Day 1: Part 1
Commentary Classic- "Welcome!"
Hello, this is Dave GIlbert, and welcome to the commentary track for The Blackwell Legacy.
This is the voice you’re going to be hearing babble at you throughout the course of the game, and if you ever get tired of me talking, or I’m talking too much, or you just get, sick of the sound of my annoying voice, you can just hit any key on the keyboard, and I will dutifully disappear, and shut up.
To start with, I guess I just want to thank you for purchasing the game. That’s really cool of you, you’re keeping me in (mumbling) coffee, and stuff, while I write these games.
Ummm, a bit of history, I guess- this game originally started as a freeware game, way back when- 2002, 2003- it was a game called “Bestowers of Eternity”, and it was quite a bit different.
It starred Rosangela Blackwell, and it involved Joey- to a lesser extent- uh, and I never actually finished the game. It was never complete.
But I released it anyway, and slapped a really lame “to be continued” at the end, and ended on a really bad, nasty cliffhanger, that had everybody really annoyed at me!
But people really seemed to like the game, and so earlier this year, when I was thinking about making episodic games, I thought about Bestowers, and I thought it was well suited to an episodic format, because you have two characters you can relate to- you know, you can follow, throughout a series, and there was a nice backstory that could be revealed over time, and because they were investigators, each game could be another investigation. So, I thought that worked out well.
So that’s a bit of history for ya, that’s how this game (poshly) got started, and conceived.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the game! Or rather, I hope you DID enjoy the game, because I do recommend playing the game first, because I will be giving stuff away- so if you want to avoid “evil spoilers”, and you haven’t played the game, I suggest you turn this commentary off.
Otherwise, click that “new game” button, and we’ll begin.
We open on this lovely view of the harbor. Looks like somone’s hanging out there on her own. What’s that goofball doing…?
Oh.
So.
I guess this is it. Years of waiting and hoping, and it comes down to this.
Do I love you? Do I miss you?
I don’t know for sure. I hardly know you.
But you’re the closest thing to family I’ve got, and I suppose that’s something.
Good bye, Auntie.
:c
Also is that legal
Wherever you are.
Commentary Classic- "The Brooklyn Bridge"
This is, of course, the Brooklyn Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan, and- what a view, man, what a view!
What a great way to start the game off!
You can’t actually do what Rosa just did- there’s uh, a second level to the bridge, below this one, so Rosa actually just poured her aunt’s ashes onto, uh, oncoming traffic…
(Laughs)
But, that’s something I chose to ignore, just because I love this view so much, and it was a nice way to open the game.
The guy who drew this picture, his name is Christ Femo, he’s the second background artist who came on board, kinda towards the end, uh, when Tom Scary kinda got this demanding full time job, and wasn’t able to do the exteriors- and I actually had to run out to the Brooklyn Bridge and take this picture, because there, uh-
I tried looking online for a nice reference picture, but… It didn’t have what I wanted. There are a lot of pictures taken OF the bridge, but not a lot of pictures taken of the view FROM the bridge, so I actually had to trudge out there and take the picture, and Chris drew it from that.
Commentary Classic- "Ian Schlaepfer"
The guy who did all the sprites in the game, his name is Ian Schlaepfer, he did Rosa’s walk cycle, and, there’s something really perfect about this walk cycle. She just walks, she’s just kinda hesitant and aggressive at the exact same time, and I can’t exactly pinpoint HOW it works, but it works. So, uh, good work, Ian, I don’t know how you did it, dude, but you did it.
Huh. Sure that’s not important.
That intro got me in the mood for some goddamn mysteries.
What a morning.
At least I’m home now.
Maybe so, but this fella looks like trouble.
He isn’t about to intimidate us, though.
Hi there.
Um… Hi?
So who are you visiting today?
Oh no, is this a shakedown
Huh?
Seriously, who are you here to see?
I can’t let you in unless you tell me.
Um… I live here?
No, you don’t.
I know everybody in the building. I don’t know you.
Commentary Classic- "Matt Gardener"
Matt Gardener playing the doorman here, is a guy from Arizona, this amazing cartoonist. Uh, he does a lot of these flash cartoons on Newgrounds, you should check him out- his username there is Wogoat, that’s w-o-g-o-a-t, and uh he does does these fantastically hysterically x-men parodies, you should check that out.
