Weekly Game Talk: Bloodlust

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Spoonweaver
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Weekly Game Talk: Bloodlust

Post by Spoonweaver »

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This week's game is Bloodlust.

This game has always intrigued me. However, I've never gotten too far into it. There seems to have been an update recently, so now's a great time to play this spooky OHR classic.
I'll be doing a more detailed review of the game later on in the week. For now, let's all just sit back and indulge in some Bloodlust.
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Master K
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Post by Master K »

3spooky5me.

Seriously though, I played this and it's really creepy. An excellent OHR horror game, at that.

I only played up to so far before getting 2spooked.

I distinctly remember the decaying janitor in the storeroom locker...
*Shudder*
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

I played very far into this game, but never completely beat it.

The atmosphere is great, and it only gets creepier as you go on.
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Post by Foxley »

Quite liking it so far, I like that the level 'up' system makes it optimal to avoid enemies like the plague instead of fighting them, which also adds to the "oh gawd oh gawd" horror feeling when you're being run down by one of them.

I'm completely stumped on a classroom puzzle though, the one that appears in the Riddles menu as "Worksheet". Could someone PM me a hint if you know what the solution is?

EDIT:
Nevermind, I eventually 'figured it out' by pressing Spacebar in front of everything in the room.

EDIT2:
Now I have no idea what to do with the key and can't seem to find any clues. :(
Last edited by Foxley on Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by sheamkennedy »

[s]I really wanted to play this. Unfortunately I seem to get an error message the moment I choose my difficulty setting. I've tried selecting all of the difficulty levels but get the message:

Impossible Error/Engine Bug!

illegal wait substate 0

Call chain (current script last) :
intro

Perhaps it's due to me running on Mac? Not too sure...[/s]

Disregard that. I was accidentally attempting to run it with GAME Nightly Version instead of stable version...
Last edited by sheamkennedy on Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

sheamkennedy wrote:[s]I really wanted to play this. Unfortunately I seem to get an error message the moment I choose my difficulty setting. I've tried selecting all of the difficulty levels but get the message:

Impossible Error/Engine Bug!

illegal wait substate 0

Call chain (current script last) :
intro

Perhaps it's due to me running on Mac? Not too sure...[/s]

Disregard that. I was accidentally attempting to run it with GAME Nightly Version instead of stable version...
Whoa! I am definitely NOT disregarding that error. If a nightly can't run a game designed with an old version, that is always a bug. (and this looks like it could be a serious one!)

EDIT: filed as a bug report: http://rpg.hamsterrepublic.com/bugzilla ... gi?id=1002
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by sheamkennedy »

The suspense in this game is just awesome! And there's lots of nice "run away as fast as you can" moments too. I also like how it seems fairly open, you can kind of go where ever you please but once you get in to investigating something the game kind of holds you to it which is nice for continuity sake.

I'm in the library right now and let me tell you, that room with the painting on the wall where you have to climb up on to the desk scared me so badly. I mean nothing happens but that's what makes it good, after getting out of that room you just feel so on edge. Also upon entering the library there are those pillars that have eyes and blink, I'm just waiting for something to happen but I'll take a break for now. Time to study for finals...
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Post by Foxley »

I just finished the game on Normal.

My main point of criticism: I felt that the pacing and quality of the game was really inconsistent. Some areas of the game were great and truly horrifying (e.g. the library, oh geez I haven't been this genuinely disturbed by a video game in years) and others were pretty spotty and not fun at all (e.g. the first school, which after 3 hours of being stuck had me turning to the included walkthrough, and the puzzle solutions still made very little sense). Also, some instant death situations near the end of the game were simply obnoxious, I didn't like having to keep reloading and walking several screens just to do something different.

Overall though the game was extremely engaging and I wanted to keep playing it pretty much nonstop the past couple of days. The story was interesting and generated a lot of impetus to keep playing and find out what was happening; although, I felt that it was ultimately unsatisfying after I finished the game.

Still, I enjoyed the hell out of Bloodlust, the production values and design details really stood out.
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Post by sheamkennedy »

I just finished more of the game tonight and enjoyed it. I do feel like the library was definitely the most suspenseful part of the game and later parts like the church seemed more puzzle-like in nature but didn't put enough stress and terror in to my heart while completing.

