fantadomat
Arcane
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Wadjet Eye Unavowed - Dave Gilbert's RPG-inspired urban fantasy game
- Thread starter Crooked Bee
- Start date
MRY
Wormwood Studios
Well, as pained as I'm sure WEG is have that kind of reaction, per Steamcharts, Unavowed is already at >270 simultaneous players. That is far and away the most successful WEG launch to date (I think Primordia used to have that title), and I bet we're not close to what the peak will be this weekend. By way of comparison, the last WEG-developed title, Epiphany, launched at 105 simultaneous players for its first-month peak.
I'm doing my part.
5 septum piercings out of 5, bro. Avoid, bro. Have I linked my video about how Anita is a fraud, bro?
Safav Hamon
Self-Ejected
- Joined
- May 15, 2018
- Messages
- 2,141
I didn't realize this released today. Now to decide whether to buy this or Hero-U first.
fantadomat
Arcane
Well, I'm done.
Now I'm sad.
Now I'm sad.
Kem0sabe
Arcane
Quick review... as a Dresden files fan, i think i have found my favorite adventure game since Indiana Jones and the fate of atlantis, and probably one of my favorite games ever. It's gorgeous and fun to play.
Some very interesting choices at the start of the game, interested in knowing what you people chose regarding:
MRY Will choices like this have a long term effect on how the game plays out and ending or are they moment to moment choices?
Some very interesting choices at the start of the game, interested in knowing what you people chose regarding:
1. Let the void creature feed on the murder victims so he can return home or kill him?
2. Convince the fire elemental to go to the fire dimension or grant him mercy?
2. Convince the fire elemental to go to the fire dimension or grant him mercy?
MRY Will choices like this have a long term effect on how the game plays out and ending or are they moment to moment choices?
Cromwell
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2013
- Messages
- 5,443
Killed the thing, let the torch go
After I finish I will play it again to test what other paths I may take and what the consequences are if there are any (all this bioware talk made me fear he wnt full on bioware as in "nothing means anything and you should have bought a hooker instead").
My biggest complaint until now is
Beckett and Logan are the oly uniquely useful people. The jinn, instead of using cool jin magic, has a sword that she may use as crowbar and I dont even know what the policegirls superpower is. If you compare that to throwing fire around and being able to read everything thats ever been burned and being the only one that can communicate with ghosts I would question the need for the other two
But since I am not finished and will test other stuff after the first playthrough I have to see if I maybe wrong.
The cop's superpower is having a gun, which is not very useful, and personally knowing every cop/former cop/private security person appearing in the game, allowing you to grill them for information easier.
MRY
Wormwood Studios
I have no idea—haven’t had a chance to play yet.
Cromwell
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2013
- Messages
- 5,443
So finished it. I got the bad ending.
which sheds some light on the choices.
I will try again now.
My Impressions:
I think the game is good but way to easy. I also had the false expectation that everyone would be good for something which would lead to interesting paths, which isnt happeing. Firstly you are forced to take either the jin or the mage with you and are only free to chose between the cop and the bestower. If you look at them as normal persons you chose who you like and get on with it, if the game needs you to have someone special with you it will get them there and thats fine. If you have the same expectations as me, that the game will present you with different characters that have different special strengths (magical) you will be disappointed, doubly so in case of the jin since she is only one step above the policewoman.
The Banter is in theory a good idea, but since this is a point and click game and not an rpg its implementation is shit. The Reason is that while in an rpg you walk around a bit and give your dudes time to talk in unavowed like in every point and click the game is divided into screens. Which means you have to sit in one screen and wait until they are finished, switch the screen and it stops, you also cant do anything else since that too would end the banter. Which lead to me not noticing much of it except if I made an effort to stand and listen.
apart from being to easy theres imho to few puzzles that use the other unavowed agents but I maybe change my mind if I switch from one team to another in a second play. But as it is the puzzles should be more creative given the setting.
Thats all I have for a first impression, its well worth its money but could be even better (which probably would have taken another few years if he does it almost all alone)
Everyone died, I got posessed again
Every spirit thats there to help you will spare you using one of your teammembers for the same thing possibly exhausting them
I will try again now.
My Impressions:
I think the game is good but way to easy. I also had the false expectation that everyone would be good for something which would lead to interesting paths, which isnt happeing. Firstly you are forced to take either the jin or the mage with you and are only free to chose between the cop and the bestower. If you look at them as normal persons you chose who you like and get on with it, if the game needs you to have someone special with you it will get them there and thats fine. If you have the same expectations as me, that the game will present you with different characters that have different special strengths (magical) you will be disappointed, doubly so in case of the jin since she is only one step above the policewoman.
