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EnderX
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What's up with the damn profanity?
Perhaps it's the disconnect between the topic and the words?
Think about it. The most common rpg plot is about the Chosen(TM), Destined(TM) Hero of Fate(TM), and his (or her) Epic Quest(TM) to save the world from the Forces of Evil(TM). Said plot is played up as a highly exalted (if not outright holy) quest, and the heroes as High and Holy people - whether the actual evidence of this is present in them or not.
Now, contrast that attitude against profanity (profane: Derived from a phrase literally meaning 'outside the temple') and vulgarity (low, coarse, and common).
My own take, derived from the above, is this: profanity and vulgarity seem wrong <i>in terms of the game plot</i>, because they're so much at odds with the implied status of the heroes we're supposed to be identifying with.
Or, of course, you could be someone like me, who simply dislikes the use of profanity or vulgarity in general. I personally don't like to see it, and probably won't play a game if I learn it has even a fair amount in it, but in itself that's my decision - the focus is on my own desires, rather than 'appropriateness'.
Think about it. The most common rpg plot is about the Chosen(TM), Destined(TM) Hero of Fate(TM), and his (or her) Epic Quest(TM) to save the world from the Forces of Evil(TM). Said plot is played up as a highly exalted (if not outright holy) quest, and the heroes as High and Holy people - whether the actual evidence of this is present in them or not.
Now, contrast that attitude against profanity (profane: Derived from a phrase literally meaning 'outside the temple') and vulgarity (low, coarse, and common).
My own take, derived from the above, is this: profanity and vulgarity seem wrong <i>in terms of the game plot</i>, because they're so much at odds with the implied status of the heroes we're supposed to be identifying with.
Or, of course, you could be someone like me, who simply dislikes the use of profanity or vulgarity in general. I personally don't like to see it, and probably won't play a game if I learn it has even a fair amount in it, but in itself that's my decision - the focus is on my own desires, rather than 'appropriateness'.
Screen3.png
The window blind isn't really the problem - the problem is that it looks as though the font was put together with finger paint. The window blind effect is actually kind of cool.
Chrono Shift
Bug found. Arcane forest, there's a battle against two beetle things and two of those sludge octopi. I lost the battle, only to have it automatically restart (with dead characters), tell me I failed again, then lock into a loop of this behavior. Had to kill the run to handle it.
This wasn't the only bug; nor were the bugs the only problems I had with the game. This is just the first thing I ran into (about ten minutes in) that counts as a gamewrecker. I recognize it's technically avoidable (if I'd won the battle, after all, it probably wouldn't have hit), but the manner in which it occurs implies to me that it probably was done by the 'special death effect' eventing, and would have happened for any battle, not just the one in question. Something like that should have been considered as a possibility, and tested for, before the project was released in any form.
I'm sorry, but frankly, whatever your intentions were, I doubt the product you have here should have been posted. I find it unlikely you will be attracting anyone's attention to the finished work - as things stand, you are more likely to drive them away from your final product.
This wasn't the only bug; nor were the bugs the only problems I had with the game. This is just the first thing I ran into (about ten minutes in) that counts as a gamewrecker. I recognize it's technically avoidable (if I'd won the battle, after all, it probably wouldn't have hit), but the manner in which it occurs implies to me that it probably was done by the 'special death effect' eventing, and would have happened for any battle, not just the one in question. Something like that should have been considered as a possibility, and tested for, before the project was released in any form.
I'm sorry, but frankly, whatever your intentions were, I doubt the product you have here should have been posted. I find it unlikely you will be attracting anyone's attention to the finished work - as things stand, you are more likely to drive them away from your final product.
village_night.PNG
Enter the Arena!: So you want to be the hero? Round 1
Exactly how are you defining your terms here? Who's to say that the one cannot be the other? I know my characters - I'll gladly pit my Farmers/Carpenters/Villagers against your generic stereotypical amnesiac swordlugger. They might not be Destined(TM) Chosen(TM) Heroes of Fate(TM), but their lives have just as much of a tale to tell as anyone else's life does.
DK_Birth_of_a_Legend_Lakel_Island_22811_map_progress.png
Looks very nice. Also, I like the scaling touch: the use of full-size buildings across the map (as opposed to 'mini-town') plays across two usually-exclusive ideas - that this isn't a continent, which that much landmass would normally suggest, but neither is it a town, as the buildings might otherwise imply. Between the two, they do a great deal to help sell the concept of 'island'. Well done!
Although I do now wonder about the sanity of whatever forester maintains that stand of trees just across the river east of the icy zone...
