rein (PC Gamer related update)(interview)

[SarahLiz]

I am cracking up, Domithan...I don't usually enjoy watching walkthrough-type stuff on utube but yours was so funny (especially at the intro)...  It was really fun to watch someone else's reactions and opinions of the gameplay, and a LOT of your thoughts echoed my own while I was playing.

Keep making 'em!  Good stuff, I enjoyed it.  



Sarah

[Macay]

It's probably just me, I really respect you as a person, so please take this lightly. First I found the game really nice, and I found very few flaws, but nothing really spoiling it. The music on the other hand, really broke it for me. I didn't really like the renditions, with all the respect to both of you. Just something I thought it should be expressed. If the songs where in higher pitch or passed via some soundfont they would really sound greater for me. I'm not a music guy, and I just compose out of luck. Overall very short, want to see more. Sorry for being a dick.

The music was put together in JazzWare, as such there where certain limitations to the renditions. For instance, JazzWare does not handle chords very well or even multiple notes being played at the same time. This and other limitations did however create a distinct and dissonant sound, a desolate sort of tune came out that sounded like it was being played on a broken piano, or such was the opinion. It seemed fitting at the time and I can't say I imagined it would break the experience for anyone, partly due to having ambient over music once in-game.

They are by no stretch of the imagination good renditions, anyone who's heard The Swan or the first Nocturne in Chopins' Nocturne Op.27 would agree on that. The issue with the rendition is that as I am sure you know, the piano has the characteristic of being able to play a note both soft and hard, piano and forte if you will. The Larghetto section of said Nocturne is what you hear in the opening, not only is it being played legato but it is also played pianissimo, meaning very soft. A song that is played soft tends to be far more expressive and more demanding of the human element, listen to Nocturne Op. 27 in C-sharp Minor and you'll realize that it cannot be replicated in any sort of computer program.

Yet the hard dissonance seemed fitting and what I am trying to get across is that no small measure of thought was put through the decision. It doesn't sound right and that is a reasonable judgement to make but the question is if the musics dissonance bothered you to much for you to take it for what it was or if you simply found it ill befit for the atmosphere of the game.

I can't say I found you to exhibit any dickish behaviour, criticism or downright negativity is quite a jolly thing in my book, and I will most definitely be looking into different music software if a future comes around so if you or anyone else have any to recommend I would appreciate the PM.

[Peter Bear]

really nice and promising short game.

I hope you could release another one very soon.

Animation, backgrounds and sounds are great. So was the immersion.

[blueskirt]

Of all the games I played, this one was certainly the shortest game with the loudest bang, like many mentioned before, I hope we'll see some sequels someday. You could pull an Half-Life jig there, where sequels take place in the same event but from different points of view and each new pieces slowly reveal the big picture. Keep up the good work!

[straydogstrut]

Ha, I loved this game. It's very short but totally worth it.

The backgrounds were great and the animations were superb. The opening caught me completely by surprise. Brutal.

The timed sections were fine, though i'm glad they weren't in every room as I wanted to look around. It was fair and so were the puzzles. I would just have liked to see more of them.

I didn't have any problem with the music myself, it was a little unsettling but I thought it set the mood well. However i'm not that musically inclined so Dualnames critique is probably more relevant. I really liked the ambient sounds as they suggested what was going on elsewhere in the building, and overall the sound effects themselves married well with the animations.

Domithan's Let's Play cracked me up, lol. My own playthrough was similar but I spoke to Henry. It was one of the highlights for me, though I felt the protagonist's dialogue was a bit heartless, lol. It would've been nice to see more of the characters' personalities, maybe a bit more interaction in the last room. Also, I agree that it was a bit strange that items disappeared after you used them (I mean the ones which you should still be holding).

Great little game, this made my day=) Oh and make a prequel/sequel!

[Darius Poyer]

I't recently came to my attention that IndieGames.com did a small write-up on rein. It's a very thorough little article except for the fact that they wrote 'Fraxtor' instead of Fraxto as the name of the facility. I find it interesting that the few subtle things I wanted to convey about the facility and characters where quite clear to the players.

It's very odd though. it seems that because IndieGames.com posted it I found that allot of other blogs picked it up as well. I also found some obscure French site that offers it to be downloaded for some reason.

publicity is a very strange and frightening thing.

IndieGames.com
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/06/freeware_game_pick_rein_darius.html

Other blogs
http://occplayer.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/the-operative-word-is-extreme/
http://thereticule.com/2010/06/rein/
http://funeffect.com/wp/2010/06/freeware-game-pick-rein-darius-poyer/
http://nerdfilter.net/freeware-game-pick-rein-darius-poyer

Obscure French Website
http://www.relite.org/fr/game-153-Rein.html

Also a walkthrough for some odd reason
http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/rein-walkthrough-darius-poyer2010/

[ddq]

The fact of the matter is that just about everyone agrees that you should make more.
So... um, get on that. With haste.

[Leon]

Also a walkthrough for some odd reason
http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/rein-walkthrough-darius-poyer2010/

It's not really odd. I make one for every game (still 149 to go) that has at least some interaction. There are even shorter ones.

But it's also a database for myself. I now have the game in my archive, I have a screenshot of it and I know what the game was about. And other people sometimes stumble upon the index, see the screenshot and might want to play as well. At least you found it ;-)

[Darius Poyer]

The game has received a minor update fixing the spelling issues brought up my Leon.

[Intense Degree]

Thoroughly enjoyed this game, looks good and plays well.

Short, but a lot of effort has obviously gone into graphics and animation etc. Well done!

EDIT: I need spelling lessons.

[Calin Leafshade]

Just finished it.

The animations were nice and the whole thing had a distinct 1213 feel to it.

blood looks so much creepier in 320x200

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The animations were definitely a high point in this game!  Hopefully you'll consider expanding on this idea more since it is so short.  Just as it was over I wanted more .

[Evo]

I did the piece on The Reticule about Rein Darius, really impressed I want more though, really gripped by it from the off.

[Ilyich]

Nice little first game. Plays really well, hooks you right from the start and the possibility of dying makes it quite intense.

Graphics and sounds are stylish and atmospheric, puzzles make sense both logically and contextually, everything fits together.
Would've worked great as an action sequence in a bigger game, although doesn't seem to stand well enough on it's own for me.

That said, I'm really looking forward to your next projects. Good luck!

[SuperDre]

looks great will try it soon....

[Darius Poyer]

I just read a lovely write-up on rein. http://wisnoskij.blogspot.com/2010/07/rein.html

Kind of makes me want to make games some more... or does it!?!

[Dualnames]

Also to congratulate Calin's now in charge of the picks of the month, and rein is now this month's pick!!

[Monsieur OUXX]

Obscure French Website http://www.relite.org/fr/game-153-Rein.html

On their home page they claim to be an independant magazine of video-games-related news.

Never heard of them, though (that probably comes with the "independant" label ).
Well, I suppose it's good advertisement for you, except for the fact that they mirror the game without asking!

[blueskirt]

Judging by the titles they cover, I think the label translate as magazine of independent video-games-related news, not independent magazine of video-games-related news. The video games are indies, not the magazine.

[LimpingFish]

Rein is featured in the "Indie" section of PC Gamer's (UK edition) cover-mounted DVD this month.

EDIT: And the "Freeware" section of PC Zone's cover-mounted DVD.