TIGSource - February 2013 (87 posts)
#152 February 01, 2013 06:11 PM
Quote from: roc on January 23, 2013, 12:02:35 PM I’ve been meaning to gush about how much I love the idea and execution of this game, everything supports the atmosphere so well I’m freaking out oh my god. You should call it Pampers, Please because it’s so awesome that the first build I played made me do literally every bathroom thing in my pants. I especially love the Where in the Dystopia is Carmen Sandiego vibe it exudes, you rule.
Thanks roc. YOU rule.
Quote from: secv on January 23, 2013, 10:35:33 PM This is pretty cool! It’s a lot of information to take in at once, but with a bit of clicking and reading it starts to make sense. I like figuring out games, but I could see some people getting fed up pretty quick.
One thing that is missing for me is the emotional aspect of the job.
Thank you. I’m aiming to introduce the concepts more gradually and add more emotional impact through dialog.
Quote from: DET. Defective on January 25, 2013, 03:47:35 AM Really enjoying the build, though I keep hoping for a legitimate person to come along. :concerned:
Cool. I’ve been playing with this balance recently. On the one hand I want enough mistakes to make a proper game. To be more realistic and keep you on your toes though there should be a good number of people who have no errors.
New build coming up shortly. Will be native Windows and Mac builds this time since it’s getting too big for Flash. Probably breaking all kinds of stuff.
#153 February 01, 2013 06:49 PM
Finally something new to post. Behind the scenes the game has come a long way since 12/15, but the outward progress is less obvious. But I thought it best to stop noodling with little stuff and post some native builds. Not really sure how well they work since the HaxeNME Flash and native targets have quite a few quirky differences.
Briefly, this build has the title screen, intro screens, and the first 5 days of roughed-in gameplay. The night-time screens aren’t functional yet and the game badly needs sound effects. There are also a few features (bribery, document trading) that are implemented but not exposed in the gameplay yet.
Because this is the first native build, and I’m working on a Mac, I’d really like to hear if the windows exe works ok for people.
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#154 DustyDrake (February 01, 2013 07:47 PM)
Gimmie a sec and I’ll let you know.Works fine for me, but it’s a little annoying how it’s forced full screen, yet the game doesn’t even take up the full screen for me at 1440x900
oooh, assets folder…
*goes poking around*
#155 February 01, 2013 08:27 PM
Quote from: DustyDrake on February 01, 2013, 07:47:29 PM Works fine for me, but it’s a little annoying how it’s forced full screen, yet the game doesn’t even take up the full screen for me at 1440x900
Cool thanks for the report. I’ll make the next builds default to windowed mode. You should be able to switch it with ALT-ENTER now.
At the moment it resizes to the largest whole pixel scale from 480x320 which normally leaves a black border in full screen.
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#156 pluckyporcupine (February 01, 2013 08:29 PM)
Windows version works great but like Drake said, it doesn’t fill the full screen on my 1920x1080 monitor (doesn’t even use all of the horizontal space). I won’t lie though. I’d rather have that than have it stretched horizontally.This is the first time I’ve actually played the game (was waiting on all of the shiny new features you’ve been showing off) but I am really liking it. The animations are all so insanely smooth (especially the silhouettes!) and it’s an oddly compelling repetition of key gameplay elements that are at play here.
My only problem is the lack of sound! Some satisfying shutter noises, some sounds of the papers being shuffled around, the sound of the stamp coming down on the paper.
#157 Pineapple (February 01, 2013 08:33 PM)
It’s wonderful, I like it. :grin:#158 randomshade (February 01, 2013 09:47 PM)
The Heavens opened wide and down rained much glory and joy.Downloading now. Super excited.
Post Download: I can sleep happily tonight. By far the most interesting game I’ve played in quite a while, and it just gets better and better.
#159 pluckyporcupine (February 01, 2013 11:50 PM)
I noticed that, at the end of the day, when the clock went dark, on the first day, it only let me finish working with the immigrant that I was already working with. On the second day, it let 3 more through before ending the day. Confused me quite a bit.
#160 February 02, 2013 12:21 AM
Quote from: randomshade on February 01, 2013, 09:47:11 PM Post Download: I can sleep happily tonight. By far the most interesting game I’ve played in quite a while, and it just gets better and better.
Thanks randomshade! You had me a little worried with your enthusiasm :). I can’t say for sure if the game is any good at this stage so I’m relieved to hear you like it.
Quote from: johnki on February 01, 2013, 11:50:04 PM I noticed that, at the end of the day, when the clock went dark, on the first day, it only let me finish working with the immigrant that I was already working with. On the second day, it let 3 more through before ending the day. Confused me quite a bit.
There’s a minimum number of people you have to process for each day. If the clock ends before this, you still need to finish out the remaining entrants (sans pay). I set it up like this so that story-critical entrants can be scripted per day and will match up with the daily bulletins. I’ll try to explain this quota system in an early bulletin.
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#161 DustyDrake (February 02, 2013 12:29 AM)
I figured there was a quota.
Now I haven’t booted the game back up yet, but will the game still be random with some predefined people?#162 pluckyporcupine (February 02, 2013 12:32 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 02, 2013, 12:21:21 AM There’s a minimum number of people you have to process for each day. If the clock ends before this, you still need to finish out the remaining entrants (sans pay). I set it up like this so that story-critical entrants can be scripted per day and will match up with the daily bulletins. I’ll try to explain this quota system in an early bulletin.
Gotcha. Thanks. :)Might do well to explain that in game through one of the bulletins, yeah.
#163 February 02, 2013 12:34 AM
Quote from: DustyDrake on February 02, 2013, 12:29:41 AM I figured there was a quota.
Now I haven’t booted the game back up yet, but will the game still be random with some predefined people?
Yeah. And even the predefined people often have only certain things defined. So likely their faces, nationality, and possibly errors will be different each time you play. I don’t think that’s too interesting though and I don’t really consider a feature. Just that specifying those things hasn’t been necessary yet and the random generator takes care of it without any effort.
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#164 randomshade (February 02, 2013 12:37 AM)
I only wish I could make a game this brilliant, seriously.What’s funny is that I’d be hard pressed to explain why I like it so much; the only game I’ve played that has any similarity would be Ace Attorney, which I’m not a huge fan of, but everything in your game just clicks for me. It’s like some direct neural injection of “fucking awesome” and the withdrawals are fierce.
No rush to finish, but a cyberpunk sequel would probably kill me on contact from euphoria :wink:
Edit: Also, totally unrelated, Helsing’s Fire was a really nice game; the first game I had on my phone that I played for hours. You are morphing into a rock star [for me] :tongue:
#165 Panurge (February 02, 2013 01:25 AM)
The new build is magnificent. Next, please!#166 Taber (February 02, 2013 08:16 AM)
I’ve been playing this in the morning with a cup of coffee and doughnuts. It really adds to the atmosphere! :coffee:Really enjoying the current build! I was mistakenly trying to stamp all documents for a while, but I’m sure new players wont have that problem; it’s just a hang up I carried over from previous play-troughs.
