Reinhardt
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2015
- Messages
- 29,587
Wake up, talk to everyone one more time, sleep again, win. Ching Chang sold us TWO doses after all.
-
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Completed Let's become daemon cops in Unavowed (Finished)
- Thread starter Darth Roxor
- Start date
orcinator
Liturgist
The game itself tells us the adversary is Malaysian, the ninjas I was hoping for would have been more chinese. I am disappointed.
Time for some big trouble in little China.
Zomg!!
!!!
The door is locked!!!
IT'S A TRAP.
Fabulous view.
Suddenly the door locks behind Codexia. Uh-oh.
uh
Hello there.
I am tired. You will not let me rest, and now you want MORE? Well, I refuse. That is my right.
Um, we've never met.I refer to your RACE, human.
You humans drag me from my slumber, force me to grant a boon, again and again. And now, you won't let me sleep. You strand me in this dead world.
Dead world?Can you not feel it? This is a place of dead things. Halfway between your world and mine. It HURTS. I don't want to stay here. Please send me back.
A boon? You mean lottery numbers?Numbers. Always NUMBERS. Numbers that turn into gold. You were to send me back when you received your prize. That is the arrangement. Send me back. PLEASE. Kevin Huang. Where is Kevin Huang? He called me here, he is the only one who can send me back. He should have fulfilled his duty months ago. Where is he? Prison? Hah! He cannot escape his duty so easily. He WILL return. He WILL release me. He will not be free of nightmares until he does.
Sure, he just has to tell the coppers to give him some free time to come here and perform the necessary voodoo.
Maybe also sacrifice a girl with green eyes.
So you're the one giving Kevin nightmares?He LEFT me here. Left me to suffer and go mad. It is only fitting that he share in the burden.
It's sort of my fault that Kevin is in prison.And that matters... why? Kevin is the only one who can send me back. He is the only one that matters.
If Kevin can't come here, what can we do?I'm going INSANE here. I am surrounded by dead things. I have not eaten in months.
Um. Just how hungry are you?Hungry enough that I am considering raw human.
There's nothing I can do to help?Are you Kevin Huang? Then no.
I'm, uh, gonna leave now.Be my guest.
You try not to notice the drop of drool at the dragon's mouth.
High time to gtfo.
shiet
You are in the land of the DEAD. You cannot interact with the physical world. But it seems, perhaps, the physical world can interact with YOU.
what?
You'd better let me go.It is not up to me. How much do you weigh anyway? Enough, I think. Enough to tide me over.
I'm your only hope of finding Kevin.Kevin is lost to me. And I have no reason to trust you. Or any human. And I am so, sooooo hungry.
Yeah, makes sense. Better be left here to rot until your brian collapses on itself.
The dergon advances. Is this the end of poor Codexia?
Nay, for the cavalry has arrived!
Yoink.
Hello.
You look VERY familiar.
But you're a ghost, aren't you?
What happened?
Where's Logan now?
Any ideas on what to do now?
How do I get back?
Okay, let's try and figure this out.
You know, this whole "wow the door is stuck fast and everyone's outside" makes wonder. Why... exactly did Mandana and Logan have to both guard the fucking door outside? Another mystery left unsolved.
Anyway, let's get out.
Hmm!
USE "KayKay" on DOOR.
So I guess KayKay kicks Codexia through to the other side.
or not quite
Admittedly, KayKay is pretty cool as a "kid character". Usually they tend to be obnoxious, so her not being obnoxious is already a success.
Aaaauuuughhhh!
They look like ghosts to me.
If you squint, you can catch a glimpse of a Mandana-like face inside the ghostly form.
Well, if you squint and turn your head a bit and...
Maybe we can chat up Logan-Ghost.
Raaauuuughhh!
I do what I want, and I go where I please. Like upstairs.
Coward.
Let's go down then.
Suddenly the pot went suspiciously glowy. But I know touching glowy things is the last thing you should always do.
It's good to finally meet you face-to-face, KayKay.
Why do I see Mandana and Logan as ghosts?
How come Logan can't see me?
Okay, let's try and figure this out.
Let's try the easiest approach and just gtfo.
*rumble rumble rumble*
Sigh
Pot it is then.
@_@
Ancient Chinese secret.
Zomg!
