The Midnight Horror -Beta Testing

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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@Shoelip - I’ve never really liked slasher flicks either. Horror? Sure. Dread? Yeah. But blood and gore… meh. Sickening and not interesting.

I’d be interesting in seeing your coding for that sensible slash flick project, if you feel it is in viewable condition. Certainly I liked the movie ‘Cabin in the Woods’, mainly because it did let the viewer see behind the scenes of what it would actually take to make a real slasher event happen.

Now that think about it, the movie ‘Alien’ also had the solid logic for a horror film too since the crew couldn’t just abandon the spaceship and so had to try to deal with the creature rather than doing the smart thing and driving off. Of course, then there are movies like ‘Duel’ that deal with the results of trying to do exactly that…

@piggleywinks -Those are really great finds. The trouble on my end is in trying to track down where the break points hit. The stilted error following the MC’s workshop entry has proven especially troublesome as apparently the program just decides, following an event trigger, to ignore the where_am_i variable and proceed to a final else statement and thereby make no sense.

I believe I made the code too intricate, and am now reaping the whirlwind. But it is also impossible at this point to alter it to a more linear fashion without essentially re-writing all of it; which I don’t have the time or inclination to do.

I now know that I will never write a complete game in this particular ‘free-roaming’ style again. Too much has to fit together in too small a space and if one thing goes wrong then the whole story becomes a bad b-roll film with obvious editing mistakes.

There should be an update available in a day or two. Thanks again.

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@AllenGies Alien is actually one of the few horror movies I’ve liked. Actually the only other one I can remember enjoying is Perfect Blue.

My coding of that game got almost nowhere. It was my first and only attempt at making a CoG game and like every other attempt I’ve made at coding drove me crazy with frustration and boredom while simultaneously making me feel drowsy… I dunno what it is about coding but I absolutely hate it. :frowning:

Part of the appeal in the idea though was the juxtaposition of the dramatic with the absurd, and also a bunch of fan service too. Ideally it would have been a survival horror game that made you feel kind of empowered, because you be genre aware, and just avoid the danger altogether at the expense of the NPCs’ lives, but you could also choose to try to save them using that not-as-stupidness of yours. Or something in the middle, partying responsibly or something I guess? I was hoping to write the characters to be sympathetic if shallow, so that you actually had a reason to care about their deaths. I haven’t worked on it in a long time.

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I felt like I abused the narrator in my play through. I just kept making him give me stuff to make me play more. I felt a little bad until I realized this narrator was trying to get me to go into a spooky house where I may die.

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@Shoelip -I’ve never heard of ‘Perfect Blue’. I’ll have to see if Netflix has it. Otherwise it is time to visit one of my anime hoarding friends.

As for your coding attempt, I understand where you are coming from. The hardest thing is to get a jaded audience to care and that is especially difficult in the slasher genre. You’d have to do something like hook them with an early dialogue interaction with an NPC, making a personal connection so that they’d care what happens to them later on.

And as you noted, that could create a delicious tension later on between avoiding tropes that will get you killed and willing to risk playing along with those tropes because you want to see someone survive.

  1. Stay with Mina while she hobbles down the tunnel on her twisted ankle.

  2. Run like hell.

  3. Rush the Tar-Pit creature before it can fully engulf Jack.

  4. Grab the fire-extinguisher from where it has fallen.

In short, it is a fascinating foundation for a story but, as you found out, actually coding a choice-adventure is no picnic.

@Razgriz -Hm. That is an interesting observation. How many times did you avoid going to the house? Did the narrator finally convince you? Were you let down by what happened when/if you decided to visit the house?

As promised, an update. I’m still working through scenes, adding new elements for the Daring, Trust, and Theory axis. When I get to the nightfall scene I am going to have to weave those elements into more important and diverse options that a player can readily experience when danger looms. Right now, most of it is subtle.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89217689/web/mygame/index.html

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I eventually went in and it was nice. Honestly you’ve impressed me so much with Tin Star and so far you only impress me more. Great work. And I definitely will be taking the saber with when I leave the house though. And I think three times. Each time he gave me more stuff until I went in.