Uh, he does the voices for his own cartoons, mostly, so I knew he had good equipment, and I knew he could uh, do good voice acting, so, uh, when he offered to do a voice I said (weird-ass voice) “hey, yeah, sure, come on, check it out!”
Uh, he also did most of the sketches for the close-up photographs in this game.
Yeah, uh, so that’s Matt.
Alright, you ~millennial~, time for you to wake up and face reality. Here’s a dose of vitamin Fact
Really, I live here.
Nice try.
I know everybody in the building., and I don’t know ya. Sorry.
I’ve lived here for five years!
Then how come I’ve never seen you before?
I have no idea!
Does it matter?
If you lived here, I’d know you.
That’s all there is to it.
Heh, that went just like an argument on twitter.
Yeah? Like that one? I like that one.
Who the hell are you, kid.
Who the hell are you?
Jim Burdo.
All right. Jim.
Where’s the regular doorman?
Jeez, where have YOU been?
He’s on strike.
He’s what?
Strike. All the building servicemen in the city are doing it.
Union rules or something. I stepped in to help because I know everybody.
How come nobody told me?
Notices were posted up all over the building.
I put 'em up myself. If you lived here, you’d have seen 'em.
Who pays attention to things like that?
Well, that’s not my problem.
The kid’s a goddamn scab
Listen, I really live here.
Fourth floor, number 4E.
4E? Hm.
Isn’t that apartment empty?
Oh my god am I a g-
No!
I live there!
oh. 
And I want to GO there, thank you very much!
Oh.
Hm. Maybe you’re telling the truth.
He sees reason. Thank god.
Do you have any ID? A driver’s license or something?
Yes!
I have a driver’s license. It’s…
Upstairs. In my desk drawer.
Crap.
Heh.
Come on! This is 
New York
Who actually drives?
True.
But I still can’t let you in unless you prove you live here.
Ugh, alright kid. Tell me what you think about the union whose protest you are currently undermining.
How long is this strike going to last?
Dunno. Could be a couple hours, or a couple of days.
Depends on whether they reach a settlement or not. I don’t know the details.
What do you WANT, my dude
OK. I have no ID and you don’t know me. What can I do to prove that I live here?
Hm. Well, can anyone in the building vouch for you?
I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t really know anybody here.
How long have you lived here, again?
Be quiet. Not all of us are social butterflies.
OK. Whatever.
Hey, what about Nishanthi Sharma? She could vouch for you.
You want me to, heh. “Talk to a living human being who might recognise me”? Well now, welcome right back to 1988.
Oh, that was a year, kid. Yeah, we even had years before the 2000s.
Who is Niss… Nish…?
Nish-an-tee. Nishanthi Sharma. She lives in 4F.
You know.
RIGHT NEXT to 4E?
You really don’t get out much, do you?
Your point?
Nothing. But I’m sure she could vouch for you.
Great. Call her up.
She’s not here.
Of course she isn’t.
So I gotta wait here all day for her?
You might have to.
Although she usually goes to Washington Square Park in the mornings. You could look for her there.
Kid’s lucky I’m on parole, I’ll tell you what.
(Grinding teeth) I’ll be back.
See you around.
Well, that was a waste of time. But before we go find Nishanthi, we’ve actually had something in our pocket we should take a look at.
Wait, if I have this in my pocket, why did we try to come home first? Clearly we were planning on dropping by.
I guess it’s been a long day.
A wholly unique videogame locale.
Commentary Classic- "The Map Screen"
The map screen was hard to design, because three of the locations were fairly close to each other, and one of the locations was, was far away.
So it was hard to really come up with a good design for- a version there just had a, stupid little menu, just for the beta testing stage…
And then, finally, Eyal Jammer, a graphic artist who came on board, originally to do photographs, I’ll talk about that later, but uh, he offered to do extra stuff, and I- one of the first things I asked him to do was, “hey, can you come up with a map screen? I’m totally stumped”, and he came up with this design, and, uh, these big icons that represent uh, different areas and locations you go to, and it-
It works really well, because, um, the icons are big enough that the fact that some of them- one of the locations is farther away than the others it, didn’t really matter so much, so uh…
I can’t quite explain HOW it worked, but it does work, and I think it works well.
