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About the Story"Can Troy, the handsome daredevil autoist, live up to his "sterling" reputation? What secret threatens the career of the talented singer, Miss Melody Sweet? With the help of the mechanical genius Aloysius Pratt, can Troy and Melody thwart a madman's evil plan?" [--blurb from Competition Aught-One] Game Details
Language: English (en)
Current Version: 8 License: Freeware Development System: Inform 6 Baf's Guide ID: 1669
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Awards
Nominee, Best Setting; Nominee, Best Individual PC - 2001 XYZZY Awards
18th Place - 7th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2001)
Editorial Reviews
Baf's Guide
A light-hearted melodrama set ca. 1910 about a heroic manly autoist, his sidekick, and a beautiful young opera singer. It features fairly easy and accessible puzzles and a good deal of humor.
The version of the game as originally released in the competition was beset by some unfortunate bugs, but the author has put in a lot of work and rendered out something that is now, as far as I could tell, more or less bug-free -- at least, I didn't run into any in the course of playing. On the other hand, there are still a few ways in which its implementation seems to let it down, most notably in that the plot does not reach a full conclusion (and it is not entirely clear whether the promised 'continuation' will ever appear).
All the same, the setting is fresh and entertaining; several puzzles have multiple solutions, and many of the possible points are optional; and the NPCs are amusingly characterized and have quite a lot to say.
-- Emily Short
SPAG
As a player, I normally don't enjoy games which are heavily scripted; I don't feel like I'm playing the game so much as being dragged along through the plot. Fortunately, Fine-Tuned is written in such a playful and imaginative way that the player tends to forget that their fate is pre-determined. Multiple solutions exist for some of the puzzles, and though each solution garners the same number of points, the play differs somewhat, giving the game replay value. Instead of arbitrarily forcing the plot, chapters serve to break up the puzzles, allowing the player to focus on the right objects in the right order, without that terrible "Led By The Hand" feeling.
-- Jacqueline A. Lott
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SynTax
The game is very nicely programmed and written. It leads you gently from one part to the next and most reasonable inputs have been catered for. I've enjoyed it a lot as far as I've got.
-- Sue
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>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction
[Note: This review was in response to version 1 of the game.]
Dammit, people, stop this! I played Fine-Tuned for an hour, and loved it. Aside from a few spelling mistakes and stray bugs, it was a delightful game with terrific writing, fun characters, and a great plot. But the further we get into that plot, the more broken the game becomes, until it finally implodes with a fiery crash that can even bring down the whole interpreter. Naturally, this happens at a climactic point in the story.
This experience SUCKS. It makes me wish I could give negative ratings. It's much worse playing a game that would be great except for how horribly broken it is than it is playing a game that's weak but bug-free. It's IF interruptus.
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Member Reviews
| Average Rating: Number of Reviews: 4 Write a review |
Most Helpful Member Reviews
Fun, But Not Fine-Tuned Enough, July 13, 2010Right from the pun-filled title, Fine-Tuned promises a fun ride. You play Troy Sterling, a wannabe dashing hero who charges around the 1910 countryside in his trusty automobile - and Miss Melody Sweet, a struggling but talented opera singer. The point-of-view switches in each chapter as the plot continues.
The opening chapter as Troy is brilliant. The narrative voice is fun, it's fairly intuitive what actions to take, and I found myself becoming more and more sympathetic towards our dashing but not entirely bright hero. The second chapter, as Melody, is where the puzzles really begin, but also where it gets much less fun. You have no clear goal, so you're forced to blindly experiment, and Melody's point-of-view is much less interesting. Of course, I favour narrative over puzzles, so some may prefer the puzzly sections. The puzzles themselves were interesting, but not terribly complex. (Spoiler - click to show)Most involve utilising Melody's talent as an opera singer in some way; breaking the jars was the most amusing instance.
Fine-Tuned's biggest problem is the fact that it's unfinished. The game ends (Spoiler - click to show)right before the final showdown with a rather anticlimactic message, which is frustrating. If you don't like playing unfinished games, I'd recommend that you stay well clear until the final chapters are released.
The game could certainly use some polish on the later chapters (and an actual conclusion), but is otherwise very entertaining. I'm rating it only a four because it was incomplete, but it's still a piece of IF that will appeal to fans of both narrative and puzzles.
A New If player's view, October 25, 2010Fine-Tuned is a fun games that takes you back to the 1920 era where you drive around in an old automobile. A passenger named Aloysius who helps you throughout your journey. You earn points by accomplishing many different tasks. This can range from just being able to start the car, dropping off a letter, or traveling to a new destination to help someone. The characters always have something to say, which adds to depth of the story. There is a lot of detail to the story and you have to do everything just like you were actually driving. For instance, every time you stop or go you have to release the parking brake. The game starts off pretty easy with points being earned for simple tasks like putting on a hat and then gets harder as you go. This eases you into the game and allows the player not to get frustrated when things become harder. I also never encountered any bugs in the game. On top of this the story flows very well and was logical. So if you like automobiles and travel along the country side, you will love Fine-Tuned.
Linear, long comedy game about old time chivalry, automobiles, and fun, February 4, 2016Fine-tuned is a well-polished and lengthy comedy game, in which you play two characters. The first is a strong but dim motorist, possessing an early automobile. The second is a young opera star with perfect pitch.
The game opens with a few cheerful, comedic scenes that are largely led by the hand in an entertaining way. Then the game opens up into a more free, more linear area.
I used the walkthrough by this point, and stuck with it. It seems like some parts would be quite hard to guess on your own.
This game is very well put-together and enjoyable. Recommended.
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Recommended Lists
Fine-Tuned appears in the following Recommended Lists:Enduring Games by AmberShards
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Light-hearted, well-paced interactive humor.
IF that's a pleasure to READ by Maureen
I have a soft spot for "literary" IF. Good writing can draw me into a story that doesn't really have much game to it, and amateur writing can wreck an otherwise good game. That's not to say I like puzzle-less IF or text dumps. I enjoy...
Polls
The following polls include votes for Fine-Tuned:Games much improved in later versions by Karl Ove Hufthammer
Most IF works are only available in ‘version 1’, but some are released in updated versions. And a few see a large amount of bug fixing, rewriting and polish. This is a poll for highlighting these games, games that the authors have taken...
Fast-paced action scenes by Juhana
Fast-paced action is something that's notoriously hard to do in IF where waiting for player's input necessarily pauses the game every turn. Which games have succeeded in creating action scenes that convey the sense of urgency, danger and...
Links
This is version 10 of this page, edited by Paul O'Brian on 7 May 2022 at 4:44pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page