Messages

1

General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p

« on: February 21, 2009, 05:29:31 am »

MM discussion? awesome!!!

Could you maybe take that to another thread if it's going to continue? I know this discussion of a sequel is probably mostly over, but I'm interested in a sequel and don't want to keep coming in here thinking there's discussion about a sequel if there isn't.

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General / Re: Disc version/Future Retail plans

« on: February 13, 2009, 01:00:16 pm »

I mentioned it in another thread, but I also am looking to pay for a physical copy of the game.
I'm currently in a little bit of debt, but if it weren't for that I'd preorder. (Filing some income tax forms should fix that.) I suppose pay now/pay later would depend on ETA VS there being any bonus to preordering. I know there was a guy who did some custom statues who took orders and didn't delivery until a whole year later.

I guess Alec is working on the iPhone version, huh? I guess that's pretty important, since that would get a lot of exposure.

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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p

« on: February 13, 2009, 12:27:17 pm »

Despite any criticism I might have, I'd still like a sequel even if it was done the same as Aquaria in almost every way. (although a new gameplay style would be nice)

I'm sorry that Aquaria has been too difficult to repeat the process, but aren't you going to get that with ANY game you make?? How is the current game you're working on going to be spared from criticism? Is it because it doesn't have a forum? You could just close the forum.
I don't want to say the issue is irrelevant, just that it's not irreconcilable, and that I think you'll still have to deal with the issue if you keep on the profession of game-making. (I don't know if you have other jobs, like music composition or music playing; and whether they're free from criticism or just of significantly less criticism...)

IMO, Xenogears had a pretty terrible story, and the storytelling was even worse. It even degraded into a novel at the end. (I'm guessing they ran out of time to finish the game properly? They just ended up having large periods of text followed by a single boss or single dungeon)

I enjoyed playing through Xenogears, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about the plot, because it was so convoluted.

I think Aquaria relies a lot on the player's imagination to fill in the gaps. Its a more subtle/light way of telling a story. I guess the downside of that is that some people fill in the gaps with "OMG IT WOULD HAVE TO BE THIS STUPID THING THAT I HATE LOL".

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. You can't make people who are determined to hate something like it.

And that's one of the main reasons why I don't ever want to have to make a sequel.

I haven't played Aquaria recently to re-evaluate how your story-telling relates to any of these issues.
On a similar note about leaving things up to the audience to imagine, I get pretty sick and tired of the TV show Lost doing that, but they give no hints at all.

I do think there was some cheesiness in the voice acting. Over-dramatic in places.
I think voices in games are a lot more demanding than text. With text you can imagine the voice in your head however you think it would be most appropriate. When you hear a voice, it's no longer tailored to you. It's just more difficult to get voices right than text,  I think. There's just a lot more variation.

Aquaria is a unique story in the way that it's told, and this all relies on the player. There are some people out there who are too dense to look beyond what is presented to them to what it truly means. To fully get the meaning of some events, you have to look deeper. (ie: Naija finding Li symbolizes an end to Naija's constant loneliness, but some people would only see this as "oh wow she found a boyfrnd")

No, I think the end of loneliness was literally in the dialog. No reading between the lines required there.

Also, while we don't get any build-up to the romance, we do get a flashback that they've met at least briefly before.
If it hadn't been for Li running away when they "first" met suggesting otherwise, there might have been the possibility that they had spent time together.
I wonder if Li meeting her as a little girl while he was in a boat is the reason for him remaining there and diving. (unless he was just stuck there with no alternative. :> )

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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p

« on: February 10, 2009, 08:38:08 am »

Looks like Alec would be willing to do a sequel if Derek is...

If Derek doesn't want to front the full workload of the art for a sequal, and is just willing to take on a design/oversight role, I'm sure based on the strength of the first game, there'd be bucket-loads of artists willing to slave over the drudge work for peanuts.

Well, let's not put words in his mouth, but I would like to know if Derek has an interest in doing this eventually, or if he's indefinitely disinterested.

Yes, gravity is more pronounced in flight than in swimming. or at least faster-acting. It wouldn't be the same at all.

As they are both just propulsion through a fluid they are physically essentially the same thing bar a few variables.

But there was no gravity put in place in the swimming in this game. (Other than when you left the water or immediately upon entering it.) If the controls were the same for the air, it would be strange. I think moving upward should be slower. I mean, you gotta flap your wings or catch an updraft to rise in the air. Maybe you could do loop-de-loops, but you'd lose some altitude when you did it.

