will not be able to do this if you are holding an object. If the player does not leave in time, Trip will forcibly remove them from the apartment (see below).

Forced removal

Main article: Strike system

If the player confuses, annoys, or are rude to Trip and/or Grace a certain number of times (depending on the stage), Trip will forcibly remove them from the apartment.

If the player says a trigger word when Trip greets them at the door, Trip will shut the door on them. However, they may be able to get in the door in time if they do it quickly enough and the game will play out normally as if this did not happen, aside from Trip continuing to be silent and emotionless for a few seconds.

Trip or Grace leaves

After either Trip or Grace confesses something one or two times (or they both confess something), Trip or Grace may say that the relationship is over and leave the apartment, much to the other's dismay, who will say "I should've told him/her..." as the screen fades. It will likely occur with Trip if the player says no to his questions, and will likely occur with Grace if they say yes to his questions.

Nothing changes

After asking the player whether or not what they have done adds up to something, Trip or Grace (depending on who asked the question) may say to the player that nothing changed, that they need to talk and that the player can go, and then Trip will open the door. Once you exit the apartment, Trip and Grace will argue before the screen fades. If the player takes too long on leaving, Trip will force them to quit by forcibly removing them from the apartment, and they will not hear them arguing afterwards. They can also avoid hearing the arguing by pressing the elevator button before they can get a sample of it.

Reconciliation

If you get Trip or Grace to admit two things and the other to admit one thing, Trip and Grace will rediscover their love for each other, and thank the player for helping them. They will then politely ask the player to leave. Once the player exits, Trip and Grace will stand by the door and say "thank you for everything" before closing the door.

• 3 Strike system

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Façade (2005)

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Ten years ago, you introduced two friends of yours to each other: Grace and Trip. They got together and married. After years of not seeing either of them, Trip calls you over the telephone and asks you over to their apartment for a visit.

That's pretty much the whole story. In this video game developed by independent studio Procedural Arts, you play as yourself visiting friends. And the friends are not exactly happy with each other .

The main selling point of this video game (well, "selling point" is the wrong term, since it's freeware ) is Grace's and Trip's artificial intelligence. The player communicates with them through simple body language and by typing messages. Though they do occasionally get, er, confused if you say something they do not understand, they comprehend English remarkably well for video game characters.

Gameplay is extraordinarily simple: You move with the arrow keys, interact with objects (or physically with Grace or Trip) by left-clicking on them, and can talk at any time simply by typing something.

Façade provides examples of the following tropes:

• Ambiguous Ending : Unlike the bad endings, in which Grace and Trip either divorce or return to pretending that their marriage is happy without dealing with their problems, the good ending ends on an ambiguous note about whether or not they will be able to work through their issues and learn to be happy together, although the implication that they will at least try is there.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking : When Trip or Grace are listing off things you did wrong that night, they'll include "suggesting they get a pet" if you did so.
• Ass Shove : If you want to, you can set any object down on the couch and then sit on it.
• As You Know : "So, ten years ago, that's when you introduced us, right?" Say "No" for a good laugh.
• Backstory : Unfolds a little bit at a time.
• Berserk Button : Trip will throw you out immediately if you say certain things, most of them sexually inappropriate and therefore understandable. Infamously, however, he also hates the word "melon." note  Of course they're slang for a woman's breasts, but the game is coded to not take context into account. If you say it at the very beginning: Trip: Hey, it's good to see you! Player: I brought melons! Trip: *Smacks the door in the player's face*
• Blatant Lies : When throwing you out of the apartment, Trip may insist that he and Grace will be "fine." Considering that you overheard a heated argument, and they may have had at least one with you around to hear it, that claim isn't very believable or reassuring.
• This is somewhat justified by the fact that Trip and Grace are extremely neurotic people, meaning it's not out of the question for them to have these irrational personal anxieties. Getting the game's Golden Ending involves helping them understand that they don't have to feel bad about any of these things.
• Trip can't accept the idea of an artist wife, which is why he pushed her into advertising. Also, he grew up extremely poor, with his family always living "on the edge," and his parents were ignorant. He became ashamed enough, both of their ignorance and of an incident where they had to live in a shelter for six months, that it's what caused him to obsess over riches and material possessions, hence why he admires Grace's rich and smart but phony parents; now, however, he feels he can't get rid of his past and doesn't know who he is, he feels he's a phony. That's why while he plays high class poker games and is a wine snob, he also sneaks down to a crappy bar to drink beer with lowly construction workers. He manipulated Grace into marrying him in the first place because he proposed to her in front of her parents at a Christmas Eve party, so she couldn't say no without losing face. Finally, he slept with a client named Maria while he was on his trip to Barcelona.
• Grace has a tendency to avoid responsibility for her decisions, so she let Trip control her into not going after her artistic passion. She developed that tendency because her parents bought her everything she wanted as a kid, so now even her apartment full of expensive crap is another way of hiding. Her parents are smart and rich, unlike Trip's, but they're always pretending to be something they're not, so Grace admires Trip's "real" upbringing that he was ashamed of without taking into account how miserable he was nor why he doesn’t want to return to that sort of lifestyle. When Trip manipulated Grace into marrying him, Grace knew about it but never did anything. Also, Grace has been secretly painting behind Trip's back, such as while he was away on his trip to Italy, proving that she can pursue her artistic passions if she wanted to, but she chooses to use Trip as an excuse not to pursue her passion out of fear of failure. Grace also began to distance herself from Trip first, which is why he chose to have an affair in the first place: loneliness as a result of her lack of affection for him . Back when Grace was in college, she was also in love with someone else: an art major named Vince, and they had sex the night before Trip proposed to her. Grace feels guilty that having the affair at that time "jinxed" Grace and Trip's marriage. Finally, while it’s not implied that Grace is still seeing him romantically, Grace mentions having wanted to visit an art exhibit hosted by a very good friend from college, suggesting she’s still in contact Vince despite cheating on Trip with him in the past.
• Captain Obvious : Hug them and they may say "You're hugging me!"
• When the fighting starts, they tend to shout "Goddamn it" in frustration a lot !
• You can end the game before it even begins by just turning around and activating the elevator behind you.
• You can get kicked out for, among other things, sitting still for too long, moving around too much, or saying the word "melon" or any word containing it. (Granted, "melon" is slang for "breast," but woe to unfortunate players who say it in an innocent context, such as wanting a melon-flavored cocktail.) But flat-out telling Trip and Grace to kill themselves (or each other) will just merit some uncomfortable banter.
• It becomes even more ridiculous when you simply refuse to enter the room after Trip opens the door. He'll plead for you to come in a few times before dragging you forward up to the door, saying you need to go, and slamming the door in your face.
• The endings in which either Trip or Grace admit what they were hiding and decide to end their marriage rather than try to work things out. Before the screen fades to black, the one left behind will sadly admit that there were still things they needed to say.
• Also, the endings where Trip and Grace claim that their marriage is fine while passively suggesting that the player leave. It's clear that they're not fine, and they intend to stay in their unhappy marriage rather than work through their issues. To top it all off, if you stay by the door for long enough after leaving their apartment, you can hear them start to argue again.
• Trip and Grace seem to have a crippling phobia of melons.
• Establishing Series Moment : As you're walking up to the door, you can overhear Trip and Grace having a heated argument, giving you a clue as to how troubled their marriage is. When Trip greets you, his responses to what you say give you some idea of how the dialogue system works, and how easy it can be to get a Game Over .
• Game Mod : The games textures and sprites for pictures/painting/props/skylines are in common graphic formats, and easy to open and edit. Many YouTube videos demonstrate graphical hacks, such as the magic 8-ball being turned into Chris Hansen, the skyline from the window being set on fire, etc.
• Gay Option : No matter what gender your character is, you can still flirt with either Grace or Trip. Or both. Grace will only reciprocate if the player is the opposite sex, however.
• Gender-Blender Name : It takes some strong dedication on the player's part to invoke this, since Trip and Grace will always treat the player character as the gender assumed by the name. That being said, it explicitly offers "Chris," "Kelly," "Mel," "Nat," "Pat" and "Sam" for males and females, plus there's "Joe" versus "Jo," so you can select any of these and just act like you meant the opposite version.
• Golden Ending : The ideal ending involves helping Grace and Trip in admitting their problems with each other as well as their own flaws, which will lead them to the realization that they need to improve their communication. It is implied that learning to communicate will save their marriage.
• While it serves little to no purpose other than trying to outrun Trip when he's kicking you out, you can hold the CTRL key to run. The instructions do not state this.
• Happy Marriage Charade : It's right there in the title. Trip and Grace are desperately trying to maintain the image that they're a happy couple living the dream, but right from the get-go it's clear the marriage is troubled. Over the course of the night, things escalate from the couple making inauthentic attempts to disguise their strained relationship, to taking passive-aggressive digs at each other and finally full-blown arguments.
• Hates Their Parent : Both Trip and Grace resent their parents, which is just one part of their many, many issues. Trip resents that his parents are poor and uneducated, which resulted in him growing up in poverty and constantly feeling he was never good enough. Grace resents her parents for being image-obsessed snobs who spoiled her, thus leading her to avoid responsibility for her actions and let others make decisions for her. Ironically, they both like each other's parents; Trip likes that Grace's parents are sophisticated and successful, while Grace likes Trip's parents for being 'real' and not caring only about wealth.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here] : Done in an odd way. The player doesn't type in a name, but instead selects one from a list, which will then be awkwardly spliced into Trip and Grace's fully voice-acted dialogue.
• Trip and Grace have no respect for the walls, or sometimes even furniture; they walk straight through them without a second thought when necessary.
• The player can also do this due to a glitch, but only in one section of wall, and the player must be walking backwards.
• Courtesy of Trip. If you're "out of line" about three times, Trip kicks you out of the apartment (and it's always Trip who physically removes you, even if Grace is the one you pissed off). "Out of line" in this case being defined as saying really rude things to them, kissing them on the mouth, or acting 'strangely.' note  Either by moving around too often, not moving at all for a while, or by staying silent. However, later when the couple start getting very heated, this is reduced to two then to a single offense for being kicked out of the apartment. Though on occasion you can get kicked out after one mistake instead of three if you say something really outrageous.
• If you tick Trip off enough and then leave the apartment before he manages to throw you out, he'll actually come up to you and throw you in in order to throw you out.
• Keywords Conversation : Talking with Grace and Trip is accomplished by typing in what you want to say, with a powerful text parser deciphering and producing an appropriate response from them.
• Love Triangle : We would put in a spoiler box, but there are only three characters, so you can guess who is involved. Nothing comes of it on the players end, however, as they can only either save Grace and Trips marriage or break them up.
• The Masochism Tango : Grace and Trip. You can overhear a huge argument between them before Trip even answers the door for you, so they end up trying to pretend everything is normal and happy for your benefit while secretly getting passive-aggressive potshots in at each other. Then the potshots turn just plain aggressive, which is when you can potentially help them.
• Mad Libs Dialogue : The player's name is always said in a softer and flatter tone. It can sound really out of place, especially when the arguments get heated.
• Manipulative Bastard : To a certain extent, Trip. It can be revealed he manipulated Grace into marrying him by deliberately proposing to her in front of her parents on Christmas Eve and it's also implied he manipulated her into giving up her dream of becoming an artist and going into advertising instead .
• Match Maker Quest : The player is supposed to fill the role of informal marriage counselor.
• Multiple Endings : You can either get kicked out by Trip, get Trip or Grace to leave, successfully save their marriage, leave with Trip and Grace telling you they're OK while they're not, or leave the apartment before any of the previous possibilities happen. There are multiple ways to get the same ending.
• Mutual Envy : It's revealed that Trip and Grace are both envious of the other's upbringing and family. Trip grew up poor, including having to live in a homeless shelter at one point, and resents his working-class parents for being ignorant, uneducated and making bad financial decisions. He desires to have the life of abundance and sophistication that Grace had growing up, and admires her upper-class parents for being better educated, more cultured and financially successful. Grace did grow up in a financially stable household, but she has a strained relationship with her parents because they always made decisions for her and come off as stuffy and shallow, with Grace feeling a lot of pressure to live up to their expectations. She much prefers Trip's parents because they're more authentic and less materialistic, and feels he had a more loving upbringing even if he was poor.
• Never My Fault : Trip can call Grace out on shifting the blame for her own decisions and her current lifestyle on how her parents raised her, and she blames Trip for not letting her pursue an art career even though there’s nothing stopping her from doing it. Depending on what the players say, Grace can admit to her own tendency to dodge responsibility and pin the blame on others.
• The two people you hooked up are unhappy with their marriage.
• In-game, if you side with only Grace or only Trip the whole time, that will technically solve their relationship problems...by causing either Grace or Trip to cut the relationship off and storm out of the apartment.
• Non-Standard Game Over : If you irritate Trip at the very beginning of the game and fail to sneak past him into the apartment , he shuts the door on you without giving you a chance to come in.
• Precision F-Strike : Trip and Grace rarely curse ( major curses, anyway - both seem addicted to the phrase "Goddamn it"), but Grace actually gives one to Trip as she confesses that she paints while Trip is on his business trips, which includes the painting on the wall in their living room . Grace: I painted this. Trip: Bullshit. Grace: I am an artist, Trip, fuck you. Trip: You've been secretly painting? When — Grace: Every time you go on a goddamn business trip, I paint. Trip: Jesus! Grace: So don't EVER give me any more of your "you could never be an artist" crap!!
• Press Start to Game Over : It's possible to have Trip kick you out of the house before you actually enter if you say something obscene, offensive, or otherwise triggering as soon as he opens the door to let you in.
• Railroading : While there's room for a certain amount of tangents and sidetracking, the game has an obvious primary story it's trying to follow, and any attempts at derailing this main story will lead to Trip and Grace either awkwardly acknowledging it before continuing on or just throwing you out. Brutalmoose in particular noticed how the game starts out trying to steer the player towards three topics of conversation: Trip's Italy photo, Grace's decorating and drinks. He even explicitly said to Trip repeatedly that he doesn't want to talk about the Italy photo, and Trip would not stop pressing the topic.
• Sexless Marriage : Heavily implied that Grace and Trip haven’t had sex in a long time. The player can even bring this up, and both will be upset about it.
• Sincerity Mode : When Trip and Grace are arguing, if you say something that pushes the story towards getting a good ending, one of them will say something along the lines of "That should help us," and they always mean it. Even though they sound sarcastic when they do.
• Done unintentionally. When the two end up bringing in their confessions, they are always treated as if they're the same level of seriousness, even when the two you get are completely out of line with each other (though the end result will be a bit more reflective). For instance, Trip might confess he's been having an affair and Grace may talk about how she admires Trip's parents, all the while Trip will act like this a perfectly reasonable counter-point.
• You, the player, can also have skewed priorities. The two have their marriage falling apart in front of them and you can completely ignore it if you choose to and instead talk about how much their apartment sucks for lacking a tv.
• Sprite/Polygon Mix : Various things around the apartment are obviously sprites.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial : Asking Trip if he cheated on Grace leads him to tell you to not accuse him of anything with Maria. And yes, he was cheating with Maria.
• Sympathetic Adulterer : If the player says the right things, Trip will admit to previously having an affair with a woman named Maria due to Grace’s coldness and lack of affection toward him .
• Every time you play, either Trip or Grace go through a list of everything you did wrong. Even if you were legitimately trying to help, they list reasons such as, "praising Grace." If you do nothing but sit on the couch and say "Yes" when Trip or Grace ask you if you want the truth, they start talking like, "Do you really think that..." and then, since they have nothing to list, say, "...I mean is that supposed to help us realize something about ourselves?" without saying anything in between.
• Trip and Grace also give each other these speeches throughout the game.
• Trapped with the Therapy Session : An example as you play as the unfortunate third wheel invited to have dinner with a couple whose relationship is clearly and painfully crumbling. Depending on how you act, the night can end all manner of ways, good or bad...but you're never fully in control of the situation (thanks to randomly-generated events). You're a pawn in their passive-aggressive game, and they never let you forget it.
• The Unfair Sex : Averted. The player will eventually discover that Trip and Grace are both roughly equally at fault for their failed marriage, and the game's narrative and presentation generally don't take sides as to who is more sympathetic.
• Video Game Caring Potential : Only if you actually manage to save Grace and Trip's marriage. Typically this can only happen if you get them both to admit at least one fault of some kind.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential : Feel free to completely ruin Grace's and Trip’s lives. Though their marriage is already falling apart and they both intensely hate their life together. The worst you can do is be a catalyst to make it all come apart more quickly.
• Video Game Cruelty Punishment : If you piss them off enough, Trip will shove you out of the apartment.
• We Used to Be Friends : A rather subtle case. Trip, Grace, and you, in the back story, have been good friends and you're even the guy who hooked the two up. Trip having to throw you out due to being a complete troll can be seen as this.
• If the player makes enough moves on Grace while Trip isn't present, she'll confess with this line:
• Wide-Open Sandbox : Well, OK, so it’s a small, closed sandbox. Yet a sandbox it is.
• You Lose at Zero Trust : When Trip gets upset enough at you, he kicks you out of the apartment, causing a game-over.

