The Hero Unmasked -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

Announcements Beta Testing
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You’re a journalist in a city where the Swashbuckler defends the defenseless. But when the Swashbuckler is kidnapped, somehow you get mixed up in the whole affair…

ALSO: the author has requested that you use the Bookmark Codes to report bugs (especially if you don’t send a screenshot).

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

(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 high-level 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.

3 Likes
3

New draft posted!

2017-06-02

  • Typoes as reported; all instances of “focussed” in all files corrected to “focused”.
  • Chapter 1: removed an instance of MC calling CR “honey”, since it happens too rarely to justify setting up a choice of pet names.
  • Also removed another instance of this in the Epilogue.
  • Chapter 3: specified waiting “until the coast is clear” for the second attempt at lockpicking.

[spoiler]* Tweaked opening text: MC said to be “taking the long way from parking lot to main entrance”, obviate suggestion that he is walking from home to work out of necessity.

  • Epilogue, “merged” branch: when choosing to have twin in control, final page says * “…searching your old memories…” instead of “…search ${twinname}'s memories…” (Original text remains intact for when original MC is in control or when MC chooses to see the merged self as a new person.)[/spoiler]
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New draft up!

· Minor text tweaks.

· Brought page break text to under 22 characters per button, or else dispensed with the button commentary altogether.
· Corrected mislabelled ends of the Wild Card/Police Agent scale.
· Corrected code that resulted in CR “knowing it’s not you” in the Chapter 10 opening despite being kept in the dark about the “twin switch” situation.
· Corrected code relating to whether or not you kissed RB like you meant it, and whether RB recognises it when/if you unmask.
· Rewrote text for the “investigate Delgado” option to flow better with the context/situation.
· Bloodmist’s zombie servants: text now recognises if you’d tangled with them before, right after the encounter with Firebrand.
· Added paragraph about who the Swashbuckler is to the opening. Mentions rarity of superheroes.
· Added choice to articulate player’s feelings for CR. This also affects later choice about player’s response to CR’s plans.
· Option to zap Bloodmist with a stun gun: edited option to reflect if the stun gun had been used before, and took out the references to “fumbling” in the “successful” and “almost successful” results.
· Removed the quick acceptance of superpowers from the conversation with the twin.
· Reworded disguise in chapter 7: yes, even CR is fooled until our hero comes out to them. Also added comment in chapter 1 about having a “bland, forgettable face”.

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New draft up!

· Typos as reported. More verb disagreements when playing as non-binary.
· Cleaned up romance codes. Also spotted and fixed a bug in which BM’s response was somehow dependent on FB’s romantic status instead.
· Restated Boris’s introduction, so the surprise is not that “bikers should not be cosmetic artists” but that “huge, rough hands seem unsuited to delicate work.”
· Replaced adverb in the “masculine/feminine/androgynous” choice with “absolutely” in all three cases.
· Investigative news show title changed to “City Under Scrutiny”.
· Fixed bug where one choice wasn’t providing a new digit to the cumulative savecode.
· Added achievements.

· Added “shock FB with words” options to the “headbutt/kiss/etc.” choices in Chapter 4.
· Added a “sorry, I’m taken” option for when BM kisses you in Chapter 6.
· Fixed a bug that caused the “flirtatious banter to defuse the situation” option in Chapter 4 to loop back onto the choice instead of going forward.
· Fixed a bug where CR would promise you blueprints but get you an interview with the janitors instead, while RB would promise you an interview with the janitors but get you blueprints.

1 Like
6

New draft up!

· Typos as reported. More verb disagreements (they’re like cockroaches!) and some text tweaks.

· Fixed a bug that dropped you into a different timestream if you slipped off the ledge of the Golden
Eagle Casino tower.
· Fixed a bug in the stat screen that messed up your personal history if your twin died and you took their place.

1 Like
7

New draft up! Last call for notes!

· More typos, verb disagreements and text tweaks.
· Page_break button text now all in title case, or else eliminated.
· In the Least Favorite Food choice, changed “peas” to “red beets”.
· Chef Duplessis is now non-binary.
· In the status screen, changed “Feared” to “Respected”, as more indicative of what this stat represents.
· Adjusted numbers for various tests and rewards.
· Fixed a bug that diverted us to the wrong ending text if you told Bloodmist you were “taken”.
· In the date with CR in Chapter 7, change the option for small talk about the president’s invitation (which does nothing for the plot) to an option to ask CR to either postpone the wedding or take a break.
· Added a potential penalty for trying to bluff your way into Desmond Lee’s penthouse. (Previously, this was the only option to offer no penalties whatsoever.)
· Added new option to use vampire research to defeat BM in Chapter 6.