Approving the rankings for 3 out of four games by default means we have to accept the ranking of the 4th game whether we like it or not. Clever.JSH357 wrote:- All game creators MUST quote a judge's writings and say they approve of the rankings for three out of four games. In short, they must judge the judging.
I probably agree with you more on this one part than you realize, since a video game by default MUST be visually stimulating, or else it loses the ability to draw in its player and attempt to engage with them.Spoonweaver wrote:As with all of Fenrir's games, the graphics in this game were top notch. Some of the most refined graphics in the whole contest wee in this game. ( This includes the ripped graphic in Sephy's entry ) Graphics are very important when you're making the kind of game that this contest was calling for, but they aren't everything.
While I won't deny that the game itself is incomplete, and that the whole prospect of the game is disturbing (it IS a Rape Dungeon), I will protest that its incompleteness is any more of a hampering factor than the amount of content in it as, say, No Eat. The entire opening sequence DOES change your stats depending on your conversational partners. Enemies change form and mutate into more unsettling forms, their patterns changing in response to the player's own actions. And how about that one fish-like weapon you can just repeatedly wail on a foe with? In short, the overwhelming amount of content in such a short span of game time (1 hour for most) should have been weighed more heavily.Spoonweaver wrote:The fact that this game was so incomplete is what landed it in 3rd place. As disturbing as some of the enemies and overall plot might have been, I still would have liked to see more. There's an overabundance of unfinished games in the OHR community and I don't plan to reward someone for adding another.
Again, the gameplay was most certainly not basic, although it does indeed use the default OHR battle setup, though only because it's the most familiar part of the engine to stand out to those who're familiar with it. Unless I've been sitting under a rock, most OHR games do not involve too many transforming foes. Or have completely unique attacks to differentiate them from one another. Or include a run button. Or a custom technique gaining format. Or a unique stat gaining mechanic.Spoonweaver wrote:The gameplay was very basic in this game. Which isn't terrible, but after seeing what the other games in the contest had to offer, I found myself bored with this title.
But I think the most important point is that as developers who've come to regard the engine as something more than being able to create SNES style JRPGs, we've come to look at those games that don't use complicated scripting or a unique custom format as "underwhelming". Because anything that doesn't do those could only be "basic" since that's the majority of the OHR's game library. In short, I think we've come to see the games that use the engine as intended as "basic" because as developers who've grown out of using them and have desired to make something different using our familiar tools.
And anyhow, the general public wouldn't care that the game itself utilized "basic" OHR conventions such as the normal battle interface. It's familiar and easy to get into. For those people who've only played a few RPGs before, it shouldn't be a profound step-up for them to learn a system they're unfamiliar with. Unfamiliarity breeds experimentation, and as a player experiments with the game they should tend to learn its rules so long as they make sense and reinforce the game's experience as a video game. First and foremost though, it should be fun. Who cares if someone thinks a game is lacking in impressive mechanics, so long as they're having fun?
~1400 people agreed enough with this prospect to download the game in the last 4 days. The contributions of many MANY people involved in the project actually made it a financial success. It paid the bills. No seriously, I have a roof over my head right now BECAUSE people paid to have their own creations in the game. All because the target market for it was people who wanted to play a "classic styled RPG" with sexy elements. Granted, they all just happened to be fuzzy, but that's a story for another time.
I apologize in advance for the 2 Slimes 1 Cup music. That alone leads me to agree with your ranking, despite my previous diatribe. That and my financial situation dictates that I must aim for those delicious coupons, so I thank you in advance.Spoonweaver wrote:The ripped music wasn't doing this game any favors either.
I can't remember the exact context, but I've known for a long LONG time that of all the games I've ever made, "Barely Legal Bitches" (in its original format) was more widely distributed and handed under the table at conventions, through backchannel game listings, and in more google searches than I ever cared to admit. More than all my other games COMBINED. Because it did ONE very, very, VERY important thing - It knew its target audience. It respected them. It didn't treat them as idiotic sheep and try to brow-beat them into submission to buy/convert/believe/do whatever it was selling/prostelytising/saying/commanding. Because people know when they're being fed something they don't want, and despite my reservations at the time, people wanted THAT game.Charbile wrote:It wasn't too long ago that Fenrir, JSH, and I had a talk in a journal I wrote. It seems like a long time ago, but probably not that long. It's what brought me back: Fenrir claimed his BLB game was the most praised and beloved ohr game in existence. I didn't doubt him. This was porn we were talking about.
Know your audience. Respect your audience.Charbile wrote:Look at it this way: last I checked, where he posted it on FA, it had more than 180 comments. This is for an ohr game. 180 comments on any slime salad thread would be crazy, and this is in the span of like four days too. That's hard to beat.
The graphics ARE porn. That was the point of the contest from what I understood.Charbile wrote:The game itself is drawn like it's real porn. The graphics are amazing, if disturbing to some people--but this is porn! Honest and true. And this one aspect does matter in these kind of games.
Fox in Socks. You cannot unread that.Eggie> Heh, beating Cockbile gave me a set of legwarmers.
Eggie> That's comical.
Charbile> >:|
For the sake of self interest I agree with your ranking on the understanding that the cumulative rankings of all three judges should result in my getting the coupons. Or that comic, if JSH happens to judge it in second or first place. Which would pretty much blow my mind, since historically he's had a rather low opinion of my work in the past (although he has said it was partially to push me to do better, and if Vikings was any indication I think he was right).
I agree with both of you that Thrust porn should receive the grade it does, though it's really delayed gratification. And also that No Eat should be second, primarily because it does actually cater to a particular audience who are BIG into that sort of thing. Your mileage on Transylvania Girls may vary, but it's a brilliant game in concept and would be amazing to see whatever happens to it should its creators decide to clean it up a bit for a more family friendly audience.