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Trailer for my dark fantasy adventure game - your opinion please

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Would really appreciate feedback on this. This is my dark fantasy title, a novel I wrote that I’m turning into a game. Still in development.

Question 1) Do you like the low-poly style or would you prefer better high-end graphics?
Question 2) Did the trailer give you a decent understanding of what the story’s about?
Question 3) Do you think it’s a worthy trailer to put on the store page?

I know as far as gameplay it doesn’t give a really good understand of how it’s gonna be like, but I really wanted to focus on story with the trailer as that’s the heart of the story.

     
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Larpushka - 21 August 2020 03:38 AM

Question 1) Do you like the low-poly style or would you prefer better high-end graphics?

For a second you had me worried this was going to be one of those “pixel art” 240x120 resolution games. I’m not a fan of those. Instead it’s actual low-poly 3D. I have less issues with that, especially since it’s for a game within a game.
Will there be a contrast between the scenes in “real life”, with those having higher end graphics?

Question 2) Did the trailer give you a decent understanding of what the story’s about?

Pretty much. VR-game addicted son died, but his avatar still appeared in the game after his death. Mom goes into the game to find the avatar, thinking maybe her son survived somehow.

Sounds like it’d be more fitting for a movie than a game. You’re saying this is an adventure game? Will there be RPG elements in the game-within-the-game? Is this going to (partly) be a deconstruction of MMORPG’s in general?
With the mom disliking the game, there could be a certain anti-game feel to it. Is the excellent David Cronenberg film eXistenZ an influence?

Question 3) Do you think it’s a worthy trailer to put on the store page?

I’m not the best judge of such things but I’ve seen worse. I’d say a bit too much voice-over fragments (of differing quality) and a bit too little (matching) images, so might use a little bit of polish, but for small-scale no-budget games I know that’s asking a whole lot (and only deters from the actual development).

I know as far as gameplay it doesn’t give a really good understand of how it’s gonna be like, but I really wanted to focus on story with the trailer as that’s the heart of the story.

If it’s not going to be an RPG, then that will need to be obvious first and foremost, I think.


Maybe others can chime in as well?
The concept certainly appeals to me.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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“For a second you had me worried this was going to be one of those “pixel art” 240x120 resolution games. I’m not a fan of those. Instead it’s actual low-poly 3D. I have less issues with that, especially since it’s for a game within a game.
Will there be a contrast between the scenes in “real life”, with those having higher end graphics?”


Yea not a fan of pixel art myself.

I thought about making a graphical contrast, it’d be a nice gimmick for sure but I’m not sure if it’s worth it just for a gimmick.

“Pretty much. VR-game addicted son died, but his avatar still appeared in the game after his death. Mom goes into the game to find the avatar, thinking maybe her son survived somehow.”

Yes. Smile You got it. Perhaps I also need to find a way to make it clear it’s a multiplayer game server he was playing.

“Sounds like it’d be more fitting for a movie than a game. You’re saying this is an adventure game? Will there be RPG elements in the game-within-the-game?”

The fantasy world gamelplay is RPG-like, BUT I’m still very much struggling on whether to move it more towards puzzle-adventure or towards RPG and this is what I’m preoccupied with these days.

You hit the nail on the head pretty much with “more fitting for a movie”.. *sighs* There are times I think it’s too story-heavy for a game, but then we had games like The Witcher, Walking Dead, Last of Us, Life is Strange… all of them don’t shy away from deep heavy stories.

“Is this going to (partly) be a deconstruction of MMORPG’s in general?”


Yes some elements of multiplayer gaming will be explored, including addiction, cross-gender role-play, behavior of dungeon masters, [edited] etc… don’t wanna give spoilers so leaving it at that Smile

“I’m not the best judge of such things but I’ve seen worse. I’d say a bit too much voice-over fragments (of differing quality) and a bit too little (matching) images, so might use a little bit of polish, but for small-scale no-budget games I know that’s asking a whole lot (and only deters from the actual development).”


Thanks, duly noted.

     
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Larpushka - 21 August 2020 07:53 AM

I thought about making a graphical contrast, it’d be a nice gimmick for sure but I’m not sure if it’s worth it just for a gimmick.

Depends on how much of the game takes place in “the real world”. If that’s really only for a beginning and ending cutscene, it might indeed not be worth the trouble. If however it’s more of a 30-70 split or so, it might actually be something to consider, imo.

Yes. Smile You got it. Perhaps I also need to find a way to make it clear it’s a multiplayer game server.