The Banter is in theory a good idea, but since this is a point and click game and not an rpg its implementation is shit. The Reason is that while in an rpg you walk around a bit and give your dudes time to talk in unavowed like in every point and click the game is divided into screens. Which means you have to sit in one screen and wait until they are finished, switch the screen and it stops, you also cant do anything else since that too would end the banter. Which lead to me not noticing much of it except if I made an effort to stand and listen.
apart from being to easy theres imho to few puzzles that use the other unavowed agents but I maybe change my mind if I switch from one team to another in a second play. But as it is the puzzles should be more creative given the setting.
Thats all I have for a first impression, its well worth its money but could be even better (which probably would have taken another few years if he does it almost all alone)
I played trough the into. It is awesome and have this non linear feel to it. Probably be the first weg i played twice over immediately
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2018
- Messages
- 4,241
What is the situation with Wadjet Eye, anyway? As I understand (from Wikipedia and the WEG website) it started out as Dave Gilbert self-publishing his games, and is now both a publisher and developer, all while employing something like four people. Do they behave like a traditional publisher, or is it a sort of Warhol Adventure Game Factory thing? MRY?
Kem0sabe
Arcane
After some more playing my glowing initial impressions are somewhat dimmed
The gay sex thing is convoluted as fuck, especially the tastefully done photograph hidden behind a license plate? Who the fuck thought this was clever writing?
Having the characters say stuff like "you are gas-lighting me" or something like that. I dont know anyone who talk like that except interweb degenerates.
The party interactions are not functional at all, every map is small with quick transition, and the character banter forces the player to just sit there watching it playout instead of it continuing naturally while you interact with something or transition to another map.
The puzzles are way too simple
Having the characters say stuff like "you are gas-lighting me" or something like that. I dont know anyone who talk like that except interweb degenerates.
The party interactions are not functional at all, every map is small with quick transition, and the character banter forces the player to just sit there watching it playout instead of it continuing naturally while you interact with something or transition to another map.
The puzzles are way too simple
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MRY
Wormwood Studios
Dave started out as a solo developer. I think he had done some acting in college, and through that had a number of actor friends who could provide voice over. He was one of the first AGS developers (not the first; Adventures of the Fatman preceded his stuff) to sell his games. As an accountant, he had sufficient know-how to handle the money side. And he was a bit older than the average AGS developer, and had accumulated a little bit of capital from busting his ass in the work force. Finally, he happened to be blessed with a name that at first blush sounds like a Lucas Arts developer! And then, by coming up with a wholly original protagonist in The Shivah, he managed to get written up in the New York Times, something I'm not sure was true of any of the greats who came before him.
This combination -- capital, voice actors, name recognition, work ethic, etc. -- put him in a position to carpe diem when Steam opened up to indies. In his early development, his games did okay financially but not enough for him to be a developer full time I don't think. But then he published Gemini Rue, Resonance, and Primordia (and Puzzle Bots and Da New Guys) -- each of which sold an order of magnitude more than the Blackwell series had to date. (It turns out that gamers tend to prefer scifi and fantasy settings to real world settings; who knew?) We all went through Dave for publishing because it was so easy. He's a nice guy, he's an individual, he's part of the AGS community, and he took care of all the taking-it-commercial work that we didn't really know how to do.
Anyway, coming off those games, he now had a back catalogue that could support his full-time development, got him widespread brand recognition, and allowed him to employ Ben Chandler and Francisco Gonzalez full time (this produced Shardlight, which is the only in-house WEG title that wasn't designed by Dave). A Golden Wake, Shardlight, Epiphany, and Technobabylon did not sell as much as the "golden age of indie Steam" trio did, but Technobabylon took off once it was in a Humble bundle. Dave's wife is a super talented coder, and she ported many of these titles to iPhone. Gemini Rue made it to iPhone and Android before that market became oversaturated; I'm not sure the subsequent releases were really worth the work. (I don't think Primordia was -- I'm grateful WEG ported it, but it's only made us a couple thousand bucks total.)
The challenge for Dave is that I think the AGS development scene sort of went fallow. There aren't as many ambitious freeware games that can be taken commercial (like Gemini Rue, Resonance, Primordia, Technobabylon, etc.). Also, I think publishing is a ton of work, especially dealing with super neurotic types like me. (I think Vince and Josh basically stopped caring about their games post-release and moved onto other joys, which is surely easier to deal with as a publisher than someone who obsesses over it six years post-release.) So I think Dave is trying to transition back to focusing on development, now that he has this back catalogue that can support it.
