[JohnnyB]

Hi,
I just released the third installment of the Jack French series.
The JF series is reminiscent of the CSI / Law and Order games in which you play the part of the detective.

You meet up with detective Jack French when a businessman is thrown out of a running train. Clearly, this case is going to be more complicated than initially expected... This episode should keep you at the edge of your seat!

http://johnnybdesign.com/jfrench3.html

Thanks for your comments that will surely prove helpful in my next project.
JB

[GKofArmour]

Oh wow! This is an independent project? Nice work man!

I love how you've made it playable online and downloadable for PC and Mac as well.

Bugs noticed:
- In the casino lobby, when you talk to the waitress, there's a talk choice that's hidden. When you select that talk choice and it finishes, in it's place there's still a selectable hidden link that repeats an old convo and locks your mouse for a few rounds.
- The girl who helps the department of investigation - I forget her name - stays at Sam Black's place, even after the investigation, and every time you return to that place she repeats what she said ages ago. She was meant to leave with Jack the first time around.
- Sometimes music overlaps, when the player moves around quickly, and you have two different tunes playing at the same time.

Things I like:
- In the casino theatre backstage when you talk to the actress, I love the way the text is readable, but you also get to see the scene like in a movie, cutting between Jack and the actress. Much better then multiple choice text that leads to the same conclusion no matter which way you go.
The backstage scene was the most captivating scene in the game for me.
- How the places are empty once an event is gone. First everyone investigates, then they all leave the scene, and you can be alone the second time around, if you want to run through the bits and pieces of the puzzle again.

Things I didn't like:
- I think in the next installment of Jack French you should try to go one step further in that the characters are not still when they talk, but they are lip-synced and move/express as they talk.
- Some characters - like Jack - look the nice stylized way, and some characters - mostly the girls - look drawn. I think the stylized look is better.
- Music should fade out quickly instead of cutting away.
- The arrows didn't always make sense in terms of direction of movement, making me lose sense of space - like in the casino lobby.
- More attention should be payed to sound quality, especially with the PC and Mac downloadable versions of the game. Some of the voices had a lot of background noise or were recorded in a very bad quality. I suppose half of it is due to compression and half of it was recorded with amateur tools. Try to be more selective with quality - as much as possible - or use noise reduction.
- Where are the credits? I wanted to see who the actors were for individual characters, but never got around to it. A menu at the beginning of the game might prove to be handy.

Losing plot:
- After talking to the rich casino player, I spent most of my time running around, as I had no clue where I was meant to go. All I remember him saying is that we'll meet up later somewhere.

I got stuck after the death of William. I tried running around to all the places, but there doesn't seem to be anything new happening. If the game is complete, then I am probably not finding my way around (navigation's not clear). So I had to quit.

Overall it's a very nice game though, with a very clear idea about characters and plot, so it's intriguing. I think it's a good adventure game, especially impressive seeing as it's an independent project created by one person.

Nice going JB!

[JohnnyB]

Hi Boki,

Thanks for the long message Your comments are appreciated and I am glad that you took the time to send your review that I will take into account for future projects.

I wish beta-testers would make such a good job and turning in thorough reviews during the development of the game!!! (I use volunteers with whom I have very little or no ties at all and they aren't always reliable.)

Thanks also for the good words about the game.
JB

[JohnnyB]

oh! I should add that there are walkthroughs and hints posted on the forum for those who get stuck:

http://johnnybdesign.com/forum/

[Erwin_Br]

Good to see you're still going strong with the series! keep on trucking

--Erwin

[JohnnyB]

Oh! Hi Erwin

Coincidentally, I've visited your website a few weeks ago!!!
I wanted to know about the development of your game.
But your site has not been updated in a while.

How is it going?