Apology project: Medieval mystery

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Taleweaver
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Apology project: Medieval mystery

#1 Post by Taleweaver »

Hi everybody,

I suppose you're still waiting for the promised Foxtaile release, right? Well, I'm afraid Foxtaile isn't completely finished yet, and I don't want to bother you with another incomplete release. So instead, I whipped something together over the last few weeks as a kind of apology for making you wait.

It's called "The Loyal Kinsman", and it's a game in the spirit of "The Wandering Child" and such, only set in the Middle Ages. But you'll see for yourself. Be warned, though, that the game is not really playtested that well; you might still bump into errors. If that should happen, I'd be glad about any feedback.

Oh, and so far, I'm only releasing the Windows version. As soon as I find a better place to host it, Linux and MacOS are following.

Have fun now!

*Edit*

New, corrected, hopefully final version 0.93 now available!
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Scriptwriter and producer of Metropolitan Blues
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Scriptwriter and producer of Adrift
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"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

mokenju1
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#2 Post by mokenju1 »

This is a great mistery game, congratulations :wink:

I only have one complaint:
Why had the murderer to be killed? Poor man, I know he had to be punished but he was also a member of Gunter's family... :cry:. And I can't truly understand the behaviour of Gunter's mother... She loved him but she treated him bad because she couldn't say he was her son? Hmm... maybe she was still confussed because she was raped and became pregnant :roll: . I wonder if she is going to change her behaviour now that Gunter is going to be the heir of the family...

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Taleweaver
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#3 Post by Taleweaver »

To answer your story questions:
The year is 1301, and a knight was killed. No matter what circumstances, the killer would ALWAYS have to face capital punishment as long as the death was not the result of a battle or duel. In fact, the Middle Ages knew some deliciously painful ways of capital punishment, and a swift and rather painless death was an immensely humane way for those days.

As for Margarete's behavior: it was not so much about the rape but more the disappointment that Johann wouldn't accept her son as his successor. As he confessed in the end, with Gunther out of the house, he'd be free to have sons with other women. Margarete took her hatred of Johann out on Gunther.

Oh - and if you wonder what's going to happen next in Gunther's life: I'm already thinking about a sequel...
Scriptwriter and producer of Metropolitan Blues
Creator of The Loyal Kinsman
Scriptwriter and director of Daemonophilia
Scriptwriter and director of The Dreaming
Scriptwriter of Zenith Chronicles
Scriptwriter and director of The Thirteenth Year
Scriptwriter and director of Romance is Dead
Scriptwriter and producer of Adrift
More about me in my blog
"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

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#4 Post by mokenju1 »

Hmm... I see. I suppose at that time justice and tradition should be above all.
But the lord seemed to be a kind of forgiving fellow, you know...
He could still feel affection for the son of her wife's raper. At that time it wouldn't have been so strange that he would have killed her wife, the child and the raper to clean his honor.
A sequel? These are good news :D
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Taleweaver
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Completed: Metropolitan Blues, The Loyal Kinsman, Daemonophilia, The Dreaming, The Thirteenth Year, Adrift, Bionic Heart 2, Secrets of the Wolf, The Photographer
Projects: The Pilgrim's Path, Elspeth's Garden, Secret Adventure Game!
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#5 Post by Taleweaver »

Lord Johann is not without faults, but yes, he is trying his best to be a kind and merciful leader. He's the kind of man people follow because they love him, not because they fear him.
Scriptwriter and producer of Metropolitan Blues
Creator of The Loyal Kinsman
Scriptwriter and director of Daemonophilia
Scriptwriter and director of The Dreaming
Scriptwriter of Zenith Chronicles
Scriptwriter and director of The Thirteenth Year
Scriptwriter and director of Romance is Dead
Scriptwriter and producer of Adrift
More about me in my blog
"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

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mikey
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#6 Post by mikey »

Taleweaver wrote:Lord Johann is not without faults, but yes, he is trying his best to be a kind and merciful leader. He's the kind of man people follow because they love him, not because they fear him.
So suppose Lord Johann would be faced with a request for permission to include his story in the RAA, how would he decide?

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Projects: The Pilgrim's Path, Elspeth's Garden, Secret Adventure Game!
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#7 Post by Taleweaver »

Sure he would :) And so would I.

BTW, I sure hope you liked the game, mikey. It was a pretty unusual thing for me, essentially doing everything myself AND decide upon a totally non-ren'ai theme.

*edit*

Oh, and for everyone who ran into a bug the first time: here is it again, now hopefully free of errors. Version 0.91 now. mikey, you will want to archive the corrected version.
Scriptwriter and producer of Metropolitan Blues
Creator of The Loyal Kinsman
Scriptwriter and director of Daemonophilia
Scriptwriter and director of The Dreaming
Scriptwriter of Zenith Chronicles
Scriptwriter and director of The Thirteenth Year
Scriptwriter and director of Romance is Dead
Scriptwriter and producer of Adrift
More about me in my blog
"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

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#8 Post by DaFool »

This game rules.
:D

Although I only realized I had played the old version, my hunches were already confirmed but it crashed during the final leg :?

*sigh* I wish I had a lady to admonish me "Call me Onee-san!"

