No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

Post demo and beta versions of your game here for testing.
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verysunshine
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No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#1 Post by verysunshine »

Warning! This game demo contains sexual content, curse words, and mentions of suicide. If this bothers you, please don't play the game.

This is the beta & demo for the game No Good Wife. Information about the game can be found below. It contains the first three scenes of the game, with music and sound effects. There are two branching paths.

Known issues
- Some backgrounds have transparent windows
- Strange aspect ratio

The file for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems is available below.

After you've finished playing the demo, would you mind answering these questions?
Questions to answer wrote: 1. Did you have any technical issues when running the game?
2. What character is your favourite?
3. Is the plot interesting?
4. Are there any spelling or grammar mistakes? (Use of non-British spelling and terminology counts as a mistake)
5. What do you think of the audio?
6. Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Last edited by verysunshine on Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Build the basics first, then add all the fun bits.

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#2 Post by philip »

Tried to download this, and got a screen which said that Adobe was out of date (which it isn't). Prompt wanted me to install some weird software, which I declined to do. I will avoid this story until there is a safe and reliable way to download it.

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#3 Post by verysunshine »

That sounds very strange, Philip. There shouldn't be any software to install - just a ZIP file with the game inside. What did the popup want yu to install?

Build the basics first, then add all the fun bits.

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#4 Post by Donmai »

verysunshine wrote:What did the popup want yu to install?
Probably iLivid. Many free filelockers are full of advertising traps.
Well, I've clicked on the right 'download button', I've played through your demo and I have some things to say about technical details. I won't be commenting your story. I'm not saying it's good or bad, it's only that I haven't payed too much attention to it, so I will leave it to someone else to evaluate.
Your zip file is huge (130 MB), for a small demo. You could convert the music files to OGG, that would reduce their size without loosing quality. The same for the backgrounds: they are 1,78 MB png files. You could safely convert them to jpg, reducing the file size. Morgan created those background pictures with a transparent window so we could add an "outside" picture behind them. One of the reasons I could not pay attention to your story is that all the time I was distracted by the "flashing" windows. When we click to go on, the transparency grid out there disappears for a while, showing black (or "undefined" color, as Tom calls it, but it still looks unsuspiciouly like black to me).
The program also throwed me a syntax error:

Code: Select all

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
  File "game/script.rpy", line 535, in script
    show farris bneutral at (xpos = 0.28, ypos = 1.0) with move
SyntaxError: invalid syntax (game/script.rpy, line 535)

Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 6.99.5.602
No Good Wife 0.5
It's not a critical error, if we click 'ignore' the game skips the transition and goes on. Anyway, changing

Code: Select all

            show farris bneutral at (xpos = 0.28, ypos = 1.0) with move 
to

Code: Select all

            show farris bneutral:
                xpos 0.28 ypos 1.0
            with move
made the error go away.
If you reduce the size of your files, you will be able to build a smaller distribution (about 40 MB) that you could simply attach to your post, instead of putting it on any "suspect" (not that much, I'm kidding) filelocker. You will upload faster, people will download it faster, and everybody will be happy :D .
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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#5 Post by verysunshine »

Here is a new build of the game. The holes in the backgrounds have been filled and some bugs have been removed. Some text has been altered. The file is much smaller due to some data being condensed and other files being removed. This one fits onto the forums, so there shouldn't be any trouble downloading it.
Attachments
NoGoodWife-0.5.5-all.zip
(53.11 MiB) Downloaded 90 times

Build the basics first, then add all the fun bits.

Please check out my games on my itch.io page!

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#6 Post by verysunshine »

I have a new version! It has a new Simulator look. This build is to figure out how stats and events function. A few of the events are written, so you'll get a story preview too.

Please choose the version that is appropriate for your computer.
Attachments
NoGoodWife_Rebuild_Stats_EventOrder_Test-mac.zip
(64.03 MiB) Downloaded 40 times
NoGoodWife_Rebuild_Stats_EventOrder_Test-pc.zip
(81.04 MiB) Downloaded 47 times

Build the basics first, then add all the fun bits.

Please check out my games on my itch.io page!

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#7 Post by Preseva »

1. Did you have any technical issues when running the game?

No, everything ran smoothly. The menu system for the daily planner was missing visual feedback for choices made, but I am assuming that is because it is a work in progress.

2. What character is your favourite?

Farris. I like that he is practical, collected, and always appears to be in control. He’s also cute and sweet. He seems like he's going to be a grounding force in the game.

3. Is the plot interesting?

Finding out that one's spouse is gay and that one is living a sham marriage is not new, but what I haven't seen explored before (in a game, at least) is a woman deliberately going into that situation after having been deceived, and trying to make it work for everyone involved. This originality is a big draw to the game for me. I felt like the beginning was muddy, but it started to get good once Esther started talking specifics of living arrangements with Farris and Virgil. It's that problem-solving, seeing the reactions of the characters to the situation, and seeing what kind of unexpected problems that will happen that makes me want to play.

4. Are there any spelling or grammar mistakes? (Use of non-British spelling and terminology counts as a mistake)

Many. I caught a misspelling of bizarre, tongue, a missing word from the phrase "scared out of his wits," and improper punctuation. After the first few errors I stopped writing them down because I think the script would be better served being proofread and run through a spell checker.

5. What do you think of the audio?

The beginning track sounded appropriate, it was quaint and cozy, but the post-fight scene track less so. I think what you want in that scene is “revelation”, but instead it sounds like the music that plays when a party of adventurers in a fantasy game gears up for an epic boss fight.

6. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

I’m more interested in stories than formulas, and prefer my slice of life alongside a developing narrative, so this is my kind of game. Here are miscellaneous notes I took while playing, in no particular order:
  • The title is compelling and the reason I decided to give it a try. A++ here!
  • I found the dinner scene frustrating because of the BG used. I am assuming that you wanted to focus on a small detail to avoid having to show a static image of the characters while they were talking and to emphasize the close domesticity of the scene, which I think was the right move, but something about it is off to me. Maybe it’s a lack of a focal point, or that there isn’t much that is interesting to look at. The cake is the closest thing to a focal point, but it is placed so high up on the screen and cut off at the top that the viewer’s eye ends up sitting on the empty space on the table instead. The result was that I felt like I was trying to follow a conversation while staring at the floor.
  • Farris' sprite is endearingly adorable (and looks like James Potter, but in a way I'm willing to roll with) but Virgil has a perpetually child-like, frightened look to him because his eyes are so large.
  • I find Ver to be kind of an awkward and unbelievable nickname. (Apologies to any actual Ver's out there.)
  • I think it's appropriate that Virgil and Farris' sprites move closer to each other when they argue, but it looks silly when they literally sit on top of one another. I'd keep them close but not overlapping.
  • I like the way the exposition is handled at the beginning. It comes across as a natural conversation and tells the player everything they need to know. Most games don’t handle exposition so well, so this stood out. On that note, the dialogue in general was pretty well written.
  • I like that Farris views himself as abnormal, yet carries on his relationship with self-acceptance and authenticity. Esther’s immediate acceptance struck me as odd at first, but the game hints at a reason for that, and having her accept what is happening to her in that moment allows the plot to move on, which is a good thing.
  • “I may not understand you, but I didn’t understand the things I was transcribing either. I did that diligently. I will be a good wife.” I found this a powerful line that expertly summarized both her character and her outlook on the situation!
  • I thought it was sweet that Farris donated his parachute for the wedding dress, and was a strong expression his feelings for Esther are genuine.

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Re: No Good Wife Beta [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#8 Post by verysunshine »

Preseva wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 4:03 pm 1. Did you have any technical issues when running the game?

No, everything ran smoothly. The menu system for the daily planner was missing visual feedback for choices made, but I am assuming that is because it is a work in progress.

2. What character is your favourite?

Farris. I like that he is practical, collected, and always appears to be in control. He’s also cute and sweet. He seems like he's going to be a grounding force in the game.

3. Is the plot interesting?

Finding out that one's spouse is gay and that one is living a sham marriage is not new, but what I haven't seen explored before (in a game, at least) is a woman deliberately going into that situation after having been deceived, and trying to make it work for everyone involved. This originality is a big draw to the game for me. I felt like the beginning was muddy, but it started to get good once Esther started talking specifics of living arrangements with Farris and Virgil. It's that problem-solving, seeing the reactions of the characters to the situation, and seeing what kind of unexpected problems that will happen that makes me want to play.

4. Are there any spelling or grammar mistakes? (Use of non-British spelling and terminology counts as a mistake)

Many. I caught a misspelling of bizarre, tongue, a missing word from the phrase "scared out of his wits," and improper punctuation. After the first few errors I stopped writing them down because I think the script would be better served being proofread and run through a spell checker.

5. What do you think of the audio?

The beginning track sounded appropriate, it was quaint and cozy, but the post-fight scene track less so. I think what you want in that scene is “revelation”, but instead it sounds like the music that plays when a party of adventurers in a fantasy game gears up for an epic boss fight.

6. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

I’m more interested in stories than formulas, and prefer my slice of life alongside a developing narrative, so this is my kind of game. Here are miscellaneous notes I took while playing, in no particular order:
  • The title is compelling and the reason I decided to give it a try. A++ here!
  • I found the dinner scene frustrating because of the BG used. I am assuming that you wanted to focus on a small detail to avoid having to show a static image of the characters while they were talking and to emphasize the close domesticity of the scene, which I think was the right move, but something about it is off to me. Maybe it’s a lack of a focal point, or that there isn’t much that is interesting to look at. The cake is the closest thing to a focal point, but it is placed so high up on the screen and cut off at the top that the viewer’s eye ends up sitting on the empty space on the table instead. The result was that I felt like I was trying to follow a conversation while staring at the floor.
  • Farris' sprite is endearingly adorable (and looks like James Potter, but in a way I'm willing to roll with) but Virgil has a perpetually child-like, frightened look to him because his eyes are so large.
  • I find Ver to be kind of an awkward and unbelievable nickname. (Apologies to any actual Ver's out there.)
  • I think it's appropriate that Virgil and Farris' sprites move closer to each other when they argue, but it looks silly when they literally sit on top of one another. I'd keep them close but not overlapping.
  • I like the way the exposition is handled at the beginning. It comes across as a natural conversation and tells the player everything they need to know. Most games don’t handle exposition so well, so this stood out. On that note, the dialogue in general was pretty well written.
  • I like that Farris views himself as abnormal, yet carries on his relationship with self-acceptance and authenticity. Esther’s immediate acceptance struck me as odd at first, but the game hints at a reason for that, and having her accept what is happening to her in that moment allows the plot to move on, which is a good thing.
  • “I may not understand you, but I didn’t understand the things I was transcribing either. I did that diligently. I will be a good wife.” I found this a powerful line that expertly summarized both her character and her outlook on the situation!
  • I thought it was sweet that Farris donated his parachute for the wedding dress, and was a strong expression his feelings for Esther are genuine.

Build the basics first, then add all the fun bits.

Please check out my games on my itch.io page!

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