Messages

Sorry about that. One option is to try again later, it seems to be working for some people having similar issues. Another is to join via IRC and join the stream:
https://www.twitch.tv/tulevikeu

(I think vga also had issues joining)

Are you trying to log with a NickServ registered nickname, CaptainD?

Awesome, please do that. Thank you so much!

The test run is on now, feel free to join if you like!

That looks super creepy, awesome! Good luck with the development.

Well done JackPutter, congratulations!
Hoping to see more from you.

This virus is far deadlier than flu already and we haven't seen much of it yet as it has barely started spreading. The only reason why flu's death toll, in raw numbers, is higher is because flu is everywhere and has been for ages.

[Frozen Kingdom]

I have played all the games, my feedback below:

Frozen Kingdom

Spoiler

There is far more walking around than actual gameplay in this one, but fun enough overall. I really do admire your capability of whipping up a consistent story on the fly and turn it into a working game month after month, Slasher. The graphics are becoming more consistent too. "Sir Rogerick" made me chuckle

[close]

The Frozen Shore

Spoiler

What a sweet little game! Loved the graphics, the puzzle (even if it was the only puzzle in the game) and the clever ending. The character gesturing instead of talking or producing generic responses felt like a fresh approach. Very well done!

[close]

Unfreeze

Spoiler

The short timer makes the game quite difficult. I do get the concept, though I think many people may find this discouraging - not the timer system itself but the mercilessly short time frame for any exploration outside of the tent. I do like the game and I'd be interested to play further, I just barely have time to read the interaction for a single hotspot especially around the gate area before I need to make it back to restore the temperature bar. Perhaps I have missed something, I have two coats on me but there is nothing else in the immediate surroundings I could find to warm myself up a bit more.
I have found a small bug: when I used the frozen mittens on the hole in the tent, the game acted as if I had used the teddy bear even though I had no teddy in my inventory. I found the teddy later.

[close]

Edit: typo

I concur with the others, this looks so beautiful. And I think you made a good decision with the portraits, Lucasarts style speech suits the isometric view and the subtle play of lights and shadows much better.

[blur]

Concept: blur - it's a clever concept that fits the theme well. Also, really nostalgic!
Playability: Stylez75 - looks right out of an 80s Sierra game
Artistic Execution: lorenzo - because of the lovely play of B&W (not that it's anything new with lorenzo, but it never ceases to impress me!)

"Best Debut" is a charming idea, but it might be tricky to execute. The candidate list would probably need to be fully moderated - I don't suppose the voters would want to check each game author's portfolio before they nominate so the category would probably end up either underpopulated or full of non-debut games.

Snarky's vote to combine Best Puzzles and Best Gameplay sounds like a reasonable thing to do. Decent puzzles contribute to good gameplay, and Best Gameplay is fully inclusive of non-adventure games.

I take it that's a codpiece? That used to be a normal clothing item around the 16th century, I believe.

Thanks! We're getting there

I'm through most of the free games, I now only need to see how many of the commercial ones I'll be able to buy (there's quite a number of them this year!).

Nice updates Cassie. Colour coding with more categories is a nice idea. I think I will stick to my lightweight version but yours certainly has a lot of appeal, especially to someone who hasn't started playing yet and wants an overview of the entire year's base with screenshots.

Maybe you could also add a link to 'For your consideration' thread for whichever game is advertised there?

lorenzo, glad to hear the spreadsheets are useful. Whatever works right?

[Racoon]

Great theme lorenzo! Here are my votes:

Concept: Racoon - I really love your idea of a heavy, almost industrial (or neo-Roman-ish?) object in the middle of nowhere.
Playability: jwalt - A lot of objects and points of interest, plus very clearly defined walkable areas.
Artistic Execution: Jack - Love the delicate, misty textures and the seemingly infinite desert in the background.

Also a shoutout to DBoy - you are really improving. It just so happened that you had a strong competition in this installment, but each new piece you produce is a huge leap from the previous one.

You really don't have to play them all to nominate, and you don't have to wait until you have played all you can to start nominating. The way I do it is I start off nominating the games I have played throughout the year in whatever category I think they excel. Then I start going through the remaining titles and edit my nominee list if I play something I feel is worth nominating. I review my nominee list if I run out of space (I don't think that has ever happened) or if I'm done playing everything. You can treat your nominee list as a WiP and edit as many times as you want. I know it's still not ideal, but easier if done piece by piece.