You’re making a game, so appealing to gamers. Even those that don’t play MMORPGs (like myself) will know it’s a MMORPG.

The fantasy world gamelplay is RPG-like, BUT I’m still very much struggling on whether to move it more towards puzzle-adventure or towards RPG and this is what I’m preoccupied with these days.

Chances are - especially since you’re not going “full adventure” - that gameplay will make or break the game just as much as the story will. If a substantial part of the game is in the RPG world, make the game fun to play!

Since the mother is going to be a naive newcomer in the MMORPG world, you might try to play with this and have her solve things with talking far more than with fighting. As in “rallying others to her cause”, maybe even to do the fighting for her.
I’m assuming there’s a parallel between her searching for her son, and her urging other in-game players to search for their in-game “lost heroine”? That has story-telling potential, imo.

You hit the nail on the head pretty much with “more fitting for a movie”.. *sighs* There are times I think it’s too story-heavy for a game, but then we had games like The Witcher, Walking Dead, Last of Us, Life is Strange… all of them don’t shy away from deep heavy stories.

Emotions hit *far* harder if you’re the one actively playing through them, than if you’re just passively watching them, no matter how good the acting is and the soundtrack is. The short game Florence is a prime example of that.

Yes some elements of multiplayer gaming will be explored, including addiction, attrition, high-level characters, low-level characters, cross-gender role-play, behavior of dungeon masters, gameworld building of the server admin, etc.

Imo, get this to the forefront. It’s all prevalent in the gaming industry but hardly ever explored in-depth in fiction.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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I swear I feel like I should be paying you for that, great feedback.

Depends on how much of the game takes place in “the real world”. If that’s really only for a beginning and ending cutscene, it might indeed not be worth the trouble. If however it’s more of a 30-70 split or so, it might actually be something to consider, imo.

10% real world, 90% game. I will consider it though… I originally really want to use high-poly triple-A style for real life, that’s actually not that difficult to do, the real problem is that I may want to convert it to android and not just PC and then real-life graphics would be too heavy for androids, so… still pondering whether it’s worth it.

Since the mother is going to be a naive newcomer in the MMORPG world, you might try to play with this and have her solve things with talking far more than with fighting. As in “rallying others to her cause”, maybe even to do the fighting for her.
I’m assuming there’s a parallel between her searching for her son, and her urging other in-game players to search for their in-game “lost heroine”? That has story-telling potential, imo.

You’re assuming correctly. All that you describe above is part of the process of converting the novel/audiobook to a game that I’m managing, certainly a novel wouldn’t have dialogue options so I will be doing some rewrites to convert it from linear to choice-based.

Sounds like you’re inclined more towards puzzle-adventure than RPG? Frankly that’s the angle I’m exploring at the moment. I’ve been programming a fighting system for a while now and I’m getting bogged down with the technicalities of scripting the physics of 3D colliders/fighting algorithm and it still doesn’t look good, so I want to do something more simplified, either Walking Dead style fighting, some sort of puzzle-based fighting, or something unique I haven’t thought about yet. Definitely not insult-swordfighting though! Wink Shoutout to Monkey Island fans.

Emotions hit *far* harder if you’re the one actively playing through them, than if you’re just passively watching them, no matter how good the acting is and the soundtrack is. The short game Florence is a prime example of that.

Thank you for clearing that up, I feel the same way.

Imo, get this to the forefront. It’s all prevalent in the gaming industry but hardly ever explored in-depth in fiction.

Yes, over time I will get more of that stuff to the forefront, but I didn’t want to be all over the place with the first trailer. Smile

 

     
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That is great looking lowpoly modeling. The models look just detailed enough and the animation really makes them work, so I’d say stay on this course. I really like the aesthetics and it still is above what you saw in games like Quake back in the 90s.

As far as I could tell, the story seems clear enough. A mother looking for a mystery of her son’s death after a his avatar pops up again in the game.

It is a decent trailer, but I was bothered by the voice acting quality which sounded very low to me. The acting itself was fine, but the recording quality should be fixed.

     
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Larpushka - 21 August 2020 08:57 AM

I swear I feel like I should be paying you for that, great feedback.

I’m just one gamer giving his opinion. Please don’t treat it as gospel. Grin

10% real world, 90% game. I will consider it though… I originally really want to use high-poly triple-A style for real life, that’s actually not that difficult to do, the real problem is that I may want to convert it to android and not just PC and then real-life graphics would be too heavy for androids, so… still pondering whether it’s worth it.