I can tell you put a lot of work into the faces, especially when their photo is only slightly different! :hand thumbs up left: Great job! :hand thumbs up right:
#167 Jobastion (February 02, 2013 05:03 PM)
Works well on Windows here. Only odd thing in game I’ve noticed that hasn’t been mentioned already (that I’m aware of) is that the Denied and Approve stamps now have a date on them which does not increment as the days go by. I assume you’ve got plans for that though.#168 epcc (February 02, 2013 09:15 PM)
I got 7? warnings during the playthrough and for most of them I had no idea what was missing/wrong. I double-checked everything.
Another problem was that when sometimes there was multiple disparencies, it only let me highlight one of them.
Still, had a lot of fun with that. Please continue.#169 Armageddon (February 02, 2013 10:40 PM)
Good game, now all you need is sound. And like epcc said, it would help if the warnings told you what you did wrong. Love all the art too, would be interesting if the world around your booth changed a little each day, like a war was going on or something.Also voices would be really cool.
#170 elija (February 03, 2013 12:23 AM)
Original Idea, Good luck!#171 pluckyporcupine (February 03, 2013 01:09 AM)
On another playthrough, I realized that neither the kg meter nor the detain button work yet. Is that intentional?
#172 February 03, 2013 01:41 AM
Thanks all for the new build feedback.
Quote from: Jobastion on February 02, 2013, 05:03:49 PM Only odd thing in game I’ve noticed that hasn’t been mentioned already (that I’m aware of) is that the Denied and Approve stamps now have a date on them which does not increment as the days go by. I assume you’ve got plans for that though.
Quote from: johnki on February 03, 2013, 01:09:53 AM On another playthrough, I realized that neither the kg meter nor the detain button work yet. Is that intentional?
Good eyes. Both of these are just not implemented yet and should fall into later builds.
Quote from: epcc on February 02, 2013, 09:15:11 PM I got 7? warnings during the playthrough and for most of them I had no idea what was missing/wrong. I double-checked everything.
I was wondering if the warning should mention the exact mistake. I assumed it wouldn’t help much since by the time you get the warning the entrant is gone and you can’t check their papers anymore. But both you and Armageddon have mentioned it so I’ll experiment.
Another problem was that when sometimes there was multiple disparencies, it only let me highlight one of them.
Can you give me more info about this? The inspect mode should let you highlight any two pieces of information. Did you highlight two clearly discrepant pieces of info and it didn’t show the Interrogate button?
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#173 pluckyporcupine (February 03, 2013 01:50 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 03, 2013, 01:41:01 AM I was wondering if the warning should mention the exact mistake. I assumed it wouldn’t help much since by the time you get the warning the entrant is gone and you can’t check their papers anymore. But both you and Armageddon have mentioned it so I’ll experiment.
Speaking from experience, in my last playthrough, I got 4 warnings on the first day. I had no idea what I did wrong. For the most part, on the first day, I thought I was supposed to approve pretty much everyone since I couldn’t highlight discrepancies.So, even if not exact, more info would be greatly appreciated.
#174 February 03, 2013 02:06 AM
Quote from: johnki on February 03, 2013, 01:50:28 AM Speaking from experience, in my last playthrough, I got 4 warnings on the first day. I had no idea what I did wrong. For the most part, on the first day, I thought I was supposed to approve pretty much everyone since I couldn’t highlight discrepancies.
So, even if not exact, more info would be greatly appreciated.
Hehe ok that’s good to know. This is a little scary though because the first bulletin states matter-of-factly that you should only permit Arstotzkan citizens to enter due to a security alert. Did you read the bulletin when playing?
In retrospect, people will probably miss important bulletin info no matter what so a detailed warning report seems necessary.
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#175 DustyDrake (February 03, 2013 02:10 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 03, 2013, 01:41:01 AM Can you give me more info about this? The inspect mode should let you highlight any two pieces of information. Did you highlight two clearly discrepant pieces of info and it didn’t show the Interrogate button?
Personally I think inspect mode should get thrown out all together, and you should be able to question the person ‘directly’.
Because at the moment it isn’t really clear.
I had a guy who said he came to work, his entry permit said travel, but he still lacked a work permit.
I would’ve shunted the guy out because he said he came to work, but lacked the work permit.The way that worked for me in inspect mode, is that I highlighted the rule saying he lacked a work permit, and the table meaning he didn’t have one, but it wouldn’t give it to me.
In my idea, you’d click the rule about not having a work permit, and your character would ask them about it.
“Where is your work permit?”
“What? Oh, I come for travel. Apologies.”
You could then check his entry permit to see if that’s what it said.I personally only use inspect mode to double check, or to compare dates. Beyond that, I don’t touch it, since I’m already inspecting everything.
#176 pluckyporcupine (February 03, 2013 02:19 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 03, 2013, 02:06:34 AM This is a little scary though because the first bulletin states matter-of-factly that you should only permit Arstotzkan citizens to enter due to a security alert. Did you read the bulletin when playing?
Not well enough, apparently!I won’t lie. I only scanned it the first time. Totally missed that part. That would probably be the problem.
With some other ones, though, I swear I checked everything except height. Would be nice to know if discrepant height is actually what I’m getting penalized for.
EDIT: Played again. Yep. That was the problem.
Got no discrepancies the first day then got slammed with 4 in a row the second day. :facepalm: Really wondering what I missed though.
#177 Eigen (February 03, 2013 03:16 AM)
I played it for quite a while this morning and it was really awesome! Very nicely done. :hand clap:There’s a slight issue with the music. Sometimes it cuts off after the first beat with a weird glitchy sound. Next couple of times it may work just fine. This happens both during the intro and the “day over” screen.
Would there be any way to increase the size of the document inspection area just a tad bit? I know it’s probably intentional but there’s a lot workspace management just to get the document you want and it feels like an unneccesary action.
It can get a little repetive after playing for a while but I guess once the “day over” screen is fully implemented and you have to manage your earnings it would break the monotony a bit.
I’m definitely going to play it some more. This game made feel sorry for the actual immigration officers. Having to be this alert all of the time is really exhausting mentally …
#178 Jobastion (February 03, 2013 07:19 PM)
Quote from: DustyDrake on February 03, 2013, 02:10:54 AM Quote from: dukope on February 03, 2013, 01:41:01 AM Can you give me more info about this? The inspect mode should let you highlight any two pieces of information. Did you highlight two clearly discrepant pieces of info and it didn’t show the Interrogate button?
Personally I think inspect mode should get thrown out all together, and you should be able to question the person ‘directly’.
Because at the moment it isn’t really clear.
I had a guy who said he came to work, his entry permit said travel, but he still lacked a work permit.
