I'd just like to say, great job. Really, I enjoyed it a lot. The cutscenes were very good, and I felt immersed back into the world that I hadn't seen in a long time.
However, I had a few problems.
Obviously, it was really short. There was hardly any game time in comparison to cutscene time. But, I did see in the other thread that this is meant to be an introduction and that the other episodes are much longer... which I'm very happy about. ;D
The only other problem that I had was with some of the dialogue. At one point, I remember the ship's navigator saying "guys". That bothered me, because that sounded more like modern slang, and I'd picture people in that "era" to be saying something else, like "men".
Another time, I clicked on a vase and an annoyingly long monologue came up that tried to explain why Graham would not want to climb into it. It was kinda funny, but it seemed unnecessary.
I also had a bug where I couldn't walk down a flight of stairs, and I had to go down another flight of stairs. Aaaaand, you guys spoiled who the main villain was in the credits, even though I already knew. :P
Other than that, phenomenal job. I really mean it. You guys worked really hard and it shows. What I played was really fun, and I absolutely can't wait to go back to Daventry (I think that's what the Arch Druid hinted at). I hope that the future episodes contain more gametime. :)
I also have a few questions :P:
1. How much longer until the next episode comes out? (Future release date)
2. How much longer is it going to be than this one?
3. Are all of the episodes going to be released in 2010?
Oh, I'd also like to add, I like where the story is going... so good job on that also. That's mainly what's keeping me excited for the 2nd episode (as well as being able to see more of the lands). I know that writing a good story isn't easy, so.... again good job on that as well. :P
Oh, and it also bothered me how I couldn't see the side of the castle. >_>
Quote from: KQ5Fan on July 10, 2010, 09:23:15 PM
I also have a few questions :P:
1. How much longer until the next episode comes out? (Future release date)
2. How much longer is it going to be than this one?
3. Are all of the episodes going to be released in 2010?
:suffer: :suffer: :suffer:
Quote from: Delling on July 10, 2010, 09:34:20 PM
Quote from: KQ5Fan on July 10, 2010, 09:23:15 PM
I also have a few questions :P:
1. How much longer until the next episode comes out? (Future release date)
2. How much longer is it going to be than this one?
3. Are all of the episodes going to be released in 2010?
:suffer: :suffer: :suffer:
Hey, that's my job!
I think we are becoming predictable. *Runs to her room to hide*
...................
Quote from: waltzdancing on July 10, 2010, 09:36:53 PM
I think we are becoming predictable.
"Becoming"? It's downright formulaic now:
1. Curious TSL fan asks a question.
2. TSL community viciously showers :suffer: upon the unsuspecting fan.
I think it's time for a shake up. :sneaky:
we've been predictable for years when :suffer: became used to torture the fans.
Quote from: KQ5Fan on July 10, 2010, 09:41:06 PM
...................
sorry, allow me to explain. When a team member is asked a question that involves not yet public information, a typical (and now very predictable) response is to use the suffer emoticon. It's been named suffer because it appears to be a very sadistic laugh... :suffer: So basically, we can't answer your questions yet. All will be revealed in due time, though.
Quote from: kindofdoon on July 10, 2010, 09:48:05 PM
Quote from: waltzdancing on July 10, 2010, 09:36:53 PM
I think we are becoming predictable.
"Becoming"? It's downright formulaic now:
1. Curious TSL fan asks a question.
2. TSL community viciously showers :suffer: upon the unsuspecting fan.
Alright, fine. How about we switch to something else then. :devil:
I'm just kind of shocked. It was beautiful and seeing these characters from my childhood again in a new adventure seriously almost brought a tear to my eye as I started to play. And then it ended. I think the credits were longer than the game was. Very anxiously awaiting the next chapter because that was just such a tease. It felt rushed, and I know how long the development was, it was far from rushed but it just felt like it.
Best part though was in the very beginning as everyone is in the palace around the bed and Valanice is like "I shall stay here" and Graham is like "Yeah, you do that." I lol'd.
Quote from: Ebenezer on July 10, 2010, 10:16:06 PM
Best part though was in the very beginning as everyone is in the palace around the bed and Valanice is like "I shall stay here" and Graham is like "Yeah, you do that." I lol'd.
I thoroughly concur. XD
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I feel like a horrible person for thinking this because I know that this game was free, but I'd say that this was more than a few notches from perfect.