In case it helps someone, here is a sheet with all the titles from this year and their links to the DB. I was also marking non-adventures, demos and commercial games as I was going through the list (might not be 100% accurate). I have my own non-public copy where I mark what I have already played.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WsHi_Q3EsHHMWjNP8ja19HBlOE_JSPQ0OVZzMVGsqok/edit#gid=0

Spoiler

As for the endings, to keep it brief, Ending A is actually total prevention %u2018of things%u2019 at the end via dialogue, Ending B is ducking out via dialogue, Ending C you already know, and Ending D is if you beat the tricky fight. The best way to do that is with all the health upgrades + some of the drugs from the dealer Aldys. Firearms skill is more important than the choice of weapon. (Just like real life, right?)

[close]

Spoiler

Oh, nice! I didn't think there was a way to prevent the entire mayhem at the end. I guess I wasn't gentle enough with Crow to even have this option pop up the first time round. On the second playthrough none of my social skills was high enough to convince him, but I'll get there the third time. I did manage to beat the ending sequence though, I wasn't as far behind the first time as I had thought.
Do the rest of the gang always die, or am I just a lousy shooter? They seem to fall at the same moments but perhaps I'm just equally slow each time

A few more observations from the second playthrough:
*In the doctor's house, if you kill the patient you can keep clicking on her body to produce an endless supply of keys, which then you can all sell at the pawn show.

*If your intimidation, lockpicking and seduction are all beyond pathetic when trying to enter the tower there is no way into the room on the 5th floor (that I could find). Items from the pawn shop are no help. The only way in is with the $450 drug, which can only be purchased if you discover the dealer's location at a place that is no longer accessible at that stage. I am unsure if this is a potential dead end or if I'm missing something.

*Aldys' special gave me +8 lockpicking on top of what it said it would do. Is that intended?

*And finally, light machine gun has an incorrect description in the pawn show inventory window (5* firearms instead of 3*)

[close]

Okay, I've finished it. I always enjoyed your games but you have outdone yourself with this one, this was fantastic. The story took a while to deep dive into but it was worth it. I felt the game world was sort of an alternative reality dystopian 90s, which was pretty awesome. The genre mix was well balanced and fun to play. Writing and dialogues as brilliant as always, great job keeping the balance between the grim, gorey details, the subtle tarantinesque sense of humour and the psychological drama elements. The characters and plot were somewhat eccentric and took a while to get a feel for, but after a while I was hooked. The collectibles are a nice touch, I also loved the fact that there were places you could only (optionally) explore if you had certain skills. What impressed me the most though was the attention to details: the multiple street encounters, the radio news that always reflect the recent events and even the idle animation that would change every time I took the elevator. The soundtrack was fantastic too, I had it stuck in my head for a good while after I finished the game. Really cool!

As for the graphics, I understand why others have said it is somewhat subpar, but I like the visuals. They are simplistic, but consistent and clearly a lot of love has been put into details and animations.

I do have some complaints too, but that's probably just because you set the bar so high it is nearly a commercial quality product. What I felt was lacking was some time to walk around, speak to the NPC and explore the surroundings in between the main storyline parts. Street encounters partially compensated for it but I would have liked more "in between" content that involved the key NPC. The pace at which the story developed was very fast which admittedly contributed to the game's dynamics, but at the same time some of the plot elements felt rushed and lacking proper introduction.

Spoiler

I guess ending A is what you get if you manage to dispose of the army in the ending sequence? This time I wasn't even close (I couldn't afford the best weapon even when I sold out everything I had, my firearms was way too low and I didn't have enough medicine), but I'll try on my second playthrough. Tombstones during the ending sequence were a nice touch, it was fun to calculate the age of the characters in hindsight.

[close]

A minor glitch: the locations tab from the final map does not show when you are actually traveling to the final location, and instead it pops up and stays on top of the cutscenes after the ending sequence.

(Side note, I think I can tell which pen & paper RPG you play )

Something to keep in mind for when the nomination phase opens: there is no requirement to have played all games in order to nominate. Sure it would be great if you gave all or most of them a go, but if you only have time to play a few and, say, are really impressed with the music in one of them or the writing in another, it's fine to nominate them in their respective categories! So do not get discouraged if you only have so much time to play, because every single vote counts.