Mmm... you know what would also be awesome? semi-3D air/water movement. more than 2.5D though. Maybe if it was 2D but instead of limited layers, you would have full control but still view it from the side.  :> hmm... or maybe more like 2.55 dimensions, where you could at least rotate in 45 degree increments. I was thinking enemies on other layers should be limited to moving parallel, but what's the fun in that? seeing them fore-shortened would give you enough clues that they're heading towards you. hm, but you wouldn't be able to tell exactly where they intersect with your layer... :S

Boy, air travel would be difficult to limit without "caging the bird". or don't limit it. or set unexplained barriers when you get too far away from stuff to interact with. heh. if you didn't limit it, you could put a secret in another continent after you fly for a few days across the ocean, assuming you're character is not prone to weakening from hunger. watch there be no limits and people try that only to find there is nothing, or it loops back to the other side. hahah. :>

Oh, is that ... Li and Naija's son? I didn't remember the ending that well. It's been a while. All I remember is a human boy in an airship. I thought maybe it was Li. I also thought there was a more Naija-like girl that I thought was their daughter, but I forget if we ever got info from the source on who she was.

According to the gfx directory the girl is "luciengf" which I presume is Lucien's girlfriend.
When I saw the ending I too thought the girl was Naija and Li's daughter, but I thought the boy must be her son (Naija's grand-son) as he looks much younger than the she does.

Ok, thanks.

Hmm well, Prince Rask was brought back to life like the other leaders (except for the sun worshippers, poor guys got left out), and the other leaders got other race members greeting them - it seems implied that the Mithalans were brought back too, only they were left off-screen. Possibly because none of them figured they should go to the throne room.

So I guess the gf being Mithalan wouldn't be farfetched.

If the Mithalans were brought back off-screen, couldn't the same have happened to the sun worshipers? Boy, I don't remember what happened in the game or why.

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General / Re: Great Game Horrible Controls?

« on: February 09, 2009, 07:44:15 am »

I always had problems with the controls. I got pretty frustrated when I went back to play the game and I wanted to catalog all the save points and do a speed run while getting no items. That was a bad idea because it was too difficult for me and I was never that good to begin with.
I should try those alternative controls people have mentioned (especially the gamepad), because I think I used the mouse only. Boosting was really difficult. Sometimes it won't go off for a while and other times I can do it repeatedly.

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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p

« on: February 09, 2009, 07:37:02 am »

Interesting issue; however, Li could just retrieve his helmet from the save room.

If a sequel is in the works, I'd love the same swim / fly / burrow capabilities Faedyne suggested. An expedition to find the remnants of the flying city would fit the bill. 

I was thinking more traditional walking as far as "earth", rather than burrowing. Burrowing would probably take up a lot of info to keep track of the altered map. Maybe you could gain some wall-sticking powers or something.

Swimming is not much different to flying in a game, no gravity unless you programme it in lol

Yes, gravity is more pronounced in flight than in swimming. or at least faster-acting. It wouldn't be the same at all.

I bet he's not kidding either. Humans are monkeys. Maybe you get to play as Li.

Spoiler Post:
Actually, I'd guess you'd play as Lucien, the kid you see flying away at the end, which would be a half monkey.

I actually wonder what happened to Li though, I mean, you see Naija in the crystal on the main screen, that's what happened to her, but what about Li? Did he die of old age? Or did he drown because Naija wasn't around anymore?

Oh, is that ... Li and Naija's son? I didn't remember the ending that well. It's been a while. All I remember is a human boy in an airship. I thought maybe it was Li. I also thought there was a more Naija-like girl that I thought was their daughter, but I forget if we ever got info from the source on who she was.

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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p

« on: February 07, 2009, 04:29:24 pm »

Huge post right here ... I compiled everything Alec said about a sequel:

Thank you for all the work, Chibi!

I still think the theme he has for the game he's currently working on is similar to Aquaria. Young female protagonist, formerly manipulated, rebels against her creator, and has body-altering powers.

Will the monkeys be in the sequel? (If you're planning on one, that is)....

You play as a monkey in the sequel.

I bet he's not kidding either. Humans are monkeys. Maybe you get to play as Li.

I think there's some confusion here ... lol

Yeah, if you're talking about a possible sequel, which we're totally not working on right now, but maybe at some point in the future... then yeah, there are some ideas where it would take place. (the secret ending hints at part of it)

Seeing the flying castle, I thought right away about flying forms. That would be fun. Maybe for the 3 games we'll have water, earth, and air. It would be nice if we get a mod-able engine at some point that allows us to make use of all the systems from the previous games. Swimming, flying, and walking, or whatever they end up being.

My 2 cents:

Right now I don't think we could handle working on a sequel, because we really just feel like working on something new.

That said, the sequel would be quite different from the original and involve a number of new ideas and game play concepts, so I don't think it would feel like a rehash either.

I also think it would benefit the sequel if we waited a while and came back to do it at a later point in our lives when we have a different perspective on things. (no idea when that would be) It would be interesting thematically, we could kind of challenge our old ideas.

I'm sad that it will be so long before we get to see more, but I hope Derek intends to return to it as much as Alec does, and I'll be waiting for whenever it happens. I guess it will also give them a chance to improve and learn new things to apply to a new game.
I'm also waiting for the hard-copy game to come out to buy it. I gotta have pretty box art on my shelf. It'll go with my Ryzom and Myst boxes. (and WoW. hahah) Not sure about the soundtrack, but I am interested and do like to support my favorite artists.

