Episode 4: Feedback and Thoughts

[dark-daventry]

So, now that Episode 4 is out, we'd like to know what you thought of it! What did we get right? Is there anything you'd like to see added/changed/removed for Episode 5? As always, please keep any plot-heavy information under spoiler tags and keep the feedback constructive. If you dislike the episode, that's fine and you are more than welcome to express why, we just ask that it be in a respectful manner. With that said, we're eager to know what you think!

[Damar]

So far I'm liking the hedge maze.  It's about time we got to visit the Isle of the Beast.  Now if I can just get this save/restore game glitch under control, I can try to make some real progress in the episode without needing to restart every time I quit...

[dark-daventry]

So far I'm liking the hedge maze.  It's about time we got to visit the Isle of the Beast.  Now if I can just get this save/restore game glitch under control, I can try to make some real progress in the episode without needing to restart every time I quit...

If you're having issues with save games, try posting in the tech board for help. I myself don't know how to fix the issue (my best advice is to restart the computer and/or game, but that's not very good advice ), but Weldon is the resident tech guru here. There's nothing he can't fix.

[Fierce Deity]

Well, so far, I endured a weird bug where the audio to the cinematics would play out but the actual video for the cinematics would not. There was also a cinematic in the beginning where a certain princess and a certain evil, robed man were conversing, and while the evil man was moving around and talking, the princess was frozen while her audio track played. I have resorted to reinstalling the Episode 1-4 bundle instead of just the patch. I hope that fixes everything. But from what I've seen (which was not much), I am pretty excited for the game's premise. I'll come back with legitimate feedback as soon as I get the game working. 

[tessspoon]

Loving it thus far, as always

[lisaretz]

This is very exciting! I have waited all day to play this game! Really enjoyed the first three episodes! I have been having a blast playing the fourth episode, however, I attempted to save the game and died, but the game was not saved... This is my third attempt to save the game and no luck. I want to continue playing, but do not want to start from the beginning each time... any ideas? I restarted my computer and the fourth attempt still did not save... You guys have done an awesome job on this game! I am not a gammer, but I am addicted to this game. I was very excited to see that someone had finally followed up on the Kings Quest series... that was my favorite game growing up! Congrats to you!

[wilco64256]

This is very exciting! I have waited all day to play this game! Really enjoyed the first three episodes! I have been having a blast playing the fourth episode, however, I attempted to save the game and died, but the game was not saved... This is my third attempt to save the game and no luck. I want to continue playing, but do not want to start from the beginning each time... any ideas? I restarted my computer and the fourth attempt still did not save... You guys have done an awesome job on this game! I am not a gammer, but I am addicted to this game. I was very excited to see that someone had finally followed up on the Kings Quest series... that was my favorite game growing up! Congrats to you!

Hey Lisa I actually already replied to you on this on a different thread, check back on your previous posts for help.

[Hbech]

After receiving some excellent advice by Wilco, I was able to install the full build on my Windows 7 system with no problems at all and rather quickly I might add. Also, my saving issues were resolved by installing the program to C:/TSL. And let me just say this, those opening scenes played FLAWLESSLY on high settings with all boxes ticked. Animations and transitions between cutscenes were smooth and beautiful! I tested saving and restoring, and they both work perfectly as well. And those cutscenes were awesome, especially Cassima's speech! I can't wait to start playing tomorrow in greater depth as I need some sleep before I go to work in the morning! Just from the first few minutes, I can already tell this is going to be an awesome episode and you guys rock! So worth the wait!

[Fierce Deity]

I got it working. It's playing great so far. The hedge maze was a little underwhelming, but it's no big deal. I've figured out a few of the puzzles, but now that every island is open to my disposal, searching for puzzles and items has now become exponentially greater since the first episode. 

[glottal]

I just had my first session.  It's great again, and it's so nice to be able to explore new areas.  I had forgotten what the dialogue was like, so I, uh, laughed at the particularly melodramatic lines (of course, I would sometimes laugh at the melodramatic lines in the original KQ games too, but TSL seems to have a much greater effect in that regard).

If you're curious about how far I got in my first session, this is what I accomplished:

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

I managed to get the black rose, but I have yet to figure out how to get Graham's blood on it.  I've been to the Isle of Wonder and know that I have to find the White King, but so far no further progress on that front.  I also got the memory crystal from the Isle of Mists.  I got Pan's lute, but have no idea why I need it (or the other musical instruments) yet.

