Rejoice - The Gospel of Matthew

[tkhnoman]

A Visual Gospel of Matthew, with explanations.
Voice acts are in Indonesia. Sub in Indonesia and English.

It is black and white game.. And yeah, some of the story is skipped as a reference, for some reason.

At least its finished... phew, it sure took a long time.

Preview:


Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fpkbz1y57wja6dk

[D'd'D]

in Indonesia?!
*downloads right away*

EDIT: I didn't expect the animations o.o
What can I say.. great job, I liked the game!

[PyTom]

I downloaded this more out of interest in how it was made, rather than out of any interest in the subject matter. To be honest, I thought someone had made a Visual Novel in HyperCard. It turns out that it's been made in Ren'Py - and in terms of production values, this game is phenomenal.

This game defies a lot of VN conventions. It's in black and white, and has highly stylized isometric art. The screenshots don't really do this game justice - there's a ton of animation in this game, for example. The game auto-advances, so people who wouldn't get clicking can just sit through the story. A lot of thought went into this - the little captions over each character to help us keep track of who is who make a lot of sense for a project with a huge cast, and show the amount of thought that went into this game.

A lot of people talk about transcending the conventions of the format - from only a few minutes of gameplay, it seems clear to me that Rejoice has done so. That doesn't mean that I think every game should go in this direction. I don't. Rather, I think creators would do well to take a look at it to see how far out of the box it's possible to go.

I'm not done with the game - hardly! Herod is still around. But I think I can make two quick suggestions to tkhnoman.

* Consider making screencasts and uploading them to youtube. Static imagery doesn't do this game justice.

* Consider creating a proper website for this game. I think this game will potentially appeal to people outside the VN community. It really needs more than a forum thread and a mediafire link to reach its full audience.

(This game could also use a little more proofreading. Some of the tenses seem a little off.)

[tkhnoman]

Well, thanks PyTom.
I didn't realize that much of them are plus point, since in the creation, i'm too focused on the explanations of the bible.

I might try to do screencasts, but not in the following weeks, since i have plenty of work to do.
(If there is someone who are willing to do it, then i will be so glad)

Also, it is true that the grammar is bad. It's my weak point.
It need editing for another version, but for that i also need someone else to do it.

I even didn't do much Quality Control here. Just fast check and such. So if there is a fatal there, then... my bad

[VenusEclipse]

I am really impressed with the animations. I wouldn't have downloaded this game if it wasn't for a tweet, and I haven't played many new VNs at all.
Did you do the voice acting?
Out of curiosity, how long is the VN?

[tkhnoman]

Well that. I didn't put the 'game time' since i also don't know how long this game would be.
Sorry.

And yeah, those are my voices.

Edit: I searched 'tweet renpy' and found out things at OELVN.
To tell the truth, the only reason why i build the rpa because it seems that the filesize will be smaller that way.
So yeah, you're actually free to have the pictures and such.

[DaFool]

Hmmm, by any in your team experienced Flash animators? Some scenes were so smoothly animated it seemed like Flash!

And in Ren'Py 6.12 (non-ATL) to boot. Fully voiced and only 60mb? I commend your craftmanship.

Isometric really is the way to go if don't want to beg for hand-drawn BG art and use tilesets instead. Now I'm just wondering if this technique is still feasible in full color and in high definition resolution (going to use Battle Engine to direct the movements, it simplifies a lot).

[Nellie]

A bible and gospel-based VN - I pay my highest respect =D

Also, really cute animations. *adds into my fav list*

*EDIT* I can understand Indonesian, but I think I really need to pay really close attention to know what the narrator is saying, think it's the recording's quality though. But anyway, great job!

[hugolino]

Thanks for the review, PyTom. I'm downloading it right now to check it out.

EDIT: I've been playing (watching?) the game for a while now and I'm very impressed. The animation is well done and the art is sufficient and cute. If you ever would like a volunteer to help you fix the grammar of the English text, I'd be happy to do so. I don't understand Indonesian, but I used to work full-time for seven years as a copy editor for a daily newspaper (U.S.).

[azureXtwilight]

In Indonesia? Wow, interesting! *downloads*

[hugolino]

I "played" through as much as I could endure. The game is clever and well done as it is, but I find that gradually over time it became difficult to continue. An hour into the game, I just quit, even though originally I had been very curious to see how the finale was handled. I never made it that far. The repetitive use of backgrounds and character shapes was not initially noticeable but after a while the dramatized story just blurred together like a cartoon video on loop.

Keep in mind that this is not a critique of the content of the story at all. I am strongly sympathetic with the content. I also am extremely impressed with how it was all assembled on Ren'Py. Kudos to the creator. You're incredible.

I would suggest that the talented maker of the game (really mostly a kinetic novel) find a way to put in natural breaking points into it. Perhaps dividing it into "chapters" or "parts" with a little bit of a breather at the end of each section, such as a short return to the non-virtual world. Also, please make it possible to start the game at any major section (if you add them) desired without having to rely on saved games.

[tkhnoman]

I do made much of quality improvement before.
Breaking it in chapters, multiple endings, yes, i already prepared that.

There is even a story when the dream are merged together with the dream before,
that means the main character are back with that alien, and continue to do a run in the world. People might find a trace of it in the script that called "Intersectors". That time, then the big bro can communicate with them. That's why if there is someone who tried to force extract the images.rpa would found that there is a "Voice only" sprite at bro's sprites. But i drop them.

On September 2011, i'm feel desperate with the quality and decide to abandon it. A new creation then being prepared. So in the whole 1 year of the creation, i do not work on Rejoice for a month. Preparing for this:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q80/ ... as81h1.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q80/ ... calanf.jpg
But then again, i drop it.

That's right. From the start i've been trying to improve the quality of the story.
But it's not 'wow' that i really need to build. It's just the explanations that i prepared the most. The secret of life itself.
And yes, it was the hardest part, since i need to do all of the word that i write there.

(You might find out that there will be no explanations about lust, pride, and many things, even it might be put in there, but no. I can't. I fail at them miserably time to time. I'm still a sinner who tried to beat much things.)
But in the end, blessing and anointing is not a question. I get much just by doing what i write(some of them are practicable).

So yeah, i'm sorry for those who are hopping a good story and such. You won't get it here. It's completely just a bible, that you might get bored, just to read two verses.

Edit: Start at any major point won't do. Since the question that you answered will also affect on which explanation will be appear next.

[hugolino]

It sounds like you've taken on a lot of work for just one person.

[sake-bento]

This is really cool! The animations and expressions were really well done, the art is cute, and it's a very creative twist on the standard visual novel. I'm also very fond of the premise. It's great to see an interpretation that's faithful to the spirit of the text, but with a modern portrayal.

[Poketto Kunoichi]

I didn't finish this game yet, but I want to post now because of how much it appealed to me!

I'm agnostic, but I decided to give this novel a whirl after seeing all the positive views, and boy was I impressed! It did clear up some perceived biblical discrepancies, so I do thank you for that. The Bible is often seen as a boring text, but your visuals and animations made it an enjoyable read. I certainly was not expecting that many animations, well-made and stylized ones at that.

You have transcended many visual novel boundaries, and deserve more attention for this little piece. It's blatantly clear to me that you put an enormous amount of effort into this project. And again, I haven't even finished!

Great job! (I want that dream machine.)