Now I realize that you guys have put a HUGE amount of work into the game, but I just feel that with all the hype that the game was "near commercial quality," my expectations were FAR from being met.
The point and click engine was REALLY shaky. REALLY shaky. While using it, I started to think that using AGS would've been a far better choice. It was extremely frustrating for me to control Graham, as I had him going to the wrong screens, walking further than I wanted him to walk, and most of all, he could only follow predetermined paths. I really doubt I could play through an entire game with this engine, it was really frustrating and just plain buggy.
I don't know if it was jsut my hardware or what, but all of the scenes loaded up as just a grass plain, and then all the buildings and scenery popped up on top of it.
There were also a bunch of spelling errors, odd annunciations, awkwardly worded sentences and dialog, and grammar mistakes. It REALLY could've used a good proof-reading.
Again, I don't know if it was my hardware or not, but the dialog kind of overlapped at a bunch of places.
One thing that really bugged me was the apparent inability to skip dialog.
Overall, I really admire you guys for all the hard work you've put into the game. But I just don't feel the early demo comes close to living up to the hype of a "near-commercial" quality product. Hopefully these are problems that can be worked out, but I went into the demo excited and came out dissapointed. Sorry if I'm being a downer about it, but I've been following the project for a long time now and I just felt like I needed to share my thoughts.
A lot of your complaints are answered in other threads. This game is not up to par for the release - it's just the demo which is yes, full of bugs.
However you can skip dialog. Try right clicking. That also changes the cursor.
I figured some of the problems would be ironed out by release.
However, I also remember that the game was on track for a release LAST WINTER...I figured that the game would have been at least CLOSE to release-able form by now.
Quote from: sivvrianBARRY on July 31, 2006, 10:56:53 PM
I figured some of the problems would be ironed out by release.
However, I also remember that the game was on track for a release LAST WINTER...I figured that the game would have been at least CLOSE to release-able form by now.
We understand where you're coming from. We ask that you bear two things in mind.
a) This demo is actually nine months old
b) Nine months ago, it was put together in only three weeks
Quote from: TribeHasSpoken on July 31, 2006, 11:10:14 PM
We understand where you're coming from. We ask that you bear two things in mind.
a) This demo is actually nine months old
b) Nine months ago, it was put together in only three weeks
Tribe, you got here before I could :P I was planning on saying exactly that XD
sivvrianBARRY, what kind of spelling and grammar errors are you talking about? I do know that quite a few had been caught before the demo was released.
As for the timing/dialogue "bug" Click Here (http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?topic=4750.msg182487#msg182487)
I can understand where Barry is coming from, and I agree with him on some points, but as for the actual quality of the demo, if it came out like that (with the few bugs and stuff, and Graham not walking right, it would not be the best of quality. However, I trust they will fix these problems for the game, and will continue to work to make things better. The graphics are very excellent.
Also, talking of it being of commercial quality, I think its sure to pass up at least a few official King's QUests on my list as to how much I like them (definitely VIII, and who knows how many others.
The one thing is I'm afraid this game might not come out this year. After all, if you guys thought it would come out in a month, you probably wouldn't have released a demo. This demo also demonstrates all the bugs still have to be ironed out, so it will probably take a while.
Actually, didn't someone say that because the demo was nine months old that most of the bugs from it had already been fixed in the actual game? I think someone (yes, the mythical "someone." Ranks right up there with the equally mythical "they.") said the characters could now walk around the landscape as opposed to being restrained to a relatively straight line, and the sliding thing with Graham had been fixed. I can't remember which thread I saw the post in, I thought it was by Yonkey though. ;D
Quote from: Alexandar28 on August 01, 2006, 08:41:34 AM
The only spelling/grammar thing I noticed was after you've clicked on something several times there's a line (within the line) that reads "we don't care you are the King," which should be "we don't care if you are the King." It's a mistake I make all the time when I'm typing fast and/or already have the line in my head. I don't remember anything else.
Actually, Alexander28, that's a perfectly fine sentence. The introductory word "that" is often excluded from noun clauses functioning as direct objects.
