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From previous contests, most people don't play longer games and then don't vote on them, which is the main reason some games will get ten votes and some will get two.
Super Walrus Land: Mouth Words Edition
Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:39 pm 
Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:11 pm
First, I think people are worrying too much about the voting system. All voters need to know is that they should give each game on the list a score between 1 and 10. With 10 being perfect and 1 being garbage.
Second, I'm not sure anyone ever talked about a game being DQ'd for lack of votes. To expand on the idea, the voting system is fine the way jsh stated it I assure you. There's very few examples that could show the system making even questionable decisions and even then the decisions would be just as fair if not more fair than the original system of just averaging all the votes.
Finally, I wouldn't worry too much about the long games voting wall. This is HotOhr. Most of the games are pretty long. I don't believe games don't get played due to length. It's more likely games don't get played/voted for due to them being older. The game that received the fewest votes in the past was vikings. It may have been long sure, but that's not to say that everyone finished all the other games. They just saved that one for last because they were less interested in playing the same game again.
THIS is not a bad thing. Having older games automatically win was something pepsi wanted to avoid anyways. With a low voter turn out for those game, this should help level the playing field.
That said, I'm sorry to have even continued this debate. However, having discussed this voting with pepsi and possibly being a part of the reason it was introduced I felt the need to speak up. It's really not a big deal though. If everyone votes for every game, voting will happen as normal. The only time anything will even remotely change is if one of the games gets a considerable amount of votes less than the other entries. So let's try to not let that happen and start voting on these games guys.
VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
Second, I'm not sure anyone ever talked about a game being DQ'd for lack of votes. To expand on the idea, the voting system is fine the way jsh stated it I assure you. There's very few examples that could show the system making even questionable decisions and even then the decisions would be just as fair if not more fair than the original system of just averaging all the votes.
Finally, I wouldn't worry too much about the long games voting wall. This is HotOhr. Most of the games are pretty long. I don't believe games don't get played due to length. It's more likely games don't get played/voted for due to them being older. The game that received the fewest votes in the past was vikings. It may have been long sure, but that's not to say that everyone finished all the other games. They just saved that one for last because they were less interested in playing the same game again.
THIS is not a bad thing. Having older games automatically win was something pepsi wanted to avoid anyways. With a low voter turn out for those game, this should help level the playing field.
That said, I'm sorry to have even continued this debate. However, having discussed this voting with pepsi and possibly being a part of the reason it was introduced I felt the need to speak up. It's really not a big deal though. If everyone votes for every game, voting will happen as normal. The only time anything will even remotely change is if one of the games gets a considerable amount of votes less than the other entries. So let's try to not let that happen and start voting on these games guys.
VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:57 am
Wait... I think I misunderstood the voting system. Apparently the final ranking will be determined by average scores (once dummy scores are included) rather than total scores. My complaint was that the later is unfair because it still gives a penalty to a game that only receives 11 votes vs one with 12. I'm actually totally happy with the former system of using average adjusted scores.
Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:32 pm
No, I purposely made voting based on an average score so that some games could receive fewer votes than others without destroying their shots at the top (because I know not every player can play every game, even with an entire month to get through them, even if I'm gonna encourage them to try). Basing it on totals would be unfair for so many reasons. That was obvious to me from the very beginning.
Yeah, games with 11 votes have as much of a chance at winning as those with 12. Motrya (1st place, 2010, avg. 9.5) had received only 10 votes when the top-voted game of that year, Eternity Fragment Prelude (6th place, 2010, avg. 6.17), had received all 12 votes. Under 2010's voter turnout, the only games that would've needed the 2/3 rule were Vikings of Midgard (5 votes, 2nd place) and Do You Want to Be a Hero? (7 votes, 3rd place). If they had been subject to the rule back then, their averages would've gone from 7.8 (Vikings) and 7.43 (DYWTBAH?) to 6.75 (Vikings) and 7.13 (DYWTBAH?). These new scores would've been achieved by adding a five for every missing voter until 8 votes were achieved.
With the 2/3 rule, Do You Want to Be a Hero? would've actually taken 2nd place and Vikings of Midgard would've dropped back to 4th. Sure, it doesn't affect the rankings too much. But it would've pushed Legendary Heroes to 3rd place, and it would've shown a clearer example of how Vikings's quality merges with its popularity, which is to say that people still liked it, but they were ready for new blood.
No, this was never a rule past or present, but I have been thinking about cases where it might be necessary to implement a 1/3 vote minimum rule in the future. I don't actually want to implement this because it would be unfair to anyone who's worked really hard on his or her game, and in the cases of the 10-25 hour games, it would be a jerk move to rob them of a decent spot because so few spent long enough playing them to adequately vote on them.
