[MoriartyL]

You don't need voice acting- the presentation of the story as it stands now is really cool.

[Dasilva]

You dont need it, but it would be nice. Its just a thought, I'm not telling you to do it.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by insane_cobra

First of all, the Windows taskbar remained visible throughout the game, covering the lower portion of the screen.

This problem seems to arise if you are running in Window mode. If you're running in full-screen mode the taskbar disappears. Is Window mode not working properly? I say that because, as well as the taxkbar appearing over the top, it also appears to be occupying the whole screen.

Good stuff though. I really got the feeling that I wanted to find out what hapened next and I like the overall look and feel. Great work. .

[Junkface]

I must admit I wasn't particularly anticipating this game, but downloaded the demo anyway and was very impressed - it prompted me to read all the Mr Smoozles comics (which I'd previously dismissed based upon seeing one or two early strips that weren't to my taste) in a single sitting. Speaking of which, it's very interesting to see how it evolved from a quite gaming centred comic with a lot of self-referential humour to being about the interactions of a group of distinct characters, some of whom happen to have an interest in games. I'll now be constantly checking for new strips, so if your bandwidth costs surge you know who to blame.

Anyway, on a more on topic note, I love the general look and feel of the game - the animations and use of colour in particular are quite striking. I also like that the dialogue is all written in a way that introduces us to the characters effectively and concisely without seeming overly obvious (an increasingly rare talent in games writing lately. I also think this is part of why voice acting seems unnescesary when usually I'd really miss it.) The gameplay is accessible, well designed, and essentially, fun while still being more complex than I expected. A touch I particularly like is the examine option (although it would be even better if implemented a little bit more consistently, i.e. that it worked on anything that could be interacted with. I suppose I'm just a little bit hung up on that kind of conceptual neatness though.) The music fits well and really complements the mood in several scenes (the holding room scene and reality vortex stand out.) On the subject of the reality vortex, I really loved the atmosphere in that scene and hope we get to see more of them in the full game. All in all, everything about the demo seems to drip with care and attention to detail (I'm tempted to say love, but I think I've already stooped to too many superlatives and cliches in this post.)

I agree with insane_cobra about the merit of streamlining the interface (but I'd personally keep the teleportation as an item at the start, rather than replace it with a fixed teleportation device) and that movement feels awkward in its current state. It would also be nice, as he said, if conversations reflected if you'd already discovered or collected something.

My personal nitpicks regard the text boxes (such as credits and game info) seeming a bit unprofessional and not really gelling with the look of the rest of the game. Perhaps if it's not too much work you could create a font for use in the game which is in a similar style to how you letter the comics. I'd also prefer it that when you get the console on-line if you already posess the green keycard it gives you the option to validate it in the same exchange without having to activate the console again.

I noticed a few bugs. The first of which is that if you press enter again while a door is still opening it will jump back to the beginning of the opening animation each time. Another is that if you press ESC while on the load game screen at the start of the game it will go to a blank screen and you have to manually close the program. Also, if you bring up the menu while the reality wave is onscreen, the bright flashes will remain in the foreground, obscuring the menu. The reality wave is also the subject of one my two visual quibbles about the game; it would be good if you could make the changes look less obviously tile based (how you'd go about that, I'm not sure.) My other visual complaint is that, on my computer at least, scrolling is accompanied by an unpleasant sort of flickering. If that happens universally, and you're unable to fix it, it may be better to simply divide any scrolling areas into sets of individual screens.

Sorry if I seem overly demanding or if this post is a bit unwieldy. It's just that I'm now very much looking forward to the full game and felt compelled to post my thoughts - you're free to ignore them if you find them unhelpful.

[Kolzig]

Hey, I tested the demo yesterday and it felt like a fun little game, when the demo ended, I just wanted more Nutso gaming!

Those comics on the walls were a fun little addition to the game, and the character animations were well done, I liked those.

I'm very satisfied with the demo, it met all my expectations for it.

[Steve Ince]

Junkface - Thanks for the great feedback, both positive and constructive. I'm currently building up a list of issues and bugs so I hope I can address most of what you bring up.

It's good to know that someone who was initially dubious about the game can be swayed by actually giving it a try. What else can I ask of people than that?

Stephuran - I think this may be due to the windows resolution being the same as the game resolution. I may have to allow for this in some way.

Kolzig - You'll get more Nutso gaming very soon.

[AFGNCAAP]

Short version: fun!

