Downfall (2009) - now FREE

[Dualnames]

@Crimson

there are more to come to decide what your fate is going to be  

Some include..eh..
HUGY SPOILER DON'T SEE IT CRIMSON!!!!

Spoiler

SEX..

[close]

[Igor Hardy]

Dualnames seem to be way ahead of me

He is terribly slow considering he helped program some bits of the game. I'm pretty sure he left some back-doors in the code and is currently cheating his way through the game.

[Dualnames]

Dualnames seem to be way ahead of me

He is terribly slow considering he helped program some bits of the game. I'm pretty sure he left some back-doors in the code and is currently cheating his way through the game.

The only complete part of the game I know how it's coded is the

Spoiler

boss fight..(on which i also noticed a bug, I got two shotguns! (one empty, one reloaded)

[close]

[i stole your car]

So at first I thought it looked pretty uninteresting. The way it was sold seemed to sell heavily a gore-factor which I'm not so interested in unless it can be backed up with a good narrative that justifies it. However the game seems to have got a lot of praise so I figured I would at least try out the demo, which is quite big (I would consider at 70+MB.) The first thing to note now that I have downloaded the demo, for anybody else considering trying it. The size of the game does not relate to any amount of length. The demo is short. Secondly I came to my first turnoff at this point.

Why an installer? For a demo even too. This is a big turnoff for me on something that I might not want to keep installed. I like being able to run the game straight from the archive and decide then whether or not I want to keep it or not. I don't want to have to commit it to my system before I even know if it's any good. Secondly this presented me with another issue in that it booted the game straight into fullscreen mode which I don't think many people use these days. I then couldn't find a way to get it into windowed mode so I figured I would try pressing the F buttons, F1, F2 etc. The game crashed out with an error at F2. Deciding to give up on that I figured I would hunt down the .cfg file or a readme and only then did I find the setup file buried deep in my program files folder.

I haven't even started the game at this point.

Okay so I finally get the game started and greeted with this obscure, atmosphere breaking music that doesn't seem to blend well with the game at all and I work my way through the first scene which seems to be a fairly simple item combine puzzle. The game doesn't really present any storyline at this point, I wouldn't expect a dream sequence to have one but the game doesn't really set you up with any kind of motivation to continue other than the expectancy that at some point a storyline might start.

So I wander around and click on anything that's highlightable and look at everything that is a hotspot until I stumble into the area I am supposed to be. At which point I think something interesting might be happening but still don't know what that is as the lack of narrative is still there and the writing up until this point has been fairly bland and uninteresting. I would also like to mention that the hotspot dialogues seem rushed and are fairly pointless.

"No I don't need to interact with that."
"You are stupid. Why would you even click on that ashtray."
"Don't be a moron. There is no reason for me to at all interact with this calendar."

Then I wander around every available area of the game that I have found so far THREE TIMES looking for something to do and then realise that I didn't hover my mouse over a small portion of one of the screens and therefore missed an entire other location and then the demo ends with no cliffhanger or anything and I am left with no feelings that I want to continue playing this game.

OKAY. I am sorry about that. I wanted to get all the negativity out of the way first so by the time you finish reading the post you might have forgotten about it, because it's not to say that the whole thing is bad. It's just if the writing continues in the way the demo suggested, then the only thing I have to look forward to is what I expected in the first place. Some level of gore/depravity.

I would like to compliment the artwork. That at least is well done and definitely helps portray the atmosphere. In fact it is possibly responsible for the entirety of the atmosphere and holds together very well considering the points I mentioned earlier. Each scene in the demo looks great and from what I've seen of the other screenshots it will continue and get better. However I am not convinced that it's for me to buy and continue to play.

[Grim]

Dual,

Spoiler

I guess two shotguns are better than one, yeah?

[close]

is stole your car: Fair comment. A game deep in narrative is difficult to extract a piece of and use it as a demo to represent the product. Using any other part of Downfall as a demo would be exteremly confusing and totally out of context because everything relates to something that happened earlier. Also, the events that lead up to the demo put it in a very different light... But you're right that it doesn't quite work. I guess I will be making a better demo next time, eh? The installer comment is what I can't really understand... That's the part my publisher is responsible for but I don't really see it as a massive problem, maybe because I install lots of crap on my pc all the time myself and if I don't like it I just get rid of it:)
Also, are these really in game comments: "You are stupid. Why would you even click on that ashtray."
"Don't be a moron. There is no reason for me to at all interact with this calendar."? If they are, there's something I don't know about my game...  :o

But fair enough, I'm taking all your comments in and can only promise to improve on that with my next project WHICH WILL TOTALLY ROCK!:)

PS. Sweet Jesus, was there at least one person who liked introductory Agnes music? (apart from me?)

[i stole your car]

No those were not real in game hotspot descriptions. I was just trying to sum up the redundancy of those objects. Anyway seeing as this is a game that you believe is worth money, I felt it was important to give honest criticism. In regards to the installer, possibly an issue of my own personal bias but I have plenty of times refused to install a small independant game using an installer unless it is necessary.

[Grim]

Ok... I thought they weren't:)



Anyway, I really like your avatar!