I’m not sure that modern-day androids aren’t capable of handling higher end graphics.
On the other hand, low-poly might make it distinctive, especially since you’re staying away from the blocky Minecraft/Roblox look.
My advice is: whichever fits the tone of the game best. In anything, you’ll still be the best judge of things. The best games are the ones the developer wanted to make because *he* wanted to play them himself, not the ones that were made because he thought that’s what players would like. The same applies to the gameplay and graphics.

You’re assuming correctly. All that you describe above is part of the process of converting the novel/audiobook to a game that I’m managing, certainly a novel wouldn’t have dialogue options so I will be doing some rewrites to convert it from linear to choice-based.

Keep in mind that it’s fine to keep it linear. Choice and branching stories could dilute the core strength of the story.

Sounds like you’re inclined more towards puzzle-adventure than RPG?

You’re on “AdventureGamers.com”. Of course people here are going to be more inclined towards puzzle-adventure than RPG. Grin

Larpushka - 21 August 2020 08:57 AM

Yes, over time I will get more of that stuff to the forefront, but I didn’t want to be all over the place with the first trailer. Smile

That stuff shouldn’t be in the trailers. Leave the world-building and commentary for the game itself and then let word-of-mouth do the rest when players and reviewers catch on. Innocent

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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tomimt - 21 August 2020 09:21 AM

That is great looking lowpoly modeling. The models look just detailed enough and the animation really makes them work, so I’d say stay on this course. I really like the aesthetics and it still is above what you saw in games like Quake back in the 90s.

Exactly how I’d describe it.

As far as I could tell, the story seems clear enough. A mother looking for a mystery of her son’s death after a his avatar pops up again in the game.

Good, the trailer is clear enough then Smile

It is a decent trailer, but I was bothered by the voice acting quality which sounded very low to me. The acting itself was fine, but the recording quality should be fixed.

Yea she has a bad mic, I kept thinking that it’s “good enough” but clearly isn’t…

     
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Larpushka - 21 August 2020 11:09 AM

Yea she has a bad mic, I kept thinking that it’s “good enough” but clearly isn’t…

For the very first conversation in the trailer, it sounds like she’s on the phone.

But it remains that way, and the difference in quality with the other voices is noticeable.

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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Joined 2020-08-12

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I’m just one gamer giving his opinion. Please don’t treat it as gospel. Grin

Maybe not gospel but you seem to know what you’re talking about.

On the other hand, low-poly might make it distinctive, especially since you’re staying away from the blocky Minecraft/Roblox look.
My advice is: whichever fits the tone of the game best. In anything, you’ll still be the best judge of things. The best games are the ones the developer wanted to make because *he* wanted to play them himself, not the ones that were made because he thought that’s what players would like. The same applies to the gameplay and graphics.

True. I really don’t like the blocky graphics myself btw, that’s why I could never get myself to play Minecraft.

I’m not sure that modern-day androids aren’t capable of handling higher end graphics.


Maybe if it’s VERY VERY VERY optimized, which requires some talent from the developer.

Keep in mind that it’s fine to keep it linear. Choice and branching stories could dilute the core strength of the story.

Choice in the sense of dialogue options and puzzle concepts, I’m not going to change the core story in terms of branching storylines, I leave that for Telltale games. Smile

You’re on “AdventureGamers.com”. Of course people here are going to be more inclined towards puzzle-adventure than RPG. Grin

True true. I got the sense that people play RPG’s here too though.

That stuff shouldn’t be in the trailers. Leave the world-building and commentary for the game itself and then let word-of-mouth do the rest when players and reviewers catch on. Innocent

Absolutely, I even kinda regretted that I put out too much earlier in my text, I’m trying to be very careful about spoilers/TMI (yet still have to make sure people other what it’s about…tricky) Smile

     

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I’ll throw in my own two cents: I like the style for the environments, but maybe a little less for the characters. I kinda like when characters can be expressive and such Wink

As for the trailer ... the story (for obvious reasons) reminds me of the current fad of litRPG stories and isekai novels (and manga/anime). Given how popular these currently are I’m sure you can find people interested in this; to me I’d say the hook (non-gamer mom playing the game for her son) seems almost a bit too “typical” for the genre already. But in the end what’d matter is what the game does with the hook more than this setup.

