Afflicted-- notes from the author

[Doug Egan]

Thanks to all who played Afflicted. Even more thanks to those who
wrote reviews (I've read 23 independent reviews of my game so far!) I
was pleased, and sometimes amused, by all of the reviews, and I
sincerely hope that I can put any critical feedback I received to good
use when I write my next game.

My initial goal when writing Afflicted was to create an environment
with such richly implemented scenery, that a player would get an
interesting response to anything they tried to examine. In that goal,
I think I succeeded. But I understand from the feedback I received
that the next game needs to have better pacing, and more active NPCs.

The setting for Afflicted is based on a restaurant I worked in as a
line cook, when I was in my mid-20's. A lot of the gross stuff in the
game (minus the body parts), and a lot of the cut-scene dialogue was
stuff I actually saw or heard during my term of employment. As they
say, "Write what you know".

Comp scores haven't been posted yet. And even though I already have a
pretty good idea where my game will place (based on the reviews), I am
still eager to see the score distributions!

Sincerely,
Doug Egan

[Sean Huxter]

Sadly, Doug, I didn't get to play many games myself. Bad author! (Very busy
time for me.)

But I did play Afflicted all the way through, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Sean.

"Doug Egan" <dgen...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:50dc2bd3-1724-4ca2...@35g2000pry.googlegroups.com...

[George Shannon]

I had a lot of fun with this game. Thanks!

By the way, I didn't have a chance to post it here (as per your
suggestion in the game itself), but my 'best' score was -109.

[James Cunningham]

Congrats, Doug! I've been wary of restaurant work ever since, during my
short tenure at Boston Market long ago, I regularly saw some of my
coworkers dip ungloved hands into the side dishes to help themselves to
a midday snack. Your game did nothing to disabuse me of that notion.

In any event, as your most helpful (and handsome) beta tester, I'll
expect my cut of the prize by the end of the week.

Best,
James

[iric...@gmail.com]

I enjoyed Afflicted immensely. You painted a very gruesome but vivid
picture of the restaurant, and your attention to detail is
commendable. The songs on the radio were a nice touch, and the
sweetness in the urine (after seeing your 'amusing' suggestions at the
end) because of the diabetes just goes to show how much detail you put
into everything.

Very rarely did I find my commands or ideas unaccounted for. For
instance, when attempting to examine the buffalo grinder, I tried to
unscrew the screw with the letter opener, and then later to reach into
the chopper with the tongs. I ended up needing the hint for that
part! *lol*

A bit more interaction from the NPCs would have been nice, but all-in-
all the play experience was great. Disturbing at some points,
hilarious at others, and all-around well-done. Thanks! =)

Regards,

-- Ian