At the same time, I also think of the lazy or offensive games that no one wants to play because doing so would be a miserable experience, and I think that those games should be disqualified if no one wants to play them. But ultimately, I can't make that decision because that's why voters have to vote. Rather than be ignored for its offensiveness, a game should be rated for its offensiveness. Where I would have a problem is if the game that deserves an average of 1.0 receives mostly fives by default to reach the 2/3 base (ex: 1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5 = avg. 4.5) due to no one playing it. This is troublesome because then it could theoretically beat out quality games that may have averages a little worse for bad graphics or something but are still decent attempts, and I'm not cool with that. Hopefully we'll never cross that bridge, but it is a bridge that could be out there waiting nonetheless.
But for now, all games are eligible for placement, even the offensive one, and we'll have to take our chances that everyone will give them their due evaluations. So, to echo Spoonweaver's battle cry: VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
Place Obligatory Signature Here
TMC wrote:
My complaint was that the later is unfair because it still gives a penalty to a game that only receives 11 votes vs one with 12.
Yeah, games with 11 votes have as much of a chance at winning as those with 12. Motrya (1st place, 2010, avg. 9.5) had received only 10 votes when the top-voted game of that year, Eternity Fragment Prelude (6th place, 2010, avg. 6.17), had received all 12 votes. Under 2010's voter turnout, the only games that would've needed the 2/3 rule were Vikings of Midgard (5 votes, 2nd place) and Do You Want to Be a Hero? (7 votes, 3rd place). If they had been subject to the rule back then, their averages would've gone from 7.8 (Vikings) and 7.43 (DYWTBAH?) to 6.75 (Vikings) and 7.13 (DYWTBAH?). These new scores would've been achieved by adding a five for every missing voter until 8 votes were achieved.
With the 2/3 rule, Do You Want to Be a Hero? would've actually taken 2nd place and Vikings of Midgard would've dropped back to 4th. Sure, it doesn't affect the rankings too much. But it would've pushed Legendary Heroes to 3rd place, and it would've shown a clearer example of how Vikings's quality merges with its popularity, which is to say that people still liked it, but they were ready for new blood.
Spoonweaver wrote:
Second, I'm not sure anyone ever talked about a game being DQ'd for lack of votes.
No, this was never a rule past or present, but I have been thinking about cases where it might be necessary to implement a 1/3 vote minimum rule in the future. I don't actually want to implement this because it would be unfair to anyone who's worked really hard on his or her game, and in the cases of the 10-25 hour games, it would be a jerk move to rob them of a decent spot because so few spent long enough playing them to adequately vote on them.
At the same time, I also think of the lazy or offensive games that no one wants to play because doing so would be a miserable experience, and I think that those games should be disqualified if no one wants to play them. But ultimately, I can't make that decision because that's why voters have to vote. Rather than be ignored for its offensiveness, a game should be rated for its offensiveness. Where I would have a problem is if the game that deserves an average of 1.0 receives mostly fives by default to reach the 2/3 base (ex: 1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5 = avg. 4.5) due to no one playing it. This is troublesome because then it could theoretically beat out quality games that may have averages a little worse for bad graphics or something but are still decent attempts, and I'm not cool with that. Hopefully we'll never cross that bridge, but it is a bridge that could be out there waiting nonetheless.
But for now, all games are eligible for placement, even the offensive one, and we'll have to take our chances that everyone will give them their due evaluations. So, to echo Spoonweaver's battle cry: VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:13 am
OK. Sorry I said anything!
I suggest creating new thread for voting. Some people probably haven't realised that it's voting time because they haven't read through 13 pages and don't realise that a list of games was placed somewhere on the 12th page.
I suggest creating new thread for voting. Some people probably haven't realised that it's voting time because they haven't read through 13 pages and don't realise that a list of games was placed somewhere on the 12th page.
Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:47 pm
Well, I'll be the first person to make a vote. I'll edit this post to add more scores as I complete the games.
And I'm done with all my reviews...
Batman: 6/10
Like RMZ's other game, Batman feels very playable. I like its Megaman-like structure and the abbreviated pacing. However, there are some mechanical shortcomings that keep it from being a really polished.
For instance, there are a plethora of battle attacks, but many are redundant or useless (pretty much all of the Utility Belt ones). Likewise, since you can't dump points into your BatStr stat, but you can increase Power, any of the special attacks that don't use Power are useless (i.e. Batman's Hard Punch).
Also, where are the sound effects? Usually this doesn't bug me, but the presentation of this game is really great. Sound effects seem absolutely necessary.