I don't want hints (yet), this is just a progress report in case people are curious how far I got in my first session.

[daventry]

So far i like Ep4, but the Narriator is starting to annoy me with her Insults, im Insane in my head for trying to play the Flute or Bango, apparently i cant speak to Sing Sing either, everything i try to do or is tick tock tick tock.

[hrpeanut]

When will the soundtrack be out for the 3'rd and 4'th Episodes?

[KatieHal]

Volume 2 of the TSL Soundtrack will come out when we have all of the music for Episode 5 as well--it'll be three episodes worth, instead of just two.

[AzzyGale]

The soundtrack IS unbearably haunting....

And this "reverting" theme makes me want to cry....

Goodness, you people are pulling at all of my heartstrings. 

I'm growing curious, as I progress, about that ranger guy...

Also, loved the maze..

[Demidronik]

Having Graham able to swim through the air makes episode 4 much easier.

[dark-daventry]

Having Graham able to swim through the air makes episode 4 much easier.

HAHAHA That's awesome! I don't know if it compares to the Graham walking on water bug I encountered while testing the mac  build. Still, this is awesome.

[snabbott]

Interesting... That used to happen whenever you loaded a saved game at the Isle of the Sacred Mountain shore, but it was fixed.

[tessspoon]

Having Graham able to swim through the air makes episode 4 much easier.

lol I got that too, when the hot air balloon dropped me off.

[aeisa]

Please don't be disheartened by what I have to say, because I'm incredibly grateful that you guys are putting so much into this game and you've made an amazing product overall, but I've been a bit disappointed in this episode.  I'm not 100% through it yet, and as usual the acting and animation are splendid and I've found some real laughs but I just had to comment on one thing in particular because I can't believe how annoyed it has made me; I cannot remember being this frustrated at a game since I was a kid.  In a spoiler box, because of reasons!

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

In all my years of gaming, the pandora's box puzzle with the spinning symbols is the worst designed puzzle I have ever encountered.  It is frustrating for all the wrong reasons - not because it takes skill, or timing, or the odd few false starts we all expect in a KQ-style before you work out what you're dong - but because it is the worst kind of false difficulty.  Once the circles start rotating and swapping it becomes almost impossible to clear simply because the interface is so bad, a fact made a thousand tims worse by the narrator's incessant 'Do something quickly!' (which is even MORE annoying with voice turned off because of the popping text box) every time you misclick.  This puzzle is not difficult, it is just time-wasting.  It might have been alright if it didn't take so long, but there are also SO MANY SYMBOLS to solve that the irritated frustration at repetition overtakes the satisfaction of working out to do almost immediately.  What on earth was the point of the 'three strikes and you're out' system when by the time you are on the last symbol (the point at which I quit in disgust after 20 minutes) the symbols are spinning and swapping so quickly (less than 3 seconds sometimes, making clicking anything impossible) that you are relying on random chance to hit the right buttons anyway?  I tried applying logic to it - tracking what circle was what quarter by picking some iconic symbols - but so many of them are so similar and appear so often that it reners it all useless, especially as one accidental click - so easy when it all goes so fast - means you have to start the symbol all over again.  I'm sorry to have to say this, and please don't think I'm just greeting because it is too hard (I know you included an easy option, but that doesn't take away from my point that the mechanism of the puzzle is fundamentally badly designed).  Even if you removed the exploding symbol part that might make it a bit more tolerable, but to be honest any puzzle which relies on the difficulty of chasing the icons acrossthe screen rather than the ability to work out what should go where is going to feel like a let down.

Hopefully this will give you some food for thought; as I say, I'm behind you 100% and I firmly believe you guys will go on to create even more exciting and successful games than TSL.  So, I hope that you can avoid things like this in your future games.  When I have time to clear the episode, I'll be sure to write you guys a more extensive review, including all the positives as well as the negatives I've found.  The balance has been so much to your credit, I was very disappointed to start the long awaited section of

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

playing Valanice

opened on such an irritating note.

[flitchard]

Heh, I got a bit annoyed with that too, but it felt SO good when I figured it out myself!