We'll be fine, just... GO.

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Façade

• Currently 4.1/5

Platform: Mac, Windows

Categories: download , experimental , flash , free , mac , narrative , newmedia , proceduralarts , rating-y , text , windows.

Using a keyboard that allows expressions of about twenty-five characters—it also enforces a brief delay between expressions—you can say anything you like to the couple; and, if it's on-topic, their AI will make some sense of what you're saying and react, as if everyone was an improvisational actor. Initially everything is calm and good, catching-up, ice-skating on pleasantries, we've all been there. It doesn't take long before the facade slips and the ugly truth of Grace and Trip rears its ugly head. Unlike any game to ever come before, Facade forces you to think about social issues with no clear solution and deal with them as you feel appropriate, it challenges you with a dramatic, and most importantly human dilemma.

All this fancy drama has got me using a lot of italics.

Facade isn't without its faults. The use of a language-based interface was a bold way to go, and the game's creators, Micheal Mateas and Andrew Stern, succeed admirably at a problem that has haunted AI researchers for decades. When I say "admirably" I mean, if you type in-character, instead of dropping non sequiturs like "so Trip, I was abducted by aliens last night," then you'll get a dramatically appropriate response about 80% of the time, and the other 20% the time the system will fail gracefully. For instance, if you say something ludicrous, the couple is likely to look at you like you're a bit deranged, awkwardly shrugging it off with an "uh... yeah," and then jumping back into the previous topic. There are times when you feel like you aren't being heard, and this can be frustrating, but you can always chalk it up to Grace and Trip being self-absorbed yuppies you never really liked anyway, and then just keep playing in-character. The joys of typing in something clever and having a moment of repartee with a virtual actor, while rarely pure, do spring up from play to play, and those moments satisfy unlike any other play experience you've ever had.

I was present at a June 2005 conference where the final release version was demonstrated, it was a major moment, seeing someone type casually and get a response, but since then Mateas and Stern have kept busy tweaking the language processing. Playing Facade recently on a Mac, I can confirm the experience has been smoothed out immensely. Currently the two are seeking financing for "The Party", a spiritual successor to Facade that will offer ten fully-realized characters in a party situation. Just downloading the game, but even more so, donating a buck or two through PayPal, will help demonstrate to their potential investors that there's a strong market for this sort of play. In the meantime, download Facade.

60 Comments

A seriously interesting game, if a bit clunky. I'm very much looking forward to the Party.

Also, I'm so glad they included my name as one of the player-name options. =]

Personally I was never very impressed by the game's language interpreter. As far as I could tell, it basically just looked for key words in whatever you said (assuming what you said isn't a specific phrase known to the game), and guesses at your meaning. There were a few times when it would interpret what I said as the exact opposite.

Still, very interesting game.

Hints for "winning:"

Ask lots of questions. If they say "that helps me/him/her/us," you're on the right track. Sometimes it's better to let things play out, sometimes to just ask "why." The exact scenario changes each time you play, so don't expect the same things to be revealed. You need to get both of them talking, though, without taking sides, in order to keep them together.

i found this game several months ago. attempting to create an interactive drama is quite an ambitious endeavor. i welcome the effort to transform the way games are played and how a player connects with the world of a game. this seems to be part of a move toward further blurring the line between storytelling and gameplay.

Please someone help me? I waited 2 hours for all the stuff to load....then FINALLY got into the game only to be stumped at the very beginning! I am in front of a door upon which I knock.....and knock.....and knock...to no avail. I call out Grace! Trip! Anyone home? Nothing. I turn around and notice an elevator....oh....I must be supposed to enter the elevator! Wrong! I press the button....and I am back at the menu telling me if I wish to replay, I have to exit and load again...which takes another 10 minutes! Grrrrr! What am I doing wrong? How do I get the door to open? Thank you anyone!

Ah, but it wouldn't run on my computer. According to the author the program does some pretty funky OpenGL calls, so I am guessing integrated can't handle it. Another reason to get a new computer...

I remember seeing this on G4TV and thinking it looked really cool, but I never got around to playing it,. Thanks for reminding me!

Tiffany: Just be patient. If you knock on the door you should hear Trip saying "oh, she's here!" and Grace saying "what? I thought it wasn't for another hour!" and so on. Then Trip answers the door, and it begins.

Morwen: I know Facade has gotten a good deal of press (both in tenor and volume) but I wasn't aware G4 did a piece on it. Too bad there's no YouTube clip of that.

I can't win. I just can't. I never say the right thing, and I always end up taking sides and .... gah! I like it, but its way frustrating.

This game makes no sense to me. And I can't even be called my own name (James)

Patrick...thank you. I went back into the game though and as you suggested, I knocked and waited....I knocked a few times as after 2 whole minutes went by I thought perhaps I hadn't knocked enough. I waited 6 minutes with no response. Can you (or anyone) give me an idea of the time frame involved? It just seems an awfully long time to wait for someone to answer the door.....but perhaps I am being impatient?

It shouldn't be that long. A minute at the most, Tiffany. I'm not sure why its taking so long for you.

The game was good, but i really wanted to rip my hair out. Not so much because i couldn't really do anything right, but because i hate people like that. yeah... annoying, but good game.

I'm so bad at this, it's really depressing. :( This game is awesome, and I want to help them. :(

Very interesting idea. I personally got stumped figuring out what to say... but then that's how it is in real life. Which makes me wonder, do we really need a game simulating awkward social encounters? I think I have enough of those already...

I would really appreciate some advice from someone who understands computers better than me (ie: a grade 3 child! Lol!) I have tried everything to get past the front door to no avail. I have waited and waited for the greeting...but nothing. Should I remove the game from the computer and reload it? Will I have to re-do all the lead up stuff again (those extra programmes that took forever?) I waited so long for this game to be ready to play...I am determined to see what it's like! Thank you very much.

Tiffany: Have you moved closer to the door? (Use the arrow keys to move.)

This game looks great! I cant get the bittorrent thing to work for some reason though...

this looks so cool! too bad I have don't have a 1.6GHz. they weren't kidding when they say it doesn't work properly. it doesn't work at all. :( sad sad day. especially after it took so long to download.

HopefulNebula....thank you....yes...I have tried moving closer to the door....I moved so close I was PART of the door! I moved to the sides and back and forth....I did a wonderful door dance....still nothing. Thanks for the help though....if only that had been the problem.