Um. Sorry?
Mmm, shoiny.
Let's touch it again!
Sup.
Auuuugh!
nya~
Codexia has the Touch, it seems.
The Touch to send herself through distant planes and forbidden worlds of the darkest entities that prey on the pathetic creatures of the material realm.
Let's see if there's anything else left in the house.
There's actually nothing left to do here.
Obviously, we have to spring Kevin somehow to make things right. But how?
Blackmail the cook mayhap?
The Ba Jiao Gui. It's a dragon. I met it.
Guess not.
Talking to the warden always yields nothing. Kevin is sedated and left to rot in his cell.
However, this Shoiny (tm) mirror has suddenly become interactive. How curious.
FEAR ME, SIMPLETONS.
Masquerade broken.
Auuuuughhhhhh!
Exeunt Mandana & Logan.
In we go.
Codexia and KayKay...
... in a gripping espionage story of crime and passion...
... to answer the one question and save the world...
... just where are the Halbech Missiles...?!
Wadjet Eye Games presents... ALPHA PROTOCOL!
The two doors lead to locker rooms.
Let's investigate the ladies' room first
A shoiny glass mirror. You don't see yourself in its reflection. Alas, KayKay stops Codexia from touching it.
There's also a rusty metal locker door, half-open. Looks like something is inside.
Codexia is unable to touch anything, though, so this will need to wait.
Actually, I wonder how this level plays out if you take Eli and Mandana here, because this section seems entirely unique to Logan. I suspect Vicki could flash her badge and let you in, but the other two?
A pair of blue trousers hangs over the bench. Looks to be part of a uniform. A dull metal faucet juts out over the sink.
And of course a shoiny mirror. We can touch this one though.
Ah, the copper's distracted.
Guess that means we can jet. And pick up his trousers.
Oops, not distracted enough not to spot Codexia as she gets closer.
Rewind.
Codexia can turn on the tap. So she does, and then she leaves.
Let's check this again.
Skank.
Wot's in dis locker.
It goes crrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaak as Codexia opens it.
These guards freak out easily.
Rewind.
Round we go.
Sup.
This is very offensive.
Let's try that again.
That ought to do the trick.
Sucker can't see nuffin.
There's also another door here, looks like a janitor's closet. But first let's check the rest of this corridor.
Hmm!
Great idea!
Hah, I thought of exactly that too while playing, but forgot to mention it now.
lightbane
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
- Messages
- 10,193
So, I guess that the main character is completely silent in both voice and text then?
I didn't expect a banana spirit would produce a cliché Chinese dragon. Did the demon trick Huang?
Didn't he "accidentally" kill his parents?
Sounds like the ritual was botched for good. Also, how is Kay's voice acting?
Yep, intentionally botched ritual.
Because then we wouldn't have this scene, duh.
Perhaps one of the few good things. Too bad she'll be stuck as a kid forever... Although she seems to be more capable of interacting with the physical world whenever it's convenient.
I see the dev recycled some models.
Yeah, it's possible that now that Codexia can switch to the Ethereal Plane at will, she'll have horrible nightmares where Things from beyond the Corners of Time hunt her down... But that's a problem for another time.
You're such a kidder, Kay.
Funny that while most puzzles were impossible to botch so far, right now there are multiple failure states put together.
orcinator
Liturgist
Points for making the mystical creature Chinese after all I guess, too bad the game loses all of em for picking the most predictable chinese creature aside from the escalator monster.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2015
- Messages
- 496
Logan and KayKay shows up no matter who you choose at the start, there is a line about how they went to get them when you went to sleep and the spirits started freaking out and then they are in the party.
Last edited:
The burp when demon-codexia was leaving the restaurant in the flashback was voiced
It's ok.
Now this is just sad.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Messages
- 28,345
This applies throughout the game. If you need a specific member, said member will contrive to be present.
The actual sad part is that the stretches with prescribed partners are generally better written/more interesting than the parts where you can freely choose, on account of obstacles being more varied than a generic choice between read burnt document/talk to (ex-)cop/use sword as crowbar/talk to ghost.
Erebus
Arcane
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2008
- Messages
- 4,769
Not much of a surprise. The basic concept of this game is flawed : offering different solutions depending on team composition can only work if the obstacles and their solutions are very basic (offering different yet complex solutions would require way too much work).
