The New Adventures Of Billy The Kid

Summary:

A short adventure starring Billy the Kid and submitted as catmitts’s quick entry to Game Gale 2010, it features well-written, memorable NPCs and low tech graphics.

Overall Score: 3.3/5


Background to Review:

The first catmitts game I played was Twenties Flappers vs The Mummy (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1516/ ). I later played the demo and gave feedback for Frog World RPG (http://rpgmaker.net/games/1940/ ), which was the catmitts’s entry for RS!X. I found both of them quite interesting since they featured computer assisted hand-drawings and used a non-RM engine. So did catmitts’s quick entry (done in a week, more than a week before the deadline for submission) to Game Gale 2010 live up to the predecessors?


Story/Plot/Dialogue:

The story starts with Billy and a companion ridding into town. Basically the story is centered about Billy going around town to find a way to pay off the debt to save his soul or risk losing it by sundown. To prevent major spoilers away, I’ll say whether Billy is able to ride into the sunset or not, is in doubt in spite of Billy’s self-confidence.

The dialogue is well-written, and, as expected features the use of words such as ain’t, reckon and God (overused in vain). Here and there, some words are misspelled, probably on purpose, to reflect the old West accent. Surprisingly, we find Billy trying to downplay his exploits (at least his exaggerated claims to them) as hearsay in order to gain sympathy from others for his plight. Also, he seems to have trouble with the women in town as none of them really want to go out of their way to help him unless there’s something in it for them. I found this characterization of empowered women very interesting and effectively reflected through the dialogue. Bill’s companion also has a major role in the story as he appears to very well-versed regarding some of the challenges Bill encounters. The final thing to note is that talking to the same NPC again will sometimes result in different dialogue.

Score: 3.5/5


Gameplay:

The game interface is highly reminiscent of the one used for Twenties Flappers vs The Mummy. It heavily emphasizes using the mouse clicks to move, and, interact with objects, people and make dialogue or inventory choices. The issue I have with this type of interface is that it isn’t always obvious what you can interact with or how to exit the screen. I would suggest, if technically feasible, having the pointer change in these cases.

The whole promise of gameplay is based on trying to solve relatively easy puzzles in several areas you enter. Solving one in one area will open up something that helps you solve one in another and so forth. It is important to keep in mind things that can go into or are currently in the inventory, since they can provide a solution. It is also relevant to pay attention to hints obtained by seeing and listening to something said.

Score: 2.5/5


Graphics

As in the games I had played earlier, catmitts still did some line-art hand-drawing of characters and objects, but instead of using the computer he used some white paper, cardboard and color markers. Toss in some green crepe paper, cotton balls, some tape and scissors, and a flat surface, he set the stage for the game. Using a digital (this one’s more likely) or video camera to allow image capturing, the images transferred into the computer for editing and use in the AGS maker (a technique catmitts seems to have used before in two other of his games I haven’t played yet: Biggles On Mars http://rpgmaker.net/games/1731/ and Too Many Kittens http://rpgmaker.net/games/1856/ ).

The hand-drawings, in spite of their apparent crudeness have enough detail to distinguish what they’re supposed to be. In some cases, they also convey certain things: one NPC’s expression shows that it’s nobody that should be messed around with and in another case there’s this expression of sadness. The other aspects of graphics are nice enough and remind me of hand-made scale mock scenes I had to make up with for elementary school projects.


Score: 3.5/5


Sound:

There are only two songs in this game: Wildwood Flower by The Carter Family and Police Dog Blues by Blind Blake. I wasn’t previously familiar with them, but doing some research I found them to be fine examples of early 20th century traditional American music in the bluegrass/folk and blues genres. In terms of the game, I feel catmitts chosen them perfectly as background music for his game, since they do a great job in setting the mood.

EDIT: This game didn't have any sound effects.

Score: 3/5


Characters:

While the game is short, it is able to introduce us to several characters with very distinct personalities. Personally, I found the non-human NPCs to be the most memorable ones. As mentioned in the dialogue section of this review, I also found the role of women to be quite different than what I would’ve expected.

Score: 4/5


Other:

In addition to the spelling issue mentioned in the dialogue section of the review, I surprisingly didn’t find any significant grammar issues (for example, nothing similar to you was). Another couple of things about text: I found the autoscrolling text speed to be just right and would have liked the text said by each different character to have their own different colors.

One strange issue I found is that when you changed scenes, Billy’s companion won’t appear onscreen at the same time as Billy but instead a couple of seconds later. Whether this issue is related to the AGS engine, it’s hard to say.

Also, I would like to commend catmitts for having 7 complete games now in RMN, which I wonder whether it could be the most by a single developer.

Finally, although I liked the extra graphics (mountains, trees and mountain range), there is this building, which is the tallest in town, that had no use in the game and seemed to be out of place.

Score: 3.5/5