Francine's Tough Day

Francine's Tough Day
Game Information
Game type	Problem Solving
Website link	Play now!

Francine's Tough Day is an educational online game. It is part of the "Being a Friend" series, and the topic is "Honesty."

Gameplay

The game starts with Francine finding scraps that form an image of an alien. The player has to put them together. Francine then gives it to Buster, who says it's his history project. When in class, Francine forgot to do the history project, and is afraid to get a bad grade. The player can tell Francine what she should do in this situation: tell the truth, or lie. The situation plays out depending on the player's choice, and then Francine asks the player if it was better to lie or tell the truth.

At lunch, Francine sees a poster for the Crown City Soccer Invitational. She remembers that she played in it and did terrible, causing everyone to laugh at her. Francine rips up the poster, and then Buster and Binky come along. Binky asks what the paper was, so the player must put it back together. Binky asks Francine how she did during the game, and the player is given three choices: tell the truth, tell a small lie, or tell a big lie.

While going out to recess, Francine runs across Muffy in the hallway. She invites Francine to a sleepover with her and Prunella, where they will watch a Henry Skreever movie marathon. Francine accepts the invitation. Muffy then tells her to not invite Sue Ellen, because she has been annoying Muffy lately. At the playground, Francine finds some DVDs on the grass. The player must match them with the case. The DVDs are then revealed to belong to Sue Ellen, who asks if she can have them back. Francine gives her the DVDs, and Sue Ellen invites Francine to watch them with her Friday night. Francine says that she already has plans, and Sue Ellen inquires about what they are. The player can make Francine tell a lie, or tell the truth.

Francine thanks the player for helping her get through her tough day, and a "The End" screen is shown.

Characters

• Francine
• Buster
• Mr. Ratburn
• Binky
• Muffy
• Sue Ellen
• Arthur (cameo)
• Prunella (mentioned)
• Bailey (mentioned)
• Bubbe (mentioned)

Unused content

A graphic called arthur_upset.png exists in this game's files. It looks similar to the scenes of Francine talking to the audience, and may have been used in an earlier draft of the recess scene, according to unused audio files. fantasy_bubble.png, a cloud border, is similarly unused.

Additionally, a version of the question popup from Arthur Comics: So Funny I Forgot to Laugh! exists under the filename question_frame.png. Despite this, it is actually a JPG.

A graphic called hallway_flat.jpg.jpg (including the double file extension) depicts an early version of the hallway background, likely before the game's art style had been decided on. Duplicate versions of multiple backgrounds, with minor cropping differences, exist as the regular filename with _ prefixed. The game's code includes commented-out calls for some images that do not exist: buster_francine_sitting.png, play_button_up.png, and play_button_down.png.

/images/cafeteria_2.png is an earlier version of the cafeteria background, with Sue Ellen, Muffy, and Arthur sitting at the tables. cafeteria_area_1.png is an uncropped version of the final game's background (which is _cafeteria_area_1.png.

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  Arthur talking to the audience

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  original version of the hallway

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Six unused icons can be found in the game files: one of Buster, one of Francine, two of Arthur, and two for Mr. Ratburn.

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Three unused preview icons for the scene select are present in the game's main spritesheet file (comic_books_ss.png). These use screenshots from the show, rather than the custom ones present in-game.

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Audio

Francine's Tough Day has many unused voice lines. These are recorded with different voices than used in-game, and exist in both MP3 and OGG format.

Scenario 1

The only unused dialogue in this one is audio/scenerio_01/15-ratburn.mp3. In-game, this is split into 15a-ratburn.mp3 and 15b-ratburn.mp3, likely because the original line was too long to fit on a single text box.

Scenario 2

The game files contain multiple unused lines of dialogue from Francine, Buster, Binky, and Arthur. Arthur is absent from this scene in the finished version. The story is different, as Arthur confronts Francine about her lies.

