I knew the password was visionary XD
Really enjoyed the demo. The story is engaging so far and the the set-up of the mystery definitely left me wanting more! I enjoyed the investigation scenes - they reminded me a bit of the Phoenix Wright games, which is the kind of thing nobody seems to have done in CS yet.
Some more specific thoughts:
I don’t think that the protagonist necessarily needs more characterization - it’s a totally legitimate option to make them a blank slate and the approach most of the CoG official games use. That said, I also enjoy being given the ability to define my character’s personality, so I wouldn’t complain if options like that showed up later in the game. Myself, I’d rather affect my character’s personality by choosing the actions they take, rather than by giving them “the most tragic backstory ever” (anyone else seen Wreck-It Ralph? Totally riffing on Mass Effect there 
).
It seems appropriate to give the player suggestions about how to interpret the evidence - as someone pointed out, it helps close the gap between the player and the character.
I didn’t realize until after playing through a few times that reviewing the evidence with Bradley eats up some of the time you have to investigate the office. Might be a good idea to give the player a reminder of the time at that point.
The summary of leads on the stats screen gets to be hard on the eyes once you’ve found a few; it’d look better as a bulleted list or broken out onto separate lines.
When looking at past projects on Zale’s holocomputer, choosing “View Recent Folders” results in the error “line 1067: Non-existent variable ‘read’”.
Anyway, it’s an awesome start and I’m really looking forward to seeing where this goes.
@MaraJade and @aetheria I will have to give the backstory options plenty of thought before I choose to implement them or not.
@aetheria Thanks! I’m glad you liked it. About reviewing the evidence and its effect on the time, I tried to make sure that the time showed up in bold in almost every scene during the office investigation. I’m not sure what else I could do besides specifically pointing it out, and I’m not sure if I want to do that.
I agree about the stats screen. I’ll get to work fixing that up so it is more readable. Also, thanks for reporting that error. I’ll fix that right away.
@Talon5505 Nice work, haha!
@ArchAngel950 Agreed. I know that whatever story I weave will be similar and comparable to other stories already out there - there’s no way that anything can be 100% original any more. And of course, I love fun clichés as well! The katana cliché is pretty cool, haha.
That said, I imagine my female character with long, brown hair down past her hips and wearing a slim, black trench coat. Because it’s my imagination, and who are you to say otherwise? 
That’s exactly the kind of thing I want to hear. I want your character to be your own.
Wow, did not expect to crack the professor’s computer and go on his personal folders… I’m such a great hacker. B-) He should really put all his belongings in somewhere safe, like the Umbra of the Moon for example.
Just played the demo and I loved it! For curiosity’s sake I was wondering if you have plans to add romance/a love interest into the game? Of course it has just started but I was wondering.
I found it a bit jarring that I was investigating a technology genius who apparently has no idea how to properly protect his systems. The fact that it was so easy is only a little concerning, but it is completely out of character for the CEO of a company devoted to technology. At the very least it leaves open corporate espionage. Get the key from the janitor and you’re basically into the top level documents of the company.
But I really like the sci-fi detective angle – it’s going to be an amazing game, I can just tell.
As for the whole “customization” thing, it depends on the game. Allowing the player to really create their character really adds to the experience, but it makes it incredibly difficult to really tell the story in depth. Having certain parts of the character defined allows for a better narrative but can ruin the immersion.
More replies!
@Happy and @Trywm About the hacking. I guess I didn’t really make it clear enough that the word unscrambling is just a minigame that represents you breaking into the system. The Electronic Systems Interface is an incredibly powerful tool that is only issued to high level agents. It makes it a lot easier for solo agents to do tasks that might be undertaken by a tech support team. It’s the future!
The scrambled word isn’t his actual password. I’ll might try and put a bit more emphasis on how powerful your gadgets are.
Also, you may have noticed, depending on what you did, that Brendan Zale might not be as perfect as he seems.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the praise.
@Batinthehat Thanks! I already answered this question further up the page. I’ll add in romance options if it is a popular request, and if I think it is a natural progression for the story and universe I am trying to write. It would of course, be secondary to the narrative, should I choose to include it.
