Aquaria FAQ

[Xocrates]

Just because I'm rather bored and feel like being picky:

Anyway, if you buy MS Word for Windows, do you expect to get the Mac version, as well?  How about PhotoShop? World of Warcraft?  While it happens in some cases, it is uncommon for companies to sell a single version of software for all platforms.

Actually, WOW comes with a Windows/mac hybrid CD, as do most of Blizzard games. Same is true for all the games in the Myst series.

Your point stands though 

Never mind me, carry on.

[Alec]

The game is focused around Naija and her journey, much like Metroid and Symphony of the Night focus around Samus and Alucard. That said, there are other characters that factor into the storyline, but how many and to what extent I don't want to talk about yet, as I don't want to spoil anything.

There's also a diverse range of interaction with creatures, some are hostile, some are friendly... many have unique ways of interacting with Naija, with varying effects. There's also a few other gameplay elements we haven't revealed yet.

You learn songs in different ways as you progress through the game. The menu left side of the menu has a list of songs, the right side plays the notes for you when you hover over one of the song icons. Clicking a song icon has Naija explain what it does.

[p3ter_st0ry]

That sounds sweet. When we want to use a song, will we have to bring up a submenu(that circle of notes) and highlight each of the song's notes manually, or will we have to option of just pressing a key on our keyboards? It could get hard to remember all the combinations; of course, we can always review them.

[rsaa]

Thx for the answers  And about what p3ter_st0ry said.. i think it will be rather difficult to make a new song during a battle if it`s that way. I mean there`s no pause for this, the game is still running and this action takes time,  some big fish can eat Naija 

[p3ter_st0ry]

Yea, I'd get really freaked out trying to make myself into the fire Naija with that crazy fish thing after me.

[nestor]

Has there been any progress in the area of boxed distribution for Aquaria?  I haven't heard anything about this in a while.  I definitely hope that boxed versions make it into stores at some point.   

[Sfiera]

Alec,

It would be nice if answered questions were edited back into the original post, but that's probably not a good use of your time. Is there a moderator around here you can delegate grunt-work to?

Also, I had thought the story, as revealed so far, was supposed to pose the question of whether she was alone in the world. Your response above says pretty explicitly (at least to me) that she's not. I had assumed already that she wasn't, so nothing lost there, but you might consider editing out the second sentence (and this paragraph, since it's even more explicit).

[Alec]

Naw, not going to change what I said, its very vague and it could mean almost anything.

[ArcticSwan360]

Would it be fair to describe this game as underwater adventure in the vein of Metroid and Castlevania? I don't mean that it will be action-packed, filled with zombies and aliens, but in the idea of huge, beautiful areas to explore and many things to discover.

[Alec]

Yes, that's very fair! I think Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a good comparison.

In terms of differences, Aquaria has more open areas, and also more of a mix of peaceful and combat areas. Not everything in the world is out to kill you. There are a lot of entities you can interact with in peaceful ways to accomplish things. It should feel like a big, exciting world to explore and discover.

[ArcticSwan360]

Cool, all of this sounds really interesting. It also looks have more adventure qualities, which seems pretty cool.

[Tosheros]

As long as we don't have to make a Pinnochio-like trip inside the belly of a whale, its good (damn this Monstro really traumataised me when I first saw the movie as I vas 2 or 3 years old XD even now I can't watch the movie)

[shinygerbil]

What about Zelda? Link frequently visits the insides of some fish or other. ;P

[p3ter_st0ry]

Jabu Jabu's Belly was one of the most frustrating levels ever! How are you supposed to know you have to make the floor go up and down, it was just freaking ridiculous! I was stuff on that level for like 6 months 

[Kal]

That's not merely a Zelda feature (although trust me, no one liked the GBC version of Jabu Jabu).  The idea of going into the belly of a giant fish is as old as Jonah.  It's certainly plausible, but making a maze out of a fish's gut is a little tricky if you stick close to reality, seeing as it's pretty much a straight line...