I will also preface this by saying that I know that this first episode was a bit of an introduction... and the later episodes will be a bit lengthier... BUT...
To me, King's Quest was always about multiple, interesting, varied, challenging puzzles. Some that are easy, some that are of medium difficulty, and some that get you stuck for days. I'm not saying that these episodes should be over-loaded with puzzles, but there needs to be a "there" there. There was no meat on the bone. People talk about the 1 to 2 hour of "game" time, but really this first episode had precisely one moment of what I consider to be a core ingredient of adventure gaming. The rest was not what I consider "gaming". But everyone is different of course.
I hate to be a negative nelly, but now that I'm here and already feel like a jerk for complaining, I'll just mention one more thing. Now on the one hand I have nothing against 3d per se, I've played a variety of modern games including adventures that take advantage of 3d. But playing this episode, when I saw Graham's reflection off the floor, I couldn't help but wonder how many man-hours went into the technological aspects, 3d aspects, camera movements, etc. that could have gone into game-playing elements, including puzzles. I thought that's what King's Quest and its community and fans are all about, and I figured in following the production of this game over the last decade that that was going to be one of the core focuses of these games. I just wondered when playing this episode if it would have been better served if it was 2d. I thought for the most part that people had concluded that one of the reasons that King's Quest 8 was such a mess and left us with an empty feeling was all the effort that went into the uneven transition to 3d, with the shift away from puzzle elements. That is why I was surprised at episode one.
Again, I feel like a jerk for complaining, and am likely going to enjoy the later episodes more. I just wanted to toss a few things out there.
Perhaps, for the sake of the influx of new people, there should be an FAQ on how the forums work. Just so suffers can be used without the intention being missed.
Speaking of FAQ's... I would highly encourage people to check out The Silver Lining FAQ over in the General Discussion board. Questions like "when is the next episode going to be released?" are covered in that FAQ and I an actively monitoring the boards to see what other questions come up a lot so that it can be added to the FAQ.
Quote from: dark-daventry on July 10, 2010, 09:51:26 PM
we've been predictable for years when :suffer: became used to torture the fans.
I remember the first time a suffer smiley was used, it was a dark day for all of us...
QuoteI hate to be a negative nelly, but now that I'm here and already feel like a jerk for complaining, I'll just mention one more thing. Now on the one hand I have nothing against 3d per se, I've played a variety of modern games including adventures that take advantage of 3d. But playing this episode, when I saw Graham's reflection off the floor, I couldn't help but wonder how many man-hours went into the technological aspects, 3d aspects, camera movements, etc. that could have gone into game-playing elements, including puzzles. I thought that's what King's Quest and its community and fans are all about, and I figured in following the production of this game over the last decade that that was going to be one of the core focuses of these games. I just wondered when playing this episode if it would have been better served if it was 2d. I thought for the most part that people had concluded that one of the reasons that King's Quest 8 was such a mess and left us with an empty feeling was all the effort that went into the uneven transition to 3d, with the shift away from puzzle elements. That is why I was surprised at episode one.
I can see what you mean, but I don't think that focusing less on technical aspects would equal more focus on puzzle aspects. I don't know much about the team structure behind TSL, but a puzzle is presumably thought up by the game designers and is then put into a design document or some other blueprint so that the coders can code the puzzle, the artists can do the art for the puzzle (like item icons etc.) and so on. It's very much a process that would be precipitated from on high and would filter down the pyramid until it gets made. But working out how to do the reflective floor in the castle atrium would be something done solely by the coders; although the designers might say "Make this floor reflective", that's not really the same thing as puzzle design. If the coders who were working on the reflective floor no longer had to do that, there's not really any reason why they would be able to help with inventing puzzles, because puzzles are only a technical job once they're being integrated into the game: their main role is entirely cerebral. I guess if TSL hadn't focused on technical stuff then it might well have been done faster, but I don't think there would necessarily have been more puzzles.