Verbose version: There was nothing not to like about the demo, except maybe its length (If it is indeed 10% of the game, then the final price needs to be carefully set. I managed to complete those 10% in half an hour, and I didn't feel like I had been rushing through it). It starts more simplistic than I had expected but judging from the last available level (what with sheep to free, crystals to collect, Mr Smoozles to avoid and the garden gnome to talk to), the gameplay promises to get much less casual over time.

I also hope there are more reality vortex levels in the full game, because they seem to have the greatest potential for some fun puzzles. Oh, and I suppose it's not a coincidence that reality vortex reminded me of LINC sequences from Beneath a Steel Sky?

I did hit one bug. When Ed got killed and I chose to restart rather than load game, the game freezed on the "windowed/fullscreen" menu screen. I mean, the music changed like it should in the intro, so I suppose the game was running in the background, but the "windowed/fullscreen mode" menu was still being displayed. Oddly enough, I can't replicate this problem now, but it happened, twice.

By the way, the taskbar thing must be indeed connected to window size being greater than the screen resolution. I had this problem as well, but only up to 1024x768 setting.

Finally, I love the original strip, so I was happy to interact with all the familiar characters (even though I expect all but Ed and Smoozles to remain imprisoned for the rest of the game ). The dialogue really sets this game apart. Importantly, at no time I felt the adventure elements were tacked on. All the gameplay "angles": arcade, puzzle, adventure, seemed integral to the overall design.

[stepurhan]

Just a quick follow-up re the movement question.

The speed is definitely a concern. When you're trying to reach the next junction to get out of Mr Smoozles line of fire it can be a bit frustrating.

But I don't have a problem with the tile-based movement. I'd much rather have this than end up getting hung up on a corner. I can cope with rolling on slightly further than I intended ocassionally due to starting on the next tile (though i don't think I did it once during the demo) I've given up on games in the past where a freer movement system made getting through narrow gaps an exercise in frustration.

[SoccerDude28]

Hi Steve

Being a big fan of your work (Broken Sword and the comic) I loved this game. It has a lot of personality, and is a very happy and vibrant game, with a lot of style. I especially loved watching the comics in the game. Nice touch

I had a few minor issues with the interface like insane_cobra described (too many buttons), and the issue that stepurhan mentioned, when you go to a new room, and you don't have enough speed to reach the end of the corridor, and all of a sudden nutso busts in and starts shooting. In these cases, there is no way to dodge the bullets. But overall I'm very pleased with the demo and can't wait for the final version.

[MoriartyL]

I'm enjoying the demo, but there's a serious bug here: the audio isn't playing right. It sounds all garbled and staticky, and keeps slowing down and speeding up. Actually, when I pause it sounds fine, but when I'm playing the game it gets messed up.

Also, this may be pretty useless to tell because it only happened once and I don't know how to reproduce it, but there was one point where I pressed a direction key and let go, and Ed kept walking to the other side of the screen.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

I'm enjoying the demo, but there's a serious bug here: the audio isn't playing right. It sounds all garbled and staticky, and keeps slowing down and speeding up. Actually, when I pause it sounds fine, but when I'm playing the game it gets messed up.

Might be worth posting some specs for that one MoriartyL. I know I haven't had an problems with sound so there may be a card specific problem that needs to be addressed.

That uninterrupted walking one is odd though. I'll have another potter around and see if I can get it to do that.

[MoriartyL]

I'm stuck. Are there really 20 diamonds? (I can only find 19.)

[MoriartyL]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Might be worth posting some specs for that one MoriartyL. I know I haven't had an problems with sound so there may be a card specific problem that needs to be addressed.

That uninterrupted walking one is odd though. I'll have another potter around and see if I can get it to do that.

Forget the walking- it was probably the fault of my computer. It hasn't happened since, at least. As for sound, I have a Sound Blaster Live! Value, with whatever drivers I got from the Creative website. I had a similar problem with the game The Endless Forest which very few other people seemed to be getting. I think in that case it had something to do with the format the audio was compressed in.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

I'm stuck. Are there really 20 diamonds? (I can only find 19.)

Yes, there are 20 diamonds (reality shards) You need to solve another puzzle to get the last one you need. If you can't figure what to do I'll post something more specific later (if no-one else does)

[Steve Ince]

Again, thanks for all the feedback. I've drawn up a list of things to fix and/or polish and while I might not be able to accomodate all the suggestions, I'll do what I can.