Full Games List
Featured Games
New Games
Reviews
Media
Images
Blogs
Game Updates
Images Feedback Summary
Game Design Highlights
Tutorials
Articles
Scripts
Utilities / Plugins
Resources
Engines
Engine Bulletins
What is Makerscore?
Past Events
Achievements
Misaos
Forums
Post History
Chat
New to RMN?
Full Store List
RMN Music Pack (free)
Profile
Locker
Play ListsMERLANDESE'S PROFILE
Merlandese
3235
Close
Placebo Love
A lonely office worker is guided by a silent Muse to solve the mystery behind his two Doppelganger Soulmates.
A lonely office worker is guided by a silent Muse to solve the mystery behind his two Doppelganger Soulmates.
Search
Filter
All
Game Pages
User Statuses
Fleuret Blanc.
Haha! We could have a whole discussion on those dang TtM puzzles! I gots excuses for days! I will assert that the game is better with them than without them until I'm resting peacefully in my grave! :P In any case, I hope past games aren't being held against me too much.
As for the presentation, it almost sounds like some of the ideas you'd rather have be completely flat. There's no accounting for taste, but I think plenty of designers have talked about how it's alright to take a core idea and make it flashier. It adds enjoyment.
Check out this talk Petri and Martin give on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy0aCDmgnxg
There's definitely an issue if you don't have anything substantial to make "juicy," which is why FFXIII and its sequels fall so hard. But, as you can tell by how I do things, I think it's fine to take necessary ideas and "gamify" them a bit for emphasis or direction. Not to say all of the things you're taking issue with are just juice, but in the case of Last Word, you seem to not like the fact that the juice is misleading. But, really, there's nothing wrong with making gossip more fun than just reading to get to the next spot where you read more.
And yeah, man, I love Jeunet films. Amelie gets the most applause for some reason, and even though it's not bad in any way, I prefer Micmacs and La Cite des Enfants Perdu.
P.S. You should definitely play Catherine some day and tell me what you think.
EDIT: I keep feeling guilty about responding because I don't like self-justification. But I do like design conversation, which you and I obviously engage in. The conflict is that when you're talking about this game, those two conversations collide, so I want to make justifications but I don't want to make excuses; yet those two are kind of the same thing in a case like this. XD
In any case, you can say whatever you like about how I design things and I'm totally cool with it. I still like the discussions, though, so hopefully I can phrase them to not sound overly protective of the stuff I've made while still being able to talk about preferences in game design.
As for the presentation, it almost sounds like some of the ideas you'd rather have be completely flat. There's no accounting for taste, but I think plenty of designers have talked about how it's alright to take a core idea and make it flashier. It adds enjoyment.
Check out this talk Petri and Martin give on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy0aCDmgnxg
There's definitely an issue if you don't have anything substantial to make "juicy," which is why FFXIII and its sequels fall so hard. But, as you can tell by how I do things, I think it's fine to take necessary ideas and "gamify" them a bit for emphasis or direction. Not to say all of the things you're taking issue with are just juice, but in the case of Last Word, you seem to not like the fact that the juice is misleading. But, really, there's nothing wrong with making gossip more fun than just reading to get to the next spot where you read more.
Side Note: There are actually two Conclusions in Fleuret Blanc that you get tons of POIs for all throughout the game, but they are hidden--that is, the game never notifies you. They're "secret" Conclusions that weave the history together and require the same amount of thinking as every other Conclusion. The only difference is that they aren't "gamified," so you have to register the interesting points yourself and draw your own conclusions from the evidence. If I used POI effects like everything else in the game, they would have been solved by now, and quite easily. But since they are independent of the systems, they have almost no weight on the game, like little ghosts in the writing. There's no need to hypothesize what Fleuret Blanc would be like without those systems because examples of it exist within the game already.
And yeah, man, I love Jeunet films. Amelie gets the most applause for some reason, and even though it's not bad in any way, I prefer Micmacs and La Cite des Enfants Perdu.
P.S. You should definitely play Catherine some day and tell me what you think.
EDIT: I keep feeling guilty about responding because I don't like self-justification. But I do like design conversation, which you and I obviously engage in. The conflict is that when you're talking about this game, those two conversations collide, so I want to make justifications but I don't want to make excuses; yet those two are kind of the same thing in a case like this. XD
In any case, you can say whatever you like about how I design things and I'm totally cool with it. I still like the discussions, though, so hopefully I can phrase them to not sound overly protective of the stuff I've made while still being able to talk about preferences in game design.
