Dead Content [RMXP] Shadows (COMPLETE)

[Zylos]

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh99 ... dows-1.png[/img]

“Darkness…
An empty void of nothingness…
You see nothing.
You hear nothing.
You feel nothing.
You don’t know who you are…
You don’t know where you are…
You only know that you are...
And that is where your story begins.â€

 

[Acera]

I've just played your game and I have to say, those puzzles are nice. They're not too hard, but require some thinking. Love them. I have 1 little point of criticism though. I think you should force a save just before the ending cutscene.

Spoiler

I didn't know her name, I'm sure I found it somewhere, but couldn't remember it. So I suggest you force a save before that cutscene and allow players to backtrack, allowing the player to see the ending cutscene. Even though it was a damn fine game, I don't think I'll play through it again just to see the cutscene.

And a little bug;
Once you do the puzzle where you have to lower the water, the ladder will still be blue, as if it was still in the water.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Shadows 2 tbh  :thumb:

 

[Void]

Very nice. Like Acera said, the puzzles weren't mind bending but still required some thought. I especially like the ending when you get the name wrong. I don't think I'll replay it and try to find the name though. The only thing I really didn't like about it was that it was too short. But oh well. Good game.

 

[ITG_Freak]

Reminds me of Resident Evil a little.

 

[Link in Pink]

This looks great! :D

Also I like what you did with the maps. The faded black is a nice tough ;D

 

[Citrus Insanity]

I finished it within the estimated time of around forty minutes, and enjoyed it. =)

You created a great atmosphere with the mysterious happenings, the inexplicable mirror, and the overall design and layout of the mansion itself, and some of the puzzles (like the one with the jars of water, or the music matching) were really fun. The sound effects were implemented well too.

It's good that you put more focus into the puzzle and exploration segments than the horror bits, because, maybe it's just me, but RMXP games never manage to pull straight-up horror moments off very well, and yours wasn't an exception...

Spoiler

...Save for the bit in which Sable wanders off the mirror after listening to the record, which caught me off guard and genuinely shocked me.

I love how you did the secret areas as well, though I wasn't a fan of how our hero decided to put everything back in place instead of keeping it for future reference.

My main quirp with the game besides that would be the narrative.
I don't consider diaries to be a great medium for expressing histories or backstories, and I think you could have found some ways to vary it up a bit. And here are my issues with the storytelling:

Spoiler

Sable's motivation for killing her mother wasn't that great, in my opinion. The family fortune? I'm sure there could have been more creative and believable reasons than that. As well, did you ever cover why Sable suddenly become "colder and more evil" (or something to that effect), as her mother's diary claims?

And am I missing why Sable didn't go buy the poison herself instead of sending Maria to do it? That aside, Sable's motivation for killing Maria wasn't that great either, and the same goes for our protagonist. They could be suspicious, sure, but didn't have any hard evidence to back it up, and, if accused, the poison could easily be attributed by Sable to a mice problem or something. Instead, she decides to kill two people who didn't need to die, and whose deaths would bring more strife upon herself than had she let them be.

Why was Sable putting the protagonist through this torment to begin with? Was she mad at him for her mother replacing her in her will? Did she even know about that?

Maybe it's just my interpretation, and maybe I forgot some things that I had read, but it seems to me like the narrative just has too many plotholes to be considered good. =( Tut mir Leid, mein Freund.

Also, I came across a bug; I didn't have to do anything involving the sheet music or the two mirrors, because I inspected a torch on the wall and was instantly teleported into the hallway outside of the clock room. I fiddled with the clock's switches for about a minute and got it (which leads me to believe I just got really lucky), but despite the fact that a player without my l33t luck may be unable to proceed past the clock bit without knowing what to do, it's still something you should fix.
(I played through that bit again to see what I missed the first time.)

(Also, thanks to Acera, I saved before climbing the final ladder and saw both endings. The "bad" one, although I've already seen it used in a few places before, was actually better than the good one, which was kind of dull.

So yeah. While the gameplay and atmosphere is fantastic, with some great and original puzzles, the narrative is not nearly as great and could have used far more polishing, or could have just been redone altogether.

Overall, I'd consider it a very good game, and hope you make another one like it sometime.  =D

 

[mtgmaster]

I got half way through and quit by accident. The game seemed well made but I thought there was a bit too much walking down long hallways that looked the same.

It was better than most of these 'escape from the mansion' games that keep popping up. I've got a script I've been wanting to use that would fit a game like this perfectly. I might have to give it a go myself.

 

[InvaderNick14]

Hey man that was great. I have a question though. how did you make the effect where the light came from you?

 

[Monkeymox]

I thought it was great, especially the music-based puzzle and the thing with the mirrors. I only noticed one (gramatical) error, in that after retrieving the journal from the clock, it reads "There are no more after this." Presumably it's supposed to say "there are no more pages after this" or "There is no more after this", or something.

I played through twice to find out her name! But I can't find it  :down:

Really enjoyed it, bring on a sequel!

 

[Ace of Spades]

I must say, I usually enjoy these sort of games, so when I saw this I immediately had to try it.  You did a very nice job of creating a very tangible atmosphere.  The music, the lighting, the whole game's presentation was well done.  The puzzles in general were a little on the easy side, but I did enjoy a few of them, including the water pouring one (aside from the awful method of pouring each cup through the command window).  I also did manage to find two of the secret areas, which were neat little extras, and add a little more depth to the game.  My main gripe with this game was that all of the hallways look exactly the same, so I got lost trying to find a certain room on more than one occasion.  I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it kind of turned out to be an annoyance not being able to find my way around.  Also, not being able to pick up the clues and use them for future reference was also a bit of a downer.  I ended up saving that map into a paint file, so I could look at it later  :tongue:  I really enjoyed the "bad" ending, it kind of left me with a sense of hopelessness.  But the alternate ending was a nice touch as well.  Overall, nice job, I enjoyed this one.  I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel, but if you do decide to work on a game like this again, I'd definitely fix up a few of the loose ends I mentioned, and you could have yourself a real gem.  :thumb:

 

[theufw]

:lol:
I played it through and found her name. Played it twice to see the other ending too. Well made and definitely a good play.

 

[vicearmani]

Just finished it earlier today and I have to say that was a damn good game. Great job. I'll play through it again and try to find the secret areas for the alternate ending. Im feelin a Shadows 2 haha. Keep it up. :thumb:

 

[Deranous]

Wtf. i could barely read the handwriting. Is her name Ella?