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Old 07-30-2006, 05:18 PM   #4
eriq
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hmm... first impressions... lots of things done really well but lots and lots of really poor design decisions and strange bugs.

The 3-D is excellent. The characters and character animations are wonderful. What's with the zoom and pan feature and allowing the player to zoom way out of the castle? What purpose does this serve? Why not confine the player's view to the current room? Totally confused by this decision. In general, I found the movement and camera interface to be very awkward - almost as bad as King's Quest 8.

Graham's walking animation is strange. He looks as if he's floating above the ground and subsequent "clicks" make him walk strangely.

Are you including the full 3d introduction in the full game? or are you keeping the written out narration as the introduction. Dave Grossman, LucasArts writer/designer, was interviewed recently stating that a poor introduction is one where the designers have to write out the introductory text rather than actually show it. As a player, I felt confused after reading the introductory text... what am I supposed to be doing? Who exactly are the two characters in the courtyard? Where am I supposed to go next? I've picked up a few items but I'm stuck already. Maybe have some sort of journal or subtle hint device on what current objectives are?

Some sound issues. Characters interrupt and/or overspeak eachother while speaking (cutscene in rainy courtyard). And why have the narrator speak only select lines and not others?

I have a list of other strange bugs and questions. I'll post them when I've played more.

Had this been another title I would probably have quit playing already due to the poor gameplay and interface quirkiness. But this is a project I've been following for some time (and I know how hard this humongous team has been working) so I'm interested in giving feedback.

edit (addition to post): great atmospheric music, great voices!!

edit (addition to post): When I was walking around the castle after speaking to the two characters in the courtyard, I could't find the exit out of the castle which triggered "Chapter One". Graham would not walk to the bottom of the screen and outside. When I restarted the game and tried again (without talking to the two characters in the courtyard), I was able to exit. I noticed Graham's "opening door" animations were triggered late in his bedroom. He was standing by the mirror and when I clicked on the door to exit, the sound of the door occurred but Graham stood in place and the "open door" animation triggered but he was standing backwards by the mirror while the door opened! I suspect bugs like these are still being worked out but take note.

edit (addition to post): game stopping bug. I cannot exit the town screen (pawn shop).. walked back in from ship screen and the game "zoomed in" to a closeup of the pawn shop which I had to zoom out from using the WASD keys... Graham is stuck in the scene and I can't make him exit the scene. The game seems stuck.

Last edited by eriq; 07-30-2006 at 06:20 PM.
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