Fleuret Blanc.
author=Hasvers
And gosh, you are a very lucky man to have such an adorable yet creepily wise storytelling dog. I really hope his head doesn't rotate that much though.
That's not my dog! I just found that picture online one time and it reminded me of Squeaker. XD I'd totally cast that chihuahua as Squeaker in a Fleuret Blanc movie. :P
author=Hasvers
It's really the POI system and the whole "talk to everyone" mechanics that I feel is deceiving: it is made to look like something gamey but it doesn't allow you to play with it, doesn't give you ways to perform. You can only follow and generally hope to be as thorough as possible. In a slightly obsessive way which arguably fits the theme, but still :P
I totally get what you mean. It's strange, though, because what you just described is information collection, and that's how I describe this game. This and Last Word both have JRPG mechanics and "mannerisms" in a lot of ways, but because the settings are of the mystery genre, I feel like people are being let down. They expect to play Hercule Poirot when really they're more like Captain Hastings. XD Not a big deal, but an interesting thing to be seeing.
I've learned that if you have a "fantasy" story, you can make the player do whatever you want. But if you have a "mystery" story, the player will expect to play detective in a more prescribed fashion. Mystery JRPGs seem to work against themselves in expectations. I wonder if Professor Layton has the same problems (by looking like Detective games when really it's a series of brain teasers).
I've learned that if you have a "fantasy" story, you can make the player do whatever you want. But if you have a "mystery" story, the player will expect to play detective in a more prescribed fashion. Mystery JRPGs seem to work against themselves in expectations. I wonder if Professor Layton has the same problems (by looking like Detective games when really it's a series of brain teasers).
author=ivoryjones
Played The Last Word last week and I've noticed the same sound effects and the stone story as well. :P
Haha! Yeah, I was pressed for time and had to use a lot of old SFX. XD
M.O.G. Music
author=turkeyDawgauthor=Raze
Mine is usually a 1/4 - 2/4 time signature, which I believe might have contributed to the dark melody. I might try a 3/4 or 4/4 for something happier sounding I guess.author=Merlandese
1/4 time? I don't think songs are written in that time signature.
...
A time signature doesn't directly affect the music, but merely reflects the established pattern of the rhythm and organizes the writing/reading of it, usually so that the strongest beat is at the beginning of each measure.
Yeah, definitely. That's why I said it's not written in 1/4 time. I guess I was a little brief. XD
I don't think time signatures have much value in music composition, but they are important for music communication. If I have to express ideas to you in words, it's more clear if we both agree on the "language" of music. Otherwise, it's useless knowledge. That said, I can't read musical notation for the life of me... :(
Fleuret Blanc.
Totally happy you approve, man. XD Faults aside, the game means a lot to me, so I like it when a person I respect enjoys the thing.
How you view the game is more important than my design philosophies, but since I like discussing design stuff with you I'm going to include this anyhow. But hidden! XD
If we go on a The Author is Alive mentality, I make a lot of the decisions based on personal ideas/taste. I love your criticisms because they make a ton of sense (and I agree with them for the most part in Game Theory), but in the long run they lose to my stubborn ideals. A lot of a story (opinion) is in the adventure. The bouts, for example, are important because you can do them, not because the story tells you you're doing them. In the context of the game's theme, the act of bouting is more important than the balance of the bouts themselves, and taking the bouts out would harm the narrative as much as taking out a bunch of the written scenes. In essence, I think the way you play the seemingly ancillary sections informs your mentality in conjunction with the story, rather than being at odds with it. The Progress Points are created for only that reason--they encourage the player to collect and collect, which informs the theme even though it doesn't add much to the gameplay itself.
It's why I think Catherine is so amazing for having the block puzzles even though people claim to hate them. This could go down a long road, but the existence of the block puzzles inform the mentality of the story in Catherine more than most people would ever get from watching the story on HBO even if they think the two sections are strikingly at odds.
Squeaks for the win!
You and I can get a bit verbose, but the short version is thank you! 14 hours is a long time to spend on a game!
