1
General / Re: Aquaria fanart [spoilers]
« on: July 29, 2012, 06:52:24 am »
Oh wow, that's really neat.
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2
Modding / Re: Nude Sprites
« on: July 26, 2012, 09:40:37 pm »
Can you post a lot more screenshots showing off your mod, both current and old? Don't just ask people to download it, but you know - show it off!
That said, looking at the one screenshot you've provided, I do have some suggestions. Compare this, http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/134/asdgqp.png
to this, which is a mashup of Alphasoldier's mod
http://i.imgur.com/ZFBL2.jpg
The thing I want to point out, is that yours is lacking in the shading of Naija's sides/shoulders. I feel that lack actually gives her more of a barbie doll look and makes her limbs not really look attached. It's almost like there's stitching right where her shoulders connect to her torso, because of how suddenly the darker green shading cuts off. Or it looks like sleeves, rather than her natural naked body.
Could you clarify the exact changes you made, though? Because I don't have a good eye for tiny details and I can't really notice some things.
That said, looking at the one screenshot you've provided, I do have some suggestions. Compare this, http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/134/asdgqp.png
to this, which is a mashup of Alphasoldier's mod
http://i.imgur.com/ZFBL2.jpg
The thing I want to point out, is that yours is lacking in the shading of Naija's sides/shoulders. I feel that lack actually gives her more of a barbie doll look and makes her limbs not really look attached. It's almost like there's stitching right where her shoulders connect to her torso, because of how suddenly the darker green shading cuts off. Or it looks like sleeves, rather than her natural naked body.
Could you clarify the exact changes you made, though? Because I don't have a good eye for tiny details and I can't really notice some things.
3
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 15, 2012, 08:12:58 am »
Sure. How do I get the newest version?
4
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 11, 2012, 03:38:46 am »
Ah, I figured some things out from your post. My resolution is 1280x1024. That might still be 4:3 not sure. Anyway, my issue is a simple one - I forgot about the look function and was trying to see more bubbles by inching as close to the edge of a bubble as I could. I will point out that if you do this, there is a bubble where you can't see the next one.
I forgot about the look function because I don't think you ever really need to use it in the main Aquaria game.
How does a partial world map work, compared to the world map in the main game?
I forgot about the look function because I don't think you ever really need to use it in the main Aquaria game.
How does a partial world map work, compared to the world map in the main game?
5
General / Re: Aquaria 2 Kickstarter
« on: July 10, 2012, 01:59:40 pm »Aquaria, for its' part, is also in the unique position where most people who hear of it, love it, so this would work for it.
I'm not so sure. Take a step back and think about it. I totally agree, but the steam achievements don't seem to do so. 17% open waters => 83% of the people haven't even started the real thing.
The steam forum also mirrors this to some extent.
Yet, considering the average steam comment is roughly equal to the average youtube comment because of many 13yr olds who need to be taken by the hand all the time, I personally wouldn't care much about that. You know, spoiled Call of Duty kids and etc.
There's a few possible explanation for this beyond "people just aren't interested in Aquaria", because I absolutely do not believe that is the case. First of all, there's what you mention, where there are people just not patient enough for a game like Aquaria, and who really just game for the instant gratification of games like CoD and such. But here's another possible point -
What does it take to be part of that % counted for the achievements? If I own the game, but I never play it - then I never get the open waters achievement. Am I counted as part of that 100%, just because I own it?
Basically, what I'm saying is this is a way the early humble bundles could've worked against it, as far as those stats are concerned - people who buy the bundle but never play Aquaria would thus be part of that 100% - but they've never played the game. It's not that they played it and lost interest, they simply never played it. Because while they owned the game, they didn't know anything about it, still, so they never bothered to start it up and see what it was about.
I can tell you personally I own quite a few games that I always forget even exist and have never loaded up or installed even once, but I own them because of a bundle and such. The bundle got me to own the games, but it didn't actually do anything to raise my interest in the games included. This same thing likely happened to Aquaria, and again it's a marketing issue. You have to inform people about the game.
6
Modding / Re: Beauty of Aquaria Mod Released !