I suppose that’s my gripe with the trailer; it comes across as super-dramatic and trying to be dark and all that but not enough really points to that ... it’s (at the point of the trailer) basically just someone playing a game. And, okay, it’s under sad circumstances with a bit of a mystery going on, but that’s hardly justifying ‘AND THIS WILL BE YOUR DOOM’ level of dramatics Wink So to me the trailer is a bit cringey; the tone not quite fitting.

     

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Thank you very much for your feedback.

I’ll throw in my own two cents: I like the style for the environments, but maybe a little less for the characters. I kinda like when characters can be expressive and such

Me too, I’m trying to fix that and add expressions.

As for the trailer ... the story (for obvious reasons) reminds me of the current fad of litRPG stories and isekai novels (and manga/anime). Given how popular these currently are I’m sure you can find people interested in this; to me I’d say the hook (non-gamer mom playing the game for her son) seems almost a bit too “typical” for the genre already. But in the end what’d matter is what the game does with the hook more than this setup.

Well, they say everything has been done before and perhaps to a certain extent that’s true, particularly because I never heard of those litRPG stories that you mentioned and thought my hook was unique—but okay, I can live with the fact it isn’t. Because yes, I think it’s what the game does with the hook will prove it has many great layers of interesting complexities and uniqueness…es.

I suppose that’s my gripe with the trailer; it comes across as super-dramatic and trying to be dark and all that but not enough really points to that ... it’s (at the point of the trailer) basically just someone playing a game. And, okay, it’s under sad circumstances with a bit of a mystery going on, but that’s hardly justifying ‘AND THIS WILL BE YOUR DOOM’ level of dramatics Wink So to me the trailer is a bit cringey; the tone not quite fitting.

Thank you, it’s registered with me and I will try to fix it in the next version

     

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Interesting. Yeah, there’s (obviously) nothing wrong with doing something that’s been done before or that’s inspired by someone (“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Wink ) but I’d have bet my left arm that this was an expression of this current trend and not just a coincidence Grin That’s pretty funny I gotta say.

litRPG is basically the realization that, hey, if you take RPG rules (like D&D) and write a fantasy story (like Tolkien) ... couldn’t you combine the two?

And there’s some really old ones, but the newer (Japanese) ones follow “historically” from the hack// Series and then Sword Art Online - the idea essentially that people would enter a virtual reality that works like a game, but with real consequences, and with enough freedom to act so that it’s not too much like a game.

And from then on this got (usually) combined with “portal fantasy” (aka isekai for the Japanese “genre”), in which the protagonist from our world ends up in a (usual) fantasy-style world where they level up, do quests, and so on - all in the style of a game.

From what I know it got popularized in novel from via Russian writing communities. Sometimes it’s called litRPG, sometimes it’s called gamelit, sometimes probably something else.

And the ones that do virtual reality themes are often about people stuck in those, or about effects of the virtual reality bleeding over into the real world, or about some virtual reality going crazy, or about something strange going on with NPCs ... there’s a few common themes. And, yeah, one of them kinda is having a protagonist who is just completely a non-gamer and do a bit of the “fish out of water” thing (it’s less common than picking someone who is super into gaming though so I’m not saying this is completely overused).

dunno if this is helpful to know or not. I could see it being an advantage just going on this in your own way. But it might also be helpful checking out some of that stuff and seeing some good inspirations or avoiding some of the tropes, I guess. I’m personally only peripherally into them so I can’t say too much else about it (I do like the idea in generally but most are just so badly done ...).

I do think it’s in principle a great and fun idea definitely. And I do like some of the themes you have mentioned you want this to be about.

     

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Interesting. Yeah, there’s (obviously) nothing wrong with doing something that’s been done before or that’s inspired by someone (“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Wink ) but I’d have bet my left arm that this was an expression of this current trend and not just a coincidence Grin That’s pretty funny I gotta say.

Or like another saying I heard; “nobody really wants something new, they want something familiar with a new twist”

And there’s some really old ones, but the newer (Japanese) ones follow “historically” from the hack// Series and then Sword Art Online - the idea essentially that people would enter a virtual reality that works like a game, but with real consequences, and with enough freedom to act so that it’s not too much like a game.


I googled it and saw that Sword Art Online is on Netflix; woohoo! Now I got something new to binge thanks to you.

If you have any more specific references, particularly with the portal fantasy combination I’d love to read them. This thread is incredibly helpful, can’t wait to show you guys gameplay mechanics for feedback Smile In the meanwhile here’s a screenshot from the game of DnD players that the protagonist needs to speak with. Nerd

     

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