Visual Novel USA

[papillon]

Shit? I haven't played it, but the people who have generally go on about how great it was (other than the frustrations of playing it in dvd format).

[mikey]

Shit? I haven't played it, but the people who have generally go on about how great it was (other than the frustrations of playing it in dvd format).

I had to use WinDVD in some special edition, because without that my system just wouldn't acknowledge it and crash. Other than that though, I think it's one of the much better games. Of course it's very stereotypical. But I kind of accepted that with this game. Hard to say why.

[Cazel]

Hmmm... I enjoyed Hourglass of Summer a lot. The biggest factors for me of course were that it was a. in English, and b. not hentai. And considering how few commercial renai games there are that fit both categories, I was quite happy with the result. I also liked that the main character/narration was voiced. I could sit back and really feel like I was watching the story. I agree that there were some issues with getting it to work. My DVD player had no problems with it at all, and worked perfectly, but I couldn't get it to work correctly on a couple other players, nor on my computer.

[chronoluminaire]

Having played two Hirameki DVD games before Hourglass of Summer, I was impressed very much by HoS's interface. However, compared to PC-based games, it's still a really bad interface. I am another one who found it works on a proper DVD player but not on my PC's DVD-ROM drive. (Windows Media player etc wouldn't touch it at all; VLC did okay but was unusably buggy).

[ShiraiJunichi]

I had heard Hourglass Of Summer was good, so I was looking into getting it... then I saw that review and I was disheartened... But, it looks like other people think that it's good, so I think I'll still check it out.

Perhaps Shii could implement a voting system, so people who visit the page could rate how good the games are. I was thinking that it might also be a nice idea for the ren'ai archives... but, I don't want people to feel bad if their games get low ratings, and to stop making more games... But, it could also serve as a morale booster, inspiring people to make better games. What does everyone think? Of course, it's all up to Py'Tom in the end.

[Shii]

Perhaps Shii could implement a voting system, so people who visit the page could rate how good the games are.

I was thinking of something like that, but I don't like having to moderate user submissions (people who mess up my website really upset me). If someone else ran such a script, I'd gladly link to it.

[PyTom]

I was thinking that it might also be a nice idea for the ren'ai archives... but, I don't want people to feel bad if their games get low ratings, and to stop making more games... But, it could also serve as a morale booster, inspiring people to make better games. What does everyone think?

I will not implement a voting system for the Ren'Ai archives. The purpose of the archives is to provide a single-stop place where people can find as many games as possible, subject to legality restrictions.

I think voting would be counter to that mission, as people might not put their games up if they think they will be rated. I mean, the phone company doesn't give user ratings on telephone numbers... and I sort of see the archives as that sort of public utility.

Of course, it's all up to Py'Tom in the end.

Well, not just me. Eclipse does most of the day-to-day operations of the site, and of course we have to think about the interests of the game developers, or the archive would be useless.

[papillon]

Best to keep ratings off the central archive. Let someone else run a voting-and-review site.

[mikey]

Perhaps Shii could implement a voting system, so people who visit the page could rate how good the games are.

I was thinking of something like that, but I don't like having to moderate user submissions (people who mess up my website really upset me). If someone else ran such a script, I'd gladly link to it.

I think you should keep your opinions though. If you think Hourglass was bad, then that's fine. Everyone knows I really didn't like Kana Little Sister at all (except the sex scene with Yumi, one of the few sex senes that weren't so out of place in a b-game), and a vast majority of good reviews isn't going to change my mind.

The purpose of a review is, after all, a personal opinion. The same thing goes for a rating system. I don't have anything against it, but as a game-maker I would rather have one or two actual words from a player, than a rating, but that's personal preference.

At the very most, a link to the relevant discussion thread about the game could be appropriate, but I think the neutral nature of RAA is very good. It's not really about competition I would say, and you can see it (hopefully) here, I can say for myself I usually try to help.

[ShiraiJunichi]

I will not implement a voting system for the Ren'Ai archives. The purpose of the archives is to provide a single-stop place where people can find as many games as possible, subject to legality restrictions.

I think voting would be counter to that mission, as people might not put their games up if they think they will be rated. I mean, the phone company doesn't give user ratings on telephone numbers... and I sort of see the archives as that sort of public utility.

Oh, ok. I can see your point. I was just thinking though, that a rating system would allow people to easily find the best games this community has to offer. I can imagine someone visiting the archives, downloading Amatire, start to thinking all games on the archives are like that, and not download anymore (nothing against Amatire- it was ok, but the poor graphics really detract. IMO, it would have been better implemented as a text only game ^_^). But, I suppose those who are really interested will download more. I'm just worried a little about those few who we might lose in this manner... I think we could hook more people if we could show them the best we have to offer right up front. Though, perhaps a separate site would best be used to accomplish this.

Well, not just me. Eclipse does most of the day-to-day operations of the site...

Oh, sorry Eclipse- didn't mean to neglect your contributions ^_^;;;

[mikey]

I can imagine someone visiting the archives, downloading Amatire, start to thinking all games on the archives are like that, and not download anymore (nothing against Amatire- it was ok, but the poor graphics really detract. IMO, it would have been better implemented as a text only game ^_^). But, I suppose those who are really interested will download more. I'm just worried a little about those few who we might lose in this manner...

Since this issue is out... I know it may be a little sensitive so... hmm...

This problem I would say applies only to Amatire. I have basically the same opinion about the game as you do, but for me this may be more a question of what to include rather than whether to rate it.

Amatire has a point, a reason and it's after all, a NaNoRenO game. But I think it's the missing characters and short game length that is the biggest problem. On the other hand, a completed long demo like Town Heat can't be included because of the full-game-only policy (which I support).

I already expressed my concern that when there are no minimum requirements, there may be a flood of minigames like Amatire. Which isn't good IMO (the flood). My proposal would be to make a new section for text/short games, you could include amatire and also taleweaver's two interactive stories from LR and so on.

But also, to look at yet another side of the coin, suppose Love Revolution comes out, a full-scale game which will dwarf current productions, what do you do? Make a full-scale games section?

I guess this is already off topic here...

[Shii]

On one hand, even the VCL doesn't even divide up professional and amateur artists, and if I were keeping together some weird sort of community I wouldn't want to make my overhead site partial. But on the other hand, the current index of visual novels is so small that it's useful to just list everything and point people in the direction of your personal choice. I think both PyTom's and my indexes are sensible

I've nearly exhausted the list of Linux games, so I'll boot into my rubbish 2k-tan partition soon to review ATP's games and some other strays.

[ShiraiJunichi]

My proposal would be to make a new section for text/short games, you could include amatire and also taleweaver's two interactive stories from LR and so on.

But also, to look at yet another side of the coin, suppose Love Revolution comes out, a full-scale game which will dwarf current productions, what do you do? Make a full-scale games section?

Since the number of games currently available is relatively small, I don't know how splitting the games into sections would go... Perhaps not separate pages for the different secions, just headings for the different sections on the same page- so everything could still be located in one spot. I think that would be effective.

[rioka]

Actually, I've been talking to PyTom awhile back about making another section of RAA to link to demo's, and non-original games like Town Heat, Sango, etc. Hmmm... I guess we could add the Love Revo text games in. They are complete, mini-games after all... :\

[mikey]

I guess we could add the Love Revo text games in. They are complete, mini-games after all... :\

That's great, as I never seem to be able to d/l Akari's Story The link never works for me.