« on: July 10, 2012, 01:47:45 pm »
Yeah, I never really voiced my praises for this mod, but like Theo, I absolutely adore it. It is incredibly beautiful, and it offers so many varied locations for amazing screenshots and is just a very peaceful, tranquil, and all around magical experience - to explore this place and just relax.
I, personally, think mod goes hand in hand with Alpha's nude mod, as well. Use that and play BoA after completing the main game, and it just feels like a very free, peaceful experience after the stresses of their adventure. Especially if you change the music to Light - as that essentially completes a circle and ties things back into Naija starting out in that peaceful Verse cave with Light playing.
But regardless of that, this mod is just a very pretty mod and it really shows off some of what I've always seen as the best parts of Aquaria, personally - the sheer beauty of the environments and the world, and how fun it can be to just explore and play around in the more relaxing and inviting areas.
I, personally, think mod goes hand in hand with Alpha's nude mod, as well. Use that and play BoA after completing the main game, and it just feels like a very free, peaceful experience after the stresses of their adventure. Especially if you change the music to Light - as that essentially completes a circle and ties things back into Naija starting out in that peaceful Verse cave with Light playing.
But regardless of that, this mod is just a very pretty mod and it really shows off some of what I've always seen as the best parts of Aquaria, personally - the sheer beauty of the environments and the world, and how fun it can be to just explore and play around in the more relaxing and inviting areas.
7
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 10, 2012, 01:41:15 pm »
I guess I use 4:3, I'm not actually sure.
8
General / Re: Aquaria 2 Kickstarter
« on: July 10, 2012, 01:29:57 pm »
Penny Arcade, and Zero Punctuation.
The thing is, I really think Alec/Derek just expected that all they had to do was make a good game and it'd take off on its own. They made a great game, but they absolutely could barely have marketed it quieter. I never saw ads anywhere, and more than that, like I said, they didn't reach out to the large voices in the indie gaming scene at all.
Where was the PA support, after all? They are really known for helping indie devs just like Alec/Derek, yet they haven't done anything for Aquaria.
The thing is, I also think they have both given up, thinking it's a failed game, and it really isn't. Aquaria didn't fail. Their marketing and such did. But that means if they ever got on the ball about that, Aquaria could still succeed. I wish they would realize this. If tomorrow PA did a comic and newspost on Aquaria, it would take off. It would be like Minecraft all over again, because that's the kind of voice PA has in the community. Aquaria, for its' part, is also in the unique position where most people who hear of it, love it, so this would work for it.
Also, yes. It was on the humble indie bundle. But here's the catch - it was on the first two. This is too early. The humble bundles since then have had much more people buying them and the games in the later bundles got much more exposure - because Steam itself has just gotten more popular over time. Those helped, but not as much as if it was included in a humble bundle today. I promise you that if it were, you'd see another explosion of new players that didn't know it existed before.
This is the problem, and I really believe they just aren't aware that that's really all the issue is.
The thing is, I really think Alec/Derek just expected that all they had to do was make a good game and it'd take off on its own. They made a great game, but they absolutely could barely have marketed it quieter. I never saw ads anywhere, and more than that, like I said, they didn't reach out to the large voices in the indie gaming scene at all.
Where was the PA support, after all? They are really known for helping indie devs just like Alec/Derek, yet they haven't done anything for Aquaria.
The thing is, I also think they have both given up, thinking it's a failed game, and it really isn't. Aquaria didn't fail. Their marketing and such did. But that means if they ever got on the ball about that, Aquaria could still succeed. I wish they would realize this. If tomorrow PA did a comic and newspost on Aquaria, it would take off. It would be like Minecraft all over again, because that's the kind of voice PA has in the community. Aquaria, for its' part, is also in the unique position where most people who hear of it, love it, so this would work for it.
Also, yes. It was on the humble indie bundle. But here's the catch - it was on the first two. This is too early. The humble bundles since then have had much more people buying them and the games in the later bundles got much more exposure - because Steam itself has just gotten more popular over time. Those helped, but not as much as if it was included in a humble bundle today. I promise you that if it were, you'd see another explosion of new players that didn't know it existed before.
This is the problem, and I really believe they just aren't aware that that's really all the issue is.