Zero: Pasts Collide 4/10
Zero does a lot of cool things. The writing is good. There many scripted scenes that go far to establish the characters and setting. Even the ripped graphics are utilized pretty well.
Unfortunately, the whole experience is rather boring. While I'm certainly not the target audience for this, I found the pacing exhausting. I played for about an hour and felt like I was in a prologue the whole time. I kept waiting for me to be able to make some choices of my own, but it never happened.
Also, Zero borrows its theme and presentation from Final Fantasy. Also using Final Fantasy graphics makes it seem very generic. While Zero is fine, why wouldn't I just play Final Fantasy, which is even better.
Okedoke! La Leyenda Mexicana: 9/10
I play for 1.5 hours and reached Wrongside. I had a good time playing this and will probably finish it once the contest is over. Beneath the juvenile humor is a pretty fun game.
The RPG mechanics are simple, but they work well. The maps are interesting to explore and have lots of chests in out of the way places. The characters feel mostly balanced. The battles are fast but challenging.
I especially like that there sometimes is multiple paths to the same objective. I enjoy having some choice about how I play the game.
The Mexican theme is original and well-utilized.
Notes:
The game should pause on all battle menus. With 3 characters, the action gets frantic. Especially in battles like the Mighty Morphin' Border Patrol.
Stand: 4/10
Although this demo is promising, there is currently too little content to discuss. As far as I can tell, the demo ends when you are told to speak to the librarian. When I went to the library, he didn't want anything to say to me.
The combat screen looks good and crafting sounds promising, but right now there aren't really any features that have been implemented. I don't have much to say as a result.
This does not feel like an OHR game, which is a good change of pace.
Pumpkin Warriors: 6/10
This game is currently pretty rough around the edges, but it's not bad. However it needs a lot of balancing and polishing. I love the graphics.
Notes:
*Upon leaving my house I was immediately attacked by a group of 3 frogs and nearly killed. These can prevented from rushing up to the door of the house using zones, or even just invisible NPCs (which prevent other NPCs from moving through them.
*Is there any way to recover health without using items? It doesn't seem like it. This is a common and important feature in RPGs for a reason.
*After using the pumpkin stone to save your game, the text box does not close automatically when the menu closes. This can be scripted quite easily.
*None of the villagers in any of the villages have anything to say. This could give the world a lot of character that it desperately needs.
*The robots shockwave attack has a really long animation, especially when it sometimes triggers 4 times.
*There is a script error bug. This happens every other step while you are on the east side of the Pumpkin Village.
Mr. Triangle's Adventure: 9/10
It's full of good ideas that actually work. The graphics look great and the pacing perfect. For what this game aims to be, I have very few complaints.
I played for about 1.5 hours and just got Marvin. I'll definitely play more after I've reviewed the other contest games. Great work!
Notes:
*Is ESC supposed to let you run from battles? It does, but it is not a documented featured.
*Peel Exchanger should display how many peels you have when you are in the menu. I know there isn't an shop scripting. However, the Peel Exchanger could be done with a custom menu.
*Pausing on all battle menus might be nice. It gets hectic.
*Both of the Fungi Town tiles on the world map should act as a door to Fungi Town. Only one of them does.
*In Fungi Town, Sven references the hero giving him a hand with killing a monster. I have no idea what he is talking about since he has never appeared before.
*In the farm, some NPCs are hiding under little round things. What are those supposed to be? It is totally not clear.
*In the farm, you can spot the corn monster hiding under one of those round things. If you interact with him, he should grunt or something. Otherwise it seems like a bug.
*One of Jojo's gloves increases her accuracy? Why? She can' t even make an attack. It seems pointless.
Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers!: 5/10
This is short demo for what promises be a huge game. Here's hoping it ever gets completed. The demo comprises one town and a dungeon. There is a brief explanation of the game's crafting system, but not much to do yet.
It's obvious that the creator put a ton of work in, but Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers still feels bit sloppy. Also, the setting is a bit generic. The only unfamiliar element is the mysterious Mantle Dwellers themselves
*In the text box starting with "The Master was right. I was completely unprepared for this expedition." Completely and expedition are both spelled wrong. There are actually quite a few spelling mistakes. Export the text boxes into Word and spell check them.
*The main menu is an extra choice that is invisible and unable to be selected. There is definitely a way to remove this. I might be able to explain how if I knew the reason for it.
*There are some bad wallmaps in the castle just north of the main staircase. Also, there is a pacing NPC nearby who doesn't talk to you.
Notes:
*There are a ton of options of battle. This is a bit overwhelming at first. Perhaps they could be introduced gradually.
*The battles should definitely pause on all menus. Especially since there are so many different attacks.
