Highlands, Deep Waters [Released]

Damn, some of the initial ideas and notions about the game had so many specific (and sometimes unnecessary) ramifications that it can get a bit confusing even for us. I was obsessed with creating too much specific branches at first, but as we realized the scope of the game it became clear this wasn’t such a good idea, at least for a first project. That doesn’t mean that we gave up on doing weird and specific stuff, but we actually found a way to at least code it better and to try to make sure that the “important stuff” is (mostly) available to all, while still trying to create some uniqueness with archetype and decision-based outcomes. The prologue itself is probably still the most messy and chaotic part of the game in that sense, and I take the blame for that, a mix of inexperience and absolute madness. We’re working hard to make sure that this specific portion of the game gets the proper revision it needs, and this kind of help incredibly helpful.

Yeah, I agree with that. We had a similar problem in Chapter 1 forward, but I think we got that fixed with a similar “naming checkpoint” where the player is prompted to inform its fake full name along with its his real full name. The prologue should behave in the same way in a sense that, even if you haven’t given a fake name yet, it should be available for selecting at some point and, if you already given it, it should also appear as a choice. Naming suggestions are a must do too.

That is a bit tricky to arrange because of the way that the information isn’t necessarily given to him, but we can do without the blank “'” anyway.

The first time, at the hotel, wasn’t setting the variable “gaveFakeName” as true when you did so. It should be working now.

I believe so. Andy is just proud of his daughter and cannot stop talking about her (this comes up later at the end of the game, I believe, if you manage to convince him that there’s something wrong with the original investigation done by the police).

The easiest way out of this one is to assume that the police officer is just bluffing because he suspects you’re not who you say you are(for some reason), but that’s a bit sloppy.

I went there and found what the problem was, the officer really shouldn’t ask to talk to you if you don’t tell the kid that you’re not a lawyer. There was some messy usage of variables there. It should be working now, and the officer only tries to blackmail/threaten you if you tell the kid you’re not a lawyer.

The two possible interactions where testing if the variable “pretendingToBeMatthew” was true were set as true. It should be fixed now.

It went to 0 or it disappeared completely from the stats screen? Was it after taking a nap or wandering around?

That description only appears if you have sanity less or equal than 0, so I guess that is what you meant by sanity disappearing. I fixed the repeating description(it was pointing to the wrong label, if this is your second time at the .txt)

By “list of things to do” you mean the options themselves? If that’s the case, one more reason for me to believe that *hide_Reuse isn’t working when you go back to a scene.

Forgot the hide_reuse there, time paradoxes regarding that should end now.

Fourth one isn’t actually F.I., but the Midnight Child

Ok, I really need to test that scene to see if it is behaving as it should.

It seems we’ve reached the lands of Notsureness. By “all in your head” I meant as the fact that there what you input is what your character, while hallucinating, believes to be speaking to God. The fact that the words appear back to you is a vague “sign” that you’re seeing something form your own head(thanks to a side effect of the thing you drank), instead of something that is being projected to you by an outside entity.

I guess there are better ways to handle that specific ending, specially now that we have a clear understanding of how the cult, the ritual and the supernatural entities work in the world of the game.

I’m not sure about what you’re saying here. You mean that specific bit or the overall condition of the game, meaning that we should have tested it more before making it available? Either way, it’s has been hard to find testers. Perhaps that has something to do with it.

:cry:

Not exactly meet, but close enough. You have to drink the correct liquid and later, choose to keep your cover. That way, in the finale, your first investigator will get their moment in a spotlight. Sorry about the late answer.

The “local” requirement made some sense: you’re still an intruder, but at least you know your way around.

Good luck. I don’t think I can tell what you would like to change from looking at your code.

…and I just realised that my suggestion is bad, because there’s no guarantee that player would use a fake name at the hotel.

[quote=“Nerull, post:125, topic:20808”]
I agree with you that this player input actually leaves ground for messages such as ‘hotdog’, ‘lolgg’ and ‘gobiajegoiajcopaj’, therefore shattering the narrative immersion.[/quote]

Like I said, I didn’t shatter my own immersion out of malice. I just wasn’t sure what would be immersive to say. Should I mock them? Should I power up a doomspeak generator®?
But then again, could be just me.

I need to think about this question for a bit, if you don’t mind.

While you are at it, maybe you could customise Alexander’s words a bit? It sounded a bit strange. He figured money were well spent as long as he got answers and here is what he got: nothing.

Dissappeared completely. As in, there was nothing written after “sanity”. I only noticed it at c2hub1, no idea for how long it’s been this way, honestly. It actually appeared after I opened that one door.

Yes, “nap/deal with addiction”. You can rest, wander, then rest again ad infinitum.

I wanted to believe and my faith has blinded me.
Then I didn’t get Grant to mention F.I. After all.

Ah well, I interpreted half of it right. I guess I’ll postpone the seppuku.

I meant almost exact opposite. I’m sorry if I spoke out of my place, I’m just used to games being moved to a closed beta at a much earlier stage.

