Need some help with Blue Lacuna - or is there any to be had?
Ryusui
(the game is all too happy to inform me that my trial license on
visions has expired until the end of the summer). I know I have to
figure out some way to power both the ropeway and the pyramid, but I'm
at a loss as to what I'm supposed to do now and the handful of clues
posted on the website are precious little help.
I have to say I've enjoyed the game thus far, despite many negative
reviews, but I will say that the author should have waited. It's
jarring to get sucked into a world and then, in the home stretch, find
frequent signposts that the game is, just as advertised, very much
incomplete. The dream in the library is, in fact, missing a "thought"
and informs me that the relevant text has not been written, error
message-style, and I remember one case where an action provided
absolutely no text whatsoever. Before this point I felt very driven,
as though every corner of the island had a secret for me to uncover or
a puzzle to solve (ironically, I chose to play "story" mode as opposed
to "puzzle" mode), but now I feel like I've literally been left
hanging. It's finished enough to fool anyone until they get deep
enough: it feels less like a "sneak preview" and more like the author
got lazy and decided to quit, packaging what he had done of his opus
into something that looks like a finished game on first examination
and hoping nobody noticed it wasn't actually done yet.
I would gladly have waited another three months to see the finished
version instead of getting tantalized by a work-in-progress with an
unfinished ending. He could at least have had the decency to release
it in chapters or some such. I really shouldn't have played this demo
version...such a wonderful world; such a woeful lack of foresight.
It's a bit of Myst, Sliders and Doctor Who (or perhaps Kino's
Journey), wrapped up nicely enough that I can appreciate it regardless
of the preexisting works it cribs its concept from, but now that I've
been taunted, I'll always look back on this false start and think "was
it really necessary?"
Ryusui
again: "was it really necessary"?
"Sneak preview"...ha. I feel like I've had a stale congraturation
chucked at my face. Did he have to spoil such splendid illusions by
rushing a half-finished version without anything remotely resembling a
proper ending out the door? What did he hope to accomplish? Any sane
judge would have docked points on principle.
Sarah...@gmail.com
I like the game. Especially the first part where you learn about the
characters and who the protagonist is. But at some point in the
island, when I got stuck, I felt like I was wandering around with
nothing to do, or not sure what to do. The hints couldn't help me at a
certain point, and that's when I quit playing. I think I will play it
when the full version comes out and hopefully a walkthrough to go with
it!
Ryusui
all fell apart. The more I like an IF, the more likely it is I am
going to verbally maul the author for any serious faults I find, and
in this case it's heartbreaking that the man has a *masterpiece* on
his hands and yet he throws it out not even one-third finished in a
vain attempt to *win a contest*. It's a matter of timing and
presentation, not to mention good taste: it would be a different story
if he had released a fully-polished demo, but the fact is he took a
big butcher knife, cut a rough chunk off his opus, stuck a few corks
in the bleeding arteries and put it on display *just to enter a
contest*. I just hope that arrogance isn't a sign of what I can expect
from the rest of the game.
Victor Gijsbers
Having been a beta-tester for this game, I can say that Aaron had a
organised a (so it seemed to me at the time) sufficiently long testing
period. And, you know? It turned out to be _far from_ sufficient. There
just wasn't enough time, and this only became apparent as the deadline
became ever closer.
How can that happen? Because none of us have any experience in the
creation of large-scale software projects.
So, why not just pull the game from the competition, instead of
releasing a sneak preview? Well, here's the problem: it is very hard to
get people to play your game if it has not been entered in a
competition. And I think this would _especially_ true for a longer game.
You almost have to release your game in a competition to make any impact
at all. (Such, at least, is the perception. Maybe it's wrong, but there
are some ground for thinking it.)
Faced with the decision of (a) releasing a sneak preview, (b) releasing
the game outside of a competition so very few people will play it, and
(c) waiting for another damn year until Spring Thing 2009--well, I'm not
saying that (a) is the best, because I don't know what would be best,
but I'm quite sure choosing (a) is not a sign of _arrogance_.