Oh, this doesn’t look so bad. The lights did flicker, but I didn’t want to make a gif just to show off bright flashing lights so you’ll have to take my word for it.
Commentary Classic- "The Hospital Lights"
You just saw the lights flickering on and off? Originally, uh, I had wanted to do that to kinda establish that the lights in this hospital are, are a little bit faulty so the guard wouldn’t get so crazy suspicious later on when the lights totally went, uh, went off.
And originally this room had the lights flickering randomly as you wandered around, and I kinda liked that, although I realised when I started getting more graphical elements in- the door that opens and shuts, the guard that fiddles with the antenna, and all this stuff, that it just got to be much more complicated than I had originally wanted it to be, because the lights- the light levels wouldn’t match.
Um, I’d do an animation for, you know, the door opening, but the door opening would be for to the, you know, the lit room, and the guard animating for the radio, that was also for the, the lit version of the room, and switching back and- you know it just got way too complicated, and eventually I decided, eh, forget it, I’ll just have the lights flicker when the elevator doors open and shut, and in a way that kinda makes sense, because I used to have a printer, actually, and every time we printed something the lights in my apartment would get dangerously dim and start flickering on and off, so this isn’t entirely out of, out of laziness, you can logically justify it, so I hope I can be forgiven.
Another goddamn doorman. You wanna get in my way too?
I’m here to see Doctor Quentin.
Uh huh.
Is he expecting you?
I’ve got this letter right here.
Okay. Looks legit.
Go right in.
Oh.
Commentary Classic- "Francisco Gonzalaz"
Francisco Gonzalaz, you might recognise from, uh, Shivah, uh, he did the voice of the detective in Shivah, and now he plays another, sort of law enforcement guy, he plays the hospital rent-a-cop.
Uh, he was very patient- Francisco was very very patient with me, because I kinda waited until the, uh, the very end to send in the script, cuz I wanted to, to kinda make sure I had everything, um, in place, in the, um, the script bible, and of course as I, uh, being disorganised, I left, you know, about six or seven lines out of it, and I emailed him in a panic, like “(completely incomprehensible)”, and so he would, he would, dutifully send them back, like, by the next day, he’d recorded them.
He did a great job, he’s easy to work with, he does great work, and he writes great games, too, he has a, a series of games called Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator, uh he goes under the name “Grundislav Games”, he calls himself “Grundislav”, on the internet. I think he’s up to number 6, or 5, or… 7? He’s so prolific, it’s, very hard to keep track. So, Ben Jordan, Francisco Gonzalaz, Grundislav games. Check him out.
Knock knock.
Come in.
Doctor Quentin?
Yes?
I’m Rosangela Blackwell.
Oh, hello. Come in, come in.
I will, but I refuse to sit. I will not give you the pleasure, you old bastard.
You got my letter, I trust?
Yes, I did.
Good, good.
My condolences on the loss of your mother.
Commentary Classic- "Joe Rodriguez"
You might recognise, uh, the voice of the doctor- as the same guy who did the voice of Rabbi Zelig, in The Shivah, and the guy behind the voice, his name is Joe Rodriguez, and I know him from my improv group, and Joe is such a funny, funny, funny guy, um, man, this guy, he- he’s so funny, I can’t even explain how, he’s just really funny.
Um, but he’s got this great baritone, as you can, as you can hear, and I wanted the doctor to have this kind of very calm, maybe even slightly clinical, but deep voice, and I knew Joe would be perfect, so um. He lives kinda far away from me, uh, very far, he lives in Conneticut, I’m in New York, and so, uh, I knew he’d be perfect.
I knew he actually has professional equipment in his house, so he could do all the voices from his house, and he is such a good actor I didn’t have to worry about having to constantly be on hand to direct him, so I was willing to kinda let him, let him do his own thing, and if I really wanted something to change I, I would, uh, tell him, but I never had to, uh, ask him to change everything because everything was, everything was perfect. Joe could nail it every single time without any directions, so yay Joe, Joe is awesome, and, uh, if Joe doesn’t make it in the world of voice actoring, that’s a crime, that’s a big crime.