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Absolutely love this game. I just can’t seem to get past the Lone Manse. No matter what I do, that damn cop kills me from behind. What am I missing? Was I supposed to drink from those liquids or something? Is there a way to open the back door?

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You either get killed by him while trying to leave the house, die from poisoning, drink the “right” bottle or get beaten by a hammer in the underground of the house(you reach that by the bathroom, under a rug I believe). Then you play another character during Chapter One.

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Good idea. This specific segment should predict the possibility of the player never giving Alexander anything.

Weird. My best guess is that you somehow got above 10 sanity(which wasn’t getting predicted before, but now is). Hopefully that was it.

Ok, I’ll make sure it starts working and give up on doing drugs.

No, no, don’t worry about it. I just sincerely didn’t get the meaning. Actually we’re quite ignorant on how to deal with the stages of testing. We just thrive for feedback and bug reports, I guess. (Which we are getting plenty now!)

Thanks again for it. Hopefully you’re fine from all the naps and drugs you’ve taken.

Also I’ll take a look at Father Grant speaking about F.I and also its appearance in the Meeting. It could be that something wasn’t properly transcribed form the original doc file or that isn’t being accessible through the gameplay(either some variable check that isn’t occurring as it should or a label that is misplaced, I guess)

edit: I’ll update this post when the game gets updated on the host.

So, the glass shard is useless? Hmmm. Was hoping I could put up at least a bit of a fight, seeing as how I had two weapons. No matter. Thank you, mate.

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You know what? It shouldn’t be. Guess it was just something we ended up forgetting. I’ll make sure that it has at least some use.

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May I suggest letting our first character get at least one good stab at that damn cultist cop? :joy:

Anyways, just completed my first playthrough of the entire game. Besides some typos that need to be corrected, I absolutely cherish what you have created. As a tremendous fan of anything Lovecraftian, I was enthralled by this game. I appreciate the fact that we get to be brutal and no nonsense, as that’s how I feel my real self would confront this great tale of insanity and death. I loved role-playing as a hardened criminal. This game, for me, was the ultimate hybrid of that, true investigation and deduction, and just plain fun. A truly unexpectedly amazing piece of interactive fiction. Typos and seemingly missing pieces of code aside, you have a marvelous piece of work, here. I cannot wait for its release, and I will definitely seek professional help, for I can’t seem to stop replaying it. Thank you!

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Consider it done. Not only that, but the cultist will also display a scar on its face in future interactions if you are able to hit him. (I just have to convince Nerull it’s a good idea, but don’t worry, he’s usually up for crazy stuff)

Thank you so much for your kind words. Nerull and I greatly appreciate them.

Also, if you manage to find professional help, be sure to give us the contact as well. Tha sinn 's dòcha feumach air cuideachd.

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:joy: You’re truly welcome. I’ve been craving a Lovecraft-inspired interactive fiction piece ever since I first discovered CoG.

Which brings me to another inquiry. Why no Cthulhu books at the book store? Unless I’ve missed one…

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We’ve wanted a Lovecraftian game, but Lovecraftian situations don’t conform well to our design guidelines. The whole “end of the world” thing, for example, is too binary of an event.

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Oh, I understand. This game definitely more than satisfies my tastes. Thank you for the clarification.

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@MahatmaDagon Question: Why can’t we kill Dr. Young? If I recall correctly, he was a cultist, or at least directly tied to them. Why leave him alive?

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You should be able to kill that old bastard! Perhaps it has something to do with the files on the host being from an older version. In the next few days we’ll me updating it, along with the Calum Douglas scene. Thanks for the report!

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I think I recall it being mentioned a while ago that joining the cult was an option, along with a secret ending. Is this still the case? :sweat_smile:

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Of course! You can join while talking to Father Grant or, if I recall correctly, at the final “hub” of the game, after the High Tide.

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@MahatmaDagon You’re entirely welcome.

I must say, the “assassination” ending is my favorite. It made the whole game feel like a movie.

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It’s funny because this ending barely made it to the game. It had come from a chat between me and @MahatmaDagon even before we finished writing Chapter 1

[spoiler] So we decided we wanted a “fancy party” scene AND a scene in London. Originally we wanted the character to go to London prior to the ritual, somewhere between late Chapter 2 and early Chapter 3. But thing was that we finished writing the whole game without such a scene. We decided, then, to wrap up these concepts in this scene where the character can attempt to assassinate David Lennox.

If this game had a “canon” ending, my vote would go for this one :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: It has this sense of “retribution”, of not letting Lennox slip away after all he and his fellow Domhainn did to Invernock[/spoiler]

Soon a new version (1.6?) will be made available. I’m revising as many .txts as I can, seeking typos and rewriting some passages, while @MahatmaDagon is fixing loops and bug reports. We intend to hand in the game by late March, so please keep up with the reports and feedbacks! :slight_smile:

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Is this the protagonist of the prologue, or the protagonist of the main story?


Every time you enter the coffee shop you get a free cup of coffee

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