Winged Realm: 8/10
Winged Realm has a cool premise and atmospheric graphics. The dungeon is very maze-like and occasionally confounding to navigate. Lots of grinding is required to beat the numerous random encounters. I found the challenge to be very satisfying.
Bugs:
*When you interact with the save book, it opens a menu to save or load. If you press ESC to leave this menu, the associated text box does not close. You should activate the "advance text box when menu closes" menu bitset to fix this.
*On one of the lower floors is a man whom you can ask questions. One of the questions is "What's with the other harpies?" Selecting this option does not open the text box like it should.
*The Supana Staff should supposedly let you heal in battle, but it didn't seem to work. I tried equipping it or using it as an item.
Notes:
*The heroes do not have much personality and it is difficult to remember which is talking due to their strange names. Perhaps giving them more interesting dialogue and including portraits could help.
*The up and down ladders should be more obviously different from one another. It took me a while to get used to them.
*I might consider lowering the encounter rate very slightly.
Troll Over: 7/10
The graphic, music, sound effects, and overall style of Troll Over are great. I really like how there isn't any boring exposition. You are free to explore and battle without being bothered by extraneous characters and dialogue. However, I was disappointed that the quest ended in less than an hour. Another hour of play would have been great.
Bugs: After giving your invitations to the goblin, if you save and reload on that map, the goblin returns to his original position. I saved after walking past the goblin and was unable to backtrack.
Notes: There is a patch of grass that where hobgoblins are very common. It is very easy to earn tons of Defense Gloves in this way. I assume that is intentional.
And I'm done with all my reviews...
Batman: 6/10
Like RMZ's other game, Batman feels very playable. I like its Megaman-like structure and the abbreviated pacing. However, there are some mechanical shortcomings that keep it from being a really polished.
For instance, there are a plethora of battle attacks, but many are redundant or useless (pretty much all of the Utility Belt ones). Likewise, since you can't dump points into your BatStr stat, but you can increase Power, any of the special attacks that don't use Power are useless (i.e. Batman's Hard Punch).
Also, where are the sound effects? Usually this doesn't bug me, but the presentation of this game is really great. Sound effects seem absolutely necessary.
Zero: Pasts Collide 4/10
Zero does a lot of cool things. The writing is good. There many scripted scenes that go far to establish the characters and setting. Even the ripped graphics are utilized pretty well.
Unfortunately, the whole experience is rather boring. While I'm certainly not the target audience for this, I found the pacing exhausting. I played for about an hour and felt like I was in a prologue the whole time. I kept waiting for me to be able to make some choices of my own, but it never happened.
Also, Zero borrows its theme and presentation from Final Fantasy. Also using Final Fantasy graphics makes it seem very generic. While Zero is fine, why wouldn't I just play Final Fantasy, which is even better.
Okedoke! La Leyenda Mexicana: 9/10
I play for 1.5 hours and reached Wrongside. I had a good time playing this and will probably finish it once the contest is over. Beneath the juvenile humor is a pretty fun game.
The RPG mechanics are simple, but they work well. The maps are interesting to explore and have lots of chests in out of the way places. The characters feel mostly balanced. The battles are fast but challenging.
I especially like that there sometimes is multiple paths to the same objective. I enjoy having some choice about how I play the game.
The Mexican theme is original and well-utilized.
Notes:
The game should pause on all battle menus. With 3 characters, the action gets frantic. Especially in battles like the Mighty Morphin' Border Patrol.
Stand: 4/10
Although this demo is promising, there is currently too little content to discuss. As far as I can tell, the demo ends when you are told to speak to the librarian. When I went to the library, he didn't want anything to say to me.
The combat screen looks good and crafting sounds promising, but right now there aren't really any features that have been implemented. I don't have much to say as a result.
This does not feel like an OHR game, which is a good change of pace.
Pumpkin Warriors: 6/10
This game is currently pretty rough around the edges, but it's not bad. However it needs a lot of balancing and polishing. I love the graphics.
Notes:
*Upon leaving my house I was immediately attacked by a group of 3 frogs and nearly killed. These can prevented from rushing up to the door of the house using zones, or even just invisible NPCs (which prevent other NPCs from moving through them.
*Is there any way to recover health without using items? It doesn't seem like it. This is a common and important feature in RPGs for a reason.
*After using the pumpkin stone to save your game, the text box does not close automatically when the menu closes. This can be scripted quite easily.
*None of the villagers in any of the villages have anything to say. This could give the world a lot of character that it desperately needs.
*The robots shockwave attack has a really long animation, especially when it sometimes triggers 4 times.
