The Shame of the Pack

[Sakkeus]

DISCLAIMER: Storywise The Shame of the Pack is somewhat of a sequel to my first  game (from 2006) Big Bad Wolf and the Three little Pigs, but this game takes heavy 'artistic liberties' on the original story. I don't recommend playing the first part, and frankly, it is not necessary. My first game was made when I was a 16 year old teenager with stupid and 'edgy' views of what is fun and 'cool', The Shame of the Pack doesn't aim to take itself too seriously, but by no means is it a 'joke game'.

@Rik Vargard @Shadow1000 @lanchong @splat44
I'd like to say that the game 16-year old Sakkeus made actually is well worth playing. True, there are some "edgy" humour, but there are also some quite cool puzzles. I have no doubt this one is better (I hope to have the time to play it during the holidays), but despite what the author says and the one cup panel rating, I think there are some qualities to the first game. (But save often, because if I recall correctly, there are some bugs that make the game crash, too.)

This recommendation is to be taken with a (fist sized) grain of salt 

[heltenjon]

This recommendation is to be taken with a (fist sized) grain of salt 

That's why I only recommended it for those very special four selected people. 

[heltenjon]

I played this yesterday and today. I must say that this game surpassed my expectations, even though the others gave rave reviews in this thread, it was even better than I thought. Surely this is one of the best AGS games of the year!

The screenshots do not really do the graphics justice. From the stills, it looks average, but in motion, it's another beast altogether. There are lots and lots of animations, closeups, cut scenes etc., and it didn't take long for me to escape into this world of talking animals (and some humans, too!).

What really sells the game, is the writing and puzzle design. These are very well integrated, fair and logical, and all seems like natural parts of the storytelling. The game is darkly funny, while dwelling on rather grotesque topics, like family honour, blood feuds, a casual business-as-usual approach to an alarming suicide rate and more. The humour won't be everyone's taste, I'm sure, but it's subtle and mature. I'm curious to how people will respond to this, if it's a northern thing or not. The puzzles are also varied, ranging from easy to quite complicated, and from inventory puzzles, pattern spotting, investigation, dialogue based, trading and exploration. And mini-games, too!

I don't think anyone else has commented on the music. I was curious about it, because I thought it was very good and fit the game very snugly. @Sakkeus - how many instruments do you play? Did you make the music to fit the game, or did the music come first? I now have some of those guitar runs playing in my head.  Have you considered making the music available as DLC?

[Carianey]

As a fan of AAA games, this project doesn't look good. But I have no idea how to create games in general. I think it's hard work and requires creativity and dedication. I would love to try to play something like this project. I wish you success and inspiration. й

[Sakkeus]

I played this yesterday and today. I must say that this game surpassed my expectations, even though the others gave rave reviews in this thread, it was even better than I thought. Surely this is one of the best AGS games of the year!
--
I don't think anyone else has commented on the music. I was curious about it, because I thought it was very good and fit the game very snugly. @Sakkeus - how many instruments do you play? Did you make the music to fit the game, or did the music come first? I now have some of those guitar runs playing in my head.  Have you considered making the music available as DLC?

Thank you for your comment (and the review you posted). I'm humbled to receive such feedback and at the same time it makes me feel like this was worth the trouble.
I also appreciate your take on the music, that was a part that I really enjoyed.

And to answer your questions, I've dabbled with different guitars, banjo and electric bass on and off at varying rates for about 20 years. Piano and keys are something that I couldn't accompany myself with, but would very much like to. The music was tailor made to each room, I tried to make every track loop seamlessly, if needed. In the end I ended up switching couple of tracks with each other and even dropped one completely (there was supposed to be music in the last playable room of the game, but I decided to drop the track in favor of clarity).

@Carianey Yes, no A's found here! Thanks anyway

[cat]

Wow, that was really something!
An excellent game. I'll write a proper review in the database but I'll just spill my thoughts directly after finishing the game in spoilers now:

Spoiler

The game manages to keep a weird balance between humour and (as heltonjon properly named it) being "uncomfortably serious". That boulder landing just right in front of the three made me laugh out loud, as did the mole puzzle when I finally found the solution. But then there is this other aspect of the game, dark, serious.
Having a not relatable main character can be difficult but you did it well. I think all the likeable NPCs made up for that.
The game touches ethical questions like is a wolf, being a wolf, allowed to eat those pigs? In what way is Frank different than his brother? He is also brutal, without respect but just hides it behind a mask of honour. I like that you let the player make that last decision in the game.

