Les Miserables: The Game of the Book

[EnterTheStory (aka tolworthy)]

I finally got the game finished. Well, the first story at least. Hopefully the second story won't take as long! I won't be promoting it until the second story is ready (in July) because it's been a learning experience and I'll do a lot of things differently in the next installment: Dante's Inferno.

But anyway, it's done! Woohoo! Hopefully there aren't too many rough edges, but  I think people got sick of testing it, so it's time to kick it out to the world and move on.  For screenshots, demo, the full game, and other stuff, see


EnterTheStory.com

Many thanks to all those who left feedback about early test builds. Anyone who's helped out gets a free game. If you helped and don't get an email from me in the next couple of days, just let me know.

Oh, and happy 2009!

[MoodyBlues]

I really like how you've drawn the characters using simple black brushstrokes. 

Have you considered advertising this game to schools?  It could be a great educational tool.

[kaputtnik]

I've been playing the demo for some time now, and I must say that as a preview for people who'd like to buy the full version, it is not very suitable in my opinion - Maybe it's just me, but the gameplay and interface frustrated me thoroughly in this short chapter - Hotspots did not give any interaction responses, the "click person and draw attention to something else" system sounded very innovative to me at first, but I don't have any idea how it works, as of now.

I can see that you've tried to choose the most dramatic chapter of your game to attract interest, but after playing a demo that has frustrated me like this, I'd rather not consider buying the full game...

[Leon]

The interface is really something you need to get used to. The fact that you can roam around without taking the main character with you is quite special. To let Valjean do something takes some effort and I must say I was frustrated with the fact that at some point he wanted to use the stick on everything, even though I only wanted to look.

Furthermore, the black and white are not very helpfull. At some point I couldn't find Valjean anymore because he was standing at the side where it looked as shadow of the sewer.

The navigation is also confusing. Walking north followed by walking south to go straight ahead isn't something that's logical. Besides, you can't see in which rooms you can scroll or not. I was searching for the exit for a very long time, while I only had to scroll to the right.

Now I'm at the part where Thenardier comes into play but whatever I try, he doesn't take any action. Also, some hotspots get the name of the active character but I can't figure out what it means.

The atmosphere is good, the simplistic form of the characters and the music certainly add to it, but I'd think twice before buying the full game because the demo frustrated quite a bit. But it certianly is beautifull to watch and a good try to break with the ordinary point & click method.

[Wellington]

* A game adaptation of Les Miserables? Could work.

* Mazes are usually a bad idea. Setting your demo in a maze is a hugely bad idea.

* The interface is almost willfully obtuse. Having the player control a camera that can swoop between scenes, independent of any given character, is nice. The idea of not privileging any viewpoint character in the interface, and instead letting the player choose who acts, is nice. Executing this by making the left-mouse button control the camera, and the right-mouse button control all actions, is not nice at all.

A better move would have been to have the right-mouse button switch active characters and move the camera, and to include a display showing which character is currently active. The left could then be used normally. Also, a visible button that moves the camera back to the active character's current location is vital, especially in a maze.

[saluk]

I was enjoying the uniqueness of the game and the interface, until I ran into a slew of bugs.

Spoiler

I had the stick and the debris, and was in the starting room.  The guards were still in the hub.  I right clicked on the main character, navigated to deep mud, and right clicked on the deep mud.  Suddenly, the main character teleported to this room bypassing the whole puzzle with the guards.  Confused, I went through the rooms, and in the hub, the guards were gone.  Then I saw some random new character in one of the rooms, and clicked on him to look at something.  Suddenly, the main character was in the exit unable to get past the escaped convict. 

[close]

I think it's a result of the interface, but there were just too many bugs for me to continue.  Other than major technical issues, the style and puzzle design of the game seemed very good.