This is a little piece of software that says something every randomized interval of time.

It was inspired by a comment on the gl:hf podcast about a machine that just interjects with a statement. Coincidently, I had made a small piece of software in Godot a few weeks earlier that takes random topics from a list and displays them on screen. It was for an attempted let's play show I was going to upload on this website!

I figured all I had to do was attach a text to speech engine to the program and it would be done. I ended up spending a lot more time on the interface and settings. This was a lot of fun to design! I wanted something that looked better than it needed to, basically  committing to the bit. The face in the background that speaks the lines out loud complete with camera changes and blinks is my favorite part. Godot made a lot of this really easy- It's such a great thing to create with. It was a two day project.

I was writing the 800+ prompts all the way through development. I tried to walk a fine line with the lines, trying not to be too mean, depressive, cheerful, random, etc. I definitely tried to avoid doing a bunch of references, but a few slipped in. OOPS! I also tried to include some lines that maybe could catch someone off guard in some way. Not sure if that will get through however.

I only just uploaded this but I feel like it's probably going to be pretty dead in the water. It is just a small diversion from my normal game development, but I do find this interesting on a conceptual level. I've let it run in the background while I work on stuff and it's interesting to have this thing come in and natter at you every so often. I also tried it in a discord call with some friends and it was fun. At one point I set the rate of comments to like 5-6 seconds and just talked with it.

Desktop toys are something that's interesting to me. Ideally I'd use my computer as something I use to complete tasks only- work on projects, or play games. But I do spend a lot of time on my computer just messing around. And this is kind of the equivalent of putting a couch or a clock or something in an empty room. Opening the window and letting in a fly? Each time it comments I'm reminded that yes, I just sat here and let another minute go by. GREAT!!!

I wonder how/if people will use this thing. I'd be curious to know if it makes an impression or if it's mostly a paltry thing.

Also- there are some secrets in this program. Can you find them???