9
General / Re: Aquaria 2 Kickstarter
« on: July 10, 2012, 07:20:51 am »
The biggest problem with Aquaria is it simply never got a lot of publicity. I have shown it to so many people that ended up loving it, they just honestly never knew it existed.
The thing is, Aquaria could still succeed and make them a ton of money - they just have to reach out and let people know the game exists! Because the problem, even today, years after it came out, isn't that people have heard of it and don't like it - people simply haven't heard of it.
I pretty strongly believe that even now, if Alec or Derek actually reached out to one of the loud voices in the gaming community, and got them to back Aquaria and spread the word that "hey this game exists and you should play it" it would still take off and be a massive success. They could do this, too - think about it, if one of them reached out to Penny Arcade and got them to talk about it.
Minecraft existed for years, and then PA had one set of comics about it and some newsposts, and *then* it took off and became popular. Aquaria is in a similar position of that very few people that actually know about Aquaria, dislike it. There's no reason to think this wouldn't continue if more people knew about it.
And it's aged amazingly well - a lot of people I've shown the game too, are absolutely stunned when they find out how old it really is - it's the type of game that is so good, and so high quality, it could've came out this year and people would believe it.
In short - a kickstarter for Aquaria 2 would fail just as Aquaria has, because most people simply literally do not know Aquaria exists, to support a kickstarter. Before anyone tries to get support for Aquaria 2, they need to look at getting people to even know that Aquaria 1 exists and spread the word about that.
Honestly, so much could be done for the game if PA, or Yahtzee, or someone with a large viewerbase, were to talk about the game.
The thing is, Aquaria could still succeed and make them a ton of money - they just have to reach out and let people know the game exists! Because the problem, even today, years after it came out, isn't that people have heard of it and don't like it - people simply haven't heard of it.
I pretty strongly believe that even now, if Alec or Derek actually reached out to one of the loud voices in the gaming community, and got them to back Aquaria and spread the word that "hey this game exists and you should play it" it would still take off and be a massive success. They could do this, too - think about it, if one of them reached out to Penny Arcade and got them to talk about it.
Minecraft existed for years, and then PA had one set of comics about it and some newsposts, and *then* it took off and became popular. Aquaria is in a similar position of that very few people that actually know about Aquaria, dislike it. There's no reason to think this wouldn't continue if more people knew about it.
And it's aged amazingly well - a lot of people I've shown the game too, are absolutely stunned when they find out how old it really is - it's the type of game that is so good, and so high quality, it could've came out this year and people would believe it.
In short - a kickstarter for Aquaria 2 would fail just as Aquaria has, because most people simply literally do not know Aquaria exists, to support a kickstarter. Before anyone tries to get support for Aquaria 2, they need to look at getting people to even know that Aquaria 1 exists and spread the word about that.
Honestly, so much could be done for the game if PA, or Yahtzee, or someone with a large viewerbase, were to talk about the game.
10
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 10, 2012, 06:20:39 am »It's true, you do have to swim fast and do a LOT of dodging until you find shield and two of the costumes!
That's not really fair to ask of the player if you want difficulty at all similar to the main story, though. They only placed obstacles in your way you could fairly deal with - Home Waters is a safe area not just because you're new to the game the first time you're there, but because you simply do not have the tools to reliably deal with the enemies you face.
The main Aquaria mode never throws you into situations that you simply can't handle.
I understand that you're expecting people to be more knowledgeable in the game than they are the first time they loaded Aquaria, but that doesn't mean you can just say, take enemies from the Veil and place them in the starting area because you know the player has already encountered those enemies before - yes, you can expect the player to know how to deal with these enemies, but you're not giving them the tools to deal with them as they know how from main Aquaria.
I feel like, a lot of the mistakes in design here are probably due to just how much time and effort you spent on making it - it's a double edged sword, basically. You were *so* invested in this, and you clearly did care - the time and effort you spent on this does show through - but you spent so much time on it that you got used to the map. You knew it by heart, you knew were everything was, and you likely forgot what it's like for a new player to be thrust into your map, that doesn't know where everything was.