The fact that a spirit medium and his companion ghost provide the most interesting and original parts of this game is kind of ironical. Clearly, a sequel to the Blackwell games (with different heroes and new elements) would have been better than this.
MRY
Wormwood Studios
I'm not sure if the basic concept is flawed. Different team compositions is not an insuperable challenge. Just think of the squad as the character and the squad members as the character's skills. Good RPGs demonstrate that it's possible to have interesting path divergences and routes through a game with a much higher number of combinations of skills/attributes/NPCs/gear than there are squad members in Unavowed.
If there is a flaw (if) it arises from the intersection of the nature of branching design and one of the core commitments of adventure games, namely that content is all hand-crafted and unique, rather than based on systems (in terms of encounters) or tiles/textures (in terms of areas). When every interaction needs an animation, every area needs a hand-drawn room, every room needs custom-crafted hotspots, every hotspot needs specific use-X-on-Y quips, every NPC is unique, all dialogue is voiced, etc., the result is that the cost of offering multiple areas skyrockets. Thus, you need to have faux divergence rather than real divergence: some way that every combination of skills goes through the same areas, encounters, NPCs, animations, etc. But that's not a flaw with the "offering different solutions depending on team composition" it's only a flaw with doing so in the context of rich, handcrafted content. IMO, QFG and Indie: Atlantis basically show us the limits of such branching, which is that you can have about three rich paths through an adventure game, and even that is expensive.
By the way, the issues I describe above are why there is strong gravitational pull toward dialogues in adventure games: anything dialogue related is super cheap to produce because it doesn't require new areas, sprite animations, or puzzle design. The easiest kind of adventure design is NPC A tells you to speak to NPC B who is on the other side of the map, and NPC B gives you an item to bring back to NPC A. At each stage the NPC can put you through 10 minutes of dialogue developing lore/setting/politics. You see that puzzle design all over the place in Dreamfall, for instance, because the designers were not interested in puzzles or design, just in telling a story. As long as you arrange the NPCs on spokes off a wheel, or better yet, on ends of an hourglass, you can use a relatively small amount of artwork to pad out a game to 20 hours.
In fact, all you need to do is put in the middle a gate that can be unlocked N different ways, and you could have up to N companions in a squad-based design.
Because this approach is so easy and inexpensive, it's hard for designers not to fall prey to it, even though it is not particularly fun as a player.
If there is a flaw (if) it arises from the intersection of the nature of branching design and one of the core commitments of adventure games, namely that content is all hand-crafted and unique, rather than based on systems (in terms of encounters) or tiles/textures (in terms of areas). When every interaction needs an animation, every area needs a hand-drawn room, every room needs custom-crafted hotspots, every hotspot needs specific use-X-on-Y quips, every NPC is unique, all dialogue is voiced, etc., the result is that the cost of offering multiple areas skyrockets. Thus, you need to have faux divergence rather than real divergence: some way that every combination of skills goes through the same areas, encounters, NPCs, animations, etc. But that's not a flaw with the "offering different solutions depending on team composition" it's only a flaw with doing so in the context of rich, handcrafted content. IMO, QFG and Indie: Atlantis basically show us the limits of such branching, which is that you can have about three rich paths through an adventure game, and even that is expensive.
By the way, the issues I describe above are why there is strong gravitational pull toward dialogues in adventure games: anything dialogue related is super cheap to produce because it doesn't require new areas, sprite animations, or puzzle design. The easiest kind of adventure design is NPC A tells you to speak to NPC B who is on the other side of the map, and NPC B gives you an item to bring back to NPC A. At each stage the NPC can put you through 10 minutes of dialogue developing lore/setting/politics. You see that puzzle design all over the place in Dreamfall, for instance, because the designers were not interested in puzzles or design, just in telling a story. As long as you arrange the NPCs on spokes off a wheel, or better yet, on ends of an hourglass, you can use a relatively small amount of artwork to pad out a game to 20 hours.
Code:
A1\ /B4
A2 \_____/ B3
A3 /-----\ B2
A4/ \B1In fact, all you need to do is put in the middle a gate that can be unlocked N different ways, and you could have up to N companions in a squad-based design.
Because this approach is so easy and inexpensive, it's hard for designers not to fall prey to it, even though it is not particularly fun as a player.
MRY
Wormwood Studios
Just to reiterate the "if" point, though -- the fact remains that Dave's puzzle-free, squad-skill-based adventure-looking game (if you don't want to call it an adventure game) has sold wildly better, gotten better critical reviews, and won a higher user-rating than all of his puzzle-based, squad-free adventure games (Epiphany, Shivah, Emerald City Confidential). I'm not sure whether he's indicating that it has outsold published titles, too, but its launch users (322) are almost twice Primordia's (178), which was the second highest any WEG launch, and the number is higher than Gemini Rue did even in its Humble Bundle month (250), which is the second highest simultaneous users of any WEG title.
"The flaw is that it gives players the illusion of branching where it doesn't really exist" is a little like complaining that a magician gives the audience only the illusion of a woman being sawed in half when she wasn't really sawed, whereas the guy selling ginsu knives at the street fair is actually sawing ropes in half. The magician plays to sell-out crowds, the ginsu knife guy draws the interest of one or two passers-by. Hard to say that the magician is flawed vis-a-vis the itinerant cutler.
"The flaw is that it gives players the illusion of branching where it doesn't really exist" is a little like complaining that a magician gives the audience only the illusion of a woman being sawed in half when she wasn't really sawed, whereas the guy selling ginsu knives at the street fair is actually sawing ropes in half. The magician plays to sell-out crowds, the ginsu knife guy draws the interest of one or two passers-by. Hard to say that the magician is flawed vis-a-vis the itinerant cutler.
Happy to see you too, friend!
Magic.
Don't scream.
I'm not here to kill you.
The dragon wants to be sent home.
Have you ever heard of "Gaol of the Gauvinites"?
That wasn't really me. I was possessed. Kind of.
Is there a key to this cell anywhere?
Careful, Codexia. Time to introduce your lethal takedown.
What can you tell me about the guard?
Can you tell me about the dragon?
Oops?
For what it's worth... I didn't kill your family. Someone else did.
My eyes were different?
Uh.
So DemonDexia's entire participation in this debacle was to randomly appear at the restaurant, shoot up the place and leave?
Talk about lame.
When I disappear again, I need you to call the guard over to your cell.
Bye, Kevin. I'll be back.
Codexia hatches a masterplan. But first we must get back to the in-between.
Leaving the cell.
This is like retardolympics
Rauuuuuughhh!
Bauuuuughhh!
Fish is on the hook.
Let's see what's over hier.
A shoiny bucket, polished to perfection!
The janitor's closet, much like an armoury in other games, holds many things relevant to our interests. Including a dirty rag that rests on the sink, and a bottle of spray lubricant on the bawks by the door.
The rest of the comprehensive collection of empty cardboard boxes is not as relevant.
If only Codexia had her blackjack.
Fortunately we've taken levels in alchemy.
Now to hide and watch.
A thud can be heard from around the bend.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
If your experience is anything to go by, this guard will be out for at least half an hour.
The cap fell off the guard's head. A rough iron key hangs from the guard's belt.
Codexia loots the key and hat.
[perception]
We sneak out.
Lol pathetic normie.
What about that guard over there? Will his uniform do?
I'll find you a disguise. Sit tight.
We already have a hat, but we need other pieces of the Disguise. Fortunately, we know where to get them.
Step 1 is to do the exact same thing we did in the intro. Clog the drain.
heh heh
Terrible sanitary conditions.
Exit guard.
Codexia the creepy fetishist can now steal his jeans.
Step 2 is to access the locker here.
Good that the off-duty guard can hear the creaking of the door, but not the wooshing or blubbing of the spray.
Splendid.
Codexia gives Kevin the entire patchwork uniform.
Quick fade out.
Nobody will suspect a thing!
Exit Kevin.
Looks like some commotion.
Yeah, took it right off the bench. I was only gone for just a few minutes.
They took it right out of my locker! Who the hell does that?
Sup
Huh.
Yeah. Huh.
Extraction successful. Mission accomplished!
+15 skill points.
Codexia needs to evac too though.
Really? Making faces when I'm not looking?
Brat.
