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The Garden Society: Kykuit

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:53 pm
by rioka
I've checked and re-checked and I'm happy to say that it's finally DONE! ^^

The Garden Society: Kykuit
Also available for download at Ren'ai Archives.

For of those of you who don't bother reading the README, there's 8 endings in this game. 3 are the easiest to get (and the most likely ending you will get on first play-through) with the rest being a bit more challenging to acquire. And yes, there are Easter Eggs in here as well... ^_~

Phew! Now for a little R&R and TT... =D

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:37 pm
by Kikered
Sorry to be a downer, but it seems like both installers aren't functioning correctly for me. The Windows installer opened up a command prompt window for a few seconds before closing, and the WinRar file returns errors during extraction.

Here are the error messages from the WinRar one:
! C:\Documents and Settings\s-dlam2\Desktop\GardenSocietyKykuit.rar: CRC failed in GardenSocietyKykuit\common\library.rpyc. The file is corrupt
! C:\Documents and Settings\s-dlam2\Desktop\GardenSocietyKykuit.rar: Unexpected end of archive

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:49 pm
by rioka
Seriously? Strange... I'll check it out. =)

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:50 pm
by PyTom
Grab the copies from renai.us, they seem to work. Or at least, the rar does, I haven't tried the exe. (FTP's ASCII mode claims another victim?)

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:58 pm
by Kikered
All right! The installers on renai.us seem to be functioning correctly although the link to the .rar installer gave me the 404 since it is linked to a .zip file.

Sorry for the disturbance. ^_^;

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:06 pm
by rioka
It's okay. That's how we find out and fix things. The .rar link at the Archives has been corrected and I'm currently looking into the files at Ren'ai Games... (yeah, I think you may be right, PyTom)

UPDATE
The files from Ren'ai Games are now properly working. You were right PyTom.

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:30 am
by mikey
Phew! Good good! I have d/loaded the game, but I'll get home late afternoon at best... Aaah the pain! Can't wait to play! I sort of KNEW the game would be up this the morning (darn those timezones) and I'd be walking around with Kykuit on a USB key around my neck all day. :cry: Tension, tension...

Congratulations on the finished game!

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:02 am
by chronoluminaire
Exciting! As with TT, I'll hold off on playing it until When I Rule The World is released (which will be late tonight or early tomorrow night, UK time). But congratulations on finishing it, Eclipse! :D (I'm just letting others sort out the installation problems for me ;) )

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:45 am
by rioka
Thanks for the congrats you guys! Drinks are on me considering this isn't only GSK's debut... ;)

I'll be on the lookout for your game, Chrono. Can't wait to get my hands on it, actually! "Muhahahahahaaaaa!" is what I'm going to say when I do. :P

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:35 pm
by Megaman Z
eclipse wrote:Drinks are on me considering this isn't only GSK's debut...
I'll pass on that.

I got ending 6 (i think... *plays again* yeah, ending 6.)

there's more choises than in Teacher Transfer (the only game I can really compare it to, considering what it's made for [NaNoRenO]), and the B&W coloring was a nice touch.

here's the stats (from first impression):

Artwork: 9/10: the B&W coloring was a nice touch. and the locale was decent, too. nothing I can really bash if I wanted too. (but it's not quite perfect...)

music: 8/10: the music matched the situation. and it wasn't annoying (like my Sabre Marionette J midi file.)

story: 9/10: really involved storyline. 'nuff said.

execution of game: 8/10: the variety of choises is good. and there's nothing just put in there for comedy relief (everything seems to have an effect in this game.)

overall: 9/10

*plays again, gets ending 3 this time*

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:57 pm
by rioka
Wow, you got ending 6?! Way to go, Megaman Z. ;D

Yeah, I agree with you on the artwork. There are some things that needed a bit more polishing but was "acceptable" in overall terms. Can't be helped. With deadlines like this, things get cut. :\

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:59 pm
by mikey
Alright then. I am still playing the game (for that one very special ending where I hope to "B"-come friends with a certain person - hopefully there IS an ending like that), but so far, I got all the standard endings, plus two more, so... I can comment!

Let's start with the downsides - actually I can think of none, really - if I would take into consideration AP, I'd say the game is shorter and because it focuses on more characters, inevitably the "amginity" that I liked about AP is not there. So I had to kind of switch to other mode to enjoy GSK. And here's the story:

The intro just flattened me, really great, the first steps, the first thoughts, the music... I think it was the most emotional game start ever, even before any of the characters appeared.