This may be a huge step forward for programming and gaming technology, but I can't like this game.

The characters are just simply ugly people. The sort of folks I would run away from in real life.

The premise is interesting, but the characters lack of ability to understand basic questions, or worse, misunderstand basic questions, makes it even more un-fun.

Hey Tiffany I am having the same problem, I knock and knock and knock and nothing. The first time I played the game I could hear the characters arguing behind the door, and now I dont hear anything except the knocking. I am using a mac, I was wondering if that may be the problem....let me know if you have any luck entering that darn door.

Oh Tammie....at least it's nice to know I am not the only one! I do not have a Mac...so we can rule that out. I've never heard any arguing behind the door though. Isn't it frustrating after downloading all those other programmes in order to work this one, then waiting an hour for the "sound to decompress"....and not being able to play? I can't even exit through the lift (elevator) anymore to get back to the menu screen so that I can see if there is any support to email or anything. Aaargh!

After countless tries and hours playing this game, I got them to DIVORCE! Wow! Now I'm trying to make an outcome where they are happy and stay together!

I have never been so frustrated with a game! It sounds like it's probably fun, but waiting hours for the exe file to load and then for the game to load and then the sounds, and then the game to open, just to accidentally hit the elevator, and now it won't reload. I almost don't want to give up because I've come so far!

So, how long are we supposed to wait for this thing to load? It says three hours remaining, and that's just ridiculous. This game looks like a great idea, but I can tell there are some bugs in it. Like the door thing I've read about? Three hours is a long time to wait to get a picture of a door.

Yeah, this is crazy. It's been a long time, and it still hasn't loaded. Should I wait?

Talk about frustration, I've tried every keyword I can think of. Anyone up for showing a few in spoiler mode? The only thing I seem to get right is how to get kicked out. I've got that down.

I'm on a PC I can hear them argueing but I also have to keep knocking and knocking on heaVENS DOOR....

Wow! Facade is exactly the kind of game that shows the true potential of an immersive gameplay while leaving outside of the scope of the game the graphic quality. It's not a genre that is easy of approach for everyone, but it's certainly a good idea to follow in the future.

to say the least, this game truly is impressive. having the interactive speech capability is an awesome way to go. granted, it's still nowhere near perfect, like they might answer questions i didn't know i asked (sometimes, i think they just look for key words in what you say and base their dialogue off of that), but it's still a daring and impressive way to go.

while glancing at the credits, i noticed that they referenced the neo-futurists... i've heard of them before, and regret not getting a chance to see one of their TMLMTBGB shows while i was in chicago. anyway, i scrounged around their website, and found a page (http://www.neofuturists.org/neofuturism.htm) that pretty much sums up exactly what this game did... they tried to break that separation between actor and audience, in order to make the audience a direct part of the scene... and hot dang, this game nailed it. i found myself emotionally struggling with trip and grace, trying to find the right words to bring them together... i say, cheers to making that oh-so-necessary connection, and props for using the right inspiration to go about it.

my biggest gripe... and really, i'm not sure if this is about the game or myself... of the two times i've played this game so far, i couldn't get them to stay together (which is my goal). part of it is, in real life, i really do know how to talk with people in order to resolve conflicts... but this game brings that ability crashing down. i found myself speechless at times, trying to find something helpful to put into the conversation. nada. i had nothing to add. that, OR, i had something to say, but the ability to only put in one line of text really limited what i could say. i could try to rephrase what i wanted in fewer words, but doing so usually took too long, and they've already moved on to the next topic of conversation.

maybe i'll have more to add to this later. i dunno. let me play a bit more, then i'll see how i feel.

wow i just finsihed downloading this game for 12 hours and i didn't even work!!!!!

wow. i usually suck at games. not only was this game really cool and unique, but i actually did what i wanted to do on the first try. i got them to stay together.

Okay, somehow the two of them argue too much, Grace went inside her room and both of them sulk, doesn't respond to me at ALL, and I can't get myself out of the door and leave. Perhaps I can't fit through the door? and it's so frustrating to have to reload it over and over to start a new game (and hearing the same message from Trip...)

Please help me! I knock at the front door, but Grace and Trip won't open. And the elevator dosent seems to be working too. Tell me how to get in the apartmen. Should I say something?

All that arguing and junk. Blechh. Too much like real life. It's depressing as all get-out!

For all of those having the problem with the door: It's (as far as I know) an OpenGL problem. There is no fix except to buy a new video card or try a different system. I had the same issue on my old desktop, but it works on a laptop I use now.

Great, interesting experiment. Emotional and interesting.

hm... bizarre... i think i might have had a revelation... i'm not exactly sure, but i think i might have had a winning situation...

as mentioned by hopefulnebula above, it really helps to ask a lot of questions, and "why" is a very helpful question to ask. to quote from the screenplay, GRACE - Ah, good, you're asking questions, see, that helps... but i think it also helps if you really attempt to direct the conversation, instead of follow it. i used a few leading questions that helped to push the conversation toward where i wanted it to go. such as, PAUL - Why did you let him do that? PAUL - Are you sure? PAUL - Grace, why can't you be happy? At some points, I actually made direct commands, such as telling trip to tell the truth, repeatedly. i think that to "beat" the game (if what i did was beating the game, and it very well could have not been), controlling the conversation is key, even if you have to repeat yourself to get your point across. i'm tempted to post the transcript as a file, just to see what other people might make of it.

haha, i tried to break them up and get with grace but i got them back together

This game is hilarious! I got into a big fight with them and got thrown out. It was so much fun. I was insulting, kissed Grace, etc. At first they were in disbelief, but then I made Trip so angry he just kept telling me I had to go. I laughed so hard I cried.

How do you make Trip admit his affair with Maria?

Its a fun interactive game however i hate it when they start blaming things on your like..

Me: You love grace.. Trip: You tell me i dont love grace!!! Me: no im telling you that you do love grace Trip: and i thought you were my friend

sometimes they can say nothing at all! thats funny x]

i once had a glitch too where grace arms stretched she looks eek lol!

if you want to see something funny kiss grace or trip when you enter! They do the best face ever

Ok, so if you want to know how to "win" the game, read this.

The game basically has 5 outcomes. The first one if for you to be kicked out. You'll be kicked out if you say offensive things, or kiss them a lot. The second is that Grace admits to sleeping with some artist guy named Vince. You get this option if Grace asks you if everything you've been doing that night was adding up to something, and you say yes. Then it will result in Grace leaving Trip. The third option is that Grace will admit she is an artist, and then she will leave Trip. You will get to this if you say no to her question of if everything you've been doing adds up to something. The fourth is that Trip will admit to his affair with Maria, and say that he forced Grace to marry him, resulting in Trip leaving Grace. You get this if you say yes to him asking if everything you've been doing that night adds up to something. And the last outcome is them staying together! Trip will admit his affair or that he was ashamed of his parents, Grace will admit to sleeping with Vince, and then Trip will admit to forcing Grace to marry him. They will say they need to talk and ask you to leave. To get either one of them to ask you the question, ask the one you want to ask the question questions like "are you happy trip/grace" or "do you love grace/trip?" To avoid getting kicked out, don't say anything offensive until the tension starts to build and they start arguing. Also, asking questions like why really help move the game along. Hope this helps.

Whew... after 8 playthroughs trying to reason with them as I would in real life, I finally

decided to alternate siding with them for a bit and then just pinged on the key word 'why' and after they asked the final question I just kept spamming 'Trip/Grace - are you happy' or 'Trip/Grace - Do you love Grace/Trip?' and they shoved me out the door to 'talk'... which I assume is the good ending.

It's a good game, and it shows a lot of promise as to the future of how games could be. The responses to my statements and questions seemed wooden and sometimes just downright unnatural. Sometimes the scripted action got in the way of what I was doing such as

when Trip goes to pour a drink but stops at the photo of Italy and Grace asks you to sit on the couch... I was already moving towards the couch and sat on it before Trip said anything, but took my sitting down as me expressing disinterest in his painting... which made him angry.

Over all a good game... it held my interest for 9 run throughs, which is saying a lot. I usually quickly tire of having to redo things over and over. I have to say, there should be a way to lower the loading time and not make it force you to completely exit the game to retry.

Thanks for the memories.

-Psychonemesis

The best thing to do is to

not give them enough to nag you on at the end when either Trip or Grace say "Look. I've peen paying close attention to what you've been saying tonight". If you keep the player's "opinions" to a minimal, and not take sides, neither Grace or Trip will be able to come up with a decent argument. If you do this right, they will just end up saying "We're fine... You can leave now" where they will escort you out, and say their goodbyes. This is the only ending you can get that doesn't involve one leaving the other. HOWEVER if you stand close to the door one it closes, you can hear Trip shouting "You really outdid yourself tonight!" with Grace arguing after, so really, they're not as fine as they say. But Hey! You won the game, right?

Hope this helps xx

[Edit: Spoiler tags added. -Pam]

The first time I tried, I didn't do very well. The second time, just for the heck of it, I put the lyrics to "Opheliac" by Emilie Autumn. It didn't matter how ill-fitting it was to the situation, that's all I would say. The text file thing doesn't work with my computer, but I ended up with something like: Trip: Flirting with me... flirting with Grace... questioning if I love her... (something else that I don't remember)... is all that supposed to mean something? Me: It's not the way I want to be ...Apparently that equals no. Anyway I went through the song once and almost twice. I got kicked out just after the first "doubt thou the stars are fire".

But anyway. They actually did a lot better that time than the first time, which was super weird.

Hahaha! Oh man. This game is hilarious! I agree with everybody about how annoying it is when they misinterpret what you're saying, but it certainly is hilarious. I do realize this was made in 2005 though. An example of hilarity is when I came into their house, acted all nice, complimented their apartment, and said they looked happy in their wedding picture. They both looked at me with shock like "What?! You think I'M... not... DEPRESSED?!" "Well. Yes. You look happy in the picture." "HEHE. *awkward laugh*. Always the kidder! Pushing our buttons!". Someone please tell me how that's pushing buttons. Then later, when they started to argue, I said "Please don't fight" and was consequently kicked out the door before even receiving my cosmopolitan.

On a more serious note,

I cannot seem to get Trip to fess up to his cheating but I can with Grace. I also got him to say he was a phony for pretending to like nice things, was afraid of being poor, and that he is ashamed of his parents. What do I need to say to talk about Maria?

This game has the worst installer that I have ever come across, and I've played thousands of games, indie and mainstream alike.

It's literally taken me 30 minutes to do 50% decompression of the sound files, for a 200mb game. This is just ludicrous. It should have taken more along the lines of 5 to 10 seconds - my computer is not slow, I can run games like Crysis on high settings.

This took FOREVER to download then it didn't even work. & its been 5 years, 'The Party' isn't gonna be made is it? =P

How do I get Trip to open the door? I know for a really long time,but they're just talking

i keep knocking and knocking and knocking and... knock... ing..... wait where was i? oh yah! KNOCKING!

I love this game but they never understand my point, i say love and Trip says quit the flirting!! and i don't think them saying we need to talk just by themselves is really considered them getting back together. lol!! I also find it really annoying when he is making drinks then grace says do you want juice or water, then if i say i want a drink by Trip she gets all offended and starts fighting then Trip stops making the drinks! I just want a drink LOL!!! Then when Grace or Trip asks a question about helping out your spouse, and i say the answer that he/she wants, then they both give me this look and say 'WHAT!' and open up their mouths in shock, then the next time i played i answered the question differenetly to before and they do the same thing! I love this game but it needs sooooooooooo much fixing up!!

I'm playling on mac but it keeps saying loading, the specs all look fine so I should be able to play it...I've been waiting forever what's wrong wit it

Lol the game takes forever to download X( it took me all night!!! So if you have a tiny netbook, you need to wait so it can load!! >//.// and DONT say melon!! Trip will kick you out LIKE THAT!!

this game reminds me of how bad my social skills are with mentaly normal people ._.

Someone help! I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but I'll put a tag just in case.

I'm trying to get the ending where both Trip and Grace admit to cheating, and I read a help guide where it said to ask them if they're happy and if they love each other, but whenever I do that Trip gets mad and kicks me out!

Help please?

I JUST BEAT FACADE!! I KEPT GRACE AND TRIP TOGETHER!!

Basically, I kept asking 'Why?' and 'Why aren't you happy?'. I agreed with Grace and some points and then Trip with the others. You know how one of the asks "Ive been paying close attention to what you've been saying.. ________ Is that supposed to add up to something?"? Well these are the things Grace said to me: - 'Praising me' - 'Flirting with Trip' - 'Telling me I'm angry' - 'Telling me I'm not loved' "Is that supposed to mean something?" I then said "Yes" and she told Trip that she cheated on him before they were married, then Trip told Grace that he had an affair, then Grace told Trip that she let him stop her from doing her art. Then they apologised and asked me to leave because they were ok again. They thanked me and all was well!

Got some power ending !

- He admitted cheating - SHE admitted cheating too - He admitted to praise her parents etc... that hes an idiot etc... The way I got it : Just say "thanks" "nice XXX" when they show you something, and a lot, a lot lot of "WHY ?". It helps nearly all the time. Say that you want to hear the truth when asked. Also when he asks "ok i saw you praiser me, her, you suggested blablabla, does it mean something ?", answer yes. Stageplay if needed :

FACADE STAGEPLAY Wed Aug 29 00 43 12 2012

TRIP Where are the new wine glasses?

GRACE What for?

TRIP That should be obvious!

GRACE Oh God, Trip, don't turn this into a big production, please!

TRIP Jesus Grace, come on, I'm not asking a lot here!

GRACE What -- Trip, don't give me that look!

GRACE You're going to drive me crazy!

(Trip opens the front door.)

TRIP Doug!!

TRIP Hey! I thought I heard someone out here! Great to see you! It's been a while, how's it going? -- (interrupted)

TRIP Ha ha, hi!

TRIP Wow, it's really really great to see you.

TRIP Come on in!

DOUG how do you do

TRIP Uh, I'll -- I'll go get Grace...

TRIP (unintelligable arguing)

GRACE Doug,

GRACE Hi! How are you? Oh it's so nice to see you, it feels like it's been forever! -- (interrupted)

GRACE H-mmm (happy smile sound)

GRACE By the way, you look wonderful!

DOUG you smell good

GRACE Aw, ha ha ha!

TRIP Oh, Doug, take a look at this photo I just put up from our trip to Italy a couple of weeks ago...

(Trip closes the front door.)

GRACE (little sigh) -- (interrupted)

DOUG nice photo

TRIP Oh, well, thanks --

GRACE Doug, you're always so sweet to us. Isn't he sweet.

TRIP (clears throat)

(DOUG picks up the red wine bottle.)

TRIP Doug, Come -- (interrupted)

DOUG nice bottle

GRACE Trip, darling, your obsession with that photo of yours is making our friend uncomfortable.

TRIP (little sigh)

(DOUG puts down the red wine bottle.)

GRACE Yeah, I'm hoping you can help me understand where I went wrong with my new decorating, ha ha.

TRIP Oh, Grace, let's not do that.

DOUG your decorating is nice

GRACE (little -- (interrupted)

TRIP See, I told you he would like it! There's nothing wrong with it.

(DOUG sits on the couch.)

GRACE (little sigh)

DOUG the couch is comfortable

GRACE Yeah this couch...

GRACE So, about my decorating...

GRACE (little sigh) You know, for this corner of the room I had a desire for something... big... and bold...

TRIP There's nothing wrong with it...

GRACE but now I can see how I should have chosen a simple, comfortable... love seat.

TRIP (little impatient sigh) -- (interrupted)

TRIP Well, it's impressive... even after a full day's work designing magazine ads, Grace somehow finds time to decorate...

GRACE Ha ha, I guess it's just the artist in me dying to get out.

GRACE I'm sure I can return most of this, and try to start over again on this room...

DOUG why would you start all over again

GRACE Ah, yes, I've been waiting for someone to say that!

TRIP What are you talking about?

GRACE Trip, he is just being honest about my decorating, which I appreciate.

TRIP No, but I'm just trying to be honest --

GRACE Trip, don't worry about it. Decorating is just not your thing, that's all.

TRIP (frustrated sigh)

TRIP Well, we're all friends here, uh...

(DOUG gets up from the couch.)

TRIP Y -- yeah, yeah, n - no no no, wait, uh, w - what's wrong, Grace?

GRACE Listen to us, we're arguing in front of our friend.

TRIP Grace, come on, it's not helping things for you to say that...

GRACE Trip, it's okay if we disagree in front of our friend --

TRIP Disagreeing?! We're NOT disagreeing. We're, we're not.

TRIP (frustrated sigh) Sheejus.

TRIP Oh my God, Doug, oh my God, I am so bad...

GRACE What?!

TRIP Uh, well, uh -- we need drinks!

GRACE Trip thinks he's at his classiest when he's on the serving end of a swizzle stick.

TRIP Why don't I make us one of my new drink inventions,

TRIP I call it Grace's Inner Soul.

TRIP Ah, Doug, you are an adventurous drinker, like me.

GRACE It's a secret -- Trip doesn't even like the taste of alcohol.

TRIP What?! So, uhh,

TRIP Doug, how -- how does that sound?

GRACE Doug, Trip's getting a little carried away... maybe you just want some juice, or a mineral water?

TRIP Yeah, no, I'm going to make this drink for us!

TRIP Our friend is here, we're going to enjoy ourselves, that's all there is to it!

GRACE (frustrated sigh)

DOUG wine is fine

TRIP Grace, everybody loves my drinks, you know that, don't you? Everybody!

GRACE Well, of course Trip, after all, you got enough practice when you were a real bartender.

GRACE In college, you were a bartender.

TRIP How do you know about that?

GRACE Oh I know you were trying to keep it a big secret, but... one time my friends and I went slumming off-campus to some crappy bar in the sticks, and we saw you there.

TRIP Oh, that's great.

TRIP Uhh, you're driving me insane!

TRIP Goddamn slumming it off campus...

TRIP You hide things from me! You're so distant! You...

(DOUG picks up the brass bull.)

TRIP You do, you hide things from me!

GRACE (impatient sigh) Doug, can you believe this?

TRIP Oh, yeah, you...

TRIP I know what you'll say...

TRIP You're so damn positive tonight, it's annoying as hell!

GRACE What, what are you saying?

(DOUG puts down the brass bull.)

TRIP Goddamn manipulation...

TRIP Grace, I -- I just want to be together, and be happy, can you just see that?

GRACE Oh, God...!

TRIP Can't we just do that?

TRIP Alright, you know what, Doug,

TRIP I'm going to ask you something.

GRACE Trip --

TRIP Grace, let me ask our guest a question.

TRIP Doug, yes or no...

TRIP When you're married, can you try to change the other person to be even 'better' than who yourself are?

GRACE What?

TRIP Is it okay to try to quote-unquote 'improve' your spouse, even if you need that same improvement yourself?

TRIP Yes or no.

GRACE What...?!

GRACE Oh, yes, that's fine... that's fine...

GRACE Don't you see, Trip?! Our marriage... is a sham, Trip! Don't you see that? It's all fake, all pretend...

TRIP Oh, Jesus...!

TRIP Uhh! Yeah, go on, go away!

(DOUG picks up a trinket 4.)

TRIP I can't frigging take this!

TRIP Oh... Shit!

TRIP What? uhh... w -- what are you saying?

GRACE What, I can't hear you, are you talking to me?

(DOUG puts down a trinket 4.)

TRIP What's it to you?

(DOUG comforts trip.)

TRIP Doug, this has never ever happened before...!

DOUG its ok

GRACE Doug, in -- in what you said before, about helping your spouse... I think that tells us something about Trip.

TRIP Oh ho, so we're talking about me, are we?

GRACE Damn it, Trip, you and my parents are always planning these stupid trips I have to go on..

TRIP They're vacations! Expensive ones at that!

GRACE Of course nobody thinks to ask me what I want.

TRIP Oh, now it's all my fault. Just because your parents and I get along, now it's some big conspiracy.

GRACE God...

TRIP Look, let's talk about us both, not just one of us.

GRACE I think Trip's afraid of visiting his parents. He does everything he can to avoid seeing them.

TRIP Afraid of my parents?! My -- (interrupted)

GRACE Ah, that helps him.

TRIP What!? That's ridiculous. Why would I -- why would I be afraid of their stupid meatloafs and their tacky house and their crappy wine...?

GRACE Let's talk some more about us, our relationship.

TRIP You know, I can't say Grace never acts loving towards me...

TRIP Doug, She's all over me at our goddamn parties, trying to look good in front of the guests!

TRIP Ah, thank you, just saying that helps us... See, Doug, her acting loving is the only reason I like our stupid parties.

GRACE Doug, it's time that Trip finally just admits that our marriage --

TRIP Grace, don't, no, you don't need to --

GRACE Admits that our marriage is not --

TRIP Stop it, stop it! (annoyed sigh)

GRACE Ah, thank you, just saying that helps me!

GRACE See, this -- this is how it's been for the past ten years!

TRIP Uhh...

TRIP No, I want us to focus on Grace.

GRACE You know, Trip, whenever I really try to talk honestly about things, you... you don't want to hear it!

GRACE Doug, -- (interrupted)

GRACE Ah, good, you want to understand, see, that helps me...

GRACE Doug, yes, I -- I need to feel safe to be able to say things...!

TRIP No we need -- we need to talk about us both, not just one.

GRACE You know what's so annoying, is when you pretend to be all 'romantic'!

TRIP What...?

GRACE Trip, it is such an act!

TRIP Grace, I'm not 'acting' when I'm being romantic... God damn...!

TRIP Doug, if there's something about me, just tell me what it is!

GRACE Let's keep talking about us, our relationship.

TRIP It's so annoying... Grace, why is it that anytime I want to do something nice for you, you resist it?

GRACE Trip...

TRIP Like I always -- (interrupted)

TRIP Ah, thank you, just saying that helps!

GRACE Trip, maybe if you didn't try to 'convince' me of things, I might want them more...?!

TRIP Oh, Christ.

GRACE Trip, can't you see, it's the way you speak, the way you talk to me...!

TRIP What, I'm not allowed to be angry?

TRIP See, I'm the one trying to reach out to you, Grace...

GRACE Uhh...

TRIP Doug, give me some advice here...!

TRIP Okay, okay, let's talk about Grace.

TRIP Grace, I don't think you really do want us to quit our jobs, lead a simpler lifestyle.

GRACE What? Trip, you know what I --

TRIP Oh come on! You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth. You can't live any other way. -- (interrupted)

GRACE Doug, oh my god, you can't believe... Ugh!

GRACE What is his problem? Tell me please, what is his problem?

DOUG he is caring

TRIP Doug, you're -- you're saying I'm... I'm a loving person.

TRIP Grace, you know I've never wanted anyone but you...

TRIP N -- no...! Doug, I, I -- I mean, no... heh...

TRIP Okay, I'm sick of this bullshit!!

TRIP Doug, I know what you're hinting at, okay?!

TRIP about me...

TRIP about our marriage...

(DOUG picks up a trinket 7.)

TRIP Do you two want the truth? Huh?

TRIP Doug, -- (interrupted)

TRIP Grace?

GRACE Yes...!

(DOUG puts down a trinket 7.)

TRIP See, Doug, I've been paying attention to what you've been saying tonight.