I would’ve shunted the guy out because he said he came to work, but lacked the work permit.The way that worked for me in inspect mode, is that I highlighted the rule saying he lacked a work permit, and the table meaning he didn’t have one, but it wouldn’t give it to me.
In my idea, you’d click the rule about not having a work permit, and your character would ask them about it.
“Where is your work permit?”
“What? Oh, I come for travel. Apologies.”
You could then check his entry permit to see if that’s what it said.I personally only use inspect mode to double check, or to compare dates. Beyond that, I don’t touch it, since I’m already inspecting everything.
For this situation, you’d pull the audio transcript, which is sorta hidden behind the microphone, then highlight the line where he says he came for work and the line on the entry permit that says it is for travel, which will reveal the discrepancy.Later on it may not be a bad idea to have a brief tutorial of the items that are available at the start of the game. (I missed the audio transcript the first time around)
“Rule book to right. Regular updated. Check each day. Audio transcript is middle. Keep track, many lies traitors tell to bring down Arstotzka. Clock to left. Time always short. Coffee break lever at top. No coffee breaks, do not use.”
#179 February 03, 2013 08:58 PM
Quote from: johnki on February 03, 2013, 02:19:01 AM Got no discrepancies the first day then got slammed with 4 in a row the second day. :facepalm: Really wondering what I missed though.
Ok. Thanks for trying it out again. Next build will list the mistake on the warning.
Quote from: Eigen on February 03, 2013, 03:16:26 AM There’s a slight issue with the music. Sometimes it cuts off after the first beat with a weird glitchy sound. Next couple of times it may work just fine. This happens both during the intro and the “day over” screen.
Damn. This was happening for me too but I thought (hoped really) it was just an issue with the VM. HaxeNME uses SDL_Mixer for audio and tbh it’s a bit shit.
Would there be any way to increase the size of the document inspection area just a tad bit? I know it’s probably intentional but there’s a lot workspace management just to get the document you want and it feels like an unneccesary action.
If I bump up to 16:9, there’ll be a lot more room for documents. Still pondering.
It can get a little repetive after playing for a while but I guess once the “day over” screen is fully implemented and you have to manage your earnings it would break the monotony a bit.
The current build is still a little barren. I’m hoping to have enough story events (plus night mode and sniping) to keep things interesting for a while.
Quote from: DustyDrake on February 03, 2013, 02:10:54 AM I personally only use inspect mode to double check, or to compare dates. Beyond that, I don’t touch it, since I’m already inspecting everything.
I can see where you’re coming from but the inspect mechanic is pretty set. The game needs this separate mode for the player to express their intent clearly. The fact that all errors are due to correlation (2 pieces of the same info don’t match) gives a clear structure that I think is important. If you can just click on what you think is an error, there’s nothing stopping you from just clicking on each piece of info in turn and waiting for the dialog to pop up. With the inspection you have to show you understand each error.
Quote from: Jobastion on February 03, 2013, 07:19:32 PM For this situation, you’d pull the audio transcript, which is sorta hidden behind the microphone, then highlight the line where he says he came for work and the line on the entry permit that says it is for travel, which will reveal the discrepancy.
Yeah this is the way I intended it to work. But actually DustyDrake’s method should’ve also worked. One of my goals is to have all the logical correlations work for any given error. So if they say they’re coming for work, you should be able to point out a missing work pass and get them to correct their response. I’ll try to get this implemented for the next build.
I’m glad to be posting these alphas as public b/c I can easily miss “logical” correlations like this.
Later on it may not be a bad idea to have a brief tutorial of the items that are available at the start of the game. (I missed the audio transcript the first time around)
“Rule book to right. Regular updated. Check each day. Audio transcript is middle. Keep track, many lies traitors tell to bring down Arstotzka. Clock to left. Time always short. Coffee break lever at top. No coffee breaks, do not use.”
Good idea and brilliant text. Especially the coffee break lever is perfect. Wish I thought of it! Do you mind if I use it? Maybe I’ll even issue a warning if you flip the lever.
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#180 epcc (February 03, 2013 09:25 PM)
I was wondering if the warning should mention the exact mistake. I assumed it wouldn’t help much since by the time you get the warning the entrant is gone and you can’t check their papers anymore. But both you and Armageddon have mentioned it so I’ll experiment.
Another problem was that when sometimes there was multiple disparencies, it only let me highlight one of them.
Can you give me more info about this? The inspect mode should let you highlight any two pieces of information. Did you highlight two clearly discrepant pieces of info and it didn’t show the Interrogate button?
What I meant was that it let me highlight it, but said matching data, altough it broke the rules. If I remember correctly, it was someone who tried to work, but had no work permit and maybe his entry permit had no valid seal.
Playing again, I couldn’t find it, but found another bug. It seems that when you get someone whose fingerprints aren’t matching, there’s a detain button, but it didn’t work.#181 Armageddon (February 03, 2013 10:54 PM)
I agree that there should be something between things, money management is good, but also you could do something like Hotline Miami and start out in your apartment or something and walk to work.#182 Jobastion (February 04, 2013 04:57 PM)
Quote from: dukope on February 03, 2013, 08:58:22 PM Quote from: Jobastion on February 03, 2013, 07:19:32 PM Later on it may not be a bad idea to have a brief tutorial of the items that are available at the start of the game. (I missed the audio transcript the first time around)
“Rule book to right. Regular updated. Check each day. Audio transcript is middle. Keep track, many lies traitors tell to bring down Arstotzka. Clock to left. Time always short. Coffee break lever at top. No coffee breaks, do not use.”Good idea and brilliant text. Especially the coffee break lever is perfect. Wish I thought of it! Do you mind if I use it? Maybe I’ll even issue a warning if you flip the lever.
I’m glad you like it, you may use it as you please.
#183 February 05, 2013 05:07 PM
John Polson at Indiegames.com posted an article about Papers Please!
Awesome! :grin:
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#184 Slushy_ (February 05, 2013 08:51 PM)
I hope you don’t mind I uploaded a video to my channel , it seems to be popular in the reddit/r/indiegaming community so far. :beer!: (Despite me being terrible at it )http://www.reddit.com/r/IndieGaming/comments/17ym9q/papers_please_alpha_gameplay/
#185 February 05, 2013 09:08 PM
Quote from: Slushy_ on February 05, 2013, 08:51:58 PM I hope you don’t mind I uploaded a video to my channel , it seems to be popular in the reddit/r/indiegaming community so far. :beer!: (Despite me being terrible at it )
http://www.reddit.com/r/IndieGaming/comments/17ym9q/papers_please_alpha_gameplay/
Haha, great video. Thanks Slushy! Clearly, I gotta make the game easier to play at the start.
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#186 IAmSerge (February 05, 2013 11:22 PM)
Hi, I’m Serge; just registered.Anyways, just wanted to say I really enjoyed the game so far!