Also (spoiler - don't peek until you've finished episode 1)
[spoiler]Episode 1 basically ends with the Arch-druid saying "Graham, you're going to have to go on a fetch-quest!" Now, if that's not old-school puzzle-adventuring, I don't know what is. ;) [/spoiler]
Quote from: darthkiwi on July 11, 2010, 04:04:40 AM
Also (spoiler - don't peek until you've finished episode 1)
[spoiler]Episode 1 basically ends with the Arch-druid saying "Graham, you're going to have to go on a fetch-quest!" Now, if that's not old-school puzzle-adventuring, I don't know what is. ;) [/spoiler]
I totally agree, let the questing commence!! XD
Quote from: Ebenezer on July 10, 2010, 10:16:06 PM
Best part though was in the very beginning as everyone is in the palace around the bed and Valanice is like "I shall stay here" and Graham is like "Yeah, you do that." I lol'd.
That whole scene was great.
Edgar was all "Let me go with you!" and Graham was like "Yeaaaahhh, how about you don't? Really, I'd prefer it if you didn't get kidnapped and nearly get us all killed. Again." :P
Quote from: Centaur444 on July 10, 2010, 11:05:28 PM
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I feel like a horrible person for thinking this because I know that this game was free, but I'd say that this was more than a few notches from perfect.
Again, I feel like a jerk for complaining, and am likely going to enjoy the later episodes more. I just wanted to toss a few things out there.
I agree. The music was amazing and the time, effort and talent put into this project is definitely admirable and appreciated. It just honestly didn't feel like a King's Quest game to me but more of a fan fiction. Definitely lacking adventure. I do like where the story is going but it was all a bit drawn out. And I would have much rather seen this done with the 2d painted backgrounds. It was a lot of build up over these many years and if I'm allowed to be honest, I was overall disappointed. I still have some hope for future episodes.
Quote from: RIDance on July 13, 2010, 09:25:49 AM
Quote from: Centaur444 on July 10, 2010, 11:05:28 PM
I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I feel like a horrible person for thinking this because I know that this game was free, but I'd say that this was more than a few notches from perfect.
Again, I feel like a jerk for complaining, and am likely going to enjoy the later episodes more. I just wanted to toss a few things out there.
I agree. The music was amazing and the time, effort and talent put into this project is definitely admirable and appreciated. It just honestly didn't feel like a King's Quest game to me but more of a fan fiction. Definitely lacking adventure. I do like where the story is going but it was all a bit drawn out. And I would have much rather seen this done with the 2d painted backgrounds. It was a lot of build up over these many years and if I'm allowed to be honest, I was overall disappointed. I still have some hope for future episodes.
Trust me, episode 2 will bring back the days of old school adventure gaming.
I hope the team really struggles with some of the big criticism coming out about the episode. Really do some thinking on whether some really negative comments are actually well founded or not. Great things come out of great tension. Obviously none of the nasty stuff is being posted here, but if you look around you'll find some real haters on this game and a lot of their points are well thought out and not trolling or harsh declarations of personal preference.
If you engage with an open mind, you'll have nowhere to go but up.
Quote from: Flubly on July 13, 2010, 06:15:32 PM
I hope the team really struggles with some of the big criticism coming out about the episode. Really do some thinking on whether some really negative comments are actually well founded or not. Great things come out of great tension. Obviously none of the nasty stuff is being posted here, but if you look around you'll find some real haters on this game and a lot of their points are well thought out and not trolling or harsh declarations of personal preference.
If you engage with an open mind, you'll have nowhere to go but up.
There's a difference between criticism and constructive criticism. We're looking for constructive criticism.
The main pieces of constructive criticism across the board seem to be people wanting more puzzles and more actual questing, those are both givens in the coming episodes so I don't think the team is too concerned about it.
Constructive criticism is about content, not tone. Someone may be out of line for being a jerk but that doesn't invalidate their points. You know, like Wittgenstein.
Bad criticism is, "This is stupid and ugly and boring."
Criticism that is constructive but delivered badly is, "This sucks so bad and here's a detailed theory why."
Usually that kind is actually more helpful (I find in my own writing) because the person is logical and yet also passionate. Yeah, they can be wrong about a lot of stuff but they also give you a fresh perspective on the piece outside of all the fans and developers who are already really really close to the game.
And I already said that the real negative stuff wouldn't be posted here. In ten minutes I was able to find a slew of threads on other boards and blog reviews that strongly disagree with some major points on the writing and general execution of the story telling in the game.
Again, I'm not saying invite people to be nasty and harsh. Just be the bigger man and transmute that evil into good.