Mind's Eye Big V 1.4 Valentine's Day Update!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Thanks buloght.


Notice:  I've updated Mind's Eye to version 1.2a after going through it one more time and checking for problems.  I have also added support to skip the two portrait cutscenes with the Escape key, so no more whining! .

You can get this new and hopefully final version at the FIRST link on the games page.  The mirror has the previous version until I can get Dave to update it.

Edit: Dave uploaded the new version to his mirror so either one will work now.  Thanks Dave!

[Hammerite]

great game, I could swear I read that there were multiple endings.
Any thoughts of a sequel?

[seaduck]

This game looks promising!

But one thing that is completely out of place and spoiling it is

Spoiler

the bed&sink&diary "puzzle". Do you think it's fun clicking 1000 times before I get to the sink? Do you think it is good for training my brains? Actually after 30 minutes of insane clicking I gave up. My poor little mouse!
-

[close]

This would be definitely one from my (hypothetical) top 10 list of things that should never appear in an adventure game. It's not a fair puzzle. I won't be caught playing Mind's Eye unless you remove this.

[ManicMatt]

There are two endings.

[Privateer Puddin']

Spoiler

the bed&sink&diary "puzzle". Do you think it's fun clicking 1000 times before I get to the sink? Do you think it is good for training my brains? Actually after 30 minutes of insane clicking I gave up. My poor little mouse!
-

[close]

Spoiler

It's not just simply clicking, you kinda grasp a sequence or timing that allows you to make the biggest movements

[close]

[lakerz]

This was a very engrossing game Shane!  It's a shame you didn't have the time/resources to make it the full fledged adventure you had originally planned.  My one complaint is that I wish you had implemented the popup inventory box to be at the top of the screen instead of the bottom.  I can't tell you how many times it prevented me from moving down into the next room.    Anyways, great great job!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Thanks lakerz.  The problem with having it at the top is it would have conflicted with the mind's eye meter and background dialog, so there wasn't much choice in that situation.  As I mentioned before, in the future I'll probably use a button you click to bring it up.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Check the top post for bug fix details!

[big brother]

Well I was hoping to finish the game before posting this, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen in the near future.Ã, 

I beat all the way to Knox's office and here are my impressions:
(Possible spoilers here, I dunno)

(Listed in no particular order)

- I loved the Mind's Eye concept, of the player character trying to reach a level of awareness. It would be nice if you reward the player for exploring the game world more, like you gain awareness by observing the surroundings, but getting drugged causes you to lose the awareness, although that might need to happen to give your character insight. As a result, the meter would fluctuate.

- Overall the art and atmosphere is a mixed bag. The backgrounds are monotonous, and everything interface related seems cramped. The scroll bar on the right side of the inventory is superfluous, as there are relatively few items Noah will pick up. There were times when I literally could barely see the graphics because the color values were so muddy. Even the design elements of the title needed work (the semi realistic CBS "eye" logo with the rough pixel spray glow that washes out the crunched together letters).

- The portraits are about the same size as the sprite's heads, so they seem pointless. The top part of the screen is mostly empty space in the backgrounds, so I don't see why the portraits/titles can't be bigger.

- The music and sound, while decent, seem underused, especially to convey the horror type atmosphere. Try watching "The Ring" (or something like that) on mute and you'll see what a big difference the audio makes.

- Hotspot titles would be nice, especially when you're strapped to the cart. The book is almost indistinguishable from the sink. (black pixels vs. dark gray). It would be nice if every attempted action elicited a response. Also, the "think" action is used to open doors???

- The "rocking the cart puzzle by clicking with a certain timing or rhythm" was bogus. There's no hint about timing the clicks, so I just solved it by clicking 5 million times. Annoying. Sure I could probably solve it faster if I took the extra time to learn how it was supposed to work, but there's no incentive for the player to do that.

- All dialogue "cutscenes" need to be skip-able.

- I liked the sneaking puzzle with the flickering lights (although it's unlikely, not being seen when directly across the hall when the lights are on), but the trial and error aspect of it sucked. When you use the mind on the orderly with the glasses it says something about how his vision is blocked by the guy he's talking to. I should be able to cross the hall to the side they're on without being seen (line of vision), but that wasn't the case at all. If a puzzle is meant to be solved through trial and error (learning the pattern of the lights), punishing the player with death for getting it wrong is annoying.

- You can enter the second security office, but not the first one. Even when the first one is unoccupied.

- You can talk to the cells on Ward 4, but not to any of the other wards. Also, Ward 4 cells don't have names (they're not even hotspots).

- There is some annoying limited interactivity. You can't take the deck of cards, or search the lab coat in Mitchell's office, or even open the microfridge. When the two guys in the break room said they wanted something to go with the cigarettes, I immediately thought "coffee". I think that was an unintentionally misleading hint. I also couldn't search the microfridge (maybe something they would've wanted was in there). I felt some interactions were missing. Wouldn't the keys to the locked cabinets in the medical room be in the pocket of Knox's lab coat?