Very impressed! Anywhere I can just… get the one theme song for it somewhere? XDAlso, just read that you have a custom built C++ engine hanging around; I’m working on one myself, at the moment. May I ask what it all supports and has, built into the engine? Just curious to see where you took it!
#187 sk2k (February 05, 2013 11:54 PM)
I really like the art style. It looks soo AMIGA’ish. :)#188 Eigen (February 06, 2013 12:25 AM)
My gf saw me play this and wanted to try it out too. I gave her a couple of pointers on how to play and she blasted trough the demo quite easily. She’s not a gamer at all but she said she liked it. Here’s some feedback from her:* The game is too easy. There should be smaller errors like only one character different in document numbers or only the first or last name being different so you would need to pay more attention.
* Not enough room to move papers around (I might’ve given her that idea, sorry)
* Seals - instead of just missing/being there there should be seals that look similar on first glance but aren’t reallySo, I’m thinking some sort of difficulty level maybe?
I’m not sure if that’s really an issue but I noticed this:
Some foreign guy said he would stay for 1 year and his documents were all valid but his passport would expire before 1 year. Something like 7 months from now I think. Not sure how he would ever leave the country?#189 Baobab (February 06, 2013 12:32 AM)
Wow, I really love how tactile everything feels! I would love to be able to click and drag the stamp down to stamp it myself. And maybe have it leave a faded mark from pressing it too slow; a normal mark for just right; and a bleeding dark stamp from too fast. If that’s too much, then just being able to push the stamp down myself, with a nice SHUNK noise would still be awesome!Love the game!
#190 wmcduff (February 06, 2013 12:52 AM)
* The game is too easy. There should be smaller errors like only one character different in document numbers or only the first or last name being different so you would need to pay more attention.
Really? I messed up one because the passport was issued in a city that didn’t issue passports. I registered to say that it should probably ramp up a little slower so the player could memorize the book parts at a time. Start off only dealing with the locals, then add foreigners as other booths closed, stuff like that.Actually, that sort of work thematically, doesn’t it? Fearless leader visits the border posts, so they quickly hire more men and make everything clean and shiny…and then as he loses focus on it, they fire people (giving you a bar to stay above) but require the same amount of work to be done by the remaining people. So on the first day you’re just stamping pre-approved citizens, then making sure they have their ID cards, then multiple issuing cities, the multiple districts, then foreigners from one country passing through…
Just slowly ramp up the pressure and numbers. :)
#191 corpocracy (February 06, 2013 12:56 AM)
Just finished the alpha/demo and loved it! I can’t wait to see some more intricate decision making (right now when I find a discrepancy I just deny them).I also had some ideas and notes about the game. I was wondering if there might be a faster way to ask someone for missing papers. Currently it’s kind of a chore to look up the rule (especially if more rules keep getting added to the book). I was wondering if maybe you could just point to the transcript and the empty table? Or maybe just click on the microphone to bring up a dialogue box/tree where you could ask them for the papers.
I know the point is to make sure the player knows that there is a discrepancy, but as I said, it can get kind of cumbersome. Adding a dialogue option would have a few bonuses:
- If you ask for more paperwork and they gave you the appropriate materials in the first place, they might immediately become irate at your incompetence (thus an incentive to not spam this option, especially if you plan on some people having guns that could threaten you)
- You could ask for a bribe (something else you mentioned earlier, but instead of leaving them to offer, you could just straight up ask them for one even if their paperwork checks out. This could lead to you getting caught and possibly having to bribe your boss or something to keep your job. Maybe that’s too complicated, but just a thought).
- Say something reassuring/inflammatory. This might have minimal affect on the actual gameplay, but could go a long way in helping you personalize your role. There were a lot of people I denied that I felt miserable about, but I just couldn’t let them through because their paperwork was just so shoddy. Saying something nice or mean in return could help me cope with these decisions. What could also be nice is that this could affect the mood/response of the person who you are talking to. And the response/mood could be a random change! Working in customer service, I’ve often seen people FLIP OUT over trivial details even though I tried to be nice to them. In this game I could easily see myself being nice, have the person go crazy, and then letting go of any sympathy for them as I close the shutters and have the guards drag the person away…
One more suggestion I was thinking about that I think would tie in great to your Republia game (which I also loved). You mentioned getting mail and notices before each day. I think something that would be perfect here would be a simple newspaper with headlines (just like Republia). What would be great is that most of these stories could just be background filler about the world (Argotza is the greatest nation! Republia devils side with out enemies!) but also puts the player in an odd spot. If this is our only information to the outside world, what do we believe? Are the Republians really terrible people? And when we see Republia on their passport, how does this make us feel? Do we give them a harder time? Ask for more documents than usual?
And something to tie into that last idea (I swear, last idea :wink: ) is maybe making the people in line have a stronger tie to whatever their home country is. I noticed some passports look different than others, but maybe this difference should be more marked. And it might not be a bad idea to assign a color or a palette of colors to the Visa, and maybe even to the clothes of the entrants that correspond to each country. That way, when somebody walks up to the window you might have a gut reaction that the person in front of you is Republian or Argotzan, even if their paperwork says otherwise (again, this is another case where you might start to build a prejudice towards a certain group and you might start scrutinizing their paperwork more). For example, lets say a country has a red palette and all or most of the immigrants from that country use that palette. Just yesterday, someone from that country suicide bombed the line because they had valid (or possibly forged) paperwork and you let them by. Now you are forced to see people with that same color palette every day and you suddenly have a negative reaction to them without knowing why…
Anyways, just my thoughts. I love this game and can’t wait to see its completion!
#192 February 06, 2013 02:21 AM
@ IAmSerge
Thank you. You can grab the theme song from “assets/music/Theme.mp3” in the windows zip, or rip it from youtube:
. The C++ engine is a collection of stuff I’ve built on and developed over the last 10 years or so. It sits atop SDL for multi-plat support and has the usual OpenGL engine features like scenes, audio, ui, etc. I like it a lot, but I think my days of maintaing custom engines are over so I chose Haxe/NME for this project.
@ sk2k
Old computers are the best computers.
@ Eigen
Thanks for having your girl check it out. A perspective like that is really helpful. The difficulty will scale up beyond the first few days but I’m definitely worried about getting that scaling right. One person’s interminably slow is another’s blinding fast. Maybe a difficulty setting is best. The game currently has the partial name errors she suggested, but not partial id number errors. I’ll change it so only single digits can be off later on. Ditto with the seals. There’s a library of slightly-off seals that come up randomly. When the game gets longer there’ll be more chances to see these. About the passport expiration. Not sure what to do about that. I’ll either not bring it up, or programmatically ensure that all passport expirations extend beyond the stay.
@ Baobab
Hehe. I think manually dragging the stamp down at the right speed would be cool at first and annoying later. I’m currently adding sound effects to the game, including a satisfying “THUNK” for the stamp, so hopefully you’ll like the feel better.