Edit: Also, if it won't be a plot spoiler, what's up with that weird grayish river, and the little area it lets out into? Those look strange.
Although I do now wonder about the sanity of whatever forester maintains that stand of trees just across the river east of the icy zone...
Edit: Also, if it won't be a plot spoiler, what's up with that weird grayish river, and the little area it lets out into? Those look strange.
RMN Closing Down April 2nd
More like fourth, in my case. Skytower -> WotM -> Ultima Island -> RMN -> ... probably going to be HBGames at this point, although there's a small but distinct chance of my simply sitting at the RMN main url whimpering.
Need help with some QA
I'm not going to be able to do so (I'm working on bugtesting another game at the moment), but I have a few questions - things you might want to consider offering to your actual beta team.
1) How long is the segment they're looking into?
If the segment of your game you want tested is less than three hours normal playtime, then a week ought to be good enough. If it's more, you may want a bit of extra time buffered up. Your testers won't necessarily know the best way to go through the game (you, as the creator, do - and it's difficult to set that aside).
2) How fine-grained do you expect their playthroughs to be?
This is going to be a sweeping assumption, but from a bit of what I've seen on the topic, RM beta testers tend to play the game - they won't necessarily check every pot, or try to catch every bit of dialogue from a multi-page NPC event. This method will catch most of the actual game-breaking bugs (after all, running into one kills the playthrough) and a fair chunk of the lesser ones, but it leaves large spaces for minor bugs (or worse - situation-specific major bugs) to flourish elsewhere. The finer-grained a beta goes, the more of these 'off-the-path' bugs the tester will catch.
3) What kind of beta run is this? Mechanical, Aesthetic, Narrative, or some combination?
Again generalizing, but most developers and testers are probably going to be thinking in terms of mechanical testing - 'Does opening this door or talking to this NPC cause some event to break?' That's not the only kind of testing, though, and the others need to be given attention.
Aesthetic testing is ensuring that the graphics and sound(music and effects) are good - reasonable quality, not grating on the eyes or ears, and meshing well together. Narrative testing is looking for the points where the storyline doesn't quite work out - places where suspension of disbelief can be derailed, or where a character's portrayal doesn't match their earlier characterization. These don't cause game-ending crashes, but they're just as important for getting the game ready for a large-scale audience.
4) What level of remaining bugs is acceptable?
You mentioned making your project 'bug-free'. Unless it's a very small demo (admittedly possible), you'll have something slip through, especially with the time to release being only a week/week and a half. You might want to tell your testers what, specifically, you consider to be the possible critical points. Otherwise, your testers will be attempting to debug based on their own standards; something they find minor, you might consider critical, or vice-versa.
1) How long is the segment they're looking into?
If the segment of your game you want tested is less than three hours normal playtime, then a week ought to be good enough. If it's more, you may want a bit of extra time buffered up. Your testers won't necessarily know the best way to go through the game (you, as the creator, do - and it's difficult to set that aside).
2) How fine-grained do you expect their playthroughs to be?
This is going to be a sweeping assumption, but from a bit of what I've seen on the topic, RM beta testers tend to play the game - they won't necessarily check every pot, or try to catch every bit of dialogue from a multi-page NPC event. This method will catch most of the actual game-breaking bugs (after all, running into one kills the playthrough) and a fair chunk of the lesser ones, but it leaves large spaces for minor bugs (or worse - situation-specific major bugs) to flourish elsewhere. The finer-grained a beta goes, the more of these 'off-the-path' bugs the tester will catch.
3) What kind of beta run is this? Mechanical, Aesthetic, Narrative, or some combination?
Again generalizing, but most developers and testers are probably going to be thinking in terms of mechanical testing - 'Does opening this door or talking to this NPC cause some event to break?' That's not the only kind of testing, though, and the others need to be given attention.
Aesthetic testing is ensuring that the graphics and sound(music and effects) are good - reasonable quality, not grating on the eyes or ears, and meshing well together. Narrative testing is looking for the points where the storyline doesn't quite work out - places where suspension of disbelief can be derailed, or where a character's portrayal doesn't match their earlier characterization. These don't cause game-ending crashes, but they're just as important for getting the game ready for a large-scale audience.
4) What level of remaining bugs is acceptable?
You mentioned making your project 'bug-free'. Unless it's a very small demo (admittedly possible), you'll have something slip through, especially with the time to release being only a week/week and a half. You might want to tell your testers what, specifically, you consider to be the possible critical points. Otherwise, your testers will be attempting to debug based on their own standards; something they find minor, you might consider critical, or vice-versa.
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