I think Dave let Francisco go because the in-house development by someone other than Dave was not really rewarding -- Shardlight didn't sell particularly well (despite being beloved by players, beautiful, and well-reviewed), so it probably wasn't a profitable approach, and it ate up a lot of Ben's art time. The fact that they're still friends and support each other's games says a lot about both of them.
It's funny, I feel like Dave gets lavish praise from reviewers, but among fans doesn't get enough recognition. He's a really excellent salesman and spends a lot of time at conventions, but that skillful self-presentation masks the substance. Dave has now designed eight commercial adventure games: five Blackwells, The Shivah, Unavowed, and Emerald City Confidential. And he's published -- in some games playing an active role in helping with the story, design, code, or other implementation -- another eight (Puzzle Bots, Da New Guys, Gemini Rue, Resonance, Primordia, A Golden Wake, Shardlight, Technobabylon). I'm fairly sure the only person with comparable depth is Roberta Williams. Just think about that for a minute.
This combination -- capital, voice actors, name recognition, work ethic, etc. -- put him in a position to carpe diem when Steam opened up to indies. In his early development, his games did okay financially but not enough for him to be a developer full time I don't think. But then he published Gemini Rue, Resonance, and Primordia (and Puzzle Bots and Da New Guys) -- each of which sold an order of magnitude more than the Blackwell series had to date. (It turns out that gamers tend to prefer scifi and fantasy settings to real world settings; who knew?) We all went through Dave for publishing because it was so easy. He's a nice guy, he's an individual, he's part of the AGS community, and he took care of all the taking-it-commercial work that we didn't really know how to do.
Anyway, coming off those games, he now had a back catalogue that could support his full-time development, got him widespread brand recognition, and allowed him to employ Ben Chandler and Francisco Gonzalez full time (this produced Shardlight, which is the only in-house WEG title that wasn't designed by Dave). A Golden Wake, Shardlight, Epiphany, and Technobabylon did not sell as much as the "golden age of indie Steam" trio did, but Technobabylon took off once it was in a Humble bundle. Dave's wife is a super talented coder, and she ported many of these titles to iPhone. Gemini Rue made it to iPhone and Android before that market became oversaturated; I'm not sure the subsequent releases were really worth the work. (I don't think Primordia was -- I'm grateful WEG ported it, but it's only made us a couple thousand bucks total.)
The challenge for Dave is that I think the AGS development scene sort of went fallow. There aren't as many ambitious freeware games that can be taken commercial (like Gemini Rue, Resonance, Primordia, Technobabylon, etc.). Also, I think publishing is a ton of work, especially dealing with super neurotic types like me. (I think Vince and Josh basically stopped caring about their games post-release and moved onto other joys, which is surely easier to deal with as a publisher than someone who obsesses over it six years post-release.) So I think Dave is trying to transition back to focusing on development, now that he has this back catalogue that can support it.
I think Dave let Francisco go because the in-house development by someone other than Dave was not really rewarding -- Shardlight didn't sell particularly well (despite being beloved by players, beautiful, and well-reviewed), so it probably wasn't a profitable approach, and it ate up a lot of Ben's art time. The fact that they're still friends and support each other's games says a lot about both of them.
It's funny, I feel like Dave gets lavish praise from reviewers, but among fans doesn't get enough recognition. He's a really excellent salesman and spends a lot of time at conventions, but that skillful self-presentation masks the substance. Dave has now designed eight commercial adventure games: five Blackwells, The Shivah, Unavowed, and Emerald City Confidential. And he's published -- in some games playing an active role in helping with the story, design, code, or other implementation -- another eight (Puzzle Bots, Da New Guys, Gemini Rue, Resonance, Primordia, A Golden Wake, Shardlight, Technobabylon). I'm fairly sure the only person with comparable depth is Roberta Williams. Just think about that for a minute.
Cromwell
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2013
- Messages
- 5,443
? You cant get to the roof or whats the problem?
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Messages
- 29,851
keypad code men. At the wall street scene.
Jvegi
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2012
- Messages
- 5,446
Is there a way to make dialogue not progress unless some input is given in this one? My gf dont talk english very good you sea, and Dave's stuff seems like an amazing teaching tool for someone like her. All it needs is a way to pause dialogue, or make it wait for you to process it. Is such a feature available here?
Is there a way to make it work in such a way?
Is there a way to make it work in such a way?
Cromwell
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2013
- Messages
- 5,443
you missed a note. It says old man dog snake man - the other tipp is on the keypad. I forgot where the note is, if I have the wrong order you have to look for the note somewhere in the building
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