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@AllenGies Actually now that I think about it I guess Night of the Living Dead was ok too. The original. But I tend not to watch too many horror films to begin with. I also have a serious issue with actors typecast in my mind as badasses being portrayed as victims. Like, I might like Pitch Black since it’s sci fi, but it also has Claudia Black playing an early victim which would probably just take me out of the movie really quick. I don’t think I could take any standard horror movie with Sarah Michelle Geller in it seriously.

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I got an odd error: Our apologies; there was a 502 error while loading game data. Please refresh your browser now; if that doesn’t work, please email support-external@choiceofgames.com with details.

It was just after I’d been messing about with the stats page.

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Razgriz -I’m glad you seem to like the game thus far. It isn’t done by any stretch and I am worried that I might be chasing the wind here. Maybe I need to watch a few more horror films. The 502 error was odd, but it sounds like something beyond my control. Did it happen again and/or regularly?

Shoelip -Yeah, horror movies are better when you don’t know the actors. They feel more real that way, especially if they aren’t muscled up. An exception does come to might though as ‘Predator’ played well despite the buff lead actors. Indeed, having the Predator pick off the members of a special operations unit made it clear that the stakes were high and the opponent both immensely well armed and skilled.

Perhaps that is an element of what I am trying to do here. Not really horror, but survival in unusual circumstances?

Regardless, an update as I try to slog through the intricate code and try to make the clunky gears that mesh the micro-scenes together appear shiny.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89217689/web/mygame/index.html

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Allen don’t give up :slight_smile: you’re work has inspired me to start a game of my own

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Yes the 502 happened again, but no, not on any kind of a pattern that I could see. It didn’t happen on any other sites. It was odd.

I typed all of this before you put up the new version, so it’s comments on the other one. My apologies if any of it was already adjusted.

First off, I really enjoyed the game! There were lots of details that I liked; the workshop and all the strange technology (or whatever paranormal machinery is called), the fact that I can set everything on fire by carelessness, the truly bizarre things I can carry, and especially the free roaming aspect, frustrating as it may be to code it. Henry was a lot of fun, and I thought our conversations were hilarious. The game itself reminds me of a spooky version of one of the old Sierra RPGs. I also liked that it’s horror, but it’s not a campy slasher fic (unless I missed that bit). And the narration is brilliant, and amusing! Especially when the narrator argues with the player.

I do sort of wish there could have been a map of the house, especially once I’m rushing around like mad; in real life, I could get lost in the mall, so in the game I kept forgetting which was which. When I first approach the iron door to the attic, it would have been nice to have a note that it had a keyhole. Without that, it seems unclear as to whether it even has a handle (and that wouldn’t have surprised me in this house).

I’ve yet to ‘win’ it but I’m looking forward to having another go soonish. (:

A few typos and things:

Fine. I’ll visit that house.>
*Should there be a carrot on both sides? or neither?

The game said I had the notebook and pen before I retrieved them.

All it takes is a quick pull to shift each of each* shaft to open the way into the kitchen.
*Each of each?

The fire in the stove burns vigorously and smoke has begun to pour out the sides* vents.
*Side or sides’?

::Feel this?:: it '*asks directly into your mind. ::No static.::
*Why the inverted comma?

With* someone inside, any place is just empty space.>
*Should that be ‘without’?

Open the window and scurry down the drain_spout* to the back of the house.
*underscore

Ideas for the alarm clock: Chucking it at something, setting it to go off in a minute or two and using it to scare/distract/reroute someone or something.

After I look at the iron-plated door for the first time, I then have two options for the same thing on my choice list, either ‘push the iron plated door’ or ‘examine the puzzle door’.

the workshop has remained *the owner intended.>
*as

“Hello? Is someone there?” A Voice* calls out weakly *
*Should voice be capitalized?
*No ending punctuation.

*Do you have a phone in this place?"
*Missing quotation marks.

“Iron skeleton, glass skull… what’s* about its guts?”
*‘what’

Review what I know. [Knowledges]*
*Knowledge? Facts?

“Yes, perhaps that was it. Isolate* bred nothing but stray thoughts that bent back upon themselves.”
*Isolation

“will you tell me afterward?”
*caps

stay where I am.
*Also caps

shift my left leg forward.
*caps

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@Razgriz -Yeah, you (and Fiogan) are right. I’ll soldier on and get this fixed up. I’ve been on a small family vacation though, so I’ve fallen a bit behind on my personal schedule. Feel free to contact me concerning your game when you are far enough along with it.