It's the same kind of mistake old dungeon crawlers and text adventure games made all the time. Things like King's Quest and such - there's a solution, that the devs were thinking of, and it makes sense, but it's not really something that might come naturally to a player that doesn't have the knowledge the devs do, so the player can spend a lot more time, with a lot more trouble and frustration, than the devs did or expected or intended.
Also, I edited my other post with some more thoughts.
Edit - And I'm writing so much on this because the mod so far seems to have a lot of sheer effort and thought put into it, it has a lot of potential and it's not just some garbage mod I want to discard. Since it's very clear there was a lot of effort put into making it, I want to put effort into criticizing it. Something with this kind of potential I really would like to see be as good as it possibly can be.
11
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 10, 2012, 05:23:39 am »
Oh, definitely - I keep a noteback on hand for translating Aquarian messages - I haven't found any yet, but I am glad to hear you included some. One of my favorite things about Aquaria has always been the atmosphere, so if you can keep that in this mod, you're golden for me. That's why I'm playing - not so much in the sheer gameplay of being challenged or something, but just the experience of exploring a new, exotic world, and how alive Aquaria - and Naija - can seem. So again, if your mod has all these background touches and attention to detail to bring it to life, I should love it.
I really do pretty firmly believe the beginning is too difficult though. You shouldn't even be able to run into all these enemies before you can so much as sing a shield song. You say you wanted it to be as difficult as the Veil, but when you get to the Veil, you have certain tools at your disposal that aren't present here - this is definitely harder because of that.
Edit - I've played a bit more. Some more thoughts - I really enjoy that the treasures you placed around, when you find them, they actually show up somewhere around Naija/Li's new home. I suppose it's entirely possible you could've just had them disappear into the void, so it's cool that just like in the main game, you can flesh out her home as you find more stuff.
So far, I've found 3 treasures - the Mithalas Doll/Pot, and the Turtle egg. Also found the Shield song, but I don't know where I picked that up - I only noticed I even had it because I was looking through my menu. If I was supposed to get a notification that Naija had just learned the shield spell, I didn't. That might be a glitch - if it isn't, if possible, you might want to put in a notice somehow to alert the player they just got a song?
Even if it's something like, when you enter the place with the song, Naija makes a comment to herself about being reminded of whatever song you're about to get.
And, I really do think the map is just too aimless - it doesn't guide you anywhere, there's no real sense of direction at all. I never got this lost and annoyed at not being able to find things in normal Aquaria, and I've swam around in so many circles that I'm already getting bored. I found an Aquarian message but it just told me in blunt terms that there are x amount of treasures/songs/costumes/eggs to find, no real hint at actually finding them anywhere.
The map direction is that it's basically laid out in a giant spiral, so you're kindof naturally funneled along in a circular pattern, but this means lots of repetition and going in circles and places you've already been.
I don't mean to be this negative on it, but these are just my honest impressions and feelings, and I'm trying to give most helpful and constructive criticism I can. I love the visuals and touches you've made to the world, but I feel like mechanical problems are stopping me from enjoying it all.
Oh, also, a possible glitch or just a bit of sequence breaking you might want to fix - I traveled up the tunnel to this path of bubbles that eventually led me to the Mithalan pot treasure, but my first time through I missed a bubble and fell - but I fell down into a cavern where the only way in and out was blocked by a rock I would've had to lift with the bind song, except I didn't have the bind song. I had to use the editor to get out. Also, when I fell in there, I landed in a part of the water absolutely consumed by anemones and almost died before Naija just got richocheted into a part of the water I could actually control her - she would hit one, bounce into the air, land on another, and repeat.
I would suggest either placing a ceiling over this so you can't fall in there from the bubble path, or place a rock in the way blocking the route to the bubble path, so that you can't possibly get there without having bind, meaning if you fall in that cavern, you can use bind to get out.
Also with the bubble path, there's one bubble about midway through you're in, where you simply can not see the next bubble you have to jump to, and it's a leap of faith. You should probably move the bubbles slightly closer together so that you never have to make a blind jump, especially if you're careful.
I really do pretty firmly believe the beginning is too difficult though. You shouldn't even be able to run into all these enemies before you can so much as sing a shield song. You say you wanted it to be as difficult as the Veil, but when you get to the Veil, you have certain tools at your disposal that aren't present here - this is definitely harder because of that.
