[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

I've just finished Day 2. I can't say I'm very much into the game, but it's not bad. Once again, there are some severe story-telling flaws: the story 'naturally' draws the player to the question of the hidden staircase (and I thought I'd find AJ('s body?) there), but... no, that's not it at all, you're actually supposed to think of having a look at the pool. That's a design flaw for a game, but, more importantly, it's a story-telling problem.

I agree wtih you there. Like I said earliier, draining the pool doesn't seem a logical choice. A hidden staircase is a much more likely source of an escaper route.

blam, another dream sequence (this is getting tired by the way).

There is (to my mind) a good reason for this that isn't yet apparent.

The game being too short really shows in that sequence too: the only bit of backstory is the mysterious story of the son and the father, and, guess what, you have a dream about a son and his father! I understand that this is an amateur game, but, well, I've already argued several times that it's extremely important to fit the story and the medium used to tell it, and this game shows the problem perfectly: if you want to build a ghost mystery, you need a lot of subtlety, something this game greatly lacks, in part because of its extremely short nature.

I'm a bit confused what you're getting at here. You say the game is too short and lacking subtlety at the same time as saying not much backstory is revealed. Isn't the bit by bit revelation of the backstory exactly an example of the subtlety you're looking for?

Oh, and the 'people moving around and disappearing mysteriously' system is feeling more and more problematic; I understand the technical difficulties, but, well, it really hampers believability of the story (and the atmosphere) and, once again, if your medium is not suited to the story you want to tell, then just tell another one!

Again I'm not sure what you mean by this. In day 2 all 3 of the non-player characters stay in particular locations. (Phil in the garden. Jim in the dining room. Simone in the library.) The only person that moves about is Philip once you've got the metal detector off him and there's no sensible reason for looking for him before day end

1) Is it normal that I have no music while exploring the house? There used to be some at the beginning of the game, but it stopped at some point on day 1 (when I first met Philip, maybe?), and never came back. It still plays in the cutscenes / dream sequences, though.

Yes, it's perfectly normal. See my earlier comment about sparing use of music

2) What are these people eating?

You got me squire.