Custard

Surreal

2000 IF Art Show
Participant

Custard

Author(s)	Evin Robertson
Publisher(s)	n/a
Release date(s)	2000
Authoring system	Inform 6
Platform(s)	Z-code 7
Language(s)	English
License(s)	Freeware
Multimedia
Color effects	none
Graphics	none
Sound/Music	none
Ratings
Cruelty scale	Merciful

How It Begins

The player is first asked for their first name and gender.

You are a worker in a bakery, carrying a broom and wearing your uniform (which has a nametag). It's the end of the workday and you're cleaning up when the lights go out. On a table, you see a phospherescent custard pie, and the circuit breaker is in the closet to the north.

Notable Features

This is a .z7 game. The player must use an interpreter that can play Z-machine version 7 games. Scrollback is not supported.
The name and gender choice at the beginning of the game is subverted. The PC's name tag will have another name beginning with the same letter but the opposite gender.
The game is played in a monospaced font. This is to allow one of the most bizarre text animation effects ever seen in IF: when the circuit breaker is turned on, all the previous displayed text turns bold, and rows of digits fill all the blank spaces on the screen, rolling upwards. Every so often, the digits blink off and the text is unbolded for a moment before the digital background returns. This effect is dynamic; the player is expected to keep playing while this is going on. The pattern of digits itself will change based on the player's location.
The game actively tries to prevent the player from typing XYZZY. Whenever the game detects that the player is trying to type it, it will often insert two or more of the same character with one keystroke. Attempts to delete unwanted characters are also likely to delete several characters with one keystroke.

Trivia and Comments

The phrase "pie switching bastard" is probably an in-joke referring to the phrase "computer switching bastard", usually abbreviated as "csb". Players on ifMud often type "csb" just before signing off and logging on minutes later from another computer.
The rows of digits climbing the screen after turning on the lights are pi, likely referring to pie.

Versions

Release 1

Custard (Evin Robertson; 2000; Z-code 7).
- Release 1 / Serial number 000314 / Inform v6.15 Library 6/7
- IFID: ZCODE-1-000314-8B26
  IFID links: IFDB
- 2000 IF Art Show: Entered in Portrait Division.
- Download custard.z7 from the IF Archive - The story file.
- Download custard.txt from the IF Archive - A short note from the author.

Links