Regards,
Victor
Ryusui
punch to the face is better than no impression at all, I suppose. The
man has put a lot of time and effort into this project - the website
alone is proof of that. I just hope it all comes together in the end.
Judging from Chapter 9, it seems doubtful that Lacuna will remain the
game's primary setting as the title implies...at this point I felt I
had literally done everything there was to do on the island except
reach the powered pyramid and sleep under the remaining windsighs.
Unless, of course, there's a sizable chunk of the island missing from
the map. On a side note, I genuinely thought breaking my leg was part
of the story, something that had to happen for the game to proceed:
strange how I should be disallowed from climbing into the ravine at
high tide for fear of being washed out to sea while climbing the crack
is permitted despite the supposedly obvious danger. Rather a mean
trick, in retrospect.
Andrew Plotkin
>
> Faced with the decision of (a) releasing a sneak preview, (b) releasing
> the game outside of a competition so very few people will play it, and
> (c) waiting for another damn year until Spring Thing 2009--well, I'm not
> saying that (a) is the best, because I don't know what would be best,
> but I'm quite sure choosing (a) is not a sign of _arrogance_.
I agree that arrogance is not the issue.
For what it's worth, I vote (c). You are not losing money by waiting;
you don't have a publisher breathing down your neck. The people who
will enjoy playing the game in 2009 are the same people, more or less,
who would enjoy playing the game in 2008. If you know the game needs
more beta-testing, then you do more beta-testing.
Or think about a *small* sneak preview. I'm going on Ryusui's
description here, because I haven't looked myself, but a sneak preview
shouldn't stop dead; it should stop with a cliffhanger, which is not
the same thing. And it *also* has to be fully beta-tested.
If that means trimming the preview game down to a small scene, that's
good; that means you can release it in October 2008 instead of Spring
2009. :)
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
You don't become a tyranny by committing torture. If you plan for torture,
argue in favor of torture, set up legal justifications for torturing
someday, then the moral rot has *already* set in.
Eriorg
> Here, Victor Gijsbers <vic...@lilith.gotdns.org> wrote:
>
> > Faced with the decision of (a) releasing a sneak preview, (b) releasing
> > the game outside of a competition so very few people will play it, and
> > (c) waiting for another damn year until Spring Thing 2009--well, I'm not
> > saying that (a) is the best, because I don't know what would be best,
> > but I'm quite sure choosing (a) is not a sign of _arrogance_.
>
> I agree that arrogance is not the issue.
>
> For what it's worth, I vote (c). You are not losing money by waiting;
> you don't have a publisher breathing down your neck.
In the Spring Thing, you do! (See http://www.springthing.net/2008/rules.htm
: "Your intent to enter will not be complete until you have submitted
a non-refundable entry fee of $7 US to the prize pool. After your
initial email stating your intent to enter, wait for a reply from the
organizer, who will tell you where to send your entry fee. This fee
will not be refunded, even if you withdraw from the competition or are
disqualified.")
Admittedly, it's only $7...
Daphne Brinkerhoff
> "Sneak preview"...ha. I feel like I've had a stale congraturation
> chucked at my face. Did he have to spoil such splendid illusions by
> rushing a half-finished version without anything remotely resembling a
> proper ending out the door? What did he hope to accomplish? Any sane
> judge would have docked points on principle.
I don't feel as strongly about it as you, I guess, and I don't know if
I really want to call myself "sane"... but yeah, I gave the game a 1
for this reason. I couldn't help but be reminded of some of Paul
O'Brian's rants over the years:
"But perhaps most heartbreakingly of all, it's so agonizing for a
player to go through a game that has lots of good pieces but is an
overall bad game, and bad not because its author can't write, not
because there's anything wrong with the concept or the programming or
anything, but just because it's NOT FINISHED." <http://
spot.colorado.edu/~obrian/99rev3.html#water>
Now, he's talking about lack of beta-testing, which is not a problem
with Blue Lacuna (AFAICT). But I think it still applies.
Also, we have a comp for games that aren't finished, for people who
want feedback on their games. It's called the IntroComp. The Spring
Thing isn't it.