Thanks, but she was my aunt. Not my mother.
Ah, quite right. Quite right.
So, you wanted to talk to me about something?
Yes. Yes I did.
But before we get into that, how are you holding up?
Has anyone ever said anything other than “I’m fine” to “how are you holding up”?
I’m fine.
That’s good to hear.
You’ve received the ashes?
Yes. I scattered them this morning.
I imagine you must miss her.
I, clicked the wrong option accidentally. I’m sorry for the highly callous response you’re about to see.
Not really.
Oh?
Nothing’s really changed. Her body might have been alive, but her mind certainly wasn’t.
That’s a… pretty severe attitude, wouldn’t you say?
Maybe.
But if she weren’t “alive” as you say…
Why did you make it a point of visiting her all those years?
“Why would you visit someone you don’t consider to be alive” is a highly silly question, doc.
Habit, I guess?
It was a place to go every week.
Commentary Classic- "Rosa the Ice Queen!"
Rosa’s not sappy about her family, she’s very realistic- she kinda pushes those feelings away. And a lot of the beta testers noted the fact, they’d say, “Hey, Rosa is such a b****, about her aunt, I mean, holy crap, she’s just so mean”, and, this was totally done on purpose, she doesn’t always necessarily think what she says, uh, the doctor is trying to invade her personal space. and she kinda retaliates by, uh, saying this really nasty stuff, and uh, she knows it’s nasty, and she’s really just trying to get a reaction from him, and it’s just this very neurotic thing that she’s doing.
Because Rosa does care, she visited her aunt every week, you’ll see later on she asks Joey many questions about her aunt, she wants to know about her, she wants to know about her family, but up until now, uh, it was something that was always denied to her, so she’s always very realistic, and doesn’t like to dwell on those feelings, because nothing would ever come of those. She kinda just shoved it away, and, uh, pretended it didn’t bother her.
So that’s, uh, that’s really the essence of who Rosa is at this moment in time, and if she does act like a bit of an ice queen, it’s totally on purpose.
And now that you don’t have to?
What do you want me to say?
Auntie’s dead. Life goes on.
So you’ll just keep living, is that it?
Yes.
Keep writing your little book reviews in the paper, right?
Geez rude as hell old man
…
You know about those?
It’s hardly a secret.
A number of the staff have read them, yes.
I didn’t think a West Village paper would interest anyone up here.
I have to be honest, Miss Blackwell.
The staff read them because they were more interested in YOU.
STOP TALKING AND LEAVE THIS PLACE SUCKS
Oh?
Their intentions are purely benign, I assure you.
It was your Aunt they were primarily interested in.
They wanted to know more about her family, and you proved to be… shall we say, less than eager to comply?
That’s their problem.
Indeed. It was your choice to make.
Your Aunt was an… interesting case.
And now that she’s gone, I was hoping you’d be more forthcoming with me.
Just an informal chat. We can discuss her condition.
And yours too, of course.
Commentary Classic- "Bestowers Reference"
The music here, if you pay attention, is a very subtle, ticking noise, and I was told, later on, that it was a cool noise, but it’s also a reference to the original, a very subtle reference, to the original Bestowers of Eternity, where, uh, you had to do a really, really awful puzzle, and- for that I’m sorry, uh, involving a stopwatch, uh, involving a stopwatch alarm clock, you had to, uh- gonna give away the puzzle here, because it was, uh, it was, so bad, that I’m not giving anything away.
You had to lie down on the doctor’s couch, and he hypnotised you, and he would leave the room, and, uh, in order to wake up while the doctor was still out you had to set the stopwatch to wake you up while the doctor was out, it was a really horrible puzzle.
I did not include it in this game, not by a long shot, it was so awful, um- you know, I’m sorry about that, I really am sorry about that original horrible puzzle. I like to pretend the original Bestowers never existed
(laughs)
I have to be totally honest, A lot of people tell me that it was the best thing I did, and, god, I hope not. I really hope not, I look at that now and I just wince. I hope I managed to redeem myself with the Blackwell Legacy, that’s another reason I why I changed the title, I just don’t wanna be associated with Bestowers of Eternity. But anyway, yeah, the music, clock ticking, reference. Yeah.