@ wmcduff
My big fear is that ramping up too slowly results in players losing interest. Helsing’s Fire had this problem and I still kinda regret the shallow difficulty curve there. For this game, I’m now hoping that by pointing out the specific errors on the warning slips, players can get up to speed faster.
@ corpocracy
Wow thank you for the long comments. About dialog trees, I’m sorry to say that I probably won’t go there. From a development perspective, I don’t like to write much dialog. And from a gamer perspective, I don’t like to read much dialog. I think the game works better by making the motions more mechanical and less like a traditional dialog tree. At least it enhances the bureaucratic feel for me. I do like the idea about requesting a bribe though. I could fit that in with a drop-down button like the fingerprinting. The idea about the newspapers is also a good one. I’ve kinda rolled that idea around in my head for awhile. The newspaper headlines format is a great way to update the player without much reading. And finally, you’re right about the passports. I’ll definitely make them more varied since one of the main things people miss is the entrant’s nationality. Not sure about color-coding their clothes but that’s not outside consideration. :)
Thanks everybody for the comments and suggestions.
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#193 IAmSerge (February 06, 2013 11:42 AM)
But, yeah, still, just wanna say that this is a super impressive game so far;I got semi addicted and wasted quite some time on it XD.
None the less, it’s a simple idea, a quality implementation, and definitely not ‘dumbed down’ (thank goodness).
I love it!
#194 corpocracy (February 06, 2013 02:34 PM)
@ corpocracy
Wow thank you for the long comments. About dialog trees, I’m sorry to say that I probably won’t go there. From a development perspective, I don’t like to write much dialog. And from a gamer perspective, I don’t like to read much dialog. I think the game works better by making the motions more mechanical and less like a traditional dialog tree. At least it enhances the bureaucratic feel for me. I do like the idea about requesting a bribe though. I could fit that in with a drop-down button like the fingerprinting. The idea about the newspapers is also a good one. I’ve kinda rolled that idea around in my head for awhile. The newspaper headlines format is a great way to update the player without much reading. And finally, you’re right about the passports. I’ll definitely make them more varied since one of the main things people miss is the entrant’s nationality. Not sure about color-coding their clothes but that’s not outside consideration. :)Lol. Sorry, I’m kinda long winded. I guess the main idea behind color-coding nationalities goes to the idea of building prejudice within the game. I think one of the biggest issues people think about when they think about a game like this are the gut reactions people might have. In America, latinos are constantly harassed for their paperwork because they MIGHT be illegal immigrants. In Europe (and in America as well), muslims are a huge target and anyone wearing a religious head dress or if they look like they are middle eastern, they also tend to be harassed. Hell, even in Japan I know westerners stick out like a sore thumb and even though there is not an outright prejudice against them, I’m sure customs agents might react differently when a westerner approaches them.
I guess this comes down to whether or not you want this as an aspect of the gameplay. Because this is a fictional world (which I think is a great platform to look at these kinds of issues) you would need some way to build these kinds of prejudices to the player. For instance Kolechia seems like the main enemy of Argotzka (man I am butchering the names of these countries…). If that’s true, then if most Kolechians had similar colored clothes (or some sort of headwear) and we constantly got negative views of the Kolechians from the newspaper, the directives, and from actions taken at the border crossing (bombers, etc.) you might start to build a prejudice in the player whenever they see those “Kolechian” attributes. The player might find themselves strip-searching them more often, denying them entry, etc.
#195 ImaginaryThomas (February 08, 2013 12:42 PM)
I love this game. Really excited to see more.I see the platform you’re using has mobile support. Is that a possibility in the future? I don’t really care for the drudgery of most mobile phone games but I could really see playing this on my phone.
Also how do you like the platform? I’m working on a game I hope to port to mobile eventually, I couldn’t find a good platform that would support mobile os.
#196 wmcduff (February 08, 2013 04:25 PM)
Quote from: dukope on February 06, 2013, 02:21:15 AM @ wmcduff
My big fear is that ramping up too slowly results in players losing interest. Helsing’s Fire had this problem and I still kinda regret the shallow difficulty curve there. For this game, I’m now hoping that by pointing out the specific errors on the warning slips, players can get up to speed faster.Indeed, my description probably had too slow a curve. But introducing piece by piece (country of origin, dates & passport numbers, work permits and stamps, city of issue, faces, perhaps?) does help with establishing a narrative arc, as does requiring more people in the same time period. But really, the difficulty curve is a playtesting thing more than anything. Get a bunch of people to vote and try to find a middle ground. :)
Looking forward to the CHUNK of the stamp, personally.
#197 February 08, 2013 11:13 PM
@ corpocracy
I definitely understand what you’re saying. Part of me wants to color code as you suggest but at the same time I’d prefer a less clear, gamey distinction. I think a better approach would be to divide up certain facial features so different nationalities actually look different.
@ ImaginaryThomas
I’ve tested the game out on an iPad and it ended up being a little tight. Things are designed for the mouse so far and using a finger makes it harder to tap and drag. Haxe/NME is great and one of the reasons I chose it is for the mobile targets though. After the PC/Mac versions I’m thinking to adjust the UI to work better for touch.
@ wmcduff
Roger that.
Sounds
For the past few days I’ve been adding sound effects. This is usually a task I hate but this time it’s been ok. I get most of my sounds from freesound.org (free) or soundsnap.com (paid) and edit them extensively in Audacity. Sounds definitely help the game feel more alive.
Widescreen
I’ve decided to adjust the aspect ratio from 3:2 to 16:9 to give more room for the documents. This’d be difficult to do with a proper 16:9 resolution (640x360), but I decided to just make it wider and keep the height the same (570x320).
I might stretch the top space to the right, or add a vertical road with visible traffic. Something more for the terrorists to blow up.
LIBRARY CARD, PLEASE
I had to share this, from johnki:
An ANSI mockup of his take on Papers, Please. Click for the full size original on his tumblr; it’s worth it.
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#198 pluckyporcupine (February 09, 2013 04:44 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 08, 2013, 11:13:59 PM SoundsYES!!! Finally, I can hear the sound of the stamp coming down as I reject one of those lying sons of-.
Quote from: dukope on February 08, 2013, 11:13:59 PM WidescreenThis will help immensely when work permits and falsified documents start showing up. I had issues balancing the space of all the documents and then, on top of that, trying to check seals and all that because I was never sure.
Quote from: dukope on February 08, 2013, 11:13:59 PM LIBRARY CARD, PLEASEHaha glad you liked it. :D
#199 Core Xii (February 11, 2013 03:42 AM)
That was strangely pleasant.I didn’t like the stamping thingy; I feel as if a simpler, manually-operated, hand-fitting stamp tool would be better: Drag either stamp tool on the visa. Click it to stamp down.
It’s slightly annoying when you violate procedure, the warning prints, but I can’t seem to dispose of it! So it just stays there on the desk. I suppose it’s an effective reminder, but… feels cluttery.