To make a long story short, I enjoyed the atmosphere. It's once again true, that the atmosphere was more "friendly" than "renaish", and it took me some time to get used to it, as I said. Also, the music was so dominant at times, that it almost pushed back the game - but not to include it would be a crime, as the soft piano is so wonderful. On my second/third play though, I had the music internalized already, and then it all was harmonizing for me.

Characters and BGs - it was a good choice to go with the BW settings and characters, as you could probably give them more detail (which you did!) and the unmistakable style. Also, all the girls/women are genuinely feminine in their appearances and clothing, which just makes one so mellow... Really, it's nice to see the alternative to the miniskirt & tight blouse.

The setting - you strike again. A garden/park is well, what do you call it... ah!... romantic! The characters fit nicely into the setting as well, with all the girls in their fragile outfits (even the "provocative" ones never feel cheap) and the nature/art of the setting... waaah! Excellent.

The story... well, I have not seen all endings, so I can't be too specific about it. It seemed though, that my story was never fully resolved/uncovered, for whatever reason (didn't get all the endings?). I've said it before though, it didn't look like the story played a major part (read: you can have a full experience without actually finishing everything).

And so that's why I think that GSK is more of a romantic game than anything else. I might be wrong, I might even have missed a point, and I may have missed some easter eggs, but that's the way the game was to me. I just let myself go where the game took me, inhaling the experience and getting lost in the gentle world, because as my favorite GSK game character says... isn't art always subjective?

Superb job.

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:08 pm
by Megaman Z
eclipse>>which ending(s) did you expect me to hit first?
and since mikey mentioned them, any hint as to where any of the easter eggs would be? (just curious. feel free to embed them in a quote box instead of adding the spoiler tag to them if you hint at them at all.)

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:53 pm
by rioka
Megaman Z>> The 3 standard endings which is just one female. It's set up in a way that a certain personality will stick to specific answers... and in my case, it's always Elena for me. ^_^;

The Easter Eggs are all visual. Just scrutinize everything and everyone and you may recognize a few...
I'll stay mum on this for a couple of days since a few of you can guess who's who and if you guys band together, you'll figure them all out...

mikey>> "B"-cuz you gave such a thorough review, I'll give you one answer: yes. ;)

The story itself was meant to be as open as possible. Though if you get the two hardest endings, it's much more complete... And if anyone gets Ending 0 by sheer fluke or tampering - that person will know why. Oh wait- did I mention Ending 0 in the README? :? Whoops... I guess not... ;D

It's a good thing you're flexible mikey. =) Because, I'll just warn everyone now - flexibility is key when it comes to my games... You guys will have to bend when my next one comes out... ^___^ Hee hee~!

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:25 pm
by Megaman Z
eclipse wrote:Megaman Z>> The 3 standard endings which is just one female. It's set up in a way that a certain personality will stick to specific answers... and in my case, it's always Elena for me. ^_^;

The Easter Eggs are all visual. Just scrutinize everything and everyone and you may recognize a few...
I'll stay mum on this for a couple of days since a few of you can guess who's who and if you guys band together, you'll figure them all out...

mikey>> "B"-cuz you gave such a thorough review, I'll give you one answer: yes. ;)

The story itself was meant to be as open as possible. Though if you get the two hardest endings, it's much more complete... And if anyone gets Ending 0 by sheer fluke or tampering - that person will know why. Oh wait- did I mention Ending 0 in the README? :? Whoops... I guess not... ;D

It's a good thing you're flexible mikey. =) Because, I'll just warn everyone now - flexibility is key when it comes to my games... You guys will have to bend when my next one comes out... ^___^ Hee hee~!
oh... I see...
(starts putting 2+2 together... and reorganizing the heck out of his notes...)
let's see:
possible ending combinations I've come up with (in theory)...
None (possibly infamous ending 0?)
Elena
Vivian
Elena + Vivian
Nadine
Elena + Nadine
Vivian + Nadine
Elena + Vivian + Nadine
"B"

...and that makes nine total. (didn't think "B" could be combined with another ending.) unless the infamous "ending 0" was unaccounted for, that's one too many...