Avoid the Stalker

[m4ster r0shi]

I'm sending this...

http://www.4shared.com/file/aojTFm45/avoid_the_stalker.html (<- program)
http://www.4shared.com/photo/aS6aPfDm/avoid_the_stalker.html (<- screenshot)

...to that girl -> http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/38059/
(She's difficult, but I won't give up. My friend Serkan Sendur wouldn't.)

It needs a lot of work until it's finished, but the gameplay core is there. I'd like
to hear some ideas on extending the gameplay a bit, but, more importantly, I'd
like to hear clever things I could put on the text box on the top of the screen.

[Catfish]

I'd like to hear clever things I could put on the text box on the top of the screen.

Mother Nature wants YOU!

Love is prejudiced against the ugly, the shy, and the registered sex offenders.

[m4ster r0shi]

Yes! That's what I'm talking about. Keep them coming :D

[Albatross]

I... hope you're sure that this won't in any way creep her out. While I haven't installed WINE and as a result am not in a good position to play this game, I think I can guess a few things about it from the screenshot.

-Albatross

[Catfish]

@ Albatross: What's creepy in recognizing that we're just walking pieces of meat, driven by unfeeling chemistry, doomed to forget and be forgotten... and yet joke about it?

[Albatross]

You're asking the wrong person, Catfish. Some people do think it's creepy, though, and I recognize that.

-Albatross

[chrisname]

Assuming this girl is in any way normal, a game about stalkers (it's not about stalking people but from her perspective...) will most probably come off as creepy. Giving gifts to a girl who isn't already into you or friends with you is generally pretty creepy as it is (I know a guy who does this, it's pretty funny; he once gave a friend of mine a love letter with someone else's name on it crossed out and hers written above it - I wasn't friends with her then but I've heard lots of stories like this about him). How did she react last time you sent her a game anyways?

[m4ster r0shi]

Albatross wrote:

I... hope you're sure that this won't in any way creep her out.

I'm pretty sure about that, don't worry. Actually, I think she'll find it kind of cute.

chrisname wrote:

How did she react last time you sent her a game anyways?

Hmm... I can't answer that directly. I think I'll have to give some more context.

The girl I'm stalking is a professor's assistant at my university. She's currently working on her PhD (I'm almost done with my master's degree) and she is five years older than me. She's a rather shy person. It's been 2 years since we first met. There is this course you can optionally attend for bachelor's where her supervising professor has her come teach once a week. That's how we met.

I started hitting on her from the very first time I saw her. At first, she looked like she enjoyed it, probably because she thought I was doing it just for fun. Then, there was a period of time when she would look like trying to hide being annoyed because she didn't want to be rude. Perhaps it was my fault too, because I somehow tried to rush things when I shouldn't have. Anyway, that was a very short period of time. After realizing I'm being serious, she started enjoying it again, more (inter)actively this time, though, sadly, she kept maintaining a distance.

I'll give some highlights for those of you who are curious...

There was this time when the class had to be interrupted because a seminar had to take place and there was no other available room. The professor told us that we could stay and watch it if we wanted, as it was relevant to what we've been studying. Then, I approached her (she came for the seminar), assumed the look of a 5 year old boy who reluctantly hesitantly asks an adult to buy it an ice cream, and whispered to her -> "Could someone watch people who watch the seminar?", and she bursted out laughing and turned red from top to bottom :D

There was this other time when she drew something on the board and then asked "Isn't it pretty cool?", and I replied "It's good. But not nearly as good as you.", and then she bursted out laughing again, and turned red from top to bottom, and, when she relaxed a bit, said "Stop it! You make me blush...". Now that I reflect on that, I think she was trying to cause a reaction from me when she said that first thing.

Another one. We were in a small room, about 7 people, windows closed and it was hot. She was writing on the board and then turned around and said "Isn't it a bit hot in here?", and I replied "Should we take some of our clothes off?", and she laughed and blushed a bit, and then, for a while, we would both smile whenever our eyes crossed (which was quite often, since mine were fixed on her).

Ok, here's a last one. This one is very recent. Actually, it happened last Wednesday (I'm done with my courses but I go watch her when she teaches). Anyway, this time she drew several things on the board and, when she was done, said "Does anyone want to ask something?", and I said "Did you learn to draw so beautiful shapes all by yourself?", and she said "Yes. [short pause] My hands work wonders." (the expression is not the same in greek, but the meaning is).