I like to use the date on the daily instructions document as reference for verifying dates, but the inspection mode doesn’t recognize it so I have to click the clock.
The top part of the screen was just a hint too tall for my taste. It could be a bit narrower, leaving more room for the interactive areas that actually have relevant information.
The inability to call “next” before the current customer has completely exited the booth was irritating, combined with the slow pace the next one waddles in. I ought to be able to call “next” as soon as the current customer is leaving.
#200 February 11, 2013 05:48 AM
Quote from: Core Xii on February 11, 2013, 03:42:40 AM I didn’t like the stamping thingy; I feel as if a simpler, manually-operated, hand-fitting stamp tool would be better: Drag either stamp tool on the visa. Click it to stamp down.
I talked about this earlier in the thread. A drag-n-drop stamp would require applying the stamp when releasing the mouse button, which doesn’t feel as good as stamping on button down as the stamp bar allows.
It’s slightly annoying when you violate procedure, the warning prints, but I can’t seem to dispose of it! So it just stays there on the desk. I suppose it’s an effective reminder, but… feels cluttery.
Actually I quite like this. It’s an incentive to avoid warnings beyond the monetary penalty. You can always throw it onto the far left of the counter to get it mostly out of the way.
I’ll try to hook up the bulletin date for correlations. And I’ll also see if I can enable calling next before the current guy completely leaves. Shouldn’t be too hard. Thanks for the comments.
Confiscating Documents
Just finished the confiscation system:
At some point in the game, you’ll be required to confiscate certain documents. The drawer at the bottom can be opened to receive these documents. As part of the larger story, some entrants may offer money for a particular person’s passport from the confiscation drawer…
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#201 Quarry (February 11, 2013 06:10 AM)
This game starts to feel very emotional when you are forced to take right decisions but still have to protect your country#202 corpocracy (February 11, 2013 09:02 AM)
Confiscating Documents
Just finished the confiscation system:
At some point in the game, you’ll be required to confiscate certain documents. The drawer at the bottom can be opened to receive these documents. As part of the larger story, some entrants may offer money for a particular person’s passport from the confiscation drawer…
Wow, this looks intense. I don’t know why, but the act of confiscating feels like it will be even harder than denying entry. I actually wonder if it’s possible to have someone stay in line demanding their documents back (could go along with the moods you were talking about earlier. The “angry” immigrants would be particularly stubborn). The only way you would be able to call the next person would be to have the current person dragged off by security…
#203 ImaginaryThomas (February 11, 2013 09:37 AM)
At some point in the game, you’ll be required to confiscate certain documents. The drawer at the bottom can be opened to receive these documents. As part of the larger story, some entrants may offer money for a particular person’s passport from the confiscation drawer…
That’s a great idea. Especially since the level end screen implies you’ll need to keep your family fed. If you need the money you may have to make the decision. Are there plans on having some sort of followup when you let people through that shouldn’t have been? some may actually cause harm but others genuinely do not have the right documents?
#204 February 12, 2013 06:07 AM
Almost Made It
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#205 randomshade (February 12, 2013 06:16 AM)
Whoa! Mixing a wee bit of 6 Degrees of Sabotage, eh? I love it despite being incredibly cruel/brutal :DEdit: The crowd fleeing is a really nice touch. Is your job over for the day if that happens? Do you get bonus money for preventing infiltration by a foreign criminal?
#206 pluckyporcupine (February 12, 2013 06:18 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 12, 2013, 06:07:47 AM Almost Made It
Oh man, that’s terrifying. But it makes a lot of sense.My only problem with this is…you’re the guy standing at the desk accepting/rejecting immigrants. You definitely can’t get to a position to snipe them. This addition breaks the role down a bit, killing quite a bit of the very well-built sense of immersion. Maybe a button would be more appropriate? You see the guy and you have to press the button in time for them to get the guy?
So…confiscation, this…new build? :D
#207 Mef (February 12, 2013 10:06 AM)
I think such situations should be resolved with
a push of some “alarm” button instead. This way
the character never leaves his post and it’s the
guards that deal with the situation at hand.Same “alarm” button could be used for other events
as well, like when someone has forged papers.
Right now it’s kinda silly to just give back fake
documents instead of calling police/security/militia.Great game btw, just ran into it and I really like
the mood of both this and Republia Times.#208 pluckyporcupine (February 12, 2013 11:11 AM)
So my girlfriend went to try this on her computer (the desktop version). It was oriented sideways when she loaded it up. Then she ran it as administrator and it was oriented correctly. Odd bug. I didn’t have to run it as admin on my computer.The only thing that I’d think would affect that and is noticeably different between our computers is that she has an Intel Integrated (GMA 3000 I think) card and I have an ATi card.
EDIT: Also, she noticed that it seems that if a foreigner that is coming for work and has neither a work pass nor an entry permit, you have to highlight the rule for the entry permit to get a discrepancy. Highlighting the rule for the work pass wouldn’t work, even though both are relevant.
EDIT2: She also says to hurry up with the detaining haha.
#209 DustyDrake (February 12, 2013 12:50 PM)
Quote from: dukope on February 12, 2013, 06:07:47 AM Almost Made It
What happened to the tranqulizer darts?
#210 gimymblert (February 12, 2013 04:41 PM)
too expensive#211 Quarry (February 12, 2013 04:58 PM)
You have to exterminate any possible threats
#212 February 12, 2013 07:30 PM
Quote from: johnki on February 12, 2013, 06:18:57 AM My only problem with this is…you’re the guy standing at the desk accepting/rejecting immigrants. You definitely can’t get to a position to snipe them. This addition breaks the role down a bit, killing quite a bit of the very well-built sense of immersion. Maybe a button would be more appropriate? You see the guy and you have to press the button in time for them to get the guy?
Sniping is the payoff for having a top “overview” screen so I definitely don’t want just an alarm button. If I had to explain the mechanics of it I’d say you’re firing from a port on the right side of the booth. Maybe I could show the gun barrel peaking out or something. Or even have the bullet come from the booth so you’d be aiming a dotted trajectory line instead of a crosshair. That might help with the difficulty since currently the crosshair is too easy.
I’ve planned 3 options to deal with breakthroughs:
- Do nothing. Guards will deal with it. No bonus pay.
- Tranquilizer Darts. Harder to aim and takes multiple shots. May still detonate. Full bonus pay.
- Sniper Gun. Over in one. Full bonus pay.
Quote from: johnkiSo…confiscation, this…new build? :D
Confiscation and sniping are technically implemented but not integrated into the gameplay yet. I still have the photo searches and detaining to implement before all the major daytime features are done. After that I’ll work them into the actual story. So no new builds for a bit, sorry.
Quote from: randomshade on February 12, 2013, 06:16:31 AM Is your job over for the day if that happens? Do you get bonus money for preventing infiltration by a foreign criminal?