Quote from: sivvrianBARRY on July 31, 2006, 10:56:53 PM
I figured some of the problems would be ironed out by release.
However, I also remember that the game was on track for a release LAST WINTER...I figured that the game would have been at least CLOSE to release-able form by now.
thing is we've kind of forgotten about chapter 1. Because we have to port it from the old engine and system into the updated version, we kind of been leaving there and working on other stuff. We just wanted to show you guys that there exists a game without spoiling too much. So, there :)
Quote from: César_Bittar on August 01, 2006, 07:37:55 PM
Quote from: sivvrianBARRY on July 31, 2006, 10:56:53 PM
I figured some of the problems would be ironed out by release.
However, I also remember that the game was on track for a release LAST WINTER...I figured that the game would have been at least CLOSE to release-able form by now.
thing is we've kind of forgotten about chapter 1. Because we have to port it from the old engine and system into the updated version, we kind of been leaving there and working on other stuff. We just wanted to show you guys that there exists a game without spoiling too much. So, there :)
Sounds good then. Keep up the good work!
Your other criticisms aside...
Quote from: sivvrianBARRY on July 31, 2006, 10:48:28 PM
One thing that really bugged me was the apparent inability to skip dialog.
Though it's not exactly intuitive, I found that you CAN skip dialogue by right-clicking.
My expectations were FAR exceeded. ;D Comaped to commercial quality games with multimillion dollar budgets, I think TSL is amazing.
Now I'm kind of upset that most $50-60 games aren't better than what they are. Looks like they need to get POS to help them. Publishers would actually get my money then. XD
Thanks for the feedback everyone! XD
If you haven't already, go download the Patch v.1.0.1 now available at: http://www.postudios.com/archivedTSL/trilogy/
MANY of the major bugs were fixed, and many enhancements were added as well. :)
Quote from: J-Rod on August 03, 2006, 05:19:57 AM
My expectations were FAR exceeded. ;D Comaped to commercial quality games with multimillion dollar budgets, I think TSL is amazing.
Hear, hear! :)
Link (http://users.boardnation.com/~sierramusic/index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=212)
These fools need a strict talking to right now!
Media w***** and utter b*stards indeed!
EDIT: Fixed link :)
Quote from: koko_99_2001 on August 01, 2006, 05:57:02 AM
what kind of spelling and grammar errors are you talking about?
If I remember correctly, at one point the oracle says "he who" when she should be saying "him who."
Either in this demo or in KQ3VGA, I can't remember which, "all right" is spelled "alright."
I wouldn't expect an Oracle to have perfect grammar, I don't even think they need high school diploma when they can forsee anything about to happen. :P
Also, it's pretty rare for "all right" to be used, even in general. Here are the only two occurances of "alright" in our game:
Titania: Oh that's alright. I'd much prefer to stay outside. This garden reminds me of the beauty of my homeland, and I feel at peace with nothing but the sky above me.
Hassan: Alright, alright. Your story has touched me. I'll rent her to you for two days for this quantity, just out of respect for my king.
Both cases seem fine to me...
wouldn't it be non-canon if this KQ contained almost no bugs? :suffer:
It's been years since i ran KQ5 WITH sound >:(
Quote from: Yonkey on August 04, 2006, 12:38:05 AM
I wouldn't expect an Oracle to have perfect grammar, I don't even think they need high school diploma when they can forsee anything about to happen. :P
Also, it's pretty rare for "all right" to be used, even in general. Here are the only two occurances of "alright" in our game:
Titania: Oh that's alright. I'd much prefer to stay outside. This garden reminds me of the beauty of my homeland, and I feel at peace with nothing but the sky above me.
Hassan: Alright, alright. Your story has touched me. I'll rent her to you for two days for this quantity, just out of respect for my king.
Both cases seem fine to me...