*There is a script error bug. This happens every other step while you are on the east side of the Pumpkin Village.
Mr. Triangle's Adventure: 9/10
It's full of good ideas that actually work. The graphics look great and the pacing perfect. For what this game aims to be, I have very few complaints.
I played for about 1.5 hours and just got Marvin. I'll definitely play more after I've reviewed the other contest games. Great work!
Notes:
*Is ESC supposed to let you run from battles? It does, but it is not a documented featured.
*Peel Exchanger should display how many peels you have when you are in the menu. I know there isn't an shop scripting. However, the Peel Exchanger could be done with a custom menu.
*Pausing on all battle menus might be nice. It gets hectic.
*Both of the Fungi Town tiles on the world map should act as a door to Fungi Town. Only one of them does.
*In Fungi Town, Sven references the hero giving him a hand with killing a monster. I have no idea what he is talking about since he has never appeared before.
*In the farm, some NPCs are hiding under little round things. What are those supposed to be? It is totally not clear.
*In the farm, you can spot the corn monster hiding under one of those round things. If you interact with him, he should grunt or something. Otherwise it seems like a bug.
*One of Jojo's gloves increases her accuracy? Why? She can' t even make an attack. It seems pointless.
Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers!: 5/10
This is short demo for what promises be a huge game. Here's hoping it ever gets completed. The demo comprises one town and a dungeon. There is a brief explanation of the game's crafting system, but not much to do yet.
It's obvious that the creator put a ton of work in, but Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers still feels bit sloppy. Also, the setting is a bit generic. The only unfamiliar element is the mysterious Mantle Dwellers themselves
*In the text box starting with "The Master was right. I was completely unprepared for this expedition." Completely and expedition are both spelled wrong. There are actually quite a few spelling mistakes. Export the text boxes into Word and spell check them.
*The main menu is an extra choice that is invisible and unable to be selected. There is definitely a way to remove this. I might be able to explain how if I knew the reason for it.
*There are some bad wallmaps in the castle just north of the main staircase. Also, there is a pacing NPC nearby who doesn't talk to you.
Notes:
*There are a ton of options of battle. This is a bit overwhelming at first. Perhaps they could be introduced gradually.
*The battles should definitely pause on all menus. Especially since there are so many different attacks.
Winged Realm: 8/10
Winged Realm has a cool premise and atmospheric graphics. The dungeon is very maze-like and occasionally confounding to navigate. Lots of grinding is required to beat the numerous random encounters. I found the challenge to be very satisfying.
Bugs:
*When you interact with the save book, it opens a menu to save or load. If you press ESC to leave this menu, the associated text box does not close. You should activate the "advance text box when menu closes" menu bitset to fix this.
*On one of the lower floors is a man whom you can ask questions. One of the questions is "What's with the other harpies?" Selecting this option does not open the text box like it should.
*The Supana Staff should supposedly let you heal in battle, but it didn't seem to work. I tried equipping it or using it as an item.
Notes:
*The heroes do not have much personality and it is difficult to remember which is talking due to their strange names. Perhaps giving them more interesting dialogue and including portraits could help.
*The up and down ladders should be more obviously different from one another. It took me a while to get used to them.
*I might consider lowering the encounter rate very slightly.
Troll Over: 7/10
The graphic, music, sound effects, and overall style of Troll Over are great. I really like how there isn't any boring exposition. You are free to explore and battle without being bothered by extraneous characters and dialogue. However, I was disappointed that the quest ended in less than an hour. Another hour of play would have been great.
Bugs: After giving your invitations to the goblin, if you save and reload on that map, the goblin returns to his original position. I saved after walking past the goblin and was unable to backtrack.
Notes: There is a patch of grass that where hobgoblins are very common. It is very easy to earn tons of Defense Gloves in this way. I assume that is intentional.
Sun Dec 21, 2014 10:01 pm
@Willy's note: There are several things like this in the game. All intentional.
Tue Dec 30, 2014 4:00 am
Guess I better start voting and reviewing these things.
Troll Over (not voting)
I made this game to enter into two contests at once. The first, turned out to be a terrible rpgmaker clusterf*ck. Whenever I feel like the OHR has bad contests or makes a bunch of the same types of games, I will now think about the rpgmaker community. That said, Troll Over began life as a troll game to enter into rpgmaker's contest.
Though it started as a joke, Troll Over became so much more. I decided to play with some of the rpg ideas I had been stewing on. The main one being, single screen maps that each have something going on in them. Admittedly, some of the maps turned out to have very little in them. I blaim the month long time limit of the rpgmaker contest.
