Lemma Soft Forums

Group Play is a weekly event in which one game is selected to be promoted within the forums to be played by us as a group. It provides an opportunity to promote some smaller games that would otherwise get lost, promote discussion and promote creativity. This isn't just about the creators of the games, but also us as a community. It acts as a way for us to analyse work as creative people and for us to develop the necessary critical language to develop and pursue our work.



This week's game is "Out of the Darkness" by Ploymorphic Games!

You can find links to the game here: Out of the Darkness



There are some rules to follow in the following discussion about the game.

- In your primary comment on the game, please try to mention one thing you liked and one thing you think could be improved. This is in the spirit of giving both encouraging and helpful comments to the creators. You may of course go beyond this with praise or critique. I can't enforce this rule, I'll just silently judge you.

- Please try to do one play-through or enough of the game to develop a solid opinion. Some things can be commented on early on, but things like plot might be best left until you finish the game.

- There is no rule as to whether you post here only or in the completed game topic. Feel free to do as you like. This is just a space to discuss this game while playing it at the same time as others.

- Please try to think about the game play as a whole, as well as the different parts that make up the game.

- Please be respectful to the game and creator. You don't have to like a game, but you should be respectful to the effort.

- Please follow the forum rules.



If you would like to make your own suggestions and haven't already, please feel free to PM them to me.

These are the current guidelines for suggestions:

- Anyone can send me 3 games (VN, KN Sim, whatever, just from these forums or related to) that they think are worth playing by PM.
- There can only be three suggestions per person and if a game gets suggested multiple times, they still only get one draw.
- You may suggest your own games.
- For now they must not be 18+, just because we want to encourage everyone to join first up. If it goes well, maybe something can be arranged for the big kids.
- Please try to make sure the game is short (around a max of 30,000 words). It isn't a hard and fast rule, but it's easier to make time for smaller games and it will give this a greater chance of success.
- They must be free and preferably available on all 3 platforms, again for easy access.

And with that, let the games begin!

Nice to see this one up on GP. I can't play it (as it was my team and I that made it), but I would like to see opinions on what I did right/wrong.

I loved this VN. I especially found the soundscape it created was wonderful.

I would love to hear more about this story. The characters were fun and interesting.

I think this VN would be improved by some more polishing. The sprites, UI, and writing are good -- but they could be great. I understand that this was a NaNoRenO entry and didn't have the luxury of a longer development cycle.

To sum up: A good start

Susan

I will get back to this one day, I promise.

I'll get the 'one bad thing' out the way first I guess... Everything seemed far too cluttered to me. Everything seemed to happen in very few scenes and it seemed like it was rushed. Didn't have enough time for any real connection with the characters or moods to sink in. Though that's just my preference in the end!

But seriously...

I LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS! What always gets my attention more than anything else is a plot with potential and there's so many ways this story could go! Way too keen for future releases, definitely gonna be keeping an eye out for them!

I agree with Susan that this VN could become great with polishing. I quite like the concept and the characters were interesting enough. But it all feels somewhat rushed - probably because of NaNoRenO time constraints-. I do like how you're showing things and not telling, like about Spencer's mom.

Some minor technical things:
- Some more padding for the text box would be nice. It's more comfortable to read when there is some white margin.
- Sometimes there's too much text at once. Having to read a moderate amount of text per click is less intimidating.
- Lorin's sprite should dissapear if she's away. It's kind of awkward that her mom is talking about her when she's still standing there.
- The text at the end was sometimes rather difficult to read. Like sometimes it is black, but a part of the background is also black.

And maybe it's just me, but the music when Spencer's mom appeared was somewhat painful to listen to. ^^'