Edit - I've played a bit more. Some more thoughts - I really enjoy that the treasures you placed around, when you find them, they actually show up somewhere around Naija/Li's new home. I suppose it's entirely possible you could've just had them disappear into the void, so it's cool that just like in the main game, you can flesh out her home as you find more stuff.
So far, I've found 3 treasures - the Mithalas Doll/Pot, and the Turtle egg. Also found the Shield song, but I don't know where I picked that up - I only noticed I even had it because I was looking through my menu. If I was supposed to get a notification that Naija had just learned the shield spell, I didn't. That might be a glitch - if it isn't, if possible, you might want to put in a notice somehow to alert the player they just got a song?
Even if it's something like, when you enter the place with the song, Naija makes a comment to herself about being reminded of whatever song you're about to get.
And, I really do think the map is just too aimless - it doesn't guide you anywhere, there's no real sense of direction at all. I never got this lost and annoyed at not being able to find things in normal Aquaria, and I've swam around in so many circles that I'm already getting bored. I found an Aquarian message but it just told me in blunt terms that there are x amount of treasures/songs/costumes/eggs to find, no real hint at actually finding them anywhere.
The map direction is that it's basically laid out in a giant spiral, so you're kindof naturally funneled along in a circular pattern, but this means lots of repetition and going in circles and places you've already been.
I don't mean to be this negative on it, but these are just my honest impressions and feelings, and I'm trying to give most helpful and constructive criticism I can. I love the visuals and touches you've made to the world, but I feel like mechanical problems are stopping me from enjoying it all.
Oh, also, a possible glitch or just a bit of sequence breaking you might want to fix - I traveled up the tunnel to this path of bubbles that eventually led me to the Mithalan pot treasure, but my first time through I missed a bubble and fell - but I fell down into a cavern where the only way in and out was blocked by a rock I would've had to lift with the bind song, except I didn't have the bind song. I had to use the editor to get out. Also, when I fell in there, I landed in a part of the water absolutely consumed by anemones and almost died before Naija just got richocheted into a part of the water I could actually control her - she would hit one, bounce into the air, land on another, and repeat.
I would suggest either placing a ceiling over this so you can't fall in there from the bubble path, or place a rock in the way blocking the route to the bubble path, so that you can't possibly get there without having bind, meaning if you fall in that cavern, you can use bind to get out.
Also with the bubble path, there's one bubble about midway through you're in, where you simply can not see the next bubble you have to jump to, and it's a leap of faith. You should probably move the bubbles slightly closer together so that you never have to make a blind jump, especially if you're careful.
12
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 10, 2012, 04:15:16 am »No, there isn't any newer version of the mod out right now.
But you're not the first one saying this. We might, as a consensus, add a worldmap for the first map, and keep the rest of the labyrinth in the dark. Have to see.
Ah, alright. Personally - I would suggest making it an option, if possible. Give the choice to the player - if they are a purist for dungeons, and want real difficulty and to figure things out themselves, have an option to not have a worldmap. If they want more guidance and help, let them turn a worldmap on.
If this can't be done via an option, perhaps you could simply release two versions of the mod - one with a worldmap and one without? I *assume* that's not too difficult to do *if* you can get a world map working in the first place, but I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on this subject.
I'm pretty sure there are some things in here that are entirely new.
Quote
Heh, wait until you see the other maps, Frances has drawn almost everything in these herself
Wow, that's honestly really impressive. Serious props for that.
But, criticism - I feel things are a bit *too* aimless. Yes, Aquaria is about an open world and exploring, but even the main game of Aquaria gives you *some* sense of direction - I feel like, if nothing else, you should at least be given some kind of idea from the start, where Naija/Li's home is at.
Quote
The home, except for the garden, isn't too important actually. The whole point of the first map is to stock up on some resources and find shield and bind - to be ready for the actual labyrinth.
It's not about it being "important", it's just about about a basic sense of direction.
Also, it's too difficult! Just swimming around this area, I can't even sing a shield spell, yet I'm running into *multiples* of those worms with teeth that chase me around and can box me into a tunnel making it impossible to get out - and I can't even stock up on healing supplies?