In the end I let the pig go. The reason was mainly the other brother (Khan). You did well with having his photo and paintings around that I cared for him. I played the other ending afterwards just to see it, but it was the expected outcome (only nicer scripted and animated than I expected). So I'm happy with my choice.

[close]

Now for the more technical aspects:
The graphics don't look like much on first sight of the screenshots, but when you just see the intro sequence with its animations and close ups, you know the game has more to offer than what it seems at first sight. The atmosphere in the cold, winter country side was consistent and really had me there. The music helped a lot, too.
The puzzles were amazing. Lots of them with multiple steps to reach the solution. My favourite being the

Spoiler

mole minigame. That was so clever! Another one that made me laugh was flipping the Open sign.

[close]

A few things I didn't like:

Spoiler

Sometimes the text was cut at unfortunate places in a sentence. I know that you have to split it somehow into chunks, but quite often it disturbed reading for me.

It seems you decided to cut down the scope of the game later on. What was that with the super secure store house? The sauna? The corrupt politicians? The Levonets family?

Some pixel hunt (stethoscope)

The final puzzle. I loved the idea of the mirror and how it reveals only parts of the room. So clever! But without the hint thread I wouldn't have even found the fuse box. I thought I have to check for a certain position where the pig is and then take the gun or walk to the door or similar.

I basically solved the highway construction before I even knew why I was doing it.

[close]

I also found a few bugs:

Spoiler

I got the photo from the pizza box twice (I think it happened when I revisited the house while the pastor had the photo to clean.

There is a small hotspot "Sally's cabin" on the map

In the final scene, they were walking over Sally as if it was nothing. Granted, they didn't really care for her, but a corpse is still not just a pattern on the carpet, they would have a hard time standing or walking there)

[close]

I haven't played such a long game in quite a while and I'm glad I did. It was worth every minute.

[Sakkeus]

Wow, that was really something!
An excellent game. I'll write a proper review in the database but I'll just spill my thoughts directly after finishing the game in spoilers now:

--

I haven't played such a long game in quite a while and I'm glad I did. It was worth every minute.

Thank you very much!

About the things you didn't like and the bug mentions:

Spoiler

"Sometimes the text was cut at unfortunate places in a sentence. I know that you have to split it somehow into chunks, but quite often it disturbed reading for me."

This is something I went back and forth on. I tried longer paragraphs, shorter paragraphs and then this. Maybe I should fix this in a one last update.

"It seems you decided to cut down the scope of the game later on. What was that with the super secure store house? The sauna? The corrupt politicians? The Levonets family?"

Most of the things you mentioned were just "added flavor" (maybe occasionally misleading), but the Levonets family -idea was supposed to be a small part of the story. I had to cut some ideas to get the game out.

"The final puzzle. I loved the idea of the mirror and how it reveals only parts of the room. So clever! But without the hint thread I wouldn't have even found the fuse box. I thought I have to check for a certain position where the pig is and then take the gun or walk to the door or similar."

Maybe a well placed pointer or a mention of the fuse box would be good.


"I basically solved the highway construction before I even knew why I was doing it."

Yes, this is possible. This story issue I'll chalk up to lack of experience on my part.



I got the photo from the pizza box twice (I think it happened when I revisited the house while the pastor had the photo to clean.
Thanks for the mention, I should check my "checks".


There is a small hotspot "Sally's cabin" on the map
Whoops! A remnant of older design.

In the final scene, they were walking over Sally as if it was nothing. Granted, they didn't really care for her, but a corpse is still not just a pattern on the carpet, they would have a hard time standing or walking there)
I laughed when I noticed this particular thing during my play testing.
There were some blocking ('cinematography' wise) issues with that room and I decided to cut my losses and leave it in.

As I said earlier, maybe one last patch is required.

[close]

Thanks for the criticism and bug reports!