Maybe appearing in plain sight is still not the best of ideas, so let's just try to leave and hope for the best.
huh
THE WARP TUNNEL IS DESTABILISING
THE GELLAR FIELD HAS FAILED
ABANDON SHIP!
@_@
Fortunately the warden's tunnel vision prevents her from seeing that Codexia has suddenly shifted repeatedly in and out of existence.
KayKay flies towards Logan.
I drugged one cop and stole clothes from two more.
Right, let's go. And tell KayKay I liked working with her.
Autobots, roll out!
Hola.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.
Is there a problem?
Don't you need a ribbon and tea first?
convenient
He goes up. The Unavowed follow suit.
following him up again
He's totally gonna jump off the roof, isn't he.
what a deeply disturbed and dysfunctional family
Up he goes again.
And I have not EATEN. I wish to go home.
I am waiting, Kevin Huang. Fulfill your family duty.
Oy vey. Now you've done it.
You overstep yourself, Kevin Huang.
What are you DOING, Kevin?
Can you do it, dragon?Can I? Yes. Will I? No. The effort involved... the mental strain... it might kill me.
Please, Kevin Huang, let me GO.
You can find another way, Kevin.
We've been over this, I didn't kill your family.
Why is this restaurant so important?
Forget restaurants, Kevin. Join the Unavowed instead.Indeed, the Unavowed could use another incompetent normie imbecile.
sigh
We won't let you do this, Kevin.
And only WE have the power to veil you.
Mandana? What do you think?
Truly gets the noggin joggin'.
Any thoughts on this, Logan?
Party members as useless as ever.
What shall it be then?
or 
orcinator
Liturgist
Ma this chapter feels like the worst one yet, wish you could pick neither.
Also lottery payouts and foreclosures aside, isn't beuying a restaurant with a fake ID (which I assume the U team has access to but basn't mentioned)a bit too shady.
Also lottery payouts and foreclosures aside, isn't beuying a restaurant with a fake ID (which I assume the U team has access to but basn't mentioned)a bit too shady.
Funniest thing is it probably has the most "gameplay" of all so far, but the story/setup/conclusion are complete ass.
Let the dragon go, it never asked to join the communist party and give all of its wealth away while it starves for this
oh also speaking of complete ass
can anyone tell me why does demon-codexia ditch that lottery ticket in the first place?
because unless this is some 7d chess that Is Explained Later (tm), there's absolutely no reason for her to even take it from kevin
actually the more i think of it, the more it feels like the dragon/lottery setup was put in first and then they had no idea how make demonprotag fit into it, so they just handwaved it away with 'lol shot up the restaurant for the lulz'
can anyone tell me why does demon-codexia ditch that lottery ticket in the first place?
because unless this is some 7d chess that Is Explained Later (tm), there's absolutely no reason for her to even take it from kevin
actually the more i think of it, the more it feels like the dragon/lottery setup was put in first and then they had no idea how make demonprotag fit into it, so they just handwaved it away with 'lol shot up the restaurant for the lulz'
lightbane
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
- Messages
- 10,193
The sleep deprivation must make him quite weak-minded, which is understandable.
Soo, did Demon-Codexia also faked the handprints? Did she summon the dragon too? The last part is not clear.
Also, what's the deal with the Chinese woman that is also shady?
Come on, this is dumb. Cameras will record everything...
Nope, it's worse. Clearly the cops are incompetent everywhere in NY.
Eh, she has eternity to stay like this. Let her have her fun.
Considering only those dying horribly and/or with unfulfilled ambitions leave a ghost, that's not a fun thing to say.
And conveniently the cameras will shut down by themselves.
So, where you summoning it because De-Codexia asked you to do so before OR after killing your parents? Also, what a convenient way to avoid having to program more puzzles.
Doesn't do shit against the supernatural though. Enjoy being enslaved by passing fairies.
That would make the situation actually more interesting.
Considering they're more useful than Mandana, it's an improvement. Also, why don't they recommend him to another branch then?
She's the boss by nepotism, but too lazy to act anyway.
The dragon did nothing wrong! Let it go. This way the boy can start again. Also, what assurance we have that he will burn the tree? What about burning the tree anyway so that no stupid corporations get it?
Because EVIL!, it seems. Or she wants you to get to her lair because *reasons*
Let the dragon go
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