Strangely after reading the walkthrough for the church puzzle solution, I noticed that I was supposed to have fought a boss and done a bunch of puzzles in the first school. It turns out I simply left the school without doing this, so maybe there should be some sort of tag system to make sure all previous areas are completed or a tag system to hold the player in a certain area until its completed. Unless the game was intended to be a do-what-you-want kind of thing.

The city design is very nice and I like how you drew up the rubble and demolished buildings. A few things I would suggest for the city to make it more fun and scary is to add a bit a puzzle element to the city. For example you could have pushable rocks to get to certain items and you could have wood boards to place over crevices in the ground to reach certain areas. The area could be made scarier by restricting the character only to the lit areas of the city while stepping in a shadowy area could result in a randomized jump scare graphic. After such an occurrence the player would be nudged back in to the light and could continue without death (because no one likes starting from a save point for a honest mistake like that). More large enemy NPC's! I was just waiting for a giant squid-like hell beast to drag me in to the big holes in the ground.

Anyways those are just some suggestions, I understand the game was probably under some sort of deadline for halloween and such so only so much detail could be added.

Also a funny side note and probably the scariest experience I had during my play through this game. As I was playing through the library I received a call on my cell phone. First off my cell phone alone made me jump as its volume was set to full on the table beside me. Secondly, the person calling me was from a number I didn't recognize... I answered anyways and the guy on the other end gave me an ear full about how I had been calling his number all day and hanging up. I assured the guy I didn't and checked my phone record just to ensure I hadn't pocket called or my cat wasn't making phone calls without my permission. Turns out the guy was mistaken and someone else had been calling him all day. Anyways I got that sorted out and the guy was still pretty mad. It's quite the experience having so much built up suspense from the game then getting screamed at by an unexpected caller haha.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

sheamkennedy wrote:Also a funny side note and probably the scariest experience I had during my play through this game. As I was playing through the library I received a call on my cell phone. First off my cell phone alone made me jump as its volume was set to full on the table beside me. Secondly, the person calling me was from a number I didn't recognize... I answered anyways and the guy on the other end gave me an ear full about how I had been calling his number all day and hanging up. I assured the guy I didn't and checked my phone record just to ensure I hadn't pocket called or my cat wasn't making phone calls without my permission. Turns out the guy was mistaken and someone else had been calling him all day. Anyways I got that sorted out and the guy was still pretty mad. It's quite the experience having so much built up suspense from the game then getting screamed at by an unexpected caller haha.
Hehe, this is great.

This reminds me that when I was playing through Bloodlust back when, I had stayed late after work. I had some kind of appointment to go to and didn't want to drive all the way home only to turn around again, so I just stayed in the office playing games after I had clocked out... I was playing through the library, and suddenly it dawned on me... I was alone in the building... and most of the lights were off... and it was dark outside now... and the wind was howling outside... and the metal parts of the building were creaking gently... and I needed to use the bathroom! .... and the only way to get to the bathroom was to walk through the warehouse... and I had no idea where the light switch was. Certainly not next to the door I was entering from!

I decided to just walk through the dark and find the bathroom by the light of my cell phone, because that was still slightly less scary than sitting there continuing to play Bloodlust.
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Post by sheamkennedy »

Bob the Hamster wrote:
sheamkennedy wrote:Also a funny side note and probably the scariest experience I had during my play through this game. As I was playing through the library I received a call on my cell phone. First off my cell phone alone made me jump as its volume was set to full on the table beside me. Secondly, the person calling me was from a number I didn't recognize... I answered anyways and the guy on the other end gave me an ear full about how I had been calling his number all day and hanging up. I assured the guy I didn't and checked my phone record just to ensure I hadn't pocket called or my cat wasn't making phone calls without my permission. Turns out the guy was mistaken and someone else had been calling him all day. Anyways I got that sorted out and the guy was still pretty mad. It's quite the experience having so much built up suspense from the game then getting screamed at by an unexpected caller haha.
Hehe, this is great.

This reminds me that when I was playing through Bloodlust back when, I had stayed late after work. I had some kind of appointment to go to and didn't want to drive all the way home only to turn around again, so I just stayed in the office playing games after I had clocked out... I was playing through the library, and suddenly it dawned on me... I was alone in the building... and most of the lights were off... and it was dark outside now... and the wind was howling outside... and the metal parts of the building were creaking gently... and I needed to use the bathroom! .... and the only way to get to the bathroom was to walk through the warehouse... and I had no idea where the light switch was. Certainly not next to the door I was entering from!

I decided to just walk through the dark and find the bathroom by the light of my cell phone, because that was still slightly less scary than sitting there continuing to play Bloodlust.
Haha nice.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

Bloodlust is a spooky game for sure.
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So, let's go over some of the things that work for this game:
First of all, the graphics are pretty intense at times. The battle scenes, with their creepy looking monsters and animated background, are pretty unnerving. There's also a lot of variety here. There's not just one or two tiles for the school hallway floors, there's like 10 or more. And that's not even mentioning the different lighting levels.

Which brings me to the second thing that works for the game, the special effects. The lighting levels are done in a very nice way. I almost didn't even notice them because they were executed so well. But it doesn't stop there, the game has things popping out at you, keypads you gotta press, keys you have to fix, and walls of darkness to run from. The effects here are all pretty basic stuff, but they're are all done in a way that's anything but basic. The giant eyes and teeth screamer actually got me. :P
The next thing, is the game's story. I mean, sure, the writing isn't going to win any awards but it's still interesting considering this is an indie game we're talking about. Also, the length and detail of the game itself is pretty nice. It also seems to be complete, which is quite a feat for any indie game, let alone an OHR rpg.

Some of the things that don't really work:
The maps are super big and it sometimes gets boring walking around them. The run button helps a bit, but they are still big and mostly empty. Also, I understand how this adds to the spooky nature of the game, I just think they are a bit over done.
The graphics seem to have some weird perspectives at times. There's a part in the library where I could figure out where to go because I didn't know that a wall was in fact a ceiling beam or something. In the same area, the chandeliers hanging from nothing, just looks weird.
There's some other stuff, but it's all kinda small and forgivable.

Anyways, I'd give the game a 7/10
I recommend all the OHR'ers give this a play. And if you're looking for a quick experience, just play on easy and read the included walkthrough.
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Only One In All »

I guess this thread is proof I've been gone from here for half a year. It's really great though to see comments, criticisms, and everything thrown towards Bloodlust's way, considering how old the game is now. I don't think I'll be able to address everything for whenever 1.3 eventually comes out, but I'll do what I can, and reading everything here is really inspiring and influencing, especially hearing about the library.

As for this:
sheamkennedy wrote:I'm in the library right now and let me tell you, that room with the painting on the wall where you have to climb up on to the desk scared me so badly. I mean nothing happens but that's what makes it good, after getting out of that room you just feel so on edge. Also upon entering the library there are those pillars that have eyes and blink, I'm just waiting for something to happen but I'll take a break for now. Time to study for finals...
Well actually, that just means you got out in the nick of time..
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Post by TheCrimsonMagi »

Huh... This is a very old thread. I have just picked up OHR again and was wanting to download the latest versions of some of my old favorites when I saw all the critical acclaim that Bloodlust was getting a couple years back. I have beaten this game many times. Easy, Normal, and gotten pretty far on Hard. The music is amazing and really give you that unsettling feeling like there is something over you shoulder as you play. The environments, from what I recall, were very well done too; if a little on the open side. The puzzles had me stumped at some points but eventually I did figure them out.

One other thing though: if and when Only One In All gets around to working this into a better version, I would like to ask that the little one be made just a little bit stronger. Many times, on hard especially, she will be focused on too much by the monsters and be killed early. That and maybe adding in a hint before the final fight that you CAN save her, even though it is in the credits, would be good too. Maybe Reed has a sudden thought of "I have to save her!" that makes the player try and do anything to stop her from dying.

In closing, I only have two more things to say. First, that story in the library or wherever it was that had the big warning in it, has to be one of the more disturbed but amazing storytelling moments I have seen in a homemade game to date. And secondly, I hope Only One In All comes back on here and sees this post. I very much am a fan of this game and would be overjoyed to see it continue to be updated. Thank you.
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Post by ArtimusBena »

Hey sweet, I did a couple of songs for this one! The bloodied bathroom and the battle music I think.
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