Yeah the day ends when someone tries to break through. If you stop the intruder yourself, you’ll be compensated.
Quote from: Mef on February 12, 2013, 10:06:26 AM Right now it’s kinda silly to just give back fake
documents instead of calling police/security/militia.
The DETAIN button will allow you to arrest anybody with bad documents.
Quote from: johnki on February 12, 2013, 11:11:48 AM So my girlfriend went to try this on her computer (the desktop version). It was oriented sideways when she loaded it up. Then she ran it as administrator and it was oriented correctly. Odd bug. I didn’t have to run it as admin on my computer.
The only thing that I’d think would affect that and is noticeably different between our computers is that she has an Intel Integrated (GMA 3000 I think) card and I have an ATi card.
Thanks for the info. Someone else mentioned this bug. Does she have her monitor oriented vertically by any chance? I mistakenly left some iPad orientation logic in the desktop version. Could be messing with things even for a normal orientation so I’ll just take it out.
Quote from: johnkiEDIT: Also, she noticed that it seems that if a foreigner that is coming for work and has neither a work pass nor an entry permit, you have to highlight the rule for the entry permit to get a discrepancy. Highlighting the rule for the work pass wouldn’t work, even though both are relevant.
I think I’ve fixed this. Will double check.
#213 February 13, 2013 11:24 PM
The Guards Will Deal With It
Come With Us Please
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#214 randomshade (February 14, 2013 01:01 AM)
The Guards Will Deal With It
Brutal but less surprising after seeing it happen the first time. Have any plans for variants on the folks that jump the barricades? Now that I’ve seen blood and guts in the game I instantly think suicide bomber…Come With Us Please
Very nice.#215 eyeliner (February 14, 2013 01:14 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 13, 2013, 11:24:54 PM The Guards Will Deal With It
Is this the side where the person wants to get to or the country they want to leave? If it is the arriving country, I don’t think you’d be immediately shot upon sight, unless the other country would want a severe international situation.This is why I love this forum. This is the most original piece of gaming I’ve seen ever. Good job all around. :hand thumbs up right:
#216 Panurge (February 14, 2013 08:04 AM)
With my totalitarian hat on (it’s real shiny!), I would recommend shooting any runners because it discourages others who may be considering doing the same. Also, they may be suicide bombers. Also, live target practice.With my enthusiast hat on (bells!), this game just looks better and better all the time. Also, this devlog is like a masterclass in how to keep up momentum. Regular updates, regular new content - can’t wait to play the finished article.
#217 Lynx (February 14, 2013 06:07 PM)
If your player is supposed to shoot them down before they get to the guard, the caution tape on the right side should be where the guards shoot the runner down, I think. Otherwise, maybe move the caution tape to the point where the guards will definitely shoot the runner down if you don’t do something before then?But this is looking awesome.
#218 February 14, 2013 09:49 PM
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things…
…like friendly border guards.
Spriting Workflow
I’ve spent some time animating sprites now and thought to post the workflow I ended up with. The basic pipeline is to create/edit/animate the sprite frames and save/export them as individual numbered pngs. Then comes TexturePacker to put all the frames in one sprite sheet which the game uses. I tried lots of different sprite animation programs. Everything was recommended by somebody but since I’m on a mac, I couldn’t try Graphics Gale, which many say is the best.
Pixen
Pixen is a native Mac app with all the bullet-pointed features. I animated the basic traveler idle, walk, and run anims in Pixen a few months ago. When I went back a few days ago to do the rest of the animations I quickly got frustrated. Biggest problem is the export process which requires too many clicks to save out the individual pngs. Although I remember Pixen having onion skinning, I couldn’t find the toggle again and gave up before spending much effort on it.
ASEPRITE
This app is clunky as hell, especially on OSX. But after learning some shortcuts it got much easier and I made good progress in spite of the completely wonky mouse movement. The load/save process is really smooth and I created the traveler climb and guard walk+idle animations fairly quickly. The onion skinning is nice. Unfortunately, I started running into problems with the explosion. My initial test came out terrible; mostly due to the limited tools available.
Photoshop
Realizing I’d need something cushier for the explosion pixeling, I moved over to Photoshop. Best to make the drawing easier and deal with whatever painful export process there was afterwards. Photoshop’s animation system is pretty nice and I felt completely at home with the tools and layers here. PS Extended has onion skinning but I ended up doing ok without it. For exporting, there’s a built-in “Export Layers” script but it’s absolute shit. Instead, I ended up saving for web to an animated gif, then extracting the frames using ImageMagick.
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is a set of command-line tools for editing images. The main tool is called “convert” and lets you do all kinds of cool stuff. I’ve been using ImageMagick more and more recently and it’s really come in handy on this project. For example, to take an animated gif, replace the background color with transparency, and export the frames as 32-bit png:
Code:convert -coalesce ‘Boom.gif’ -define png:format=png32 -channel rgba -fill none -draw “color 0,0 replace” border/Boom-%02d.pngEasy and fast.
Now that I’ve got the Photoshop workflow down, I’ll probably stick with that for everything. In total, I spent around 6 hours yesterday on the explosion. I don’t ever want to hand-pixel an explosion again. In-game, it’s gone before you even notice it so I’m leaving it here for rubberneckage:
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#219 Quarry (February 15, 2013 06:14 AM)
WOW, that’s amazingHe moves a little bit too slowly to be shot by trained guards tho
#220 February 15, 2013 05:15 PM
Quote from: Quarry on February 15, 2013, 06:14:33 AM WOW, that’s amazing. He moves a little bit too slowly to be shot by trained guards tho
Thanks Quarry. I’ll have them start shooting a little later so they don’t look completely incompetent.
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#221 corpocracy (February 15, 2013 10:23 PM)
Quote from: dukope on February 14, 2013, 09:49:51 PM This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things…
…like friendly border guards.
Wow. It’s crazy how terrifyingly graphic a pixel art animation can be. Really cool stuff.
What do you imagine happens when a bomber (suicide or otherwise) succeeds?
Also, do you think another playable build is on the horizon? I’m itching to be able to have access to all this cool new stuff…
#222 Quarry (February 16, 2013 12:07 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 15, 2013, 05:15:42 PM Quote from: Quarry on February 15, 2013, 06:14:33 AM WOW, that’s amazing. He moves a little bit too slowly to be shot by trained guards tho
Thanks Quarry. I’ll have them start shooting a little later so they don’t look completely incompetent.
Do they have the chance to stop the intruders (with bombs or solo)
#223 February 16, 2013 08:57 AM
Quote from: Quarry on February 16, 2013, 12:07:21 AM Do they have the chance to stop the intruders (with bombs or solo)
Yeah they may or may not get the runner before he throws a grenade. For suicide bombers that you personally let through the checkpoint, there’s no chance to react.
Search Photos
Working on the implementation for these. Front is fully NSFW but the back is softcore:
Next step is to place the contraband.