One of Victor Gijsbers's arguments elsewhere in the thread is,
(reworded) "People don't play games outside of comps, so that wasn't a
good option." Fine. Except, what's going to happen when the real
finished version of Blue Lacuna is released? Are people going to play
that, even though it isn't in a comp? Are they going to be more or
less likely if they already played the beginning here? I guess the
theory is "more likely". Okay then, this is just a promo/teaser and
it doesn't matter how I rate it, since winning the Spring Thing is not
the point. So either way, seems like a 1 to me.
--
Daphne
Ryusui
That review of "The Water Bird" sounds just like something I might
say...though I admit my version would probably be tinged with a bit
more anger and hyperbole.
Daphne Brinkerhoff
Paul O'Brian's reviews are wonderful. I actually go back and reread
them (all) once or twice a year. I encourage anyone who likes IF
criticism to check them out.
--
Daphne
David Fisher
<963fb8e7-1772-444b...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com>, Daphne
Brinkerhoff<cen...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Paul O'Brian's reviews are wonderful. I actually go back and reread
> them (all) once or twice a year. I encourage anyone who likes IF
> criticism to check them out.
I'll second that ... he's the major source for the "IF Gems"
collection:
http://jacl.game-host.org:8080/dfisher/ifgems/gems.html
David Fisher
Paul O'Brian
>
> I'll second that ... he's the major source for the "IF Gems"
> collection:
Hey, thanks! (Both of you!)
This seems as good a place as any to note that the URL for my web site
has changed a bit -- it's now http://spot.colorado.edu/~obrian/IF.htm.
Previously there was a "ucsu" where the "spot" used to be -- my ISP
has finally retired the ucsu server. I've got a redirect up on ucsu
right now so the transition is currently seamless, and Google has
recognized the redirect as well. However, the whole thing is going
away soon, so if you've got anything of mine bookmarked, those URLs
will stop working sometime this summer.
--
Paul O'Brian
Ryusui
hopes for it, having enjoyed the original MOOT (though between it, the
Renegade Version teaser and MOOT 2 itself, I've visited the damn
Wallace House *three whole times*), but its implementation far
outstripped its ambition. Mr. Raszewski made a second release, but as
noted above, "you only get one chance to make a first impression": I
haven't bothered yet to see if it improves anything. Unlike Blue
Lacuna, which opens up onto a great big pothole at the end, MOOT 2 is
strewn with smaller, but no less annoying, potholes. By the end,
Julia's blatant rip-off of Arthur's noble self-sacrifice from The
Journeyman Project 2 is not a heart-wrenching moment...it's a
*relief.*
I also feel like crying whenever I think of "Crystal and Stone, Beetle
and Bone". Such a beautiful game...but parts are literally unsolvable
without the walkthrough due to an overwhelming reliance on "guess-the-
author's-mind"-type puzzles. All the more annoying is the fact that
the supplied walkthrough cuts off at the end, meaning the game is
literally unwinnable without some major trial-and-error. The author
didn't understand that a hint system is no substitute for proper story
exposition, or that the final puzzle was utterly and completely
unclued. But it was so damn beautiful...poetic irony that it was all
written by a blind person who spoke English as a second language. So
much wasted potential. It was better than the initial release of MOOT
2, at the very least.
Paul O'Brian
> Have you ever played Moments Out Of Time: Adventure Type?
Sadly, no. My IF-playing time took a steep nosedive when my kid was
born in 2005. What cycles I do have to devote to IF go into working on
a game design for Textfyre...
--
Paul O'Brian
Ryusui
implementation."
So, not to drag my own discussion off-topic, but how's the Textfyre
project going?
Depresiv
Congratulations, Paul. I didn't know. (Even if it's a bit too late to
say that)
Paul O'Brian
>
> So, not to drag my own discussion off-topic, but how's the Textfyre
> project going?
For that, I refer you to http://www.textfyre.com. :) Follow the link
to the "President's Official Blog" for detailed news. I'd provide that
link here, but Google Groups seems to have some kind of family feud
going with Wordpress.
--
Paul O'Brian