Ok, that's enough highlights for now.

So far, I've sent her two love letters (the first was a fairytale about a chocolate princess - when you look in her brown eyes it feels like submerging in an ocean of chocolate, and the second was a rather bold but also humorous love confession, which I concluded she liked a lot) and one game (the snake). Anyway, everyone (including the professors and her friends) in the math department knows I'm into her, and everyone (including the professors and her friends) is on my side.

What I'm trying to do now is create an opportunity to be alone with her. I'm thinking of something like pretending I have a lot of questions about the course and need her to clarify some things for me, in private, but if anyone has a better idea I'd like to know it. The stalking game is something that will mentally prepare her for the upcoming situation :D

[chrisname]

Why go through all that bother when you could just, you know, ask her out? I don't get it.

[shacktar]

...the expression is not the same in greek...

Wait, you're Greek? How can you think of love at a time like this!?

Anyway, everyone (including the professors and her friends) in the math department knows I'm into her

You should take this as a sign that the whole flirting phase has dragged on for longer than it should.

[m4ster r0shi]

Why 'bother'? It's a good programming exercise for me and it will be a pleasant surprise for her.

chrisname wrote:

you could just, you know, ask her out

I sort of did do that, but it didn't work. Well, the truth is, it wasn't very elegant
and I did it earlier than I should have. It was only a week or two after I first met
her. I ran into her randomly. She was with a (girl) friend. I approached them and...

        Me: - Hi! :D
       She: - Hello! :D
        Me: - Where are you going?
       She: - For coffee.
        Me: - Can I come too???
       She: *starts feeling awkward*
Her friend: *senses need to intervene*
Her friend: - No, because it's been a long time since 
                  we last met and we want to be alone.
        Me: - Oh, ok :/

I'm sure (she's given me strong hints) that if I try
again now (and I will) the outcome will be different.

EDIT:

shacktar wrote:

Wait, you're Greek? How can you think of love at a time like this!?

Any time is the right time for love.

m4ster r0shi wrote:

Anyway, everyone (including the professors and her friends) in the math department knows I'm into her

shacktar wrote:

You should take this as a sign that the whole flirting phase has dragged on for longer than it should.

Nah, it's just that I'm too loud :D It was like that since one month after I first met her. I don't disagree that the flirting phase was long, though. As I said above, I had to slow things down. And if you think about it for a while, it was the right thing to do. Try to get in her shoes for a moment. You're a hot, shy professor's assistant and every student in the department wants to hook up with you. Which one will you choose? Apparently, not the first one who'll ask you out. You'll want to take your time to know him in order to decide. And you'll want to test his perseverance too.

[Computergeek01]

First of all I am SO GLAD that you told us you're Greek (because of your screen name I assumed that you were Asian), this puts things into perspective for me because I have a friend who was born and raised in Greece and nothing you've written about this whole episode is any stranger then the things he's done to get a girl. I just hope she's also Greek because a lot of this stuff doesn't translate well across cultural borders.

Also if that is how your first attempt to ask her out really happend then don't take that as an outright rejection. You were actually being pretty rude by pretty much every cultures standard by Inviting Yourself out while she was with her friend. You would have been what we in the US call a "Third Wheel", she would either have had to ignore her friend the whole time and risk that friend being mad at her for it, or she would have had to ignore you and risk you losing interest in her. Either way this is NOT how you want to start a relationship with a girl.

chrisname is right, just ask her out. Just aim for you and her in the middle of the day same day is the best because this gives her less time to talk herself out of it which shy girls will often do. If she has other plans don't ask her to cancel them or anything just say "Maybe another time then" and walk away with a smile. A coffee and lunch date here in the US is pretty traditional and I'd imagine that it would be the same in your part of the world to.

[m4ster r0shi]

Once again, thanks for the advice.

[m4ster r0shi]

There, it's done. In less than a week. I ripped off a ton of graphics and made a few
using  GIMP.  I implemented three  layer  parallax  scrolling  (low grass, trees, high
grass)  and a smooth  day-night cycle  in the  background  (it doesn't  make  sense
for time to go by  that fast,  but the sprites  were simply  too cute to be  left out...).

http://www.4shared.com/photo/8OEjHpmQ/avoid_the_stalker_final.html (<- screenshot)

I'll let you know if anything good happens :)

Or maybe I won't... :)