The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

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papillon
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The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#1 Post by papillon »

Welcome to the official competition discussion thread! If you haven't been following this event, all authors have been given the same set of resources and the same prompt, and gone on to write their own stories based on those restrictions.

At the moment, we have 29 separate stories available for reading, all in the same 'game'. You can download this at:

http://www.hanakogames.com/test/AdversityComp-all.zip - Latest Update October 13 2:15 PM PST

(This is a combined Windows/Mac/Linux build. If you downloaded the preview build earlier, please re-download as there have been important changes!)

When you launch the game, it will randomly arrange the titles selected for you. Stories you haven't read yet are in white text with a star, stories you have launched at least one are darkened. If for whatever reason the display order is a problem for you (bad luck causing all the long titles to clump together) you can get a new list by deleting your persistent data.

The discussion period is expected to take about a month, but I may extend it if either there hasn't been enough discussion or people are clearly still going strong with their debating. When the discussion closes, anyone who has taken part in the discussion can cast a vote for the winner by PMing me with their ranked top three choices.

I don't want to lay down strict rules for what constitutes "taking part in the discussion" as that tempts people to game the system. As a general guideline, though, you should have played at LEAST ten of the games, posted some reviews, compared some games to each other, and replied to other people's posts.

While discussing the games, please try to keep track of which story you're talking about (posting the name in bold will help) and try to avoid spoiler tags as much as possible. As long as you clearly mark what game you're talking about people can skip past it if they haven't played it yet and don't want to see the comments.

Some things to consider when reviewing entries: (You don't need to use these exact questions, these are just some starting points to ensure you cover multiple aspects of an entry.)

How well is the story fleshed out? Do you have a clear sense of the setting and characters? How was that accomplished? (Specifics are good here!)

What sticks in your mind? What affects your emotions? Why and how?

How does the technical presentation (code, music, transition effects, layout, so on) affect your experience of the story? For instance, slow text at dramatic points - effective? annoying?

How well does the author make use of the limitations they were presented with in this competition - the prompt, the limited resources, etc?

What similarities and differences do you see between entries?

Please be as specific as possible when making comments. Use screenshots and/or exact quotes to make your points when needed. Saying "this is great" or "this sucks" is not useful - explain why it works or why it's terrible.


Also feel free to ask for help with individual entries and finding all the endings! (If authors contact me with walkthroughs or requests for fixes, I will update things as we go. Please do contact me privately if you discover problems with your entry!)
Last edited by papillon on Sat Oct 13, 2012 5:15 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#2 Post by papillon »

Helpful information!

There is an organised Review Guide on this post to give you a look at what different people have said about games.


Attached is a walkthrough for the entry '4Dimensional'

and now a walkthrough for 'Dusted Star' as well

and a guide for 'Lady Misfortune'

and a guide for 'Nostalgia, the Dead Child'

and a walkthrough for 'Ariana'
Attachments
ArianaWalkthrough.txt
(1.19 KiB) Downloaded 272 times
nostalgiathedeadchildwalkthrough.txt
(167 Bytes) Downloaded 125 times
Lady Misfortune True End Guide.txt
(135 Bytes) Downloaded 124 times
dustedstarwalkthrough.txt
(793 Bytes) Downloaded 119 times
4dwalkthrough.txt
(316 Bytes) Downloaded 156 times
Last edited by papillon on Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:07 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#3 Post by Funnyguts »

Yes, super pumped. I admit I did a cursory check of all the games, but I'm going to go through them again and play with them all. Hopefully I'll have my first batch of 10 ready to discuss by tomorrow!

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#4 Post by junna »

yay... well, I'll start with 5 first. ^_^

edit: =.= urggh...15 minutes? dl is slow today *first world problems*
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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#5 Post by AshenhartKrie »

*hums* Downloaded and will play and review when I get home becuase they don't work on the school laptop. Looking forward to playing your game junna, and seeing how everyone else's turned out. ^^

tired. grumpy. queer
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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#6 Post by junna »

AshenhartKrie wrote:*hums* Downloaded and will play and review when I get home becuase they don't work on the school laptop. Looking forward to playing your game junna, and seeing how everyone else's turned out. ^^
if you can guess which is mine! :p //shot
oh wait...you already know my writing style... =.=
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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#7 Post by AshenhartKrie »

junna wrote:
AshenhartKrie wrote:*hums* Downloaded and will play and review when I get home becuase they don't work on the school laptop. Looking forward to playing your game junna, and seeing how everyone else's turned out. ^^
if you can guess which is mine! :p //shot
oh wait...you already know my writing style... =.=
*resurrects you* no dying yet.

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#8 Post by Blane Doyle »

I am still disappointed that I was unable to finish in time, but I am looking forward to playing the entries.

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#9 Post by Victoria Jennings »

Holy crap, I didn't check my entry in time! orz

*looking forward to playing~*

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#10 Post by papillon »

Check it anyway, you can still send me private messages for fixes if needed.

(also should be obvious, but don't tell anyone whose is whose and don't guess who wrote what! :) )

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#11 Post by junna »

papillon wrote:Check it anyway, you can still send me private messages for fixes if needed.