By the time I was done, I had made something I was very proud of. Though it could still use work, I think Troll Over turned into a great little game that says a lot about my personal ideas for rpg development. I'm glad it's been generally well received. Because of this, I've decided to work on it a bit more and then port it over to ouya.
Troll Over (not voting)
I made this game to enter into two contests at once. The first, turned out to be a terrible rpgmaker clusterf*ck. Whenever I feel like the OHR has bad contests or makes a bunch of the same types of games, I will now think about the rpgmaker community. That said, Troll Over began life as a troll game to enter into rpgmaker's contest.
Though it started as a joke, Troll Over became so much more. I decided to play with some of the rpg ideas I had been stewing on. The main one being, single screen maps that each have something going on in them. Admittedly, some of the maps turned out to have very little in them. I blaim the month long time limit of the rpgmaker contest.
By the time I was done, I had made something I was very proud of. Though it could still use work, I think Troll Over turned into a great little game that says a lot about my personal ideas for rpg development. I'm glad it's been generally well received. Because of this, I've decided to work on it a bit more and then port it over to ouya.
Tue Dec 30, 2014 5:04 am
Review: Batman & Robin
I hate to point this out, but:
I didn't see either of these things. I saw that the game page said the new part was the joker mode, but the rules clearly state it must be a readme or save file.
I'll have to award the game a 0/10.
I hate to point this out, but:
Quote:
New Rule for 2014: If you are posting a rereleased game for the contest, you must provide either a readme (or some document) discussing where the new content starts (if it's a continuation) or what the new content is (if it's integrated into earlier previously released sections), or you must supply a save file that begins the game just before the new content kicks in. If you fail to do this, your game will not be entered into the contest.
I didn't see either of these things. I saw that the game page said the new part was the joker mode, but the rules clearly state it must be a readme or save file.
Tue Dec 30, 2014 8:03 pm
Spoonweaver wrote:
I hate to point this out, but:
I didn't see either of these things. I saw that the game page said the new part was the joker mode, but the rules clearly state it must be a readme or save file.
I'll have to award the game a 0/10.
Quote:
New Rule for 2014: If you are posting a rereleased game for the contest, you must provide either a readme (or some document) discussing where the new content starts (if it's a continuation) or what the new content is (if it's integrated into earlier previously released sections), or you must supply a save file that begins the game just before the new content kicks in. If you fail to do this, your game will not be entered into the contest.
I didn't see either of these things. I saw that the game page said the new part was the joker mode, but the rules clearly state it must be a readme or save file.
I'll have to award the game a 0/10.
Oh, that's on me if we're going literal here, but it really should be implied that any obvious listing of new content makes a rerelease eligible. If we're going literal, the rule should also allow changes outlined in the game's "storefront" description on the gamelist. I'll remember to write that down in 2016. Sorry I didn't list it this time, but it does count. I figured the point was clear that the author should provide easy access to the information. I'd say if he posted it on some random listserv on a forum for sheep herding, that's not an obvious location and unless he provided a link, I'd disqualify it. But I'm not going to disqualify it if the new info is written right on the game's description page. That's both easy and obvious access. Give RMZ a fair score if you've played the joker mode.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Tue Dec 30, 2014 10:11 pm
I was only kidding really.
I'm currently debating on whether to give every game a full review or not.
Anyways, I'll post my actual votes all at once after I'm done with all the games.
Halfway there.
I'm currently debating on whether to give every game a full review or not.
Anyways, I'll post my actual votes all at once after I'm done with all the games.
Halfway there.
Tue Dec 30, 2014 10:56 pm
I did make a trailer for this back when the update launched. It describes everything in the new content, plus how to get it. I did feel it was kind of weird to over-document the new content. If I get marks taken off for that, then I guess it's my own fault for not taking the documentation part literally. In no way am I upset about this. I was always going to enter this update to the contest, and I was just happy to participate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a33AFu-tXkU
Check out Red Triangle Games!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a33AFu-tXkU
Check out Red Triangle Games!
Wed Dec 31, 2014 4:09 am
I updated my post above to include Winged Realm. Below are my thoughts posted again to spur some discussion.
Winged Realm: 8/10
Winged Realm has a cool premise and atmospheric graphics. The dungeon is very maze-like and occasionally confounding to navigate. Lots of grinding is required to beat the numerous random encounters. I found the challenge to be very satisfying.
Bugs:
*When you interact with the save book, it opens a menu to save or load. If you press ESC to leave this menu, the associated text box does not close. You should activate the "advance text box when menu closes" menu bitset to fix this.
*On one of the lower floors is a man whom you can ask questions. One of the questions is "What's with the other harpies?" Selecting this option does not open the text box like it should.