MY condition? Pshaw, I’m perfectly fine. Tell me about my aunt.
You never could find out what was wrong with her, huh?
No, we didn’t. But she still remains a fascinating case.
Fascinating?
I don’t understand.
Forgive me. I speak from a purely professional perspective.
I didn’t know your Aunt personally.
Neither did I.
But… fascinating?
It might come as a surprise, but yes.
But she was practically catatonic.
All she did was lie there for twenty years.
She’d sometimes twitch or mumble something incoherent, but I wouldn’t call that fascinating.
Well, as you know, she wasn’t exactly catatonic. We kept her sedated.
Right… She had outbursts.
Yes, and we had to sedate her heavily to keep her calm
Especially in preparation for your visits.
What are you trying to say?
Miss Blackwell, we are not a nursing home.
We’re not content to merely keep a patient comfortable. We are, after all, in the healing profession.
We were trying to heal your aunt, and to do that we had to speak to her.
Wait… You spoke to Auntie?
We tried to.
Did she answer back?
After a fashion, yes.
HOW AM I JUST NOW LEARNING THIS!?
If Auntie spoke, why wasn’t I told?
Miss Blackwell, do you remember what brought your aunt here in the first place?
Her screaming? Her hitting herself?
I… I was only five years old at the time.
But I kind of remember.
In order to prevent her from doing harm to herself or others, we were forced to sedate her.
When we limited her medication, she simply reverted to her former state.
Her natural state, I am sorry to add.
What did Auntie say?
Nothing that made any sense.
But one thing was clear. She was in great pain.
Pain? What kind of pain?
Are doctors in America just allowed to withhold stuff like “your Aunt is in constant excruciating pain”?
It’s difficult to say.
But it was… immense.
How immense?
When we reduced her medication, the transformation was dramatic.
Her eyes flew open. She thrashed. Her screams… well. We had to gag her, eventually.
My god…
I know.
Did she still… feel it… when she was sedated?
We don’t know.
But there’s no way of knowing.
Twenty five years…
I know.
Poor Auntie.
Gee doc that sounds pretty awful alright, damn.
Glad I don’t have to worry about that.
Wait. What do you mean by “my condition”?
Hereditary dementia is my specialty, Miss Blackwell.
And in my opinion, there is significant cause for concern.
Sorry… did you say “hereditary”?
Yes. Two generations.
Your aunt, and her grandmother before her.
My… Grandmother?
Yes. Patricia, I think her name was. Right?
I never knew my grandmother.
Auntie Lauren was it. There was nobody else.
She couldn’t exactly provide me with a family history.
Oh, I see.
I had no idea.
Well maybe you SHOULD have.
Did anyone else come in to visit her, besides me?
No. You are correct. I should have read the family history more carefully.
I do apologise. I just assumed.
Well, nevermind.
It doesn’t change the fact that you should be concerned as well.
Go on.
Patricia Blackwell suffered her mental collapse at the age of fifty-five.
Lauren Blackwell underwent hers at the age of forty.
What are you saying?
That the same thing is going to happen to me?
No.
I am saying that there is significant cause for concern.
If someone told me this I’d die on the goddamn spot Rosangela is tough as nails.
So. I had a grandmother.
Apparently so.
How do you know about her?
It was in your Aunt’s case history when she was brought to us.
Patricia Blackwell’s symptoms were the same. Word for word.
Patricia’s case was severe, and she was young, but it was chalked up to being an ordinary case of dementia.
Until…
Until it struck her daughter.
Until twenty years later, when it struck her daughter. Yes.
it seems impossible.
Perhaps it’s genetic, but we’ve detected no abnormality.
The implication I was getting is that it was highly abnormal but OK
You couldn’t find any other link between the two cases?
None, aside from the family connection.
And… a name.
A name? What name?
The documentation we had on your grandmother is minimal, but there was one interesting item noted.
During her more lucid moments, she uttered the name “Joey”.
