~ MILK SWIM ~ [released]

[mikey]

Just one question: what age are these characters supposed to be? Natane is described as being the "pride of second graders" (or something like that) so I'm assuming that it means a grade *very* different than what I think of as second grade.

Well, actually, it means just that, she's the popular girl from class 2-C. Sorry if it was confusing. , I posted it like this above: "I have sort of broken all my usual stereotypes with this game - it has school-aged protagonists, and no girls with glasses. " They are around 16-17 years old. Though in the ending you might notice... well... err... (just see for yourself)

And thanks for playing and enjoying it.

[Random Guy off the Street]

Oh, and does the password actually do anything?

It was pretty ironic, playing a game where the protagonist laments about how he should have studied more, all while I should have been reading something for school...

[PyTom]

Of course the password does something. Both of them do.

I finished it today. I took my time, getting two endings each day for the past 3 days, and also watching the final ending today.

It's a game that resonated with me quite a bit. Eight or so years ago, I was in the protagonist's shoes, and a week or two ago I gave some advice to a family friend whose son was in that position.

The more I think about it, the more I like the final ending.
It fits well with most of the endings, while at the same time giving the player renewed hope for the future.

I strongly suggest that anyone playing the game play through until they get the final ending. It really is worth it, IMO.

I do have two things to note that I hope are taken in the spirit of constructive criticism. The first is to point out that times the text was white-on-white, which made it hard to read. The second is to note that it was possible to accidentally launch from the start screen two copies of the game proper. I did one play through with two soundtracks about a second out of sync, which was ... interesting.

Are all the backgrounds photographic? At times it was hard to tell.

[mikey]

Well, it's hard to reply to that, actually. Glad you liked it.

On the technical note, we tried to balance the colors, but I guess in some istances it couldn't be helped, I was trying to avoid the dimmed textbox this way. Oh well...
You must be a fast clicker then - I think just pressing escape would end that one instance of the game though.
Yes, all the BGs are photograps, although re-processed many times.

[Tyler]

to Random Guy off the Street,

their 2nd grade would be our 11th grade. Annoying how us americans are opposite of everyone

Great game Mikey. I'm sot sure how to say this, but you games are unlike any I've ever played, in a good way. I've gotta get to bed now, 10:00 PM and school tomorrow I'll post my opnions and stuff tomorrow

[mikey]

their 2nd grade would be our 11th grade.

Actually, with an 8-year elementary it would be 10th. Still, there was a 9-year elementary if you wanted your child to attend - the 9th year was sort of a preparation for high school (as you call it, it's middle school/gymnasium for us )

And thanks for the comments - BTW did you (anyone) have troubles with the password? Hmmm... guess not - back in the days of River Trap people were confused, have you all become better gamers? I will have to make something more complicated...

*** EDIT: omg, omg... Someone in the admin heaven must think of me... is this a sign?.. will I.... one day... maybe... ***

[Sai]

*** EDIT: omg, omg... Someone in the admin heaven must think of me... is this a sign?.. will I.... one day... maybe... :oops: :oops: ***

Hehe, congrats on the title! O_o
Quite a surprise =)

[PyTom]

And thanks for the comments - BTW did you (anyone) have troubles with the password? Hmmm... guess not - back in the days of River Trap people were confused, have you all become better gamers?

The password was easy... especially since the way it was divided made it easy to assemble the password.

I also think being able to skip fairly quickly helps in assembling the password. RT is a longer game, with much repeated text, and you need to see it all to get the passwords. Coupled with the lack of a quick skip (is that in the full screen package?), it makes it hard to get the password.

(I wound up cheating.)

[Megaman_Z]

how do you put the passwords together? I have all six parts of it, but I can't seem to piece them together. a little help would be appreciated.

[mikey]

how do you put the passwords together? I have all six parts of it, but I can't seem to piece them together. a little help would be appreciated.

Wahooo! So it IS challenging after all ^_^
A half-hint would be to just err... piece them together, actually. Write each one on a separate piece of paper and... it's like with River Trap, you WILL know it's the password. That wasnt all that helpful, I know. Just give it one more try and PM me if you get too frustrated.

[Cazel]

Well, I had no problems with the initial password, having played RT and knowing what to expect.

I must admit I had no idea what to do after that, and eventually gave up.

[PyTom]

The funny thing about the second password was that I originally typed the first thing I thought there, and it was the password. I had thought it was a free-form text field.

It was only when I tried another word to see what happened that I realized that it was actually a password box.

My advice is to let the first password get you into the right mood, and the second one should come naturally.

[Taleweaver]

Well, the second password wasn't much of a challenge, considering all the rest that came before that. I think that's a good sign for the overall quality of Milk Swim - in the end, you know you share the exact same thoughts mikey had when he wrote it.

[BlackSpider]

Yet another good game from Mikey . First thing I noticed is the quality of the background images when compared to "KAORI" and "Marry me Misato". I think the colors used in this game really fit together well. "Milk Swim" has very good atmosphere. But to be honest I didn't feel the story was really romantic. Throughout the whole game I rather got the feeling that Haruhiko, being depressed and all, only expected pity from the girl he met (Natane). Looks like I succeded in the end because Natane convinced her father, who knows the director of the school, that I (Haruhiko) should not repeat the grade .

[mikey]

Welcome back!!
Hmmm, colors... It's mostly white though... About the romance... Natane isn't really Haruhiko's type to begin with, so to say, and even in the other endings (the story goes even beyond that later with the password) it's not like he can start feeling romantic, with all the pressure on him. I'd say the romance is not that of Haruhiko towards Natane, but the other way around. It's hard to say how that all came across because the written will have different impacts on different people, just perhaps the one thing that I wanted to stress is that Natane never tried to help him out of pity. So anyway, thanks for the comments, glad you liked the game and hmmm... I don't really like to put Marry Me Misato under "games"