How you view the game is more important than my design philosophies, but since I like discussing design stuff with you I'm going to include this anyhow. But hidden! XD
If we go on a The Author is Alive mentality, I make a lot of the decisions based on personal ideas/taste. I love your criticisms because they make a ton of sense (and I agree with them for the most part in Game Theory), but in the long run they lose to my stubborn ideals. A lot of a story (opinion) is in the adventure. The bouts, for example, are important because you can do them, not because the story tells you you're doing them. In the context of the game's theme, the act of bouting is more important than the balance of the bouts themselves, and taking the bouts out would harm the narrative as much as taking out a bunch of the written scenes. In essence, I think the way you play the seemingly ancillary sections informs your mentality in conjunction with the story, rather than being at odds with it. The Progress Points are created for only that reason--they encourage the player to collect and collect, which informs the theme even though it doesn't add much to the gameplay itself.
It's why I think Catherine is so amazing for having the block puzzles even though people claim to hate them. This could go down a long road, but the existence of the block puzzles inform the mentality of the story in Catherine more than most people would ever get from watching the story on HBO even if they think the two sections are strikingly at odds.
Squeaks for the win!
author=HasversPS: you seem to like stories about stones and words, I gather :P
Nice catch! XD An even trickier Easter egg is that when the professor monologues about the legends of the word, the song that plays is a leitmotif of "Histoire" from Fleuret Blanc.
You and I can get a bit verbose, but the short version is thank you! 14 hours is a long time to spend on a game!
Fleuret Blanc.
Oh, the oddly-placed Events is more of a "benefit" of New Game +. You already have the prerequisites for certain events because of your last playthrough, so I made it possible for you to get the stuff you might have missed without jumping through every single hoop. The idea is that it's all an information collection game. NG+ will play "buggier" because it assumes you know quite a few of the things you learned last playthrough.
It's not the most graceful New Game +, but it lets you get all of the info you missed without bogging you down with things you already know.
It's not the most graceful New Game +, but it lets you get all of the info you missed without bogging you down with things you already know.
M.O.G. Music
author=KoopaKush
Lakeside Town
This one turned out really nice! I love the mood of it.
author=Link_2112SunchildIf anybody recognizes the inspiration for that song, they are cool.
The synths you used are a bit grating, but I think it has a lot of potential. I also think it was inspired by Uematsu's "The Phantom Forest" from FFVI. Amicool? XD
author=Raze
Mine is usually a 1/4...
1/4 time? I don't think songs are written in that time signature.
author=kentonaSecret of Battle (battle music - shamelessly "inspired" by Secret of Mana)
This one felt really hectic, but it had a battle vibe to it. And definitely a bit of a SoM vibe, especially near the end. I wasn't a fan of the sound fonts, but I think the composition holds up pretty well.
author=MajoracanKingTheme of tropics
Wow, what an interesting one. XD It sort of reminded me of a short scene where someone's doing work, like hastily piecing together a toy or mixing and stirring potions. It could be great as a jingle or Music Event (ME) but I don't think it'd would work well looping in the background.
Fleuret Blanc.
author=argh
By the way, a bug: in new game+, I can't examine the "Parfait!" sign or the sword in Florentine's room.
(Also, in the ending sequence, there's a point where Masque moves as if to leave the scene, but his sprite snaps back to its original position and stays there for the rest of the scene.)
Edit: Also also, I can't open Le Neuvieme's safe. Flore just gives the spiel about how I can't poke it while he's in his room, even though he...isn't.
Chaos!
I never programmed anything for the Parfait sign or the sword, I think. They're just there.
The Masque bug is crummy. I found that last week. It's a millisecond to fix and an hour to update everything, so I haven't touched it yet. XD
I'll look into the safe, thing, though! What was the day and time for that?
Thanks for all of the catches. :)
Fundamental RPGology
author=outcry312
Hmmm, I think I'm gonna reduce the scope for skillsets. Probably have one stance instead of two for each character, and 2 skills instead of 5. And I need to make sure they are doable, as well as different.
Reducing scope to make it more fun for me, less pressure always helps.
Scope reduction is often a necessary evil. XD
author=Treason89
Other teams, Come on! Still 10 days to go! Don't lose hope ;)
I second this!
M.O.G. Music
author=CashmereCatFriendly_2
I really like this! There a couple of notes here and there that strike me as odd, but I think this is a good piece. It has a lot of nice transitioning flavor. Keep it up, Cashmere. :)
Fleuret Blanc.
author=Gourd_Clae
By the way this game is so goood~<3
author=ivoryjones
Really glad to have played this game and wish I could play something like this in the future!
Thanks a lot, guys! I appreciate the compliments. :)
author=Archeia_Nessiah
I liked your game Last Word. Once I'm done with work I'll play this :D
Great! Hopefully you're not too tired of games by then. XD
Games - Tester
Games - Other
