Merlock Owls and Dr. Plotson (hiatus announsment)

I’ve begun work on my first game, Merlock Owls and Dr. Plotson. In this silly detective game you will search for clues, chase suspects and uncover the thuth.

To play the demo, go here: https://dashingdon.com/go/3132.

If you notice a mistake, please, point it out. If you somehow like something, you can point that out, too. Your feedback will be appreciated.
Update (15 th September 2018): I’ve fixed some bugs today.
Update (8th October 2018): chapter 2 added.
Update (6th November 2018): added changes to chapters 1 and 2, added new stats.
Update (December 11th, 2018): added the first half of chapter 3. Minor typos corrected in chapter 2.
Update (February 10, 2019): added chapter 4, corrections in other chapters.
Update (March 18, 2019): added 1st part of chapter 5, small corrections to previous chapter.
Update (June 27, 2019): added 2 part of chapter 5.
Update (July 28, 2021): re-uploaded chapter 3 (with minor changes).

58 Likes

Is it going to be a parody?

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I think you have a nice idea coming along! Your characters have such cute names!

One question: can we choose our MC’s name, or will it be fixed as Dr. Plotson? I feel it will be nice if we are able to name our own MC :slight_smile:

Small things I picked out:

  1. Instead of “the medical school”, you can just say “medical school” or give it a random name.
  2. “You should be more careful while running in the rain, doctor,” said says Owls, wiping rainwater from his dark hair.
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Yes, sort of. I’m not sure I can pull off a serious game right now.

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There should be “None of these” option in the name choice.

Yes, that’s probable too many “the” in there.

Thank you! I’ll wait for some more feedback to make an update tomorrow.

Edit: I’ve decided to update it now.

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I can choose perception twice as my best skill and as a worst one too. Should perception be locked as a flaw, if I chose it as my strength?
May I ask why did you decide to include fast reading? It is kinda unusual.

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Oops. Yes, I’ll fix it.

Maybe your character will have to read books to find some important data.

Edit: fixed the problem with perception.

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Also some phrases made me smile, your style of writing is amusing. :grin: Wish you luck and tons of inspiration.

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Thank you a lot! :smiley:

This by far is one of the most unique interactive stories I have read so far. You go about doing a detective story in a way I haven’t really seen done yet, and actually made stats that are not only different from what others do, but are more detailed than just putting strength, agility, intellect… est. I really like how you set up the stats and I’m really interested in how this story will turn out.

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That’s unexpected. Thank you a lot!

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Fixed some mistakes with variables and saving system.

Almost finished chapter 2. I still need to do some testing, but it will be out tomorrow.

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Great news, I am anticipating very much. :grinning:

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Chapter 2 is ready!

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Do you plan to add some more personality(or role-play, I hope I put my thoughts right) choices and corresponding stats? Like compassionate/pragmatic or something like that. So far it is more to pick right choice according to your skills.
During calming Mr. Smellington some choices sounded like more of personality, then skills. Like “compassionately put your arm on his shoulder” or something like that. Can I fail them?
Also, will in game be some interactions with characters not connected directly with solving cases? :sweat_smile: Probably a backstory about how MC and Owls met? Sorry for my impatience.

Typo?

Game always addresses player as “you”. And here “us”. Probably it should be “you” or “your agency”? Or it is a speech and quotes are missing?

To us? I should probably replace that.

Like “compassionately put your arm on his shoulder” or something like that. Can I fail them?

Well, not this particular option.

Like compassionate/pragmatic or something like that. So far it is more to pick right choice according to your skills.

I thought about that, maybe I’ll add something later.

Probably a backstory about how MC and Owls met?

I’m working on it, but it will appear much later in the story.

Thank you for suggestions!

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I have updated chapters 1 and 2.

This time I tried to improve already existing chapters before moving forward.
Some descriptions and character interactions were added.
Tried to add personality traits for the main character to improve role-playing.
Added reputation among different fractions.
Changed some interactions between Plotson and Owls: in chapter 1, you can decide to cooperate with Owls, or to work by yourself before anybody else can do anything.
Various small changes in chapter 2.

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Chapter 3 is in progress. I’m a little unsure about this chapter’s lenght (maybe I will divide it into 2 chapters), but I should be able to publish what is either an entire chapter, or its 1 half on December 10 or 11.

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[1st half of] chapter 3 is here! Do you like it?

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