@Fiogan -I’m glad you are enjoying it. As I noted above with Razgriz, that gives me hope that the game can be made to work well enough for publication.

I like the idea of a map of the house. I’ll suggest that to the artist who is doing the splash screen. Perhaps she can work something like that into the artwork. Failing that, I might be able add a text based map to the notebook.

Front Hall – Study
|
Narrow corridor
|
Kitchen – Basement
|
Back of the House

Etc.

The keyhole in the attic door was a big oversight now that I think about it. Never bury an important detail, even if the detail itself would actually be buried. Players, and I have played games that did this, hate that sort of thing.

I’ll fix the typos in the morning. Nice catches by the way. Spell check only catches misspellings after all.

Some beta-tester question; Has anyone managed to get Henry as a corporeal ally? Does the early part of the game feel too short or rushed? It would be relatively easy to give the player more ‘moves’ they can make before the sundown scene kicks in.

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Well, I’m off to GenCon for a few days and will be out of touch until I get back home.

There is an update to the files with more things ironed out, but the work goes slowly.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89217689/web/mygame/index.html

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Okay, I think the game is nearly ready after numerous add-ons and edits. One last round of beta-testing and then I’ll kick it over on Monday.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89217689/web/mygame/index.html

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“Well, this ending shouldn’t be visible. Make a note that you saw it and email me. It would seem that I’ve got some code to patch.”

Apparently, I got the ending that should not be visible. I used the link at the top of the thread, not the most recent–is there a difference between the two?

I love this. Normally, I’m not into horror, but this is fantastic. I can’t believe this has already been up for months and I never even knew about it. I love the narrative structure, and the snarky commentary I got after I went through the sensible course of action at the beginning. I didn’t even care about the cheats, I was just happy to have the side comments. The battle with the creature inside the player’s mind was very well-written. The whole thing is well-written, actually. I love how you make use of magnetism and electricity to create a really strange and interesting creature instead of relying on used horror elements like chainsaws, cannibalism, etc.

Oh, and like some other people said, I kept hearing from Henry (or is it Harry?) despite never meeting him. The first time was when sun set and I was in the study; I wasn’t using the cell phone, but during the sunset scene, Henry suddenly showed up out of nowhere to say something and then the battery died. Also, he called me again after I started up the generator thing and recharged the cell phone. I was just planning to call the police, but instead Henry called back. After that, I had the option to call him back whenever I wanted.

No, actually, it doesn’t. I liked how you were given little time to get stuff done and a lot of options to wander around and waste time. I haven’t actually done a second playthrough yet, but this go-round I’m going to ignore a lot of extra things and try to hit the important things more quickly and efficiently. Besides, if we’re armed and/or we’ve charged the necklace, we still have plenty of second chances after sunset. I did find it weird that even after the darkness attacked me and nearly killed me in the house, I had plenty of time to wander around, get lost, chase after red herrings, chat on the phone, and revisit places I’d already been to.

So, long story short, I love this. Job well done.

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@Mirabella -Excellent feedback. Don’t worry about the link, you got the right one. You’d know immediately too since the other one leads to an old Tin Star edition.

First off, I’m glad you liked. That gives me hope that my efforts have not been in vain.

With Henry, he is supposed to just be a voice over the phone at first. But if you want to meet him, get your phone charged up and then head down into the basement when the sun begins to set…

I’ll also take a look at the flavor text for the nightfall portion. There is supposed to be a sense of rising urgency and I am worried that is lacking.

Did you find the in-game map to be useful? What about the notebook?

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@AllenGies The problem with Henry was that he was referred to as Henry in the narration, even though I had not learned his name anywhere. I think throughout the stuff in the house, his name was given as H.G. Something-or-other, (is that a reference to HG Wells?) so we didn’t even see “Henry” anywhere. And once he calls, we immediately know that he’s Henry despite him never saying, “Hi, I’m Henry.” I think something went wrong with the code so that I’m flagged as already having an ongoing conversation with Henry when the sun sets, no matter where I am in the house or whether I’ve actually been down to the basement yet. And then my character just rolls with it despite Henry’s calls coming out of nowhere. I’ll try what you said to trigger his actual introduction.

