Originally RootPro was supposed to be this elaborate mini-game/backstory delivery system where the player could censor messages, seed misinformation, report dissidents, and so on. It got convoluted fast and ended up being a lot of work for an optional feature players might not even use, so I gutted it to avoid scope creep. One problem with the censorship function was it meant the player wouldn't get to see the rest of the messages in a branch, because the users would stop posting messages, and that seemed counterintuitive? As it stands, censoring messages will cause certain users to retaliate, either with a warning message or in the case of the higher-level hackers, a spike that temporarily disables the system for a day and a gloat message, but I think I disabled all the other actions.cometgears wrote:I'm still a little confused about the RootPro part of the game. Does your censoring have an effect, or is it just for additional story? Regardless, I was surprised how much I liked reading the messages. I usually get bored of those kinds of things pretty easily, or just skim them to be completionist, but even with the hard-to-remember names it added to the worldbuilding/foreshadowing.Random notes: I'm really curious what was happening in Agri. JE, argh. Poor gadfly was so sad when I censored their story. And now I ship outerlimt and SG874248/Sky.
I'm very glad you enjoyed the RootPro, I wasn't sure how many players would even pay attention to it so I'm happy to hear about your interest. I'd like to continue experimenting with systems like it in future projects.
Thanks for your observations on this. I think originally the outcome was determined by a points system, but as I rewrote things I ended up using a combination of major decision flags plus points, because I felt CJ's final actions were more relevant than some of the smaller actions the game assigns points to early on.Carassaurat wrote:About the choices: I'm not sure they always work. It is possible, for example, not to ever see Eff in person. Why anyone would, I'm not sure, but it really messes up the flow of the story, since she ends up fulfilling a rather important role later on. Some of the other choices are a lot of fun. Personally I kept flip-flopping all the time between the System and the Outside because both factions are made up of jerks and the actions of the characters had me change my reactions to others all the time. It's so easy to bring down the system when they set you up with Jay; it's so easy to support the system when Jennifer is so unpleasant. Perhaps because of my lack of conviction, I ended up in a situation where I could load a save before the last conversations and get four out of five endings by choosing differently there. I don't know if that was supposed to be possible, but I think it's a tad on the cheap side when you're having me make decisions quite consistently and seemingly relevantly for the entire thing, only for all options to be open in the end.
There may also be some legacy issues because originally I was experimenting with the idea of letting the player NOT play the game. Usually, a game that gives a false opt-out option steers the player back to the main story, I figured if the player wanted to stand on the sidelines and be oblivious I would let them, the game would go on without them. I dropped the idea later but I think there are areas where I failed to put in guardrails to guide the player back to the main story. Development dragged on so long it was easy to forget what changes I'd made.
Ultimately, it's an oversight on my part that the situation you describe is possible. I wanted this game to be different from Locked-In in that regard. It's definitely something I need to improve on. I didn't recruit testers for this game and I should have.
I'll pass that along! I'm really proud of that ending sequence, it's my favorite part of the game.Li'l magic deserves compliments too. The super theme is great, and it works really well with the sirens. I thought they were part of the score until I found the music files. It's an awesome moment when the music starts. I suppose 'cinematic' is the wrong word, but there is a kind of tension that is really uncommon for a visual novel.
Thanks for playing. I'm pleased people enjoyed that particular "couple" on the RootPro. As I said above, I wasn't sure if people would take to the RP or not. I agree that Jacqueline is a stronger protagonist, CJ has a sort of ambivalence that I felt was necessary, but I'd like to write a stronger protagonist for the next one.ludeshka wrote:I found this very interesting.
I don't want to be part of the system...but the outside is horrible....but Mother is kind to me...yes, but she's in league with the very bad no good oppressors, she's manipulating me....aaaargh, this is claustrophobic and it's making me paranoid! XD
I liked Locked-In more, perhaps because I felt I knew who Jacqueline was (a boss bitch) and what she wanted (to be respected by all these fools, dammit! this "sickness" is but a temporary setback!) while being Cj is very confusing. Like, she wants to... stay alive. That's good, I guess? I want to say something about how CJ rejects her roots, and the very interface she works in is called ROOTPRO, and that, that means something, right?
All in all your game is beautiful, elegant. The sound does wonders. The soothing wall creeped me the hell out. I nodded sadly at the screen when it called mea snitch and a traitorbecause yes, I was, yes, I was.
Oh, and the telenovella they made her watch? Pfeh!. The love story I would read in a heartbeat is that ofSR8/Outer_limitI hope I remember their names right.
Your games are something rare and wonderful. Please make more.
Oh, and right back at you on making more games! I am looking forward to Hierofanìa 2 you have no idea.