In British English, both "all right" and "alright" are acceptable. In American English "alright" is not technically accepted but just about everyone outside of an English Major (like me!) uses it so it really doesn't matter. Give it a while longer and both forms will undoubtedly be acceptable in American English as well. So yeah, they're really fine and it's not a mistake if you live in England! ;D :suffer:
Quote from: markornikov on August 04, 2006, 07:43:55 AM
wouldn't it be non-canon if this KQ contained almost no bugs? :suffer:
It's been years since i ran KQ5 WITH sound >:(
As a Software Engineer, it actually is my goal to always produce software with no bugs. 8)
Quote from: Alexandar28 on August 04, 2006, 08:25:40 AM
So yeah, they're really fine and it's not a mistake if you live in England! ;D :suffer:
Or Canada, like myself! ;D
Quote from: Alexandar28 on August 04, 2006, 08:25:40 AM
So yeah, they're really fine and it's not a mistake if you live in England! ;D :suffer:
Or Canada, like myself! ;D
[/quote]
Exactly! It all depends on where you live! ;D
I like Canada. It's where they film Stargate.
Quote from: Boogeyman on August 03, 2006, 05:09:25 PM
Link (http://users.boardnation.com/~sierramusic/index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=212)
These fools need a strict talking to right now!
Media w***** and utter b*stards indeed!
EDIT: Fixed link :)
Woo, Gotta love the "UTTER BASTAGES" part
And guys, dont worry about that, if you think about it it's truly pointless :)
lol, I guess when people have gotten fed up no one listening to their baseless conspiracy theories, they must start bashing ...fan contests? ::)
Ah well, people are either going to love you, or not. There's no inbetween. :P
NEIL YOU BASTAGE D:
How DARE you speak of such things! :P
It is all Shade's fault anyhow :P lol
(his entry was so good even ppl hate him too now! lol)
So what standards is this game being written to? American? British? Canadian? Whichever standards you decide on, you should apply those standards consistently.
And, in my opinion, only characters who are evil, ignorant, or unreliable should be allowed grammatical errors. The oracle is none of those.
Quote from: maestro on August 04, 2006, 12:01:21 PM
So what standards is this game being written to? American? British? Canadian? Whichever standards you decide on, you should apply those standards consistently.
And, in my opinion, only characters who are evil, ignorant, or unreliable should be allowed grammatical errors. The oracle is none of those.
You are right, it will be fixed anyhow.
According to the script it should be American, so whatever else found that you could point it out, this is the perfect time to do so.
Quote from: maestro on August 04, 2006, 12:01:21 PM
So what standards is this game being written to? American? British? Canadian? Whichever standards you decide on, you should apply those standards consistently.
As Say said, the script is by American standards and was written by Cesar and Katie, then proofread by myself and Mike Fortunato, then again proofread by the public and patched. So, I would say it's more global standards.
Quote from: maestro on August 04, 2006, 12:01:21 PM
And, in my opinion, only characters who are evil, ignorant, or unreliable should be allowed grammatical errors. The oracle is none of those.
And what do you think of Yoda then? He has horrible grammar, yet is more wise than anyone else in that galaxy. 8)
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal use "alright," as do many writers. Really, the correct form of "all right" is used so rarely that a lot of people would say it's wrong if they saw it. That's actually true for a lot of words. For example, how many knew that "anyways" is incorrect and the correct form is "anyway"? ;) Odd tangent, I've always wondered why "alright" is wrong but "altogether," and "already" are right. :D
I went back and listened to the Oracle but I couldn't hear her say "he who" anywhere. Was it at the end?
And why should evil characters have bad grammar? They're usually pretty darn intelligent. For example, Emperor Palpatine, Saruman, Count Dooku, the evil Picard clone in Nemesis, etc. Of course they usually die in the end so I suppose that says something about their intelligence. ;D
Edit: I had to go back and edit my own grammar! :suffer:
Even if they are wise, old, and know it all, this doesn't stop them from speaking incorrectly or having personal slangs, etc. The worse thing that you can do as a screenwriter is to have your characters speak perfectly, because, NO ONE, speaks perfectly. Write perfectly is a different thing :)
Nah, nobody writes perfectly either. ;D :scholar:
Quote from: Say on August 04, 2006, 11:53:42 AM
It is all Shade's fault anyhow :P lol
(his entry was so good even ppl hate him too now! lol)
LOL!! Well my picture IS of a little devil :devil: for a reason. hehe
Nice to have you back Say, we missed you.