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#224 Core Xii (February 16, 2013 09:17 AM)
This might be subtle, but… would it be better if the stamps were in reverse order? Deny on the left side, where the other country is; accept on the right side, where Aristotzka is.#225 Panurge (February 16, 2013 09:18 AM)
This game is going to be so good at exploiting the emotions of the player… The decision to order a humiliating strip search on an old grandfather etc. Oh, and please have it so players who regularly strip search attractive females with little evidence will be placed under investigation!#226 Quarry (February 16, 2013 09:57 AM)
What can players find in search photos#227 JigxorAndy (February 17, 2013 12:28 AM)
This is just awesome. I love how you interact with all of the documents. Just great!
#228 February 17, 2013 07:56 AM
Thanks all!
Quote from: Core Xii on February 16, 2013, 09:17:53 AM This might be subtle, but… would it be better if the stamps were in reverse order? Deny on the left side, where the other country is; accept on the right side, where Aristotzka is.
That’s… a great idea. Will do.
Quote from: Panurge on February 16, 2013, 09:18:22 AM Oh, and please have it so players who regularly strip search attractive females with little evidence will be placed under investigation!
I have something planned for the photos, but that isn’t it :)
Quote from: Quarry on February 16, 2013, 09:57:27 AM What can players find in search photos
Probably weapons and illegal contraband taped suspiciously to their body.
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#229 hube (February 17, 2013 09:03 AM)
Just played the alpha. It crashed on the “end of day” screen once after the first level. Also I had the music on that screen cut out 2 seconds in at one point. Other than that awesome stuff. Plays great, looks great and its a refreshing gameplay style. I also like that you don’t specify what mistake a player made :) they’ll never know but it keeps them on their toes for the next ones. I double triple check after making a mistake :)The atmosphere is heavy and daunting. Captures the eastern block perfectly. .
#230 February 22, 2013 06:11 AM
Small updates. Been working on story stuff, which is always slow.
Headlines
Each day will start with a newspaper page:
“Papers, Please” will be the third game where I use newspaper headlines to relay story points. Can’t resist.
More Faces
A couple more male faces.
Click for timelapse of the drawing.
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#231 Core Xii (February 22, 2013 06:40 AM)
What were the color-coded masks for near the end?
#232 February 22, 2013 06:53 AM
Quote from: Core Xii on February 22, 2013, 06:40:15 AM What were the color-coded masks for near the end?
I draw the faces as whole, but their individual parts get split up and recombined by the game to make new faces. The masks are where I mark the different parts: eyes, nose+mouth, shoulders, etc. I also add dots to the eye centers, nose tip, mouth center, chin, and shoulders to handle scaling and placement between different faces.
There’s a little more info here in this old post: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=29750.msg820306#msg820306
I implemented the bit at the end of that post, so heads and shoulders are also varied now.
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#233 jO (February 22, 2013 07:50 AM)
I totally missed that face generation post. That is a really nice touch, and seems to work surprisingly well.
#234 February 23, 2013 08:32 AM
Quote from: secv on February 22, 2013, 01:57:45 PM Have you thought about making the search skin color match the person? Seems odd they would be blue then tan…
Maybe originally, but sepia colors for the photo felt natural once I implemented it. It’s a b&w photo with a yellowish tint so I think it’s ok if the varying skin colors don’t show through.
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#235 nathenreynolds (February 24, 2013 03:32 PM)
Quote from: dukope on November 17, 2012, 07:08:04 AM More progress on the mockup (slightly too wide for the forum, scroll to see it all):
Action
I’d like to include a small action element in the game and from this mockup you can kinda see where it would happen. The wall in the middle is quite tall, but not impossible to climb. If one of the travelers gets restless or desperate they may try to run past the guards, scale this wall, and escape into Arstotzka. If they make it over this wall, an action sequence begins where your cursor becomes a sniper crosshair. You’ll have about 3 seconds to shoot them with a tranquilizer before the guards on the right open fire. So you get one last chance to save their life. Or maybe they’re a suicide bomber and you’re really saving the guards from instant death.I think that actively including the option to tranq someone is better than the alternative of doing it yourself. However, you might consider having the option to have someone else lethally dispose of the jumper as your action sequence. That way it becomes a moral implication instead of action.
You could determine the lethality of jumpers based on the threat level of each day. A timed choice button press would act in a similar manner as using cross hairs to click on the runner, and stylistically it might fit into the game better. There’s an interesting moral decision about pulling the trigger versus just being the guy who made the call. Actually having to pull a trigger might make the game a little too dark, and give the player a little more control over the situation than the theme of the game tends to suggest.
I mean, its an oppressive environment… it doesn’t make sense why they [Arstotzkan] should give you any aggressive actions. Wonderfully peculiar game and I’m digging it. Can’t wait to see it finished!
#236 February 27, 2013 08:43 AM
Quote from: nathenreynolds on February 24, 2013, 03:32:35 PM I think that actively including the option to tranq someone is better than the alternative of doing it yourself. However, you might consider having the option to have someone else lethally dispose of the jumper as your action sequence. That way it becomes a moral implication instead of action.
You could determine the lethality of jumpers based on the threat level of each day. A timed choice button press would act in a similar manner as using cross hairs to click on the runner, and stylistically it might fit into the game better. There’s an interesting moral decision about pulling the trigger versus just being the guy who made the call.
I read this a couple times but I’m sorry to say I can’t understand what you’re suggesting. It’s possible to build more moral choices into this but honestly the whole thing takes like 5 seconds. It’s basically: “Should I stop this guy myself or do nothing and let the guards do it/get killed… Hup, it’s over.”
Actually having to pull a trigger might make the game a little too dark, and give the player a little more control over the situation than the theme of the game tends to suggest.
Ok, this part I get and that’s a good point that I’m thinking about now. Making it a tranquilizer instead of a bullet takes care of the darkness so I may do that. But having such an action sequence is important for variety. My only concern isn’t just to pack as many moral conundrums as possible into one game. I also want it to be fun to play.
#237 February 27, 2013 08:51 AM
Story Docs
Working on some one-off documents related to the story:
The way I’m setting it up now, there’ll be lots of story “threads” involving one or more applicants. Most of the threads will be short (1-3 encounters) but I’m planning on 2 or 3 longer ones and 1 overall thread that spans the entire game. Each thread may have custom docs like this, special news headlines, or customized travelers.
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#238 goshki (February 27, 2013 11:23 AM)
Quote from: dukope on February 27, 2013, 08:51:11 AM The way I’m setting it up now, there’ll be lots of story “threads” involving one or more applicants. Most of the threads will be short (1-3 encounters) but I’m planning on 2 or 3 longer ones and 1 overall thread that spans the entire game. Each thread may have custom docs like this, special news headlines, or customized travelers.
Glad to see that the game is starting to get some extra substance besides the core gameplay. :hand thumbs up right: