Galatea

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Maybe I'm just a terrible conversationalist., October 23, 2012
I love the idea behind this game and at first I also loved the execution. It's a brilliant concept... talking to a work of art that has come to life, learning about their past, their emotions and what they hope the future holds for them.

Unfortunately, I eventually gave up in frustration after hitting a conversational dead end. I tried for about ten minutes straight to find new topics to talk about, but nothing worked including things that I really felt should have garnered a response, such as asking about the "future". It basically turned into a "guess the noun" game. Eventually (Spoiler - click to show)I decided to just "leave" which I was happy to find actually lead to an ending, making the total I found to be two.

I still give the game three stars because I really admire the concept behind the game, and when I actually did get Galatea to talk, the writing was fantastic. Galatea felt like a real, complex person who found themselves in a bizarre situation and it was fascinating hearing what she had to say. It's just too bad that my character is apparently terrible at asking coherent questions.

As a side note, despite the player being gender-neutral, I felt they were female for some reason.

Galatea Little Brute, October 16, 2012
Ha! I had to laugh when the statue typed back to me. Good one!

The logical conclusion to Pygmalion's legend, September 19, 2012
As Pratchett says in "Witches Abroad", stories don't really ever end. And they certainly never end happily - go far enough and the "happily ever after couple" have their fights, their arguments. Go a bit further and, to use Pratchett's example, the story about the king parading naked becomes the story of the small child who got punished by insulting royalty - or even the story of the kingdom that discovered the joys of nudism.

Pygmalion's legend is heart-warming. But follow it up and, like all heart-warming legends, a less-than-ideal outcome is certain.

This is what we're asked to interact with in this piece. The outcome of an unwanted act of (a?) God(dess?).

It is beautiful.

I'd tried to play this before, though my heart wasn't in it. I dabbled. I'd heard about it, and though I wasn't ready to commit myself to it, I tried a few questions, a few actions. I left feeling that Galatea was a cold, hard characters, with such a strong mind that it would be hard to make anything of her. She was as off-putting as many people I've met in real life.

Yesterday I decided to truly play/experience this game. I decided I was going to get to know Galatea. I was going to behave normally - and steer the conversation towards what I normally would in real life.

The results were amazing. The cold, hard woman was no longer unreachable. It took me some work (just like it always takes some work to get to know complete strangers, which is the main reason I don't think I'll be replaying this game anytime soon... it's just too much work, it's too draining, to get to know a stranger over and over and over again, just as it is in real life), but I got her to talk about herself. And I got to talk about myself. And I reached four endings in a single session, and they were all beautiful, but I didn't stop until I got one that really satisfied me.

(Spoiler - click to show) I got the "Aphrodite" ending, the "Galatea dies" ending, and the "We sit together and talk until the musem closes" ending - I particularly liked that last one. But I wasn't truly satisfied until I'd talked her into facing me completely, seen her eyes, and asked her to step down from the pedestal. I wasn't looking for a love story - and I was glad I wasn't forced into one.

Naturally the work isn't flawless. Navigating it can sometimes be a bit of a maze, stumbling upon the right keyword - especially when you find yourself in a conversational dead-end. Nothing to do but to go back and try another tack. But isn't that what we do in real life? Also, the opportunity to occasionally try other commands (I tried hugging Galatea at a certain point - because of her posture, she threw a completely unexpected comment that suddenly gave me more things to talk about and a little extra insight into her gestalt) is very refreshing, raising this from just a conversation example into a true NPC experiment.

Another difficulty is, naturally enough - this isn't an actual person; it's a bunch of code and replies that one author put together. Short's work was tremendous, but there will still be the occasional moment when you want to say something specific; you want to address Galatea's views, or fears, or feelings; but you'll be constrained to an ask/tell system that simply doesn't allow for that. But this is exactly the sort of caveat that comes with this sort of experiments - Short has improved on this in later works. And while there are a few moments like this... we can overlook them for the technological impairment that they are, something we'll probably never really get past. Though works like this do their damnedest to try. And naturally, without a Galatea, it's unlikely we'd have a City of Secrets, an Alabaster, or a Blue Lacuna.

Some people won't like it, naturally. It's not everyone's cup of tea. But even those who don't will probably be all the richer for it if they manage to approach it with their defenses lowered. They might walk away with a new friend, a new look on life, or on art, or on creation, or they might just walk away frustrated. But that's true on meeting new people, and that's true on meeting art. Galatea, the character, started as an artistic experiment, gone awry. Galatea the game started the same way, and has become a masterpiece - truly art in every sense of the word.

Including, by the way, the prose, which I neglected to mention. Short's prose is very distinctive, and helps shape all of Galatea's strengths as well as all her frailties - which, be warned, you won't find unless you're prepared to spend some time with her. And if you don't want to do that, you can just leave and proceed to the next exhibition in this IF museum we're constantly adding to. Either way - whatever you do - Galatea as a work of art will have served its purpose.

Great Premise, September 8, 2012
CAVEAT: IF player here who prefers games heavier on narrative than puzzles.

I admit, I started out a little frustrated. I would ask Galatea about senses. She would list a bunch except for pleasure. So, I would try and ask her if she felt pleasure. Nothing programmed for that. She would tell me that the artist gave her away. I would try and ask how that made Galatea feel in a number of different ways. Nothing programmed for that.

It seemed everything I tried that I thought was relevant to what we had been talking about did not exist in the program. I found myself crying out, what do you want from me, Emily?

I realized I was approaching this the wrong way. I was thinking about the spaces between. I was thinking about what was implied in the conversation rather than what was said. Couldn't see the trees for the forest kinda deal.

Once I learned how to limit my thoughts and expectations to searching for key words in the conversation to trigger the game to move forward is when I started to really enjoy it.

I liked it so much, I ended up playing through it three times in a row to test out where various responses led. I will definitely be playing again to explore some other avenues of conversation with Galatea.

Loved the premise of the piece, too.

Don't forget to ask Galatea about cheese :)

One I'll Return To Many a Time, August 11, 2012
As a new IF player, I often find myself stuck, lost in an unfamiliar world where every step could get me killed. This one, I think, came at just the right time not too long ago.
It's not a difficult game to "beat"--though I use that term loosely--but every move, it seems, generates a different ending, rather than a different death.
And what amazing endings they are.
I was very impressed by the writing in this, first and foremost. Every description, detail, action was described so eloquently that I couldn't help but get caught up in it. Not to mention that I'm quite a fan of Greek mythology, and the use here fascinated me.
One of the few things that struck me as not so great is the limited amount of things to do. Personally, and specifically for this game, I think it works. However, if you're looking for a sprawling map and a lot of places to explore... But really, I didn't think that was much of a problem. It's simple, and I liked that.
So, in short, brilliant ideas for the endings, wonderful writing, and an accessible and fun game. What's not to love? Great for a quick game, when you have a little spare time to enjoy a really cool bit of game.

Puzzling, September 5, 2011
I literally had no idea what to do when I started this game. After having finished it, I still don't fully understand it. I just kept asking questions and hoping Galatea would reply. I found it interesting that the game would end whenever I would start divulging personal information, so I tried to just keep asking questions rather than telling stories. It's an interesting concept for a game, for sure. I found it challenging but there really is no right or wrong way to play.

Interesting as a concept for NPCs, May 24, 2011
Galatea is interesting as it makes a point of emphasizing story telling through interaction with an NPC. While I think it's a great concept and will help illustrate the level of sophisticated interaction that can be done in a game, I think it's more of an interesting exercise for authors than necessarily a superb standalone work. I admit the Pygmalion reference was lost on me and I had trouble figuring out the right interactions with Galatea. Sadly the story ended just as I thought it was getting interesting. Still, a breakthrough in its time and Emily Short has done tremendous work to push the envelope in IF.

Interesting Experiment, June 9, 2010
There are two ways to take Galtea- like there are two ways to take most IF nowadays: as a game, and as an experiment.

As a game, this offers very little. You try to come up with things to ask Galatea, and she will respond, and you can ask her more, or tell her things.

As an experinment in NPCs, this goes very deeply, and offers a lot for a writer of IF to learn when programming his own NPCs.

There is very little to do except to speak to the statue, and the statue (as far as I've seen), doesn't speak to you on her own, except for before you speak to her, kind of as a hint that this is what you're supposed to do. The author provides a good RECAP command to help you learn what topic you've covered and if there is more to cover on the subject.

The NPC is tragic, and you can't help but feel for her- which is the point, I suppose. It gives a lot to live up to in form of an individual NPC, and it's something anyone thinking of writing IF should play, if only for inspiration, and anyone interested in IF as an art form should definately look at. People who prefer games over story might be disappointed.

Giving Meaning To Art, December 4, 2009
On the surface, Galatea is a relatively simple game. You are an art critic, and you are standing in one room of a gallery observing a piece of art. The piece of art and its podium are the only things in the room, and you can’t leave the room or the game ends. So there is really only one thing you can do: interact with the piece of art. Fortunately, the piece of art is Galatea, the statue come to life of the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion from Greek myth. In the game, Pygmalion is gone now, for reasons not initially clear, but Galatea has a lot to say about him and herself if you choose to ask.

The game’s simple structure belies its careful construction (much like the eponymous statue herself). Nearly all of the gameplay involves asking Galatea questions and turning her answers into more questions to ask. Through discussion, you learn about Galatea’s past, how she was created, and, depending on what chain of dialog you choose to follow, what might be in her future. There is not a singular solution, but dozens, and most are distinct from each other, rather than variations on a theme.

I enjoyed the game thoroughly, though I did have to turn to a walkthrough to get more than a handful of endings. Ultimately, who Galatea is and why she exists is not predetermined. As you play the game, and approach certain paths, her responses change and she starts to more firmly manifest a single form. But the next time you play the game, she’ll be back to a blank slate again and your questions may push her destiny in another direction.

In concept, I find this style of gameplay intriguing. The idea that a character is nobody until she is interacted with; it definitely has potential as a metaphor for human existence and bears similarity to the idea of tabula rasa, first posited by Aristotle, another Grecian historical figure. Unfortunately, the concept is not directly embodied in the game very much – at least to my recollection – and is more of a meta-concept than a deliberate one. I would love to see a game use this idea more overtly, where a series of blank forms are given purpose and even history by the player through their interactions with them.

In any case, the execution of this idea is entertaining for a while but starts to lose its novelty the longer you play and start to see the seams at the edges. Once you start to understand how certain discussions lead to certain endings, you can see more clearly where Galatea’s purpose seems to shift dramatically from one question to the next if you don’t follow the preferred line of inquiry. So, in the end, the game glows with the wonder of possibility at first... then rapidly fades the longer you play with her.

Which is a shame, really, because that is the exact opposite of the progression of the player character – the art critic – in the game. It seems his initial reaction is one of boredom, but the longer he talks with Galatea, the more his interest grows and he begins to realize how much more she is than the simple plaque beside her podium states. I’m almost envious of the critic by the end, because in the endings where his life seems to progress alongside Galatea’s, it’s clear his eyes have been opened to possibilities that were never there before. It makes my growing awareness of the limitation of the game feel depressing in contrast.

But, then again, I cared what happened to Galatea, and that’s really the goal of any artist, right? To get me to care about their creation? Regardless of the ending you reach, Galatea has a strong voice that I really took to. I just wish we could both have reached a satisfying end.

A remarkable experiment., January 16, 2009
This has to be one of the finest examples of NPC interactivity yet seen in IF. Speaking to an exhibit for 10 or 15 minutes might seem rather strange, but her variety of topics can take you from greek myths to the meaning of life and or death. Recommended for anyone wanting to see developments in IF characterization.

Other games have improved on her initial premise, that being to create the most interactive NPC. Her later works do more interesting things with conversation generally, but don't let this stop you from trying the first real effort to push the boundaries.


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