Your Aunt, too, would cry out that name on occasion.
Joey?
Yes.
Who’s Joey?
We’ve been wondering the same thing for twenty five years.
Huh, that’s weird! That’s one hell of a thing. And you’re saying, I also, might get infected with this “Joey”?
You know, I’m starting to wish you’d told me this a couple years ago!
So what should I do?
Right now? Nothing.
Got you covered, old man.
This type of thing is unprecedented.
There is no procedure to go through, or medication I can give you.
I just want you to be aware, is all.
And come talk to me if… Well, there is any concern.
Don’t worry dude you’ll be the absolute first person I’ll come to when I start presenting with symptoms of “Joey”.
Is there anything else you need to tell me before I go?
Your Aunt had some personal effects in storage. As the next-of-kin, you’re the beneficiary.
This is the “Blackwell Legacy”, which means we’ve cleared the main side-quest in the game!
It’s just a folder. Some documents, and so on.
It’s being sent to your address via messenger.
Oh. Well, thanks for that.
It is no problem at all. Good Bye, Miss Blackwell.
My schedule is fairly open now, so feel free to drop in anytime.
I’m always happy to discuss my favorite patient.
Sure.
I think that went really well.
Right, well. That was a little much, but we can’t go home just yet. First we hafta go make a new friend.
Oh, lovely. Where are we now, Rosangela?
Washington Square.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here.
Rosangela, I’m getting the impression it’s been a while since you’ve been pretty much anywhere.
Still looks the same, I guess.
Although the dog park is empty. I wonder why.
Commentary Classic- "The dog park"
This is a real place, Washington Square is a real park, and this dog part does exist, and it’s usually a lot busier than it is, than you see now, there’s usually lots of little dogs running around.
And I have lots of fond memories of this place, there was a dog, a friend’s dog I was looking after a few years ago, and I brought the dog to this dog park, and it was a, heck of a lot of fun, just uh, watching the dogs just run around, and I made the mistake of bringing a breakfast sandwich one morning, and, uh, I was very popular with the dogs that day.
Only one way to find out.
(Reading) “Please note! Dog walking park is closed until further notice.”
Hm.
And there you have it. But…
But what’s this?
Mrg.
Now I’m getting a stress headache.
I need to get home.
I cannot fathom the emotional stability it’d take to get a headache after that doctor visit and not start crying
DOG
Commentary Classic- "I am quite selfish"
There’s a slight selfish aspect to writing a game, or story, or a film, that takes place, uh, in a real world location- especially when it’s your home town, or your home city.
And that is, you get to include locations that you really love, and this place, Washington Square park, it’s just… I love this place, it’s right by NYU, you get all the- all the- all the kids there, you get all the- Kids meaning college kids, uh you get all the political rallies, the musicians, just-
All sorts of life just flows through this place. It’s just a great place to go and hang out, you know, sometimes, uh, when things would get busy or hectic, I would sit down on a bench, and I’d look at this exact view you’re looking at now, just munch on a sandwich, drink a cup of coffee or something, and just watch the world spin by.
Uh, this is my home, right here, and I’m very happy that Chris Femo managed to get it right. I really wanted to stress the fact that I wanted this to be accurate- that arch in the background, that fountain- they’re so iconic to Washington Square park, and New York in general!
So, I’m glad I got to include this, this location.
And also the lady I’m after, wonderful. I’ll see you later, dog.
That’s her.
I recognise her from my building. Nishanthi… Sharma, was it?
This is going to be awkward.
Oh god at least wait until she takes a break.
Uh.
Excuse…
ME AS HELL.
I can’t do it.
I can’t just barge up to her.
Not in front of all those people.
They’re all staring…
Problem and… solution?
Commentary Classic- "I hate dog leashes"
So, I wanna give some advice to any of you budding adventure game designers out there, who might conceive of using a dog, a dog leash, uh, in their game. I want you to heed my warning, because, uh, and, and, benefit, from the, uh, value of my experience, because I want to tell you first hand, this dog leash, nearly killed me.
And when I say it nearly killed me, I mean it nearly killed me, because, holy crap, this dog leash would not do what it was supposed to do.