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General / Re: Naija Cosplay at Anime Expo '08

« on: July 30, 2008, 08:19:22 am »

website seems to have flipped over... pictures aren't showing up. I never got to see these.
(also, any more pics of the Midna cosplay?)

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Gameplay / Re: Aquaria Boss Strategies

« on: January 13, 2008, 03:15:23 am »

I had unbelieveable trouble hitting that little blue bulb in his mouth as well...I think about 1 in 8 shots would actually hit it.  And only 1 of the 4 that hit had me get out of the way of the beam as well.

I got tons of food lol xD
I got hit every time I tired to shoot the blue head thing
but I managed to avoid the shooting from that head, I used royal soup...

Huh. I might have had trouble with the timing on that bubble cave boss, but when I only have to worry about a few buttons, I can manage better. I was able to fairly quickly get the timing on blasting him AND getting out of the way. It might help if you back away a bit.

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Gameplay / Re: Spoiler: Need help with abyss

« on: January 13, 2008, 03:11:05 am »

Also, you can thorn-jump with Nature Form from the island to the bubbles right above it.

I tried that, but I couldn't get it to launch me anywhere near as strong as when I tried it accidentally on a hillside. What's the difference that makes it launch you as opposed to just bump you up a little bit?

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Gameplay / Re: Aquarian Runes *spoilers*

« on: January 10, 2008, 08:28:54 pm »

I was searching recently for a picture someone posted on here that showed the runes from the editor, but I couldn't find it. It's more accurate than that hand-drawn version we have so far, because I'm having trouble matching them right now. (also can't find mention of stuff translated from Open Waters)

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Gameplay / Re: The ending, final boss, etc. [Obviously spoilers]

« on: January 10, 2008, 09:35:36 am »

But why is the city buried so deeply underwater? Even if the boy/creator took a while to die or get his powers of make Mia, which eventually made Naija, I just don't get it why it is buried so deep, and to think of it, the Creator DID create The Body, Right?
Also, something that crashes, into ocean or land, doesn't usually keep integrity, aka: it falls apart. And just like you just said, his attempt to make his mother and father underwater, just like the "sunken" city. And things that are supposed to be above water, like wood and other building materials, this also aged in time underwater.
Or last possibility is that he just created The Veil and Kelp Forest above the Sunken City, but that would mean he controls land too, which also isn't right.

Somehow I wonder if this much thought was really put into it. :> Whether the sunken city was from the flying city or was recreated, I think  will have little to do with whether that LARGE area could have somehow fit intact through the large amount of narrow passages above it, or whether everything between it and the surface are actually covered over after it fell.

and I think with the Creator's death, he probably brought back other Mithalans, not just the prince. so that black-haired girl could be the princess.

So... anyone think Eric = Alec? :> both creators of Aquaria. :> apply some lazy English vowels and some R/L interchangeable.

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Gameplay / Re: Not Buying and Here's Why

« on: January 10, 2008, 09:17:57 am »

I don't know how hard it is for most people, (I suspect it is) but I think cooler heads on both sides would have been better. (woulda, coulda, shoulda, but it isn't)

A suggestion to Alec, before giving the cold shoulder, perhaps a reminder that this is an independent game, and whether pandering to an audience is something you have no interest or not. I honestly wasn't sure if it was obvious that you were indifferent to the desires of the players or not. I happened to have known that it was an independent game, but you still can't make assumptions based on that.

and original poster, try not to assume intent of the creator(s). I noticed someone else saying how ludicrous it is that the creators would not want to sell more copies. and they were wrong.
I deal with the same problems of offering criticism to things I feel have more potential, but my opinion about where the potential lies isn't the same as the artist's, and you have to respect that. I don't know how many people who can't get along with others have poor social skills like me, but I suspect that's most likely. It's hard to overcome. I feel social skills will let me get along, but our opinions will still differ and we'll still be so isolated in our thoughts. Well, perhaps some artists can share the same visions...

uhm... LOVE! everybody!  <cue Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite>

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Gameplay / Re: [spoilers] Rank Your Favorite Forms

« on: January 09, 2008, 12:18:43 am »

as far as looks go, it's hard to pick. I have a feeling one or both of the people making this game also liked purple a lot. (my favorite color)
probably:
Mutant costume
Naija's Dual Form
both of which are... not so great for combat, sadly, and both at the end of the game, so I don't get to see them much.
I did probably spend most of my time in beast form, switching to energy form to kill. Dual Form is so slow for killing, I almost wonder if Energy Form is still faster.  Those damned poison-spitting balls in The Body took so many damned hits, and was mostly a waste of time. Nothing ever dropped in there, not even health.

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Gameplay / Re: Ixis' Treasure Hunter's FAQ

« on: January 06, 2008, 07:16:59 pm »

Yeah, it is unbelievable slow...That's the reason why I only did some minor editing/adding until now...

Can't it be hosted somewhere else faster?

I ended up saving all the existing pages I could, so that I would never have to load up the wiki again. Of course, all this was AFTER I finished the game, so I'm less interested in continuing to play.