- Waking up as a prisoner is the most cliche device in a game. Or was that waking up with amnesia? Or having to drug someone's drink? Hmmm... It's also not very likely that the guard would pass out after taking lithium, especially not with coffee. Most likely he would really have to pee badly. And make him very dehydrated.

- The cutscene with Knox and the security in the end office breaks the narrative of the game up to that point. Before then, the player only knows what Noah knows. Now suddenly, the player knows more than him, since he couldn't have possibly witnessed that scene! It definitely detracts from the mysterious atmosphere. Also, after he ordered the windows to be shuttered, why was the one in his office left vulnerable?

EDIT: Before I forget, I also loved the way you could click on the opening eye in the inventory screen and it tells you what the player character knows about his situation. Brilliant! On the down side, the inventory screen interferes with the exit hotspots, just like in Apprentice. 

All in all, I think you have a good concept, but the execution was uninspiring.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

BB- Your 'assessment' and opinions come as no surprise to me-and I'll leave it at that.

[Helm]

Haven't played yet, but they sound like honest crits, which you can take or leave of course.

[ManicMatt]

I feel BB is nitpicking somewhat though... Although some of it can be used to improve future games.

And Helm, you really should play it!

[Nikolas]

Well if I was BB I would've PMed the creator not post it in here!

Not that BB did something wrong, but somehow I don't have in my mind that the complete Game Threads are here so we can all review the games... It is more as an announcement for me, and maybe some bugs...

Anyway my personal thoughts about the music is that it is amazing! Very usefull, as I love not having music everywhere forever (which will get me out of buisness but anyways...). Furthermore the atmosphere was great, but probably AGS was a bit problematic for this game.

Still it is in my top 10 games of 2005...

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Nikolas, as far as I know this board has always been a place where the game itself can be discussed as well. It's the perfect place for reviews, and it's fair that everyone should know about his pet peeves. Everyone can still judge from themselves.

I actually agree with pretty much everything except the atmosphere. I would have preferred a longer story and more "interactive delirium" scenes - but, Prog had already warned that some things had to be cut back - , but as far as the atmosphere went, I found it quite engrossing. I think I said that before somewhere...

[strawberrypicker]

Hi, I just completed it (the latest version).

I liked the graphics. They were done in the style of the old adventure games I used to play when I was young and so brought back fond memories of stuff like King's Quest et al. The plot and 2 endings were also good, as was the setting (mental patient in a sanitarium).

However, something that frustrated me a bit was the "save/load" interface. I stopped for dinner earlier and when I restarted the game, I mistakenly pressed "save" at this interface instead of "load"!    And it actually did save over the file I wanted to load!  :'(  I had to start over from my previous save slot again...

Luckily it was a (very) short game. Good work though!

[nobbie]

In Dr. Knox's room you can walk behind the door you came in.

[SSH]

This game has some innovative ideas and I love the delerium state. However, I'd like to reiterate some of BB's points, because they are niggles I had too, and you might pay me a bit more attention... 

- Hotspot titles would be nice, especially when you're strapped to the cart. The book is almost indistinguishable from the sink. (black pixels vs. dark gray). It would be nice if every attempted action elicited a response. Also, the "think" action is used to open doors???

I agree. I found it very hard to find the book.

- The "rocking the cart puzzle by clicking with a certain timing or rhythm" was bogus. There's no hint about timing the clicks, so I just solved it by clicking 5 million times. Annoying. Sure I could probably solve it faster if I took the extra time to learn how it was supposed to work, but there's no incentive for the player to do that.

You were supposed to do it in a rhythm? Now someone tells me!

- All dialogue "cutscenes" need to be skip-able.

Oh yes

- I liked the sneaking puzzle with the flickering lights (although it's unlikely, not being seen when directly across the hall when the lights are on), but the trial and error aspect of it sucked. When you use the mind on the orderly with the glasses it says something about how his vision is blocked by the guy he's talking to. I should be able to cross the hall to the side they're on without being seen (line of vision), but that wasn't the case at all. If a puzzle is meant to be solved through trial and error (learning the pattern of the lights), punishing the player with death for getting it wrong is annoying.

My thoughts exactly. The line about the vision being blocked made me think I needed to cross the corridor and go in one of those doors on the other side.

[Hammerite]

Can someone PUH-LEEEEEEEEEZE post telloing me wot the two endings were (in spoiler tags o' course) coz I didnt know there were 2!!

[Chicky]

wait... you finished it? I completely missed it!

downloading now

[Bernie]

This is a good game overall. It may have a few minor issues, but they didn't really disturb me or keep me from playing through twice (to get the other ending). I'd love to see more games by you. Keep it up!

It also has been added to underdogs: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=5317