Hit a slight roadblock recently with life, but hopefully I’ll be back on track and able to offer up an update in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes peeled!
Thanks guys 
Oh, this was fun. I look forward to this continuing!
Two things I remember that were odd:
-
I investigated the office and then stayed late to investigate the overloaded panel, and it told me the time was 7:61. Perhaps time works differently in the futuristic different world, but I would think it should be 8:01.
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When leaving the office after staying to investigate and letting the custodian check out the panel, I ran into an official looking person in the elevator who inquired who I was, and I pretended I was someone that stayed late to fix the bots and just happened to be wearing a suit when I was called in. Later when I was reviewing evidence before the demo ended, it commented on how I had met Mr. Mason (I think it was Mason) and he didn’t seem connected. I had no idea it was Mr. Mason that I had run into, so maybe this should be more clear? I didn’t ask him who he was but somehow knew later, so it was just a little confusing to me.
Alright, now I find the mystery very interesting. I currently have no idea what is going on, but I find it very interesting that Zale has both of his competitor companies buying from him. There were several encrypted files both on the computer and on paper that I couldn’t work out using my device (something tells me what is written on paper is more important for some reason, since no one uses paper anymore.)
I am highly suspicious of the custodian at the moment. I am not sure that he did it, but I feel he knows something that he hasn’t revealed yet. I am also curious as to what the reporter was doing there last night. Why did Zale go to what sounds like the sketchiest club in town, and is it linked to his use of illegal drugs?
Very, very, cool.
@Saracenar No, I saw that post. What I meant was even given such advanced technology, Zale, if he is a genius with technology, should be aware of the ease his passwords could be broken with and devised a way to stop it, or at the very least make it more difficult. A single rogue agent could steal all his files with ease.
Though I will admit I didn’t think to consider the hints that his character was less than perfect might be an explanation. ~X( Grr, shoulda picked up on that instead of nit-picking all the little details.
Or maybe it’s why he uses paper; he doesn’t trust his tech… :-?
Wolfwriter, I almost had the exact same scenarios as you! Only I told the Janitor that
I was in the PEACE agency investigating the Power Outages. And Trywm, I bet Zale
has his stuff on the Umbra of the moon now. Secretly trying to lead you away from his…
Real Booty. :-S
@wolfwriter20 Thanks! Great to hear you enjoyed it.
On the odd points. Yep, those are problems. The way I’ve done the time mechanic isn’t perfect, but it is easily fixable. Same with the second point. I forgot that Mason doesn’t always tell you his name. I’ll fix that as well. Thanks for pointing them out.
I think you’re asking the right questions. Some of them are closer than others.
@Trywm I can’t really comment on that, but I like what you’re thinking.
Love it!
I LOVE it can’t wait for the next update xx
Thank you guys. I am trying to get a bit of writing/coding in every day, but it is a bit of a slow process. I’m making progress, but like I mentioned earlier due to the complex nature (or at least, planned complex nature) of the game it takes a while to get scenes done.
Just know that I am always working towards the next update and it will be out as soon as I can get it done.
Wow, this is fantastic. Probably the best mystery/crime solving game ive played on here, and it isn’t even done.
I didn’t find much as far as typos or errors go, and I am certainly looking forward to the next update
Thanks Fortune! That really helps me keep going.
I just want to let everyone know that this is still going. I’d love to do a smaller update just to let everyone know I’m making progress, but I am working on multiple scenes at the same time, and none of them are really ready for release.
It’s probably better this way anyway, because of the nature of the game. How you manage your time in the game is important and I don’t want to funnel everyone into the same scenes.
It’s looking like the next update will be a ways off, but when it is done, it will be a sizeable portion of the game (possibly a quarter of it - we’ll see), allowing for plenty of freedom and choice.
I’m getting something done every day, so don’t worry about the game disappearing.
Thanks guys.
It’s Amazing! Are you still working on this? and will there be any new updates soon? I really enjoyed it. Very Fun puzzles and a wonderful mystery. 