Filename	Captions
20-buster	Crown City Soccer Invitational... Hey, you just played in that game. How did your team do?
23-francine	Stupid soccer game... I don't even wanna see this.
28-arthur	Hi, Francine. How'd your soccer game go?
32-buster	Hold on, Francine. You told me that goal was a mistake, and that your team lost.
33-binky	And you told me you meant to hit the ball into the goal!
34-arthur	And now you're saying that you scored this amazing goal and won the game? I'm confused, Francine. What really happened?
35-francine	Uh, I just forgot some of the great stuff I did. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I scored two goals. You know, I am a pretty good soccer player.
36-arthur 40-arthur	Come on, Francine. Do you really expect us to believe that?
37-francine	What's the harm in lying if it doesn't hurt anybody? Why are they so upset?
38-arthur	Why would Francine tell each of us a different story?
39-francine	I know that lying to Mr. Ratburn about my history project was wrong, but everyone will laugh at me if I tell the truth about this soccer game now. If I had a second chance, here's what I would do...
41-francine	Wait! I made a mistake! I only scored one goal, but I meant to do it. I was just joking about my shoelaces.
42-arthur	That's kind of a weird joke, but... I guess that makes sense! I just didn't know why your story kept changing. It made it hard to know what to believe.
43-francine	Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.
44-arthur	I still don't think Francine is telling the truth. What do you think I should do?
45-francine	I don't think they believe me, but does everyone need to know how embarrassing that game was for me? What should I do?

Scenario 3

Inside the /scenerio_03/_0ld/ directory is a bunch of voice lines that retain the names and dialogue of the used variants. There are minor script differences, and the unused lines contain an alternate ending where Francine compromises to go to Muffy's sleepover, but have one with Sue Ellen later.

Filename	Captions
47-muffy	Francine, I've been looking all over for you! I'm inviting you and Prunella to a sleepover on Friday. Just us three girls. Can you make it? It'll be a blast!
48-francine	Sounds great! I'll be there!
49-muffy	Perfect! I'll have Bailey get all the Henry Skreever movies -- we can have a marathon! See you Friday!
50-muffy	Oh, and don't tell Sue Ellen. She's been annoying me lately, so I'm not inviting her.
51-francine	Sue Ellen, I found these movies in the grass. Did you drop them?
52-sueellen	Oh, yes! Thank you for finding them! Do you want to come over and watch them Friday night?
53-francine	Uh... do I want to come over Friday night? That sounds fun, but I can't make it. (used) That sounds fun, but I can't make it. (unused)
54-sueellen	Oh, that's too bad. What are your plans? (used) Oh, that's too bad. What are you doing Friday night? (unused)
55-francine	Well, Muffy invited Prunella and me to a sleepover on Friday. That's why I can't come. (used) What am I doing? The truth is, Muffy invited Prunella and me over for a sleepover on Friday. That's why I can't come. (unused)
56-sueellen	Why wasn't I invited?
57-francine	Muffy said that you were... uh, annoying her.
58-sueellen	Oh, is that so? Well, you can tell Muffy that I wouldn't come even if she had invited me!
59-francine	I told the truth, but Sue Ellen is hurt and angry. How do you think I feel? (used) Oh, man! I was honest, but now Sue Ellen's feelings are hurt. Maybe I shouldn't have told her the truth. (unused)
60-francine	That sounds fun, but, uh... I have to go to my Bubbe's house on Friday! It's her birthday. (used) The truth is... uh, I have to go to my Bubbe's house on Friday! It's her birthday. (unused)
61-sueellen	Oh, okay. I'm disappointed, of course, but grandparents do come first. Say hi to your Bubbe for me, and tell me all about the party. It sounds like fun!
62-francine	I thought I should be honest with Sue Ellen, but that would just hurt her feelings. And if I make something up, I'm gonna feel guilty. What do you think I should do? Why?
63-francine	Okay, here's what I think I would have done.
64-francine	The truth is, I'd love to come to your sleepover, but I'm already going over to Muffy's for a sleepover on Friday.
65-sueellen	Why wasn't I invited?
66-francine	You know, I'm not sure why Muffy didn't invite you. Hey, maybe you and I could have a sleepover next Friday! I'll ask my parents.
67-sueellen	Well, okay. That would be fun. Thanks, Francine. See you later!
68-francine	I told a lie, but Sue Ellen's feelings aren't hurt. Do you think what I did was okay? Why? (used) How do you think Sue Ellen feels? (unused)
69-francine	How do you decide when to tell the truth or not? What makes it easier or harder to decide? (used) Did I do the right thing? (unused)
70-francine	What if I told Sue Ellen I was sleeping over at Muffy's, but not why Muffy didn't invite her? (used) What else could I do? (unused)
71-francine	Thanks for helping me get through my day. You know, being honest isn't always easy, so it's great to have someone to talk things over with.

Trivia

• If the player chooses either of the Recess scenes from the menu, and then goes to the "Interactive choices: little lie, big lie, or truth" scene, the background will be from the Recess scene, but the dialogue will be from the Lunchtime scene.

External links

• Francine's Tough Day on PBSKids.org