TRIP You've been pushing me tonight.

TRIP It makes me wonder if you're really my friend or not.

GRACE Trip!

TRIP Doug, come on -- yes or no...

TRIP Do you really think that...

TRIP praising me...

TRIP praising Grace...

TRIP and worst of all,

TRIP saying I need to be more loving...

TRIP but especially what you said about trying to change the other person...

TRIP that I'm supposed to realize something about myself from all that?

TRIP Is all of that arguing intended to mean something, or...

TRIP Right.

TRIP Grace...

TRIP uhh...

TRIP I've been having an affair.

GRACE Oh my God.

TRIP It's over now, though.

GRACE But how could you --

TRIP (big sigh) with the client, in, uh, Barcelona.

GRACE Maria.

TRIP I was lonely, Grace.

TRIP But, but, I -- I regret it, I really, really regret it.

GRACE uhh...

GRACE Oh my God...!

TRIP Doug, I --

GRACE I'm going to give you the truth too, Trip.

TRIP What?!

GRACE In college... I was in love with someone else.

GRACE An art major, named Vince.

TRIP An art major named Vince --

GRACE And...

GRACE And I slept with him.

TRIP Y -- y -- you what?

GRACE The night before you proposed to me.

GRACE I jinxed our marriage, Trip.

GRACE I jinxed it. I'm sorry.

GRACE This is all my fault.

TRIP Uhh... huhh... ho... wow... uhh...

TRIP Uhh... I'm glad you finally told me.

TRIP Jesus...!

TRIP Okay, Doug, Grace, I have one more thing to say...

GRACE Again?!

TRIP See... I'm... ashamed of my parents.

GRACE What!? Your parents are great.

GRACE I love seeing them...

TRIP I know, I know. But compared to yours... they're so ... ignorant.

GRACE But they're real. I hate how my parents are pretending to be something --

TRIP I've tried hard to be like your family --

GRACE Trip... really? ... I don't --

TRIP But I feel like a phony. I feel like I can never get rid of my past.

TRIP It's kind of like I don't know who I am anymore.

GRACE This changes everything...

TRIP You feel like you ruined everything from the start...

GRACE You finally admitted it -- you felt very alone... and you had an affair...

TRIP You think I'm a phony for despising my upbringing...

GRACE But at least you had a real upbringing, it's me who had a fake one...

DOUG i like you both

GRACE Doug, we...

TRIP Look, we -- we need to talk...

GRACE Yeah.

TRIP And no, Doug, you don't need to say anything more...

TRIP Doug, Thanks for coming over, you... I think you helped us.

DOUG i ll leave now then

TRIP And no, Doug, please, it's okay...

DOUG see you soon

(DOUG hugs grace.)

(DOUG kisses grace.)

(DOUG kisses trip.)

GRACE Bye. Thanks.

I seriously want to just play this game just to be like Pewdiepie :D

It's been an hour now and it is still decompressing the sound at 0% . My computer is brand new so what is the problem? Do I just have to wait another hour?

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Years later, Façade's groundbreaking AI lives on through bad YouTube jokes

A game once lauded for having the "emotional impact of great art" is now mostly forgotten—except by Youtubers.

We first published this story in February of 2018. Façade remains one of a kind today.

What would you put on the Mount Rushmore of Let's Play videogames? You know, the stuff that every YouTuber has happily mined for easy content? Amnesia: The Dark Descent is first, for sure. Those winding hallways and desiccated monstrosities inspired endless earbud-shattering scare compilations back in 2010. You'd also have to include Surgeon Simulator and Goat Simulator—the first and greatest of the tongue-in-cheek send-ups of hardcore PC sims. Façade might be the fourth.

More than a decade ago, Façade was heralded as the next big thing for videogames. Today, it's one of those games you may only recognize by the reams of garish thumbnails dotting the YouTube bedrock. Papier-mâché apartment, low-res jpegs sitting on the flimsy Ikea shelves, the infamous kiss function. Façade is about love, distance, and how difficult it is to authentically relate with other human beings. The YouTubers, of course, missed that memo.

Façade opens with you standing on the welcome mat of a New York loft that belongs to your thirtysomething married friends, Trip and Grace. You are here to drink wine, break bread, and enjoy that particular strain of surface-level familiarity that defines the vast majority of adult friendships. But then, something goes wrong. Tripp gets a phone call from his mother. The couple starts chirping at each other, resurrecting menial grudges left in the dark to metastasize without the necessary communication, and suddenly you're in the middle of an apocalyptic, end-of-the-relationship fight.

Designers Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern were both supremely interested in the malleability of artificial intelligence, and the potential to cultivate a gameplay structure that allowed the player to say whatever they wanted to a cast of characters that would react dynamically. It was a huge step forward from the flowcharts that define the dialogue trees in most RPGs and adventure games, especially considering Façade was originally released all the way back in 2005.

"We've always wanted to play a game that uses natural language, that offers players hundreds or even thousands of ways of expressing their own emotions and ideas," say Mateas and Stern, who I reached over email (they told me they'd like to answer my questions as a team). "Structurally and thematically, we wanted to make an anti-videogame. Instead of requiring dozens of hours of questing, object collection and leveling up, we desired a short but emotionally intense, tightly unified experience, focused on the entanglements of human relationships. In other words, we wanted to experience an interactive dramatic one-act play, akin to getting on stage with improv actors skilled enough to collaborate with you to make an interesting and meaningful drama happen in real-time."

If you play Façade as it was intended—by role-playing the experience as a concerned friend—their AI system holds up remarkably well. Tripp and Grace stay in-tune with your inputs. They get enthralled, angry, amused, and offended in the way that humans do, and the facial animation, while primitive, is emotive enough to get the job done. If you navigate the ebbs and flows of the conversation correctly, you might temporarily mediate their issues and convince the couple to give things another chance. Or you might fuck up and say the wrong thing, and have Tripp angrily escort you out of the apartment.

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The thing about Façade is that its reliance on genuine interaction with the AI makes it ripe for abuse.

Façade was released to a pre-Steam world. Mateas and Stern wanted to get as many eyes on it as possible, so they released it as a free download and accepted small, personal donations to recoup the costs. But after bringing their project to a few showcases, Façade hit the stratosphere. It is perhaps the earliest example of an indie game receiving the type of prestige acclaim doled out by mainstream media institutions like the New York Times, who wrote a piece with the hilariously out-of-touch headline, " Redefining the Power of the Gamer. "

In 2006 Façade was christened by the Slamdance Independent Games Festival with their Grand Jury Prize, and that same year it served as the central motif for a glossy Atlantic feature . The closest analogue I can think of is Myst—the first real example of games-as-art self-seriousness—which single-handedly changed the definition of interactive entertainment for a ton of suspicious baby boomers. Façade might not be that influential, but it certainly earned its keep.

"We aimed for the stars, hoping to hit the moon, and we think we at least got into orbit," says Stern and Mateas.

I'm not exactly sure who first pioneered Façade's strange second coming as an internet meme, but like most things in the swirl of YouTube screeching, it's probably PewDiePie. His first Façade video racked up a massive 7 million views, with guys like JackSepticEye and The Gaming Lemon not far behind. How did they manage to find comedy in a fairly solemn experience? Well, the thing about Façade is that its reliance on genuine interaction with the AI makes it ripe for abuse.

You can be a hilariously awful house guest in Façade. You can eagerly insult, dismiss, and belittle Trip and Grace; you can interrupt a heated exchange, as The Gaming Lemon does, by saying "I need to shit;" you can kiss Trip right on the lips as soon as he opens the door. These videos do not give Façade the benefit of the doubt, nor do they cache their vulgarity in any plausible deniability. Instead, they fill the chat log with as many rude words as possible until the premise snaps in half.