*The Supana Staff should supposedly let you heal in battle, but it didn't seem to work. I tried equipping it or using it as an item.
Notes:
*The heroes do not have much personality and it is difficult to remember which is talking due to their strange names. Perhaps giving them more interesting dialogue and including portraits could help.
*The up and down ladders should be more obviously different from one another. It took me a while to get used to them.
*I might consider lowering the encounter rate very slightly.
Winged Realm: 8/10
Winged Realm has a cool premise and atmospheric graphics. The dungeon is very maze-like and occasionally confounding to navigate. Lots of grinding is required to beat the numerous random encounters. I found the challenge to be very satisfying.
Bugs:
*When you interact with the save book, it opens a menu to save or load. If you press ESC to leave this menu, the associated text box does not close. You should activate the "advance text box when menu closes" menu bitset to fix this.
*On one of the lower floors is a man whom you can ask questions. One of the questions is "What's with the other harpies?" Selecting this option does not open the text box like it should.
*The Supana Staff should supposedly let you heal in battle, but it didn't seem to work. I tried equipping it or using it as an item.
Notes:
*The heroes do not have much personality and it is difficult to remember which is talking due to their strange names. Perhaps giving them more interesting dialogue and including portraits could help.
*The up and down ladders should be more obviously different from one another. It took me a while to get used to them.
*I might consider lowering the encounter rate very slightly.
Wed Dec 31, 2014 9:45 pm
RedMaverickZero wrote:
I did make a trailer for this back when the update launched. It describes everything in the new content, plus how to get it. I did feel it was kind of weird to over-document the new content. If I get marks taken off for that, then I guess it's my own fault for not taking the documentation part literally. In no way am I upset about this. I was always going to enter this update to the contest, and I was just happy to participate.
There's no need to overdocument anything. I think FnrrfYgmSchnish gives the best example of what I want rereleases to accomplish notification-wise on his storefront page for Okedoke:
from Okedoke's gamepage wrote:
After 5 years and a few months of working on it on-and-off, Okédoké is finally finished, and ready for people to play through the full game! Read the two most recent entries in the included "Okedoke_history" text file for a complete list of what's new to the game (it's much too long to go over here!)
For convenience of Heart of the OHR players/voters looking for new content -- here's a short list of major new things (anything that consists of new story/gameplay segments is included; smaller changes are not.)
* Chapter 1: You can now reach the border through the Mountain Path without getting Señor Rialgo. A new map and several new scenes have been added to account for this.
* A new optional boss has been added to the Ghost Town.
* Chapter 2: Two new maps have been added to Wrongside, one accessible from one of the gang hideouts and the other west of the city.
* The church in Frogbucket is now accessible, along with the graveyard behind it.
* Chapter 3: Two brief new cutscenes have been added.
* Chapter 4: Members of the Swarm can now be found and talked to around the Burger Kingdom after you've defeated all of them.
* The second floor of the King's Castle is no longer lacking in NPCs.
* A house that was previously inaccessible is now open, and another one that was accessible but empty now has some stuff in it.
* Chapter 5: A new sidequest is accessible from the hidden prison village. This includes a bit of backtracking into the prison itself, a new map, a couple of new items, and an optional boss.
* Chapter 6: A new sidequest is accessible from Beaverfoot, including several new maps, a couple of new items, and an optional boss.
* The Mayor of Beaverfoot's quiz minigame has been expanded. There are now more categories (two of which are chosen randomly each time you play; the third is always "Other Stuff") and a third round after you clear the second. You can also no longer keep playing the quiz forever--after you've won three rounds, it's done.
* The rest of Chapter 6 after you leave Beaverfoot, consisting of a wilderness area as well as the final dungeon of the game, is now complete.
For convenience of Heart of the OHR players/voters looking for new content -- here's a short list of major new things (anything that consists of new story/gameplay segments is included; smaller changes are not.)
* Chapter 1: You can now reach the border through the Mountain Path without getting Señor Rialgo. A new map and several new scenes have been added to account for this.
* A new optional boss has been added to the Ghost Town.
* Chapter 2: Two new maps have been added to Wrongside, one accessible from one of the gang hideouts and the other west of the city.
* The church in Frogbucket is now accessible, along with the graveyard behind it.
* Chapter 3: Two brief new cutscenes have been added.
* Chapter 4: Members of the Swarm can now be found and talked to around the Burger Kingdom after you've defeated all of them.
* The second floor of the King's Castle is no longer lacking in NPCs.
* A house that was previously inaccessible is now open, and another one that was accessible but empty now has some stuff in it.
* Chapter 5: A new sidequest is accessible from the hidden prison village. This includes a bit of backtracking into the prison itself, a new map, a couple of new items, and an optional boss.