The nightfall scene feels urgent and creepy as-is. It’s great. :smile: However, afterwards, we have so much time to continue doing things that the sense of urgency generated by the nightfall scene itself dissipates. Maybe you can reverse the structure, so we have plenty of time during the day but certain key actions/areas are locked off. Then at night, those key things open up, but we only have enough time to complete a few of them before midnight. Of course, I don’t know how drastically you’d have to rewrite and recode this thing in order to do that, and it might make the game too easy or too hard.

I didn’t really make great use of the map or the notebook. I think that’s just a personal thing; I’m very visual and good at navigation, so I just put together a map in my head. With regards to the notebook, I have a habit of taking notes during puzzle games, so I didn’t need an in-game note system. That’s probably a thing that requires greater quantities of feedback.

I found some typos and grammatical hiccups, but I forgot to record them. I you want, I can go dig them up and compile them.

Is there any benefit to venturing into the attic prior to nightfall? Besides building atmosphere, I mean. And when we get the whatever-we-want from the coat, does the ticket do anything or does it just serve as an easter egg? Considering the limited amount of time we have, and how beneficial it is to grab something from the coat right away rather than go find it, I think the ticket option should be removed if it doesn’t have any real benefit. On that note, is the time meter based on actions–like clicking choices–or visiting areas? If it’s based on actions, then it seems silly to make stuff like fetching the whatever-you-want from the coat take up so many actions when it would really take only 5 minutes.

Still love the game. :slight_smile:

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Oh, another thing: I was thinking about pacing in the horror genre in general, and I remembered this movie I saw recently called The Descent. It’s about these six women who go spelunking, get trapped by a cave-in, and then meet some cave-dwelling cannibals. The most striking thing about the movie is that the monsters don’t even show up until about two-thirds of the way through the movie. Everything before that is just using the natural scariness of being trapped in a cave to freak people out. By the time the monsters finally show up, people already have the jitters from the fear of suffocation, getting stuck, the dark, drowning, falling off a cliff, getting crushed by a cave-in, and claustrophobia. Honestly, the movie could have left the cannibals out and been just as scary. My point is, I think more build-up prior to nightfall would benefit the game. Compel the players to explore both the attic and the basement, which are the two creepiest (and most important) rooms, to both build tension and direct them towards the finish line. I hope that helps. :slight_smile:

EDIT: I just realized that I said earlier that the beginning doesn’t feel rushed, and now I’m contradicting myself. Oops. I hope something in my unfocused feedback helps, nonetheless.

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“You turn and regard a distant house that fairly shines in the sun” - seen when you pull off to the side of the road. I think this should be faintly?

“but it is possibly that it isn’t finished and is instead more like a cellar.” - seen when you’re approaching the farm house. Should be possible.

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@Mirabella -Interesting. I’ll take a look at his intro. He should definitely have introduced himself just after making contact. At least, that was my intention.

As for how things are passed, I used a *moves variable to keep track of how much time is spent doing what. Early on, you can use up a lot of time on silly things, such as reading books or letters. Most actions have a moves cost of about one, with some, such as just glancing at things, having a move cost of zero. During the sundown scene, there are fewer moves available, but high end things tend to cost a little less because everything is a bit more rushed Come nightfall, things cost at most one move or just zero depending; but when a certain number of moves is reached, there is an attack.

Again, that was my intention during coding. But I know all too well that this isn’t always how things actually unfold. :smile:

If you can dredge up those typo and grammar notes, I would appreciate it. I am at the stage where I am having trouble editing due to a reading through things too many times.

The Descent is on my movies to see list. The pacing you mentioned feels similar to the intention of the Midnight Horror. Tension ratchets up once the monster makes its appearance in the last third of things.

@owedwards - Thank you. Those are just the sort of typos I am looking to correct. Well, the second one is anyway. The first one needs more work as a whole for the reason you noted. It really doesn’t get across what the house is supposed to look like…

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@AllenGies About the movie, be sure to see the one with the original British ending; the American cut left out an important piece of the ending. The movie as a whole was somewhere between “eh” and “ok,” but that ending really stuck with me afterwards. I thought I was going to cry. I wasn’t expecting that at all from a horror movie.