To be clear, there are things about Façade that are intentionally tongue-in-cheek. There is a magic eight-ball in the corner of the apartment that you can consult for randomized advice, and the very fact that Trip and Grace will respond to some of your more outlandish queries seems designed for some good old-fashioned videogame mischief. Still, it's funny that this deeply impressive piece of software, that has been showered with the crossover glory this industry so rarely gets, has devolved into a meme. 

Thankfully, Stern and Mateas are totally fine with Façade's newfound reputation. They created a playpen—a microscopic universe where things go wrong over and over again—and they knew full well that the internet was going to try to see the boundaries. 

"It's a wonderful surprise that Façade has been such a good fit for streamers, but it makes sense, for a couple of reasons," they say. "Façade's open-ended language interface allows players to say anything they want, so players with comedy and improv dialog skills can show off their talent directly in the game, and make forward story progress. Dramatically Grace and Trip 'play it straight' so to speak, doing their best to support and work with the player's antics, allowing the player to play the role of the wacky insane friend, which is entertaining to watch."

A lot of those Façade videos are super funny. It's hilarious to watch Trip and Grace struggle to parse the inane barrages of their guests, while still trying to keep things in line with the overarching narrative. But honestly, if you watch enough, you'll feel  disappointed that the rest of the industry has yet to try something this crazy again.

Façade is an old game, but I can't think of one since that's really allowed us interact with their AI on our own terms—with no safeguards or restrictions protecting us from mayhem. Sure, I can understand why BioWare might prefer a design where their players can't intrude on a key story beat by announcing a bowel movement, but there's a vast opportunity in character AI still left unexplored.

Façade was a vision of the future, and it still seems pretty far away, but no matter its legacy, Façade will always be one of a kind.

Luke Winkie is a freelance journalist and contributor to many publications, including PC Gamer, The New York Times, Gawker, Slate, and Mel Magazine. In between bouts of writing about Hearthstone, World of Warcraft and Twitch culture here on PC Gamer, Luke also publishes the newsletter On Posting . As a self-described "chronic poster," Luke has "spent hours deep-scrolling through surreptitious Likes tabs to uncover the root of intra-publication beef and broken down quote-tweet animosity like it’s Super Bowl tape." When he graduated from journalism school, he had no idea how bad it was going to get.

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Façade is a game about visiting two old friends, Trip and Grace, only to find that their marriage is in shambles. You can choose to save their relationship, break them up for good, act like a drunkard, or get thrown out by saying the word "melon", for some reas--

• 1 Unused Graphics
• 2.1.1 Logging
• 2.1.2.1 Event Logging
• 2.1.3 Menus
• 2.1.4 Soundtrack
• 2.2.1 Console Window
• 2.2.2 Character Debugger
• 2.2.3.1 Working Memory
• 2.2.3.2 Story Arc
• 2.2.3.3 Beats
• 3 "Beta" Build Number
• 4 Dummy Files
• 5 Mentions of Unused Animations
• 6 Removed Audio
• 7 References

Unused Graphics

Debugging Material

Animengine logging.

The game actively writes messages to a mailslot named \\.\mailslot\WinLog and a debugger attached to the game (if any, through OutputDebugStringA ) during runtime.

To see the logs through the mailslot, compile this utility (tested with Visual C++) then start it along with the game.

Event Logging

To make the game write event logs, hold Ctrl before the loading screen is shown. Logs reside in util/sources/facade/eventlogs with the filename format AI Log [day] [month] [date] [hour] [minutes] [seconds] [year].txt and is in the same format as the back-end's console output .

This will also make the game say "Debug" on the loading screen.

There are 4 dialog boxes belonging to a hidden debug menu in the front-end's executable. There is a Face & Head editor and a Script editor.

Holding Ctrl right before the title track plays will cause the game to use Billy Gomberg's soundtrack (the ones under the folder mp3_2 ), regardless of whether the game was completed (a stageplay was created) or not.

Console Window

While you are playing the game, the back-end will continually output dozens of messages to a console window that pretty much explains what it's up to. Normally, this console window is hidden, but you can force the console window to be visible using an external program like Process Hacker.

If you're lucky enough and all the planets align, for some reason in some circumstances it's possible to see messages from the back-end without needing to resort to using external tools, but the downside is you'll experience some serious graphical issues in the process.

Character Debugger

The game's characters have a hidden debugging window that allows you to view, modify, and debug everything a character does on the back-end's side, but accessing it is not an easy task.

Drama Manager Monitor

The Drama Manager essentially orchestrates the dramatic part of the whole game. It has a hidden debugging window that can be enabled and accessed by patching the Main.class file the back-end uses to start up. When you start the game, you get a window with several sections. The window comprises of three sections: a list of working memory instances, a graph detailing the story arc (including an indicator of where you are in the story), and a section related to all the various possible events.

By default, this menu is disabled by a boolean stored in the back-end's Main.class file. Provided below is a patch that re-enables it.

Working Memory

The first section, Working Memory, allows you to freely browse and even modify all the various things that are kept in the back-end's memory. You can also add additional things to memory by right clicking and clicking "Add WME".

"Add WME" Prompt

"Modify WME" Prompt

The second section, Story Arc, as previously mentioned before is a graph of the story arc thus far. The blue line in the graph indicates the current place in the story. As the story progresses, the graph automatically updates to reflect the place and tension in the story. There isn't much interaction that can be done here.

The back-end refers to events that occur within as "beats". The final section comprises of multiple subsections referring to them. It allows you to effectively control what happens in the game.

• The first section is for events that have not occurred yet and may get used as the story progresses.
• The second section is for events that have a chance of occurring at that moment in time. In each list entry it shows the probability for that event occurring, measured in decimals. You can force a certain event to occur by clicking on an option and clicking "Choose beat".
• The third section is for events that are actively occurring. Likewise with the section section, when it specifies which event is occurring it also specifies the probability of that event occurring. You can choose the outcome of the event by clicking one of the two buttons.
• The fourth and final section is for events that have already occurred. When listing events it will also include the outcome of them.

"Beta" Build Number

Located at 0x10177ce4 in animEngineDLL.dll is a beta build string presumably leftover from development.

Dummy Files

In the game's installer, there are 8 dummy files named dummy1.txt through dummy8.txt , which are each almost exactly 100 MB in size and contain nothing but zeroes. After the game is installed, they are immediately deleted by speexdecode.bat , the batch script that decompresses the game's dialogue voice files. They seem to reserve space for the decompressed voice files, which are in total roughly 800 MB in size. Interestingly, while the compressed voice files are all dated February 4th, 2006, these dummy files and speexdecode.bat are dated February 20th, 2006.

Mentions of Unused Animations

The animation index (.aindex) files for Trip and Grace mention a few unused animations, although it is currently unknown if there is any method to display them:

• Trip's .aindex file mentions a testing animation labeled tr_test .
• Trip's .aindex file also lists tr_fixdrink_blender , tr_fixdrink_openbottlecap , tr_fixdrink_pourbottle , tr_fixdrink_pullcork , and tr_fixdrink_stir as actions related to making drinks, and none of them are performed by him.
• Grace's .aindex file mentions an animation labeled gr_sit . This would have been used when Grace invites the player to sit on the couch with her. However, she just stands in front of the couch instead of actually sitting on it, making this animation unused.

Removed Audio

In the backend, class facade.util.MusicDefs defines a music track named oneOnOne (ID 3 ). However, it is never played, and the music-playing routine in the frontend lacks code to handle the track's ID.

• ↑ Façade: AI indie PC game - Playabl Studios, 2005
• ↑ Sex, Lies, and Videogames - The Atlantic, Nov. 2006
• ↑ Façade (Video Game 2005) - IMDB
• Games developed by Procedural Arts
• Games published by InteractiveStory.net
• Windows games
• Games released in 2005
• Games released in July
• Games released on July 5
• Games with unused animations
• Games with unused graphics
• Games with unused sounds
• Games with debugging functions
• Games with unusual dummy files
• To investigate

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Maui Zipline Eco Adventure - 8 Lines through the Jungle

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