Blood Money -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

In a humid, tropical city built on a series of islands linked by bridges and canals, one family has risen to prominence: the Delgados. You are the eldest child of the matriarch of the Delgados, cursed to never inherit power because you are a blood magician, able to see and speak with the dead.

When your mother suddenly dies, though, chaos erupts, as no one else is quite ready to accept the mantle of leadership. You must help your sisters acclimate to their newfound authority, while juggling rival gangs, corrupt cops, and a mayor with his hand out for bribes.

Email me, jason AT choiceofgames for access. DO NOT SEND ME A MESSAGE THROUGH THE FORUM MAIL SYSTEM. When you send your EMAIL, include your forumname, your real name, and the game you want to test.

(You cannot be testing two games at once. Send feedback on one and you can apply to another.)

I will send you a link, a username, and a password.

Return feedback TO ME. Preferably part of the same thread, rather than a new email.

I’m looking for “high level” and “low level” feedback. Not mid-level feedback.

Low-level = typos and continuity errors. A continuity error is when a character’s gender flips, or someone comes back from the dead, or you run into a plotline that just doesn’t make sense (because it’s probably a coding error).

For these low-level issues, SCREENSHOTS are VERY HELPFUL. If you see a problem, take a screenshot, or copy and paste the text that is in error, and email that. Also, the “BUG” button is great; but if you use BUG, make sure to say in your email who you are, so I can give you credit for the report.

“High level” feedback has to do with things like plot, pacing, and characters. “Scene A didn’t work for me because x, y, and z,” is useful feedback. “B character was entirely unsympathetic, because u, w, and v,” is also useful feedback.

“Mid-level” feedback describes things like grammar, style, or the use of commas. As I said above, I do not want mid-level feedback. In particular, DO NOT WRITE TO ME ABOUT COMMAS.

“I had a great time and saw only a few spelling errors,” is not useful feedback. In fact, it’s the sort of thing that results in you not being given access to future betas.

Some examples of useful feedback:

In Choice of the Dragon, you get to choose what type of wings you have: leather or scaled. Someone wrote in and asked about having feathered wings. Great suggestion! Done!

In “The Eagle’s Heir,” someone asked about Eugenie. They said that the romance moved too quickly–because she only appeared in the last third of the game–and wished they could have had an opportunity to meet her earlier. So the authors added an opportunity to meet her and start the romance earlier in the game (in a scene that already existed).

In “Demon Mark: A Russian Saga” several people commented on how the PC’s parents were unsympathetic, so the authors added a choice or two to deepen the relationship with the parents in the first chapter, to help better establish their characters.

Similarly, pointing out a specific choice and saying, “this is who I imagined my character was at this particular moment, and none of these options seemed right for me. I would have liked an option to do X instead,” is really helpful feedback.

Another useful piece of feedback: if you choose an #option and then the results of that #option don’t make sense. Like, if you thought an #option might test one stat, but it seems to have tested a different one.

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6 posts were split to a new topic: Beta Testing Games

ALSO! There is a closed beta thread for this game. Once you’ve submitted feedback, I can grant you access to have a discussion with the author.

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New draft posted!

  • More Casimira content added throughout
  • More Mendes content added
  • Late game ghost summoning/anchoring options added
  • Added post-finale content about Chapter 10 paths not taken
  • Various choice options added
  • Misc prose edits, additions and clarification
  • Minor stat edits
  • Various bugfixes and typo edits
4 Likes

New draft posted!

-Various scenes and options expanded (Fuchsia in Chapter 2, Ferro in Chapter 3, contacting Pereira in Chapter 6, responses to Chapter 7 branches, pocket watch in Chapter 10, climax resolution, leaving town, Casimira appearances throughout, Mendes information throughout)
-Character appearance fleshed out throughout plus ensuring descriptions trigger when meeting major characters for the first time
-Added more opportunities to become committed to a romantic interest (and therefore getting the corresponding achievements)
-Added a guide to the stats page
-Misc minor edits including worldbuilding reinforcement
-Corrected a couple of points where label transitions displayed repeated information
-Typo corrections

Hi all –

The beta is now closed. Unfortunately, I’m not going to send out any more invites.

If you received an invite and having sent in feedback yet…well, if you can get it in in the next few hours, we might still be able to use it.