Uhm, it’s a, it’s a line that was drawn, um, kind of on the fly, using the engine, um, from one point to another point, and I had to, um, kinda using coding to tell the dog leash where to go, and holy crap was this, was this annoying.
Either the dog leash would spontaneously, uh, disappear for a second or two, or it would draw itself um, above the dog’s head, or it would be absolutely perfect, and then the dog would turn and the dog leash would be in a totally different location.
Uh, getting, once I got that right, getting the dog leash to work perfectly while the dog walked AROUND that frigging lamp post, um, that proved to be an incredibly daunting task.
I mean, this dog leash, I, I HATE this dog leash, I HATE IT SO MUCH. I want to take this dog leash, rip it up, set it on fire, take the ashes, put them in the, dumpster, and then set fire to the dumpster, and then take those ashes and then STEP ON THEM. UGHHHH.
I hate you dog leash, goddamn it I hate you.
Wow. That felt, uh, that felt really good. Um. Yeah, so um, dog leash, very hard.
WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
Oh for heaven’s sake…
Don’t worry, Moti. I’m coming.
Hey, check out what I did to your dog
There. All better.
I can’t take you anywhere, can I?
What’s all better? He’s still stuck around the pole. You just touched his little head.
Oh, it’s you!
The lady next door.
Yeah. Hi.
Rhonda, isn’t it?
No. Rosangela.
Well, Rosangela.
I hope my friend here hasn’t been giving you any trouble.
Uhhhhhh yeah I’m gonna compliment that goddamn pooch.
That’s a… cute dog you’ve got.
…
Isn’t he just!
Normally he behaves, but he seems to have taken a shine to you.
Oh. Great.
Anyway, I don’t think we’ve formally met.
I’m Nishanthi.
Rosangela.
So you said.
Oh. Right.
Um…
Yes?
I have a… strange favor to ask.
Go ahead and ask. What are neighbors for?
You know that building servicemen’s strike?
Yes. Jim Burdo is covering, isn’t he?
Yeah. That’s the problem, see.
He doesn’t recognise me.
Oh?
Oh!
So you need me to vouch for you?
Yeah. I know this is pretty stupid.
Don’t worry about it.
Moti is getting a little cranky anyway.
Let’s get you home.
Thanks.
Oh that was way better than the last thing we did. In and out.
Uh oh.
Mrph.
Are you all right?
I’m fine. I just… need to get home.
All right. Let’s keep walking.
Commentary Classic- "Washington Square is a real place"
I mentioned earlier, how Christ Femo came onboard kinda towards the end, and Tom Scary had started to draw this picture, and I kind of implied that Chris, you know start with that, and just finish it- but, um I gave him the reference picture, and then he said, “Can I just, you know, can I just do it my way, can I just do what I want”, and I said “Yeah, sure”.
Uh, I misunderstood, I thought he meant, uh, can he do the picture his own way, you know, kinda using the picture as a reference.
He didn’t realise that it was a real location, he thought I just showed him that picture just to show kinda what I had in mind, he didn’t realise it was a real place, so when he ended up drawing the picture, thank god it was just an outline, he had a bridge in the background, he had, you know, a river, he had, a- it was just- totally wrong, and I took one look at it and, it was just so detailed, and so wonderful and I just said, “(hisses through teeth), uh, god, look, I’m sorry, this is- this is great, but, ehhhh, it’s wrong, I’m sorry…”
And, uh, I told him it was a real place, and he didn’t realise it was a real place, and it was this horrible misunderstanding, but he was a good sport about it, thank god he just did an outline, he didn’t actually do the whole, the whole picture, because you see how, how beautiful this picture is, and it would have been a real shame if he had to, uh, had to do all that work for nothing.
Hopefully you’ve realised the red arrow was added hastily by me, and isn’t an actual professionally produced videogame asset.
Oh you’re in trouble now you little-
Hello, Jim.
Hey, Miss Sharma.
Jim, this is Rosangela. She lives here.
She does? Okay.
Sorry about earlier. Had to be sure.
Oh you are about to GET IT you scab punk.
Well, now you’re sure.
And you must be SO proud of yourself.
YOOOO
Well…
Never mind. Just get out of my way.
I bet we talked about that sweet dunk I did on Jim on the elevator ride.
Well. Here we are.
Yes.
Finally.
That stupid kid…
Well, perhaps.
But try not to be so hard on him. We’re all neighbors, after all.
Yeah, I guess.
WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
Looks like somebody is hungry.
I’d best get this spoiled puppy fed.
Feel free to drop in anytime you want.
Commentary Classic- "Ruth Weber"
Ruth Weber, uh, the lady who is doing the voice of Nishanthi here, you might recognise her from “The Shivah”, my previous game.
She also played an indian woman, named Rajshree.
Ruth is not an indian woman, in case you were wondering- it’s just uh, a coincidence- but in The Shivah, I had her do the indian accent, and I learned my lesson.
Not that Ruth was bad, far from it, it’s just that, I felt that, when I tell actors to do accents, they tend to focus a lot of their energy onto making sure the accent is right, then into actually, acting.
And I decided here that Nishanthi would not have an indian accent, and I kind of, uh, wrote the character as someone who was very Americanized all of her life, and then when she got to be older, decided to reconnect with her indian roots, so, uh, if she didn’t have the accent, it was fine!
And if there was some Indian cultural things I got wrong, it was OK, because Nishanit isn’t an expert on Indian culture, she’s just kinda reconnecting with it later in life, so she wears the Sari, she plays the instrument, she’s got some Indian decorations, but if it’s not totally accurate, that’s OK! So that was kind of an easy out, an easy backdoor, for myself.
I’ll visit that puppy any time, you just watch.
I’ll think about it.
Commentary Classic- "NYC attitude"
With this game, there was one thing I really wanted to get right above all things, uh, it was to get the New York lifestyle, the New York attitude, the New York scene, um, across well, to you guys.
Um, I really wanted to show off the city- not just the architecture, which is beautiful, the parts that are beautiful- but also just the attitude, um, Rosa’s a very New Yorkish character, and what Nishanthi says here is very very true, generally we don’t talk to our neighbors
I guess you can analyze it in many different ways, but um, if, if, you know, if you’re out there, on the other side of the world, you know, if you’re from Europe, Asia, you know, um, India, you know, Africa, wherever you might be, playing this game, if, if you got a little taste of what New York is like through this game, then, um, I was successful, I did what I really wanted to do.
No thinking required.
I know we New Yorkers don’t usually talk to our neighbors, but who cares?
The city can be a lonely place, especially when you live alone.
I’ve got Moti. Who do you have?
Oh god, an opportunity to show vulnerability. Uh… uhhh…
Oh, I’ve got three great room-mates.
Oh?
Yes, um.
Their names are “me”, “myself” and “I”.
…
…
Um… It’s a joke.
Yeah, I get it. Very funny.
I’m sure you’re fine.
Although your episode in the park tells me otherwise.
And your eyes…
Well. Let’s just say the offer stands.
Commentary Classic- "The Rosa Smile"
That little cheesy grin is, perfect. PERFECT.
I got that from Ian one day, and I just started placing it everywhere I could, because it captures this perfect combination of, like, awkwardness, and confusion, and, like, trying to, I can’t quite explain it, it’s this, like, I don’t know how to react so I’m just gonna smile awkwardly at you, and I just, I like it, it just really works.
Joey has something really similar, this really charming cheesy grin that I just kinda snuck in wherever I could.
The beta testers actually, um, before I implemented Rosa’s smile, they would always remark on how Rosa seemed very cold and very harsh, then I would stick that little smile in there, and suddenly they would change their minds, so, uh, that’s the magic of smiling, people. It’s a lesson we all should adhere to.
Sure.
You go home, now.
We’ll see each other soon, Rosangela, I’m sure.
I don’t think she was being truthful when she said I was funny.
…
Hey.
Yes?
Um…
You can call me “Rosa”, if you like.
Rosangela is kind of a mouthful, you know?
All right, Rosa.
You have a good day now.
Aw. That was genuinely sweet.
What a lovely old lady.
What a strange lady.
You little shit
Content Warning 
Ring ring, It’s me, the phone, here to distract you from the horror story that is your family’s past.
…