Exile of the Gods -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

It’s been decades since your encounter with Daggoras and the Weavers. Your dreams are troubled. A new threat rises to the east, in the land beyond power of the Fates. Will you rise to meet this new challenge?

The long-awaited sequel to Champion of the Gods is almost here!

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 forum-name, your real name, and the game you want to test.

DO NOT POST ASKING WHAT MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS. The first test to becoming a beta tester is inferring what it is based on the above paragraph.

(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.

15 Likes

Please read the directions to apply for testing.

5 Likes

If you want to sign up email jason

If you were having trouble loading a savegame, I think I might have just fixed it.

1 Like

Still doesn’t work for me, it says no save found

No save found means you didn’t successfully save, not that the *restore_game function isn’t working.

1 Like

Sorry @Death_Knight, but Jason explicitly said not to use the Forum Mail System. It’s recommended that you send a proper email to Jason through your usual email address (and probably delete your post here. Wouldn’t want people to know your contact detail I.e your email address, now would we ?)

1 Like

New draft up!

  • Fixed misfiring of Turmoil gift.
  • Fixed misfiring of sight gifts during “fire storm” battle sequence.
  • Fixed gender and leadership title errors for unpartnered generals in standalone Kelinos-based pathways.
  • Fixed non-firing of “player-matching” characters for standalone sequel players.
  • Continuity error in Cabria exposition sequence addressed for exiled players.
  • Temp name for character changed to Unrevealed for stats screen.
  • Players who received exposition about the Archivist’s hidden spell are no longer 100% surprised by the big reveal.
4 Likes

Just posted a bugfix that was causing a loop.

1 Like

New draft posted! More invites sent out!

  • Continuity issues in Nomad City addressed.
  • More gender identity inconsistencies for the Nomad Deity have been corrected. (If, during future playthroughs, you continue to identify gender identity inconsistencies for the deities in this game, please be sure to take a screenshot of these errors–I think most of these are holdovers from when the gender identities of these characters did not change from game to game.)
3 Likes

New draft posted! More invites sent out!

  • Additional dialogue with your mystic companion added to “A Warning for the Kah.”
  • Stage management issue fixed in the dream sequence at the end of “Return to Kelinos.” (The description at the top of the scene, establishing who was there with you, had no options for exiled players.)
  • If you say that you are siding with the God of War at the end of the game, the dialogue makes it more explicit that you are agreeing to help them. (Previously, it looked like you were being offered an opportunity to trick them.)
  • Numerous copy-editing fixes.
  • A game-breaking error in numerous *fake_choices has been removed.
  • Quick reminder to further playtesters to continue sending screenshots of any gender inconsistencies they find, otherwise I may not be able to locate / replicate them.
  • Huge thanks to everyone who has weighed-in so far!
2 Likes

New draft posted! Will send out new invites shortly.

  • After-banquet exchange with destined lover added to establish existence of Love God’s private realm (and illuminate the particular predicament of this ‘stay at home’ character).
  • Exposition added to many scenes (for sequel players) to establish that former leader of Kelinos is dead.
  • Additional choices added to expository sequences with mystic companion, as well as to your tour of Cabria.
  • Added choice to stay silent when Murvath’s plot is revealed. (But you still need to tell “the game” where you stand on the matter, even if you don’t tell present company.)
  • New stat added to track how insensitive you’re being to the mystic companion. If you profess your love to them after being way too brusque, they’ll reject you even if you have high certitude. (Also: they’ll reject you earlier if you display obvious disdain for the gods; previously they waited until the end of the game to do that.)
  • Numerous grammar and consistency issues fixed.
1 Like

New draft posted! Last chance to get your feedback in before this goes to copyedit!

I’ll be sending out the last beta invites shortly.

  • Many more interactions with your companion for the “runaway love” scenarios.
  • Option to NOT be “into” the mystic companion for romantic players. (Legit thought this option existed and was kinda horrified to find that it didn’t?)
  • More options in combat for players who chose to play with speed / resilience combo added to The Winter Sanctuary, The Moving City, and The Great War.
  • Completely new *choice when you get to the well stone, in which you encounter the ‘last ditch’ spell of the Archivist.
  • Fewer semicolons.
  • Fewer capitalizations.
3 Likes

New draft posted! Final call!

  • A clearer, more definitive ending *choice has been added to pathways that did not end on an emphatic note, so that the final pages wrap things up in a way that makes it clear to the player that their game is legit over. (Some of the previous endings were way too sudden.)
  • The transition from the sea battle to the cove encounter is smoother.
  • Many semicolons have been removed, and replaced with em dashes.
  • Many exclamation points have been removed! (And replaced with periods.)