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#9 Post by monele »

Mmm, playing right now but I spotted something strange which *might* be a bug :
When talking to Katarina in the chapel, I chose to say to her mother than she felt sorry for me. Proper dialog ensues, but then, after
"I was waiting for more, but Lady Margarete left without another word of explanation."
I get
"So you are saying that it is my fault that you have to bring shame upon my daughter."
which sounds like what would happen with one of the other choices.
EDIT : another smallish thing :
When accusing Lord Burkhard, the image of the jar is called with "jar" and seems not to exist.
EDIT : and another one
When accusing Karolina : NameError: name 'dissolv' is not defined

While executing game script on line 1688 of C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\G
... yes... I'm kinda lost in the game, too XD

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Taleweaver
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Completed: Metropolitan Blues, The Loyal Kinsman, Daemonophilia, The Dreaming, The Thirteenth Year, Adrift, Bionic Heart 2, Secrets of the Wolf, The Photographer
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#10 Post by Taleweaver »

Woo! More debugging! Thanks a lot, monele, that sure helps!

*edit* Bugs removed, new version online.
Scriptwriter and producer of Metropolitan Blues
Creator of The Loyal Kinsman
Scriptwriter and director of Daemonophilia
Scriptwriter and director of The Dreaming
Scriptwriter of Zenith Chronicles
Scriptwriter and director of The Thirteenth Year
Scriptwriter and director of Romance is Dead
Scriptwriter and producer of Adrift
More about me in my blog
"Adrift - Like Ever17, but without the Deus Ex Machina" - HigurashiKira

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#11 Post by monele »

Lol, a happy debugger... that's a first ^.^

EDIT : Nyaagh... okay, before I start hating the game (which I don't want to!), I'll need some help ;o;...
My suspicions have been on Master Dietrich since my first game... and it seems like the one who has the most clues against him. But.... but there is no apparent motive (except for the one of wanting to keep Gunther at the stables).
Out of spite and curiosity, I tried a few other people (as you could see from the debugging XD) and it was amusing to see how, indeed, each one had an alibi (not always obvious, but always logical).

Now though, I keep going through again and again, focusing on the Master...... and maybe that's where I'm wrong, but I can't help but think that he is the one... I mean, why would I strangely die only when I've faced him with my suspicions? :3...
So ... All that is left is to find the motive. And I really have no idea what's missing :/... it's not like there are a ton of actions too @_@...

My current path is : get Thekla to talk about her night with Burkhard. Then ask that one about Walther's company... Then talking about this new clue to Master Dietrich. Then there's the scene with Karolina and Margerete where I don't really see anything special... (and I bet that's where I'm missing something). Then Harald, whom I don't shake too much lest I end up with a game over. That leaves me with many clues, but no motive, and the Lord is not pleased :(...

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#12 Post by Nobody »

Great game. The mystery was weaved perfectly and the long build-up immersed one in the story so well that the actual event was more than just "oh, finally I get to choose."

And Monele,
Here's what I did to get to Dietrich's true ending:
1-Get Thekla to talk about the elderly knight.
2-Get said elderly knight to allow you to see the body one last time (blackmailing him, obviously).
3-Ask Dietrich who could have known Sir Walther.
4-Ask how Lady Margarete feels about Sir Walther.
5-Tell Harald someone else could have put the jug there.
6-Choose Dietrich as the killer.
I'm not sure which version I've played, but there's a little bug I've discovered (at least I think it's a bug):
If you follow the steps earlier but choose Harald as the killer, at one point Lord Johann says the following:
Look Gunther, you will have to accept that Sir Walther is dead. Nothing will bring him back. Not even killing another person. And especially not my daughter.

That last sentence looks quite out of place.

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#13 Post by Mr. E »

I`ve played this game and was very impressed with it`s atmosphere. It`s very medieval, with a touch of gothic. (Okay, so I am a bit biased about both scenarios, so what?) The references to god, religion and the relationship between commoners and nobility are very well-portrayed. The game takes place just before the hardcore gothic period that hit Europe (around 1325-1450) which felt very appropriate. The characters feel right in the scenario and are very three-dimensional. Some of them believe in things which seem preposterous or unfair to us nowdays but you still show us that they aren't exactly bad people, they're just normal people of their time! That is... rather refreshing. Many writers commit the mistake (in my opinion) of judging people of different cultures or different times by their own standards, even labeling some people "evil" if they have this or that characteristic. Anyway, I liked every single character in the game (even Harald! :shock: ) and loved the mistery...
I solved it in my first attempt, but couldn't find the motive... It took me a little while to find out the right story, but the fact that whenever I told him my suspicions I would end up dead was certainly helpful! :D Actually, that is the one small bone I have to pick with this game. Why would Dietrich kill Gunther? First he doesn't seem very much of a killer, Sir Walther's death being more of an accident than anything else. Then there is the fact that Dietrich seems to like Gunther and Johan's family... Maybe the reason to put that twist there was more gameplay-related than story related? Nevertheless, it's a very good game and I enjoyed it very much!

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#14 Post by monele »

Nobody : thank you! I never thought of combining the first step with the second one XD... Here's what kept me from going further ^^;. I'll try that soon :D

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#15 Post by DaFool »

Nobody, thanks for the walkthrough.

I was correct in my initial choice! But my sequencing of choices brought me to one of the alibi paths. Which sort of made me go pixel-hunting.

Maybe a suggestion for a future game like this is to use persistent data to keep track of how many clues the player has read...so that if he chose the correct answer but only haphazardly then he'll get one of the alibi paths, but if he read through most everything then assume it's an informed decision and get on with the true end.

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