Quote
Yep, the worms are annoying, I agree. Just be fast and don't let them corner you.
Healing supplies? There's many plants in the garden, and many fish to harvest. That said:
Leaf + Leaf = Leaf Poultice
Leaf + Meat = Hand Roll
Hand Roll + Oil = Tasty Roll
etc etc -- the recipes haven't changed
Hopefully this helps a bit.
I don't have songs to let me pull up those plants and harvest the fish, yet I can still run into these powerful enemies. I'm hoping the mod is just this difficult because it's the start and I don't have the tools to defend myself yet, and not a sign of things to come. I wasn't really looking for Aquaria - Super Kaizo World version.
This has always been something that has bugged me about fan made mods and such to games - not just Aquaria here, but pretty much anything - they often try to be *harder* than the original game instead of just offering more of what made the original game so good. I'm hoping that didn't happen here.
13
Modding / Re: Labyrinth Mod Released
« on: July 10, 2012, 03:41:56 am »
Well, False Genesis got me interested in trying this, so why not. I've only just started, I haven't found anything except a turtle egg and lots of plants to sing at to give me recipes so far, so this is very early first impressions I'll give.
First, I want to ask though - I can't use the world map. I know mods typically can't, but does that mean I'm not using the most up to date version of the mod? The first few posts in this topic made me unsure of that. I would like to be able to use it, if there's a way - mostly as a way to keep track of where I have been and where I haven't. Not having a map to use in things like this makes things a lot more tedious for me, so if it's at all possible...
But impressions - I am absolutely impressed with the art and aesthetics and visual style of the locations I've seen, it's really pretty, especially what is done with the plant life and coral and such around - the really long strands of green seaweed or something similar to the kelp forest's type of plant life was pretty impressive. What's also really impressed me, is that it's not just copy and pasted assets from the original campaign - I'm pretty sure there are some things in here that are entirely new.
And I think I found what is supposed to be Naija/Li's new home - I really like what is done with this, with individual rooms and places for them to rest and sit down, it really feels like they are trying to just enjoy a casual home life and everything.
I also like that you bothered including narration for Naija - obviously it's not voiced, but that you do have moments where she says something, even if it's just text. I was worried that something like that wouldn't be included in this and Naija would lose some of her personality in the translation to a mod.
But, criticism - I feel things are a bit *too* aimless. Yes, Aquaria is about an open world and exploring, but even the main game of Aquaria gives you *some* sense of direction - I feel like, if nothing else, you should at least be given some kind of idea from the start, where Naija/Li's home is at.
Also, it's too difficult! Just swimming around this area, I can't even sing a shield spell, yet I'm running into *multiples* of those worms with teeth that chase me around and can box me into a tunnel making it impossible to get out - and I can't even stock up on healing supplies? This is a little ridiculous - I don't feel that Aquaria should be a game based around this kind of difficulty - I've always found Aquaria to be a highly relaxing game that was never too frustrating or difficult, and was more about just enjoying exploring and such - it wasn't meant to be Super Ghouls and Ghosts, basically. Which is an exaggeration of the difficulty, but I'm trying to make a point.
I think, especially in the first area, before you get any real way to defend yourself, should have almost no threats. Look at the Home Waters, for example.
I'll keep playing though, and come back with more thoughts later.
Oh, one last thing, about the story, I'm a bit nervous about it because I absolutely hate the original extended ending, and I kindof feel that it's so flawed, anything that tries to build from it, will also be flawed, as it's just such an out of place, and out of character downer ending, but we'll see what I think of this, if I think it's well done at least, as I get through it.
First, I want to ask though - I can't use the world map. I know mods typically can't, but does that mean I'm not using the most up to date version of the mod? The first few posts in this topic made me unsure of that. I would like to be able to use it, if there's a way - mostly as a way to keep track of where I have been and where I haven't. Not having a map to use in things like this makes things a lot more tedious for me, so if it's at all possible...
But impressions - I am absolutely impressed with the art and aesthetics and visual style of the locations I've seen, it's really pretty, especially what is done with the plant life and coral and such around - the really long strands of green seaweed or something similar to the kelp forest's type of plant life was pretty impressive. What's also really impressed me, is that it's not just copy and pasted assets from the original campaign - I'm pretty sure there are some things in here that are entirely new.
And I think I found what is supposed to be Naija/Li's new home - I really like what is done with this, with individual rooms and places for them to rest and sit down, it really feels like they are trying to just enjoy a casual home life and everything.
I also like that you bothered including narration for Naija - obviously it's not voiced, but that you do have moments where she says something, even if it's just text. I was worried that something like that wouldn't be included in this and Naija would lose some of her personality in the translation to a mod.
But, criticism - I feel things are a bit *too* aimless. Yes, Aquaria is about an open world and exploring, but even the main game of Aquaria gives you *some* sense of direction - I feel like, if nothing else, you should at least be given some kind of idea from the start, where Naija/Li's home is at.
Also, it's too difficult! Just swimming around this area, I can't even sing a shield spell, yet I'm running into *multiples* of those worms with teeth that chase me around and can box me into a tunnel making it impossible to get out - and I can't even stock up on healing supplies? This is a little ridiculous - I don't feel that Aquaria should be a game based around this kind of difficulty - I've always found Aquaria to be a highly relaxing game that was never too frustrating or difficult, and was more about just enjoying exploring and such - it wasn't meant to be Super Ghouls and Ghosts, basically. Which is an exaggeration of the difficulty, but I'm trying to make a point.
I think, especially in the first area, before you get any real way to defend yourself, should have almost no threats. Look at the Home Waters, for example.
I'll keep playing though, and come back with more thoughts later.
Oh, one last thing, about the story, I'm a bit nervous about it because I absolutely hate the original extended ending, and I kindof feel that it's so flawed, anything that tries to build from it, will also be flawed, as it's just such an out of place, and out of character downer ending, but we'll see what I think of this, if I think it's well done at least, as I get through it.
14
Modding / Re: Can someone help me out with some basic node creation?
« on: July 10, 2012, 12:31:17 am »
I haven't actually played through Labyrinth yet, but interestingly enough, I *do* have it downloaded and installed. It's just, I'm in the process of playing through the entire game again - I'm attempting to go for all the steam achievements but we'll see if I can manage that - and I plan on trying at least when I beat the game again.
I really like the *idea* of the Labyrinth mod as an extension of the ending, a sortof extended epilogue or something, but I don't know how I'll like the execution until I play it. It's sortof flawed from the start for me because I really do not like the extended ending in the first place, and see anything that builds from it, as ultimately being flawed already - to the point I built up my own headcanon ending where that doesn't happen, same as I have pretty much written off ME3's ending in my mind.
But the gameplay of the mod could certainly be very interesting even if I'm not a fan of what's being done with the story. Or maybe I would like what's done with it, who knows? I do plan on playing it and posting about it though, don't worry - I just haven't done so yet.
I really like the *idea* of the Labyrinth mod as an extension of the ending, a sortof extended epilogue or something, but I don't know how I'll like the execution until I play it. It's sortof flawed from the start for me because I really do not like the extended ending in the first place, and see anything that builds from it, as ultimately being flawed already - to the point I built up my own headcanon ending where that doesn't happen, same as I have pretty much written off ME3's ending in my mind.
But the gameplay of the mod could certainly be very interesting even if I'm not a fan of what's being done with the story. Or maybe I would like what's done with it, who knows? I do plan on playing it and posting about it though, don't worry - I just haven't done so yet.
15
Modding / Re: Can someone help me out with some basic node creation?
« on: July 09, 2012, 11:18:45 pm »
Nah, I'm not that creative or artistic, so I don't plan on making my own mods or anything. Just wanted some basic knowledge for tweaking the BoA mod to get the most out of it.
And wow this works perfectly, thank you. I see the zoom nodes even override how sitting would normally zoom out, too, so that answers my earlier question. You've been a lot of help, thank you for bothering and being detailed and all.
And wow this works perfectly, thank you. I see the zoom nodes even override how sitting would normally zoom out, too, so that answers my earlier question. You've been a lot of help, thank you for bothering and being detailed and all.