Demon Mark: A Russian Saga -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

Demon Mark: A Russian Saga: As a young peasant, you discover something miraculous about yourself. But when you little sibling is kidnapped by a villain, you must set out for Kiev, meet the great bogatyrs of legend, and reunite your family!

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 and the game you want to test. I would also prefer if you included your real name, but you don’t have to.

(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.

“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.

8 Likes

A new draft is up, mostly fixing typos that have been pointed out by beta readers.

The authors are on vacation until the 29th, so I’m going to hold off on taking any more testers until they can get back and address some of the larger feedback that has been offered.

Thank you everyone who’s provided feedback so far.

1 Like

A new draft is up! Curious for new thoughts.

  • Substantial additions to early chapters to make the sibling feel more real and to develop other family members as characters (mother and father)
  • Adjustments to difficulties throughout, in particular making difficult tasks somewhat easier
  • Language tweaks throughout for clarity and grammar
  • Numerous small bug fixes
2 Likes

New draft up!

  • Typos
  • Continuity bugs
  • Some new descriptions of the Grey Wolf and the PC’s time in Kiev
1 Like

New draft up!

  • This patch is a lot about balancing difficulties.
  • Continuity fixes.

I’m not looking for new testers, but if old testers want to play it again, I’d be curious to hear their thoughts.

New draft up!

Edited item appearance on stat page and added references to some of the items throughout the game

• Fixed typos and awkward line breaks
• Fixed continuity errors in Zmey Gorynych section of Crossroads chapter and in interactions with Marya in Koschei’s Death chapter
• Clarified that naming ceremony does not come at birth for anyone, as well as other unclear references regarding sibling
• Added additional information if the player chooses to study mystical creatures while in Kiev
• Bug fixes

1 Like