(also should be obvious, but don't tell anyone whose is whose and don't guess who wrote what! :) )
I couldn't help but know two (aside from mine of course) was whose entry once I've played them. ^^;; hehe.
I SWEAR it will not effect my judgment.

so...that being said. I'll start with one

Fairytale for Innocent Children

How well is the story fleshed out? Do you have a clear sense of the setting and characters? How was that accomplished?
The story was very well done. The author really introduced realistic issues while minding the fact that children have a fantastical mind. Being a day babysitter, I know their minds really do work that way. It was like watching a slice of a child's life.
The Spirit was a fine character and very well thought of. I swear I found her familiar... of sorts.
The setting and characters were clear and I had no problem buying into the story.

What sticks in your mind? What affects your emotions? Why and how?
I CRIED. DARN YOU AUTHOR... now I have to explain to my flatmates who were staring at me weirdly.
The author made me empathize with the character and I felt sad that she really was innocent and yet in denial at the same time... I'm not making sense. And I felt sad for the Spirit too...I felt helpless when the news came to Dani about her.

How does the technical presentation (code, music, transition effects, layout, so on) affect your experience of the story?
It reaaally pulled me into buying into the story. The fact the author presented the Spirit 'at child's height' made me buy into the story very well. And it hid the fact that the woman had a Spirit so she could have been a normal person anyway. lol.

EDIT: However, the music volume is actually jarring as it transitions. umm, probably because the original music file are different in volumes.

How well does the author make use of the limitations they were presented with in this competition?
to tell her story? she used her resources to tell a pretty good story. so I was focused on the story but the visual and music are a bonus to me.

What similarities and differences do you see between entries?
This entry was a story in the traditional sense....the other 3 entries I have read made me feel like I'm being trolled.
I'll edit this later.
Last edited by junna on Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#12 Post by papillon »

junna wrote:
Fairytale for Innocent Children
...

It reaaally pulled me into buying into the story. The fact the author presented the nekomimi 'at child's height' made me buy into the story very well. And it hid the fact that the woman had a nekomimi so she could have been a normal person anyway. lol.
Personally I got the impression that the sprite was positioned/cropped the way it was because that character did not have cat ears in that story. Obviously we know the full graphic has them, but looking at what's presented in that particular story - did she?

Looking at the specifics of the writing, what evidence suggests that she did or did not?

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#13 Post by junna »

papillon wrote:
junna wrote:
Fairytale for Innocent Children
...

It reaaally pulled me into buying into the story. The fact the author presented the nekomimi 'at child's height' made me buy into the story very well. And it hid the fact that the woman had a nekomimi so she could have been a normal person anyway. lol.
Personally I got the impression that the sprite was positioned/cropped the way it was because that character did not have cat ears in that story. Obviously we know the full graphic has them, but looking at what's presented in that particular story - did she?

Looking at the specifics of the writing, what evidence suggests that she did or did not?
First of all...to believe that your mum is in the stars...you'd have to be pretty young to believe in it. What tipped me off the scales to believe the author purposely made the character 'taller' than MC was
1) the initial transition introducing the character. You could only see about waist height of the character
2) The words 'teenage girl' made me believe she was actually taller than the MC.
3) the word 'kid' used through out the character encounter.
edit:
4) the author mentions that Dani was holding onto the Spirit's leg. So...in my brain 'hold onto leg' = 'very short person' = 'Dani is a kid' = 'Spirit is tall!'

well...that was what I thought... ^^;; I had to replay to remember what made me believe that...and I found something about the technical stuff so I shall make adjustments to my original post..
Last edited by junna on Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#14 Post by papillon »

junna wrote:
papillon wrote:
junna wrote:
Fairytale for Innocent Children
...

It reaaally pulled me into buying into the story. The fact the author presented the nekomimi 'at child's height' made me buy into the story very well. And it hid the fact that the woman had a nekomimi so she could have been a normal person anyway. lol.
Personally I got the impression that the sprite was positioned/cropped the way it was because that character did not have cat ears in that story. Obviously we know the full graphic has them, but looking at what's presented in that particular story - did she?

Looking at the specifics of the writing, what evidence suggests that she did or did not?
First of all...to believe that your mum is in the stars...you'd have to be pretty young to believe in it. What tipped me off the scales to believe the author purposely made the character 'taller' than MC was
1) the initial transition introducing the character. You could only see about waist height of the character
2) The words 'teenage girl' made me believe she was actually taller than the MC.
3) the word 'kid' used through out the character encounter.

well...that was what I thought... ^^;; I had to replay to remember what made me believe that...and I found something about the technical stuff so I shall make adjustments to my original post..
My question was actually - what makes you think that the girl she met has cat ears? :) But this is still a good answer as it draws out delicious specifics about the other subject!

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Re: The Spirit Of Disaster (Competition 2012)

#15 Post by junna »

papillon wrote:
My question was actually - what makes you think that the girl she met has cat ears? :) But this is still a good answer as it draws out delicious specifics about the other subject!
because I knew the original sprite had one... LOL. //dies.
okay I shouldn't have written nekomimi, but spirit of disaster and monster girl longer to type. I was a lazy bum...to make it clear I changed the terms in my original post...^____^ lol
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