[Crimson Wizard]

PS. Sweet Jesus, was there at least one person who liked introductory Agnes music? (apart from me?)

I loved all the game music especially title one, and the one played in Twilight Lounge.
As for Agnes one, I think it may sound a bit out there especially if it's the first thing you hear in game (when playing demo version), but it has some peculiar taste. Sorry, I am bad in explaining my thoughts about the music let's simply say, I liked it.

i stole your car, that's funny, but your thoughts are similar to mine, I too was not really sure if I want to buy this game after finished the demo, the demo part was rather confusing. However I bought it, and do not regret this... yet (lol).
In fact, I find this game not "usual" horror. No silly trash monsters around.. well, except for that axeman shown in demo, heh, but that's rather an exception.

[Cryxo]

In fact, I find this game not "usual" horror. No silly trash monsters around.. well, except for that axeman shown in demo, heh, but that's rather an exception.

I like to think of it as a psychological horror. For example somebody on the forums had experienced nightmares because of the basement and the sheets.

I feel that's the real way to terrify people. And that's why I loved Downfall 

[Crimson Wizard]

By the way, if I was making something like that basement, I'd do a small random animation which moved a sheet, say, few pixels... and never repeats, so player will be keep guessing have he really seen that? 

What do you think about this idea, Grim Reaper?

[Grim]

By the way, if I was making something like that basement, I'd do a small random animation which moved a sheet, say, few pixels... and never repeats, so player will be keep guessing have he really seen that? 

What do you think about this idea, Grim Reaper?

Very good idea, I'll keep that in mind for The Cat Lady game. Playing with the player's mind is certainly a great trick and having tested that in Downfall I now have hundreds of ideas on how to expand it in the future. The only problem is that realization of each takes on average 2 hours on the graphic editors to make it look decent:)

[Dualnames]

I'm still waiting for a savegame people!!

On topic, most of the game's problems relate to Mr Grim Reaper's lack of excellent programming skills, that explains the size of the demo. Like I've said to him I'd really love to fix most of the bugs and enhance this game because it totally scores well in most of the sectors (btw, I loved Agnes introductory music and overall all the pieces), problem is as you guys have probably figured it out, that well, many people have bought the game and it's hard sending the game back to them again or informing them.

[Grim]

I'm still waiting for a savegame people!!

On topic, most of the game's problems relate to Mr Grim Reaper's lack of excellent programming skills, that explains the size of the demo. Like I've said to him I'd really love to fix most of the bugs and enhance this game because it totally scores well in most of the sectors (btw, I loved Agnes introductory music and overall all the pieces), problem is as you guys have probably figured it out, that well, many people have bought the game and it's hard sending the game back to them again or informing them.

Hopefully this will be avoided in the future thanks to excellent technical support provided by Mr Dualnames:) Seriously, this guy is a scripting machine!:)

[Crimson Wizard]

Dualnames, I will give you savegame just as I reach that point myself.
I hope though same error won't happen to me  


EDIT: Heh, I stuck for a while, until I realized I foolishly missed an important action.

Spoiler

Didn't realise I should talk to mr. Harris a bit longer which leads to certain "personal quest" afterwards. I find this rather strange, but for some mysterious reason I thought him just a useless piece of background, so I did not even bothered talking to him much

[close]

Also, can somebody tell me

Spoiler

should I get an axe from the dead axeman? I shot one with a shotgun, and saw no axe lying nearby. That's a bit cheap, actually  , for with axe I could try crushing some locked doors

[close]

[Grim]

Also, can somebody tell me

Spoiler

should I get an axe from the dead axeman? I shot one with a shotgun, and saw no axe lying nearby. That's a bit cheap, actually  , for with axe I could try crushing some locked doors

[close]

Spoiler

The axe was damaged when you shot him

[close]

Keep in mind that the world of Downfall is more like a surreal dream than cold reality!:)

[Dualnames]

Dualnames, I will give you savegame just as I reach that point myself.
I hope though same error won't happen to me  

You do that mate. I can't play the game again. Grim gave me a savegame, but the game gives me the chills too much.

[Leon]

Dual... I quickly played to that point and saved the game..

[Crimson Wizard]

Here's some really weird one.

Spoiler

So I was making a "food" for birthday Sophie. I put head, then I was wondering where I should get alcohol from, since I already gave beer to Harris; while thinking about that I used recipe paper on bowl, and character said "here goes alcohol"....
After that I could add other ingridients, and finish the production.

[close]

Seriously, I don't get it.

[Dualnames]

Here's some really weird one.

Spoiler

So I was making a "food" for birthday Sophie. I put head, then I was wondering where I should get alcohol from, since I already gave beer to Harris; while thinking about that I used recipe paper on bowl, and character said "here goes alcohol"....
After that I could add other ingridients, and finish the production.

[close]

Seriously, I don't get it.

That's a really easy and noticeable thing. At least for me. Game allows you to grab said item again if you have it, and allows you to miss chance to get said person.

[Crimson Wizard]

Game allows you to grab said item again if you have it, and allows you to miss chance to get said person.

Umm... what? Sorry, now I don't understand this too.