* Chapter 6: A new sidequest is accessible from Beaverfoot, including several new maps, a couple of new items, and an optional boss.
* The Mayor of Beaverfoot's quiz minigame has been expanded. There are now more categories (two of which are chosen randomly each time you play; the third is always "Other Stuff") and a third round after you clear the second. You can also no longer keep playing the quiz forever--after you've won three rounds, it's done.
* The rest of Chapter 6 after you leave Beaverfoot, consisting of a wilderness area as well as the final dungeon of the game, is now complete.
You'll notice that he gives a snapshot of what he's added since the last public release on the game page, but mentions a more extensive list in the readme. Honestly, the snapshot on the game page is good enough for the purpose of the contest, but I appreciate that he went the extra mile listing the smaller details for anyone interested in comprehensive lists (I tend to be one of those people).
That's what I prefer, but I have no problem with Youtube videos, or really anything that gets the message across. This doesn't mean I'm ready for an influx of designers recording themselves attempting an interpretive dance to describe their game's new features, but as long as the key additions are clear to the player, and the player has easy access finding it without you having to point it out to him (i.e. the sheep herding forum reference), then I don't think we need to make any kind of deal out of it. It's acceptable, and the players should vote on it.
And to remind you guys, the only reason I'm requiring anything is because we've had some people complain about a lack of save file in the past. My stance is that all games should be played from beginning to end before you vote, but I'm never going to require that since that can get insane when we've got several epic games in the mix.
On that note, I'm still working my way slooowly through the list. What I've played so far:
Troll Over: Finished it
Batman & Robin: Will start soon
Okedoke: Finished it (as a playtester)
Mr. Triangle's Adventure: Started it as a playtester, but I plan to start over soon. Will be last, though, since it's so long.
Zero: Secret Pasts Collide: I'll be playing this next (probably today)
Winged Realm: Played through part of the first dungeon. Will play more soon.
Stand: Finished it
Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers: Not yet. After Batman & Robin
Pumpkin Warriors: Finished it
T4R4D1DDL3: Played it when it was released
James Doppler's Unnecessarily Long Title: Finished it...smh
Dragons: Not yet.
So far, we've got some good ones and some, well, we've got a lot of good ones actually. I'm curious how the voting will look when all is done.
Speaking of which, we've got just over two weeks to finish playing and voting. I hope you guys are chipping away at the list, or plan to in the next few days if you haven't started yet.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:57 pm
I added the review below to my ever-growing post above.
Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers!: 5/10
This is short demo for what promises be a huge game. Here's hoping it ever gets completed. The demo comprises one town and a dungeon. There is a brief explanation of the game's crafting system, but not much to do yet.
It's obvious that the creator put a ton of work in, but Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers still feels bit sloppy. Also, the setting is a bit generic. The only unfamiliar element is the mysterious Mantle Dwellers themselves
Bugs:
*In the text box starting with "The Master was right. I was completely unprepared for this expedition." Completely and expedition are both spelled wrong. There are actually quite a few spelling mistakes. Export the text boxes into Word and spell check them.
*The main menu is an extra choice that is invisible and unable to be selected. There is definitely a way to remove this. I might be able to explain how if I knew the reason for it.
*There are some bad wallmaps in the castle just north of the main staircase. Also, there is a pacing NPC nearby who doesn't talk to you.
Notes:
*There are a ton of options of battle. This is a bit overwhelming at first. Perhaps they could be introduced gradually.
*The battles should definitely pause on all menus. Especially since there are so many different attacks.
Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers!: 5/10
This is short demo for what promises be a huge game. Here's hoping it ever gets completed. The demo comprises one town and a dungeon. There is a brief explanation of the game's crafting system, but not much to do yet.
It's obvious that the creator put a ton of work in, but Invasion of the Mantle Dwellers still feels bit sloppy. Also, the setting is a bit generic. The only unfamiliar element is the mysterious Mantle Dwellers themselves
Bugs:
*In the text box starting with "The Master was right. I was completely unprepared for this expedition." Completely and expedition are both spelled wrong. There are actually quite a few spelling mistakes. Export the text boxes into Word and spell check them.
*The main menu is an extra choice that is invisible and unable to be selected. There is definitely a way to remove this. I might be able to explain how if I knew the reason for it.
*There are some bad wallmaps in the castle just north of the main staircase. Also, there is a pacing NPC nearby who doesn't talk to you.
Notes:
*There are a ton of options of battle. This is a bit overwhelming at first. Perhaps they could be introduced gradually.
*The battles should definitely pause on all menus. Especially since there are so many different attacks.