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Post by Discoalucard on May 1, 2016 13:37:59 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/actualsunlight/actualsunlight.htmIndie gaming has been involving for a good while, and one of its most popular subgenres in the western world has become the narrative game. Many of these developers are more interested in telling a story than presenting a traditional game for a player to have fun with, and it's been met with mixed responses, mainly due to how so few of these developers understand how interactivity with their chosen medium can change the experience. But it's unclear all these developers even think things that far through. Some are so focused on capturing an idea or feeling that all the flaws in their title can't take away the sheer impact. Actual Sunlight is one of those games. It is also not a happy game by any stretch of the imagination.
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Post by JDarkside on May 1, 2016 14:10:56 GMT -5
Genuine warning on this one, I talk about suicide and depression because it's completely unavoidable with this game.
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Post by nerdybat on May 2, 2016 0:07:30 GMT -5
The idea seems very interesting, but execution (being made in RPG Maker, with default assets) really hurts the game in my opinion. I would say it's one of those games that creators should either develop in some other way - like Visual Novel for example, since Ren'Py isn't a complex or expensive engine to use, and artwork (aside of looking too animesque for its own good sometimes) is pretty solid - or just raise enough money and spend enough time to create an exceptional product out of it. I hope it'll get rereleased in better form someday, like Downfall and Corpse Party.
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Post by JDarkside on May 2, 2016 4:45:55 GMT -5
The idea seems very interesting, but execution (being made in RPG Maker, with default assets) really hurts the game in my opinion. I would say it's one of those games that creators should either develop in some other way - like Visual Novel for example, since Ren'Py isn't a complex or expensive engine to use, and artwork (aside of looking too animesque for its own good sometimes) is pretty solid - or just raise enough money and spend enough time to create an exceptional product out of it. I hope it'll get rereleased in better form someday, like Downfall and Corpse Party. This entire paragraph made my skin crawl a little. "Product." Bleh. I doubt this would have the same impact as a visual novel. The format is too passive for that to work. None of the observations or tangents would feel as natural if we were just fed them through an options menu or the like. And honestly, I think pretty graphics would distract from a lot of what the game is actually saying and conveying. Maybe if things went full on 3D with a lot of time and effort put into it in a cinematic fashion, but then I doubt this game would ever exist in that context.
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Deadanon
New Member
Professional jerk.
Posts: 18
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Post by Deadanon on May 2, 2016 10:52:24 GMT -5
Does this mean all future articles will have trigger warnings? Will they be added to old ones? "warning: this game contains bad dudes with attitude".
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ult
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by ult on May 2, 2016 11:17:50 GMT -5
You really like playing these PC indie adventure games, don't you, Jdarkside?
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Post by Discoalucard on May 2, 2016 11:42:04 GMT -5
Does this mean all future articles will have trigger warnings? Will they be added to old ones? "warning: this game contains bad dudes with attitude". Less than 24 hours before whining about trigger warnings. Thanks, forum!
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Post by JDarkside on May 2, 2016 13:10:00 GMT -5
Does this mean all future articles will have trigger warnings? Will they be added to old ones? "warning: this game contains bad dudes with attitude". Less than 24 hours before whining about trigger warnings. Thanks, forum! Heaven forbid I think about people who have dealt with severe depression or thoughts of suicide and warning them that some content in the article may trigger a traumatic memory. Obviously the answer is to go tell those people to grow a spine and ignore the most basic teachings of psychology as it refers to mental health and trauma.
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Post by nerdybat on May 2, 2016 13:17:35 GMT -5
The idea seems very interesting, but execution (being made in RPG Maker, with default assets) really hurts the game in my opinion. I would say it's one of those games that creators should either develop in some other way - like Visual Novel for example, since Ren'Py isn't a complex or expensive engine to use, and artwork (aside of looking too animesque for its own good sometimes) is pretty solid - or just raise enough money and spend enough time to create an exceptional product out of it. I hope it'll get rereleased in better form someday, like Downfall and Corpse Party. This entire paragraph made my skin crawl a little. "Product." Bleh. I doubt this would have the same impact as a visual novel. The format is too passive for that to work. None of the observations or tangents would feel as natural if we were just fed them through an options menu or the like. And honestly, I think pretty graphics would distract from a lot of what the game is actually saying and conveying. Maybe if things went full on 3D with a lot of time and effort put into it in a cinematic fashion, but then I doubt this game would ever exist in that context. Not necesserily "full on 3D with a lot of time and effort put into it in a cinematic fashion", and not necesserily "pretty" - just a little bit more consistent, that's what I'm trying to say. It wouldn't hurt to spend some time and create original sprites/tiles, or do some little design tweaks here and there, etc. Like with "To The Moon", for example - it was made entirely in RPG Maker (one of the relatively older versions, actually), but artwork is consistent, and everything just fits perfectly, not because of uber-talented artists, huge budget and dozens of developers (there was nothing like that, obviously), but because it had a long and elaborate development cycle. I know it's kinda a dick move to criticize such a personal and autobiographical project, and it "wasn't supposed to be super-elaborate and tightly made", but considering it's a non-free game that's being sold on Steam and PSN (which essentialy makes it a "product", bleh), I see no reason not to criticize it as such, and in my opinion, there's still enough work to make it look less unfinished and amateurish. I'm not even saying it's a bad game (I bought it just a while ago, actually), there's just something to rework.
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Post by JDarkside on May 2, 2016 13:58:52 GMT -5
Okay, I can agree with that.
But I think some of the flaws actually add to it. Part of me feels like improving the production a little would actually lessen the impact.
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Post by BrunoB on May 2, 2016 15:42:00 GMT -5
Played the game myself and I really liked your review, I agree with it 100%. Also I agree that a game that speaks about such an imperfect and ugly situation is more powerful in being imperfect and ugly itself.
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Deadanon
New Member
Professional jerk.
Posts: 18
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Post by Deadanon on May 2, 2016 17:17:22 GMT -5
Less than 24 hours before whining about trigger warnings. Thanks, forum! Heaven forbid I think about people who have dealt with severe depression or thoughts of suicide and warning them that some content in the article may trigger a traumatic memory. Obviously the answer is to go tell those people to grow a spine and ignore the most basic teachings of psychology as it refers to mental health and trauma. Sorry, I should have prefixed it with "Warning: this post contains opinions".
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Post by Joseph Joestar on May 2, 2016 17:37:32 GMT -5
Heaven forbid I think about people who have dealt with severe depression or thoughts of suicide and warning them that some content in the article may trigger a traumatic memory. Obviously the answer is to go tell those people to grow a spine and ignore the most basic teachings of psychology as it refers to mental health and trauma. Sorry, I should have prefixed it with "Warning: this post contains opinions". Shh! ... do you want to get yourself shot?!?
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Post by Kubo Caskett on May 2, 2016 17:43:47 GMT -5
At least it's called "Content Warning" not "trigger warning" but I'm not sure why that's so anyway given that there are plenty of games that deal with heavy issues out there or am I missing something?
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Post by Discoalucard on May 2, 2016 17:54:28 GMT -5
I have little interest in this thread becoming a discussion on trigger warnings. Talk about the game or the article or don't post at all. Shh! ... do you want to get yourself shot?!? Really losing my patience for this type of shitposting.
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