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Castle Paradox
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Newbie_Power
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1762
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 Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | It's like a flash back to the old days, living in a small town with a bunch of familiar neighbors. |
For once, Castle Paradox means something to me...
This is our home, guys!
Slimes live in the forests on the outskirt.
EDIT: I think I'll go ahead and play this tonight, though I don't really feel compelled to write any reviews or whatever, just planning on enjoying the game.
EDIT 2: Holy cow, ultimate convenience. Pepsi cans sold in a candy machine right beside a broken Pepsi machine. Score!
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TheGiz> Am I the only one who likes to imagine that Elijah Wood's character in Back to the Future 2, the kid at the Wild Gunman machine in the Cafe 80's, is some future descendant of the AVGN? |
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Charbile
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 106
Location: Blythewood
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: |
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I like OHR games too, but if there wasn't any room for improvement, we would have no need for feedback, would we? There is always room, and for praise too.
At the same time, I, not anon, find them very lacking, and so does everyone else who can't be bothered to give the man a comment about his game. How many people voted in that 'finish your dang game' contest? Is that a sign of growth or caring? If you didn't care about it, you wouldn't bitch, 8bit my man. You would instead do something like this, (taking my own counterpoint here, as I'm really interested in P. Ranger's thoughts about the audience):
The exploration system is a genius concept. I played some more, up until the protesters (who killed me / forgot to equip my stick), and was thinking it's kinda neat finding the little things like that Max Powers, but other things kept getting in the way of that enjoyment. Specifically: the battles and map design.
The exploration system is genius because it's a way to reward the player for exploring. I'd develop it out more around that, with more constant rewards, more feedback if not several slice bars fixed on the screen so the player can always see it going. And have things like, when you find neat stuff, it notifies you of exp gained, just like at the end of a battle. And remove all the non-important battles that get in the way of this exploration. Maybe make a simple duel battle script to take their place, or something.
If the battles were removed, or at least designed more for the experience of it rather than any real challenge (think most of Metal Gear design), and the maps were tightened up, this would easily be in my OHR top 10. I can see it with how you made that first slime battle, with the random lightening and it ends up killing the original slime. Weird and fun.
Oh, and the dialogue downsized. Things like the setup of 'telling the secret' or such, it's OK but after 6 or textboxes of it, kind of "meh". Brevity is the soul of wit, my friend.
Also also: in the novel format, a character starts from some place and goes through stuff, coming out changed at the end. I don't really have a sense of where PMan is coming from, nor where he's going. Which is fine, but understand this is a huge draw of RPGs (know the audience!) |
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Pepsi Ranger
Reality TV Host
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 493
Location: South Florida
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks to those who have started playing. Now to answer a few questions and to clarify some things:
| Charbile wrote: | | Played it a bit. Went through the different intros. Thought they were different games or modes or something, but they all lead back to bubbling goo, which if you quit during that sound FX, it keeps going if you start another intro. |
Not stopping sound effects after a game over is actually an engine issue. If you scroll to the bottom of the main menu, however, you'll notice a button called "Kill Sounds." If you press it prior to quitting a game, you'll shut off all of the ambient sounds currently running and you won't have sound clutter later. Just make sure you don't walk anywhere after you press the button. Ambient sounds are triggered by "Each Step."
| Charbile wrote: | | I played the original way back when. The new ohr stuff is neat (sound, and sound). That's about it, really. It's a fun high releasing work, I don't want to mess with that. But I suppose I can be the guy brave enough to type some honest feedback, besides Rya. |
Well, I should hope that honest feedback is what everyone who comments gives around here.
| Charbile wrote: | | What I would change is the main character and the entire plot. It seems like an artifact of homemade comics we all drew when we were kids, and maybe wasn't the best of ideas, but seemed really neat at the time. Given the different intros involving the dude who can't be bothered to play a game, it seems like that would be a more interesting thing to explore. Ala at the risk of manipulation. |
I do appreciate your willingness to help, but I gotta say that implying that I should scrap the game and start over with something else really isn't the best criticism. It is, after all, called The Adventures of Powerstick Man. The title would no longer work if I changed the main character and the plot. And I don't want to change it to The Something of Somebody Else.
It is based on a homemade comic that I made when I was in high school. You pretty much nailed that. And that comic made me laugh. And the character made me laugh. And the situations he found himself in made me laugh. He ended up becoming the lead of a modern day Gulliver's Travels. I still like the idea, even though I'm in my thirties and technically "grown up." It's fun for me.
The guy in the intros is another member of my collection of protagonists. He was actually the first one. And though his story is part tragic, his role in Powerstick Man's intro doesn't really show up because I never thought the idea of a guy trying to play a game would sustain anyone's interest for more than a few minutes (if at all). It's only in there to get the player into a lighthearted mood.
But I'm glad you mentioned At the Risk of Manipulation. I was beginning to think no one remembered that game.
| Charbile wrote: | I've just been poking around the past few weeks, but it seems like the OHR doesn't really have much of an audience within itself anymore. And I know it doesn't have much of one outside of it. And it's always weird, because everyone who will play it is likely going to view it from this ohr developer perspective, ie a game made, technical things, and this matters because, as a fellow author, when writing we take into account our audience, their expectations and assumptions. And this leads to, for instance here (correct me if I'm wrong, ho ho ho,) a focus on technical glitz, showoff scripting, fellow author cameos, references, etc.
In a round and about way I hope you appreciate (you said you would!) my feedback which is that the presentation has me wondering what audience you have in mind. Honest question, not hating or fronting here. I just can't get into it. Maybe if you redid the walkabouts where you could see the face and expressions better? Maybe enlist an editor to tighten the script, or an 'abridged' mode. |
Honestly, my audience is for whomever will play it. I don't expect it to sit well with everyone. I realize that some people would rather play a serious game, a short game, a straightforward game, etc., and I respect that. I come from the camp that a game should draw me in as much as it can and not leave me with any shortcuts. It's asking too much of a designer to accomodate every form of realism (like overstepping boundaries to fall off a cliff, for example), but I do appreciate an effort to give me something other than the road to interact with. I like when I can examine a bookshelf, or jump into a car and drive it through a park in whatever game I'm playing. I feel shortchanged if it expects me to only walk from Point A to Point B and fight a boss at the end. And though I'm okay with treasure boxes being my only symbol of exploration in a game, I'm not excited by it. I appreciate a game when it takes the extra effort to color strobe the screen if I happen to equip a disco ball as my accessory. I feel like the author cares enough about his own game that I should probably do my best to care about it, as well.
Having said this, I'm okay with players viewing it from the OHR developer perspective. Pretty much the only people who will play it are the people who are making their own games, and I'm certain they can empathize with the level of heart I've put into it (not that they necessarily have to see that). I guess the other reason why I've put so much into this game and into Tightfloss Maiden is because I want to remind other developers that a little extra care goes a long way into the end result.
To address the other things about facial expressions and dialogue brevity:
The facial expressions would require me to design big-headed characters, and I really don't like big-headed characters. I like realistically proportioned characters, and the limitations of sprite size mean that the facial expressions have to be sacrificed. That's why I use pauses in dialogue. I figure that makes up for the animation that can't be seen.
I'm still working on my dialogue edits (this version only covers about one-eighth of the changes that need to be made). The only characters that talk longer than your average NPC are the ones who have important story points to communicate. Yes, I probably could trim them some more. But I don't like to sacrifice rhythm for brevity, so whether the boxes get shorter will depend on time. Once I'm happy with the dialogue, I'm done editing.
| Charbile wrote: | | I'm not that into pop-culture reference kind of work, which is what I would wager the thrust of it is. |
Part of it is, yes. But to each his own.
| Newbie Power wrote: | | EDIT: I think I'll go ahead and play this tonight, though I don't really feel compelled to write any reviews or whatever, just planning on enjoying the game. |
That's what I hoped you would do. If you feel inclined to say anything about it, then feel free. If not, at least you played it.
| Newbie Power wrote: | | EDIT 2: Holy cow, ultimate convenience. Pepsi cans sold in a candy machine right beside a broken Pepsi machine. Score! |
And if you stay in that room long enough, you might witness the male employee having better luck with the Pepsi machine than you had.
| Charbile wrote: | The exploration system is a genius concept. I played some more, up until the protesters (who killed me / forgot to equip my stick), and was thinking it's kinda neat finding the little things like that Max Powers, but other things kept getting in the way of that enjoyment. Specifically: the battles and map design.
The exploration system is genius because it's a way to reward the player for exploring. I'd develop it out more around that, with more constant rewards, more feedback if not several slice bars fixed on the screen so the player can always see it going. And have things like, when you find neat stuff, it notifies you of exp gained, just like at the end of a battle. And remove all the non-important battles that get in the way of this exploration. Maybe make a simple duel battle script to take their place, or something. |
I like this idea for the most part. I don't think I'd use slices or anything, but I have been toying with the idea of implementing a progress journal that lists every quest that you've opened. This could tie in with that.
There is already a similar system in place called the Awards Ceremony, which praises or chastises you for things you've done (whether knowingly or not) throughout the game. I haven't updated it for the Extended Edition yet, but the original has one in place.
If you get past the research institute, you'll discover that the next area (which is technically optional) is almost devoid of battles. There's only one place to explore that also has battles, but the dungeon is very short and I rarely have more than three random encounters before reaching the boss. I won't remove the battles I already have because there needs to be some form of traditional experience building in place, but I have purposely built entire subplots with minimal or nonexistent fights for the purpose of making exploration stand out.
| Charbile wrote: | | If the battles were removed, or at least designed more for the experience of it rather than any real challenge (think most of Metal Gear design), and the maps were tightened up, this would easily be in my OHR top 10. I can see it with how you made that first slime battle, with the random lightening and it ends up killing the original slime. Weird and fun. |
You won't find it with the Demo Man character blocking your progress, but the game has a little bit of everything to keep it satisfying. There are several methods for gaining experience besides fighting, as well as a side quest that leads you to a machine that turns off random battles for as long as you have battery power. Pretty much everything you asked for is already in there; you just don't have the version that unlocks them yet.
| Charbile wrote: | | Oh, and the dialogue downsized. Things like the setup of 'telling the secret' or such, it's OK but after 6 or textboxes of it, kind of "meh". Brevity is the soul of wit, my friend. |
I know. I'm editing a nine-year-old game with more than 5000 textboxes inside. It takes time.
| Charbile wrote: | | Also also: in the novel format, a character starts from some place and goes through stuff, coming out changed at the end. I don't really have a sense of where PMan is coming from, nor where he's going. Which is fine, but understand this is a huge draw of RPGs (know the audience!) |
The novel and the game are two different stories. I've been trying to retrofit the game to align better with the novel, but it's never gonna be close enough. The game will always be lighthearted, and the novel will always be, well, James read it; he could tell you whether it does what you suggest.
Just for the record, my novel writing habits and game writing habits are also a bit different. Again, James can tell you better than I can (as an objective source) whether I still need to apply the writing advice, stated here, in my novel(s).
Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm still looking forward to hearing from others soon.
Don't forget, the file is only online until Monday night. If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it soon. I probably won't release another test copy until the full Extended Edition is ready next year.
_________________
Progress Report:
The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition
Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.
Tightfloss Maiden
Currently Updating: Chapter 2 |
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NeoSpade
Of course!
Joined: 23 Sep 2008
Posts: 249
Location: Wales GB
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| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:02 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | To address the other things about facial expressions and dialogue brevity:
The facial expressions would require me to design big-headed characters, and I really don't like big-headed characters. I like realistically proportioned characters, and the limitations of sprite size mean that the facial expressions have to be sacrificed. That's why I use pauses in dialogue. I figure that makes up for the animation that can't be seen. |
I'm guessing that you're gonna be over the moon when this feature is implimented.
I've not played Powerstick Man, the reason being that I'm looking foward to it, and would rather play the full version and wait a year or two, than play it in its current state, I'm looking foward to its release and its definately on my to download list. |
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Pepsi Ranger
Reality TV Host
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 493
Location: South Florida
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| Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I am definitely looking forward to big walkabouts. However, I will not be adding them to this game. As it stands, I have over 700 walkabout sets already, and upgrading all of them is an endeavor I really don't want to deal with, especially considering the time I put into updating the first 230 when I began work on the Extended Edition. This is a feature I've been waiting for specifically for Blind Date. I always figured I'd get back to work on that one once walkabouts could get taller without plotscripting. My maps for it require taller sprites.
I appreciate your willingness to wait for the full version (which will actually be half of the final, final game--which I can't give an estimation when that will be done--2012 maybe?). Hopefully the new save format and script multitasking will be available by then. The future performance of the game depends on them. The Extended Edition will be so long, though, that you'll probably appreciate the break in between that and the Final Edition, so definitely play the Extended Edition when it's released. It really shouldn't take long to finish it once I've finalized the updates to the original game. And I expect those to wrap up fairly quickly after I finish the dialogue updates. Unlike the 2008 and 2009 deadlines I've imposed on myself since I began work on it several years ago, 2010 is looking pretty realistic. I'm a lot faster at making new content than I am at updating old content. And I'm almost at the point where new content is the only content I can add.
_________________
Progress Report:
The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition
Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.
Tightfloss Maiden
Currently Updating: Chapter 2 |
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