Aetus:Vita (check first post for update)

[Vince Twelve]

I'm going to give this demo the same treatment that I gave Prototypical so I hope you can take the constructive criticism as well as Candall did and use it to make your game even better.

I'm no artist, so I'm not going to touch on the quality of the backgrounds except to say that I like how different each area looks.  Each world seems to have it's own atmosphere which is expressed through different color schemes and textures.  So, nice job there.

I'm also not going to comment on puzzle design here.  What I'd really like to help you with is the playability, because here, the game has a couple of faults.  I'd like to address two that were prominent in this demo:

1) This is the most important suggestion and it is one that you need to address, or the frustration of playing your game is going to overshadow the fun of solving the puzzles and uncovering the story.  Unclear hotspots and exits.  Navigating around the world is difficult because it is not clear where I can and can't click to proceed.  If you're not going to use the effective "look four ways from every node" approach that worked well in Myst, the forward and backward with branches works well enough.  But only if it's clear where I can and cannot go!  Reread the suggestion I made in your Critics Lounge thread.  That suggestion is still, in my mind, very important and it went completely unaddressed. 

Let's give an example.  On the first screen, I am looking at a field of ruined stone structures.  It's not clear, just by looking at it where I can go.  The only way I can figure out where I can go is by slowly dragging my cursor over the screen and noting the places where it starts blinking.  The player should not have to do this.  If the player can't look at a background and instantly tell where each exit is, then that is not a successful background.

Another example: After you walk down the right-most branch on Ignis, you come to a beach.  I saw that there was something in the water, figured that I'd have to return later with some item to fish it out and proceeded to back up back to the start.  After looking through all the other branches I was confused, because I had been everywhere and hadn't found anything to do except pick up two pieces of paper and talk to the girl.  What's going on?  So I went back through every screen (and there are a lot, because you made a lot of in-between screens that have nothing to do except continue forward, or back up) and slowly scanned around with my mouse to look for a path that I missed.  I eventually found the path that I missed.  I can turn right from a point on the beach.  But there is no indication on the screen that I can turn there.  No path to signify that I can turn there.  The only way to figure it out is by getting lucky and putting my mouse over that side of the screen.  This is called pixel-hunting and it's not fun.  It's frustrating.

Remember, as the developer, you know exactly where you can and can't go in the game, so it may feel natural to you.  But the player hasn't had the luxury of seeing the source code.  They are your target audience, so if they find the game unplayable because they can't find an exit that's supposed to be clear to them, it's not their fault, it's the designer's.

2) Inconsistent cursor use. You rarely make use of the eye cursor, which is a shame because there's plenty of eye-candy around.  It would be nice if I could click on items and get a description of them.  These descriptions help flesh out the charactor, because right now, your character has nothing.  I don't even know who I am, why I'm there or how I got there.  (of course there might be an intro explaining that in the final version). 

Right now, the eye cursor blinks when it passes over an exit in the same places that the finger cursor blinks, but I can't use it in these spots.  If the eye cursor is blinking, I should be able to click on whatever I'm pointing at.  But I want to click on more than just the room exits.  You can, using scripting, make the hand cursor blink only on exits or interactable items, and the eye cursor blink only on items that you can look at.  Then, let me look at lots of stuff on every screen.  Otherwise, just take out the eye cursor all together, it's not serving any purpose right now except for looking at inventory items.

Moreover, sometimes, for example the statues in the maze, clicking the hand icon on an item gives a description, but the eye icon does nothing!  This doesn't make much sense.

And finally, there's no reason to use the eye cursor on the Main Menu, much less default to it.  Use the scripting to disable the eye cursor while the menu is up.

I hope this criticism didn't sound too harsh.  I only want to help you make a better game.  I know that addressing these points may make you have to redo a lot of graphics or scripting, but trust me, it'll be worth it in the end and your end-product will be all the better for it.  And I'll bet a lot of the people who play your demo will agree with me.

[alimpo83]

It's not too harsh, believe me. About the look/interact hotspots, I said a lot has not been implemented. As for the get out/get in the screen I'm thinking on making an animated cursor that will animate a hand to left, right, back, and so on, to make it more easy to navigate. That or making a kind of mini-map on the lower right part of every screen so that players would know where they could go(with arrows and so)This has given me an idea, really . As for the player story, with no intro video you only know you are a scientist that uses ancient discs to travel to other dimensions and worlds, I've written it before.About the beach, where you tried to fish something, I cannot tell you what it is, since it would be a spoiler. In the demo, you can't pick anything up yet.And I think the in-between screens add a little depth, since it's more fun to traverse through 4 or 5 screens to get someplace that to traverse only one, directly,abruptly. And about the menu, don't mind that, since it's not final and I forgot to disable the eye cursor. Finally, many thanks, since it's a constructive crit.

By the way, here's some help for those who play the demo:

- Every room can be exited placing your hand cursor on the left, right, front, back of the screen(in the far right, left...)
- When over a hotspot, the cursor blinks.

Update

I managed a simple solution for the "don't know where can I go" problem:

-Used different cursors that appear when over the change room hotspot. Used arrows that point left, right, back or up in order for the player to know where to go. And there's no pixel hunt, just common sense: see a door, enter; see a sky, lookÃ,  Believe me it works like a charm now and was simple to implement.

For the look problem:

- I'm thinking of taking out the eye cursor from in-game, as suggested, but letting it on inventory so that one can look at the objects, obtaining descriptions. The hand cursor will work as in Myst(for everything in game), making it easier to deal with the setting.

As for the hotspots, the hand cursor will work as It does until now. When over something you can pick, operate,..., it blinks.

When all is done i'll upload a new demo. Till then you can still download the one available(check first post).

[nemis]

HI Alimpo83 It's great GAme but witch tools you used?
I mean for exemple Tools GRafic ecc..


Thanx

[alimpo83]

Used Bryce 5, Daz Studio, Poser 5(free downloads for some time in www.daz3d.com the first two, Poser in www.contentparadise for like 10 days) and anim8or(always a free download, for me one of the best 3D modelers - freeware - out there, for it's simplicity: www.anim8or.com) for the 3D graphics and renders, and of course AGS for the game engine. Glad you like the demo.

[Cluey]

Heh, I saw the Bryceness of your backgrounds. But I really admire the composition and colour scheme. All my bryce stuff looks wierd .

[alimpo83]

Please check the first post. Thanks.Feel free to give feedback concerning the pics.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Looking good so far. Keep it up!

[alimpo83]

Check a small promo video I did while I was rendering stuff. Check first post!

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Hmm... video is OK, though it doesn't really show any gameplay. Looks a lot like... myst.