Hi all!
I have just started work on my first choice of games project, Murder in Berlin.
The story is set in Weimar Germany and partially inspired by Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Novels.
You play as a young detective in the volatile political atmosphere of 1932 and are tasked with solving the murder of a British man named Mr Knowles. I’ll leave the rest for you to work out, suffice to say there will be many twists and some difficult decisions to make. There aren’t any stats in this game, I decided it would make it too complicated, there are of course variables though.
I’ve got the story planned out and have got to grips with choicescript over the last week, so here is the result with the first first chapter completed: https://rapidshare.com/#download|634|3387909756|Murder%20in%20Berlin.rar|1233
Note: the game is in web>mygame>index. not sure if thats standard practice but thats where i made it!
I dont have pc only phones and tablets so if you do this way so many people like me cant see your demo and send you feedback. Please put there in dropbox. This way everyone can play it
Hi, welcome to the forums!
As the other two above me have already said, it’s a bit of a pain to download, unzip and setup games directly so most people host the files on dropbox - which allows us to play it online without any messing about.
The writing is profoundly intelligent, but the choices don’t feel like they have an impact; it feels a bit linear to be blunt. But this is only the start, so of course that linear vibe could be nullified. I also think there should be some background on the character (more than just the rise in rank to his current position) since the character is “set” (i.e. gender, name, job, setting - a given, who the character knows, et cetera.) If the character were to be more player-oriented then I think jumping straight in to the case would a bit easier for players to relate. I’m not going to lie, I got a tad bit lost in the Nazi-Communism setting details at first, perhaps that could be explained in a bit greater depth? I’m not requesting a history lesson, and it could just be my own ineptitude, but perhaps others felt this way.
Also, about the lack of “stats,” which implies there will be no stat boosting choices, is that intentional, or something that will be added later on? Just my personal opinion, but stats give me the feeling that I’m making an impact on the “route” the story will take.
Its well written probably a good detective story, but this not seem a choice game. All is locked and preset gende.profesion,background even dont have stats.my choices seem dont have any repercusion of impact in the story.
Thanks for the feedback @Batinthehat, very useful.
On the issue of choices and ‘linearness’, its really tricky to strike the right balence. My current plan is that the story will be fairly linear, with one or two decisions that do have major effects. The big decision will be near the end when you decide who to charge with the murder. The choices leading up to that point will more affect how much information you have with which to make that decision than the storyline. For example in this chapter, there are 3 endings, one good, one ok and one bad, according to the order in which you did the available actions.
What I’m trying to say is that you’ll always follow a similar path, the only variable will be how informed you are. The other thing is that the decision as to who to prosecute isn’t just based on the evidence but also, and I’m trying to give as little away as possible here, the various repercussions of charging the different suspects, both for yourself and others. In short, the decision on who you prosecute isn’t just about who you think did it.
I guess it probably is a good idea to add a sort of prologue introducing the character and historical setting, will do that at some point!
Finally, on stats, I deliberatly haven’t put them in. I persoanlly don’t think they are worth the effort, as I mentioned above, the choices are more about aquiring information to help you later on, rather than boosting abilities.
What do you guys think? Could they be useful?
The choices thus far are inconsequential. The descriptions are well thought out, but comparatively poorly implemented, - the writing needs to be a tad more fluid.
Probably will be a good story but a really lacking of opcions and replayability game. But i give a trust vote after to critice more. But if you do want you have planed i never buy it.
Give the player more control, - indeed, any control!, - over the nature of the character. Everything, for the moment, regarding the character, is pre-determined.
The stats are good because you have a idea what you character can do in the game , and in what action you could succed. Maybe some stat abot analitical mind, forense knowledge something to personalize the character. And if the opcions are only to adquire info one time you end the game what make you replay? Nothing, you already know the solution. And nobody buy this games to only play one time.
You maybe can do that the assasin could change depends of the pc focus in one part of story or the info he obtains.
@Drazen this is a good idea, to start with, I am adding a small prologue which introduces the character and allows you to shape them to a certain extent
@MaraJade the replay value is more in the different endings, even if you work out who the killer was, doesn’t mean you will prosecute them because there are different consequences for you and others.
Ok, i think i understand why you try to say but i never replay a game because the prologue is different i need fell my actions effectively affect the story. And no think why cant play like a girl or define my backgrounds even my aspect.
In your demo i cant really decide nothing i feel relevant seem like fake choices so i desconect of the game part.
@AlexClifford94
You’re welcome. Ah, I see. So the ending is really the key to seeing how your choices unravel, okay then. In essence the stats would be unnecessary then if the game is dependent the information gathered via the choices picked, or the order in which the choices are picked. I think the background information is really the key for me - being gender-locked and having a predetermined past isn’t really an issue, just something I had noticed. I personally do love detective work, it gives me that Phoenix Wright “Objection!” feeling when I put the pieces together. <-- game reference
Well I liked it good one
I don’t mind the missing stats but i think things like evidence and clues would be cool to add it would be fitting too
Or a list of stuff notepad, cuffs, revolver to add to immersion
Even if you can’t use them it would be a small thing to help turn this from a story to a game
@Marajade I appriciate the feedback, i’m going to look at how the choices affect the gameplay. on the issue of gender, I havn’t added the option to play as a woman simply because you wouldn’t have got female detectives in the 1930s, sad but true. It is fiction but I would make it as historically accurate as possible.
@Batinthehat i’m definately going to flesh out the background of the character, thanks for this suggestion!
@Pale_Strider that is a great idea! Is it possible to turn the stats screen in to a list of clues discovered?
