No Goblins Allowed :: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Complete)

Interesting! I love text adventures. Mostly, I love typing weird stuff in and seeing what happens! My favorite that I ran into this time was when I told her to "cry." Nicely done, there. Unfortunately, you didn't let me insult the old woman, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, I tried to use my scalpel in various interesting ways, but none of them quite panned out for me. Still, a fun little experiment, and I learned that Marid apparently can't cook.

Oh, and the reaction to my trying to destroy the pendant was good, too. (I'm not a good person when I play these games.)

I also tried to hum everywhere. I was surprised it knew what I meant, so I just kept trying it. I enjoyed what happened in the public house because of it. Also, I was disappointed I couldn't dance. I first tried with Reden, but that didn't work...

Anyway, one thing that might be a slight (very slight) bug. I tried to type "talk to mutant" instead of "talk to bartender" and it returned a message saying "You can't use multiple objects with that verb." I thought that was a bit weird.

Fun stuff, CKY! Thanks!

Spoiler

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to look into adding "insult" as a verb...

The "talk to mutant" bug is because of me accidentally making "mutant" also refer to the patrons of the public house in plural (because the patrons are of various races). Good catch.

Did you realize you can TALK TO or T people? You might have missed out on some fairly substantial dialogues with the old woman and the bartender. I'll have to make these more obvious in the full game.

RavenoftheBlack wrote:

Spoiler

EDIT:

Spoiler

Sorry, I was inexact.

When I say that I tried to insult the old woman, I meant that I chose the dialog option that calls her an old hag and asks what she knows of art. I may have tried to use the verb insult at some point, but I don't remember. I did talk to both her and the bartender (well, I talked at the bartender, I guess. He didn't have much to say). I had actually missed that there were other patrons in the public house, but going back there real quick here, they didn't seem to have much to say, either.

On the one hand, I like the atmosphere this portrays. On the other, I don't feel like there's really much choice involved, which makes this more an interactive fiction than a game. I couldn't even brush my teeth before bed.

Quote:

Black stains run down his cheeks like tears.

Uh-oh.

Quote:

An image of Mercury takes pride of place, with sword aloft in one hand and water-spout chalice in the other.

Greek mythology is a thing here, or just the one figure?

Quote:

This burnished badge bears the symbol of a snake coiling around a staff, certifying you as a qualified apprentice of the ars vitalis.

This too is a reference to Earth religions. Intentional?

Huey Nomure wrote:

Seliunca's dialogue is very ominous, given the incipit...

No kidding. Incidentally, I recently learned that dovecotes were once built as a source of fertilizer.

Spoiler

Solphos employs similar imagery and motifs to classical European alchemy and medicine. Think of it like Kamigawa borrowing the torii gate and Shinto imagery, or Theros's association of the snake with Pharika. Note that the Mercury referenced is not Hermes, but an anthropomorphic personification of the element of mercury, which becomes clearer if you >X IMAGE OF MERCURY.

Spoiler

I'm sorry you feel that way. This is the Prologue, so I put the gameplay on rails to a large degree -- the idea is to teach the player to be comfortable with the text adventure format, and not overwhelm with a large array of options right out of the gate. Nevertheless, you are right in that story takes precedence over choice in The Weight of a Soul -- this is a "game" in the sense of Firewatch or The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

I'll add a response to >BRUSH (MY) TEETH.

What, "dance" is a verb you recognize, but "laugh" isn't? At least you could say the same as with dancing, that I'm not in the mood...

Okay, got past the opening scene (failed, btw).

I can't help myself but open and close the refrigerator again and again, hoping there's something in there worth eating this time.

EDIT:

Spoiler

Still checking that refrigerator, seven minutes later.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised when "examine night" returned something. Couldn't figure out how to break HIPAA laws, though.

Oh, come on! I talk to myself all the time! I'm not crazy just for that!

When I type "stand" while in the dormitory block, it takes me to the west end of Via Terminalus.

Also mildly nsfw

Or body parts, for that matter.

How young is Marid? She drinks wine, but I remember her being rather young for that kind of content.

I just love the atmospherics that you've created. I pretty much felt like I was in blind panic in the operating chamber -- every time I mistyped a verb or something, I was screaming inside my own head, "no, you idiot, you're running out of time!"

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:36 am ]
Post subject:	[Game] The Weight of a Soul (Complete)
The Weight of a Soul In a world of arcane mysteries, a young doctor's apprentice unravels a conspiracy most grim. Home Page Follow my Dev Diary! The Weight of a Soul is a text adventure game. It's an interactive mystery-horror novel set in the steampunk-alchemy world of Solphos. You play the part of Marid, a doctor's apprentice, and your actions in the coming days could determine the fate of the Channelworks District. Content warning: This game includes vivid descriptions of death, illness, medical procedures, and emotional suffering. I am currently in the process of editing The Weight of a Soul, rewriting some sections, and adding new GUI functionality. If you're interested in playtesting, reply to this thread and I will send you a private download link. I would appreciate any and all feedback related to the prose, plot, characters, or puzzles.

Author:	RavenoftheBlack [ Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:08 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Spoiler Interesting! I love text adventures. Mostly, I love typing weird stuff in and seeing what happens! My favorite that I ran into this time was when I told her to "cry." Nicely done, there. Unfortunately, you didn't let me insult the old woman, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, I tried to use my scalpel in various interesting ways, but none of them quite panned out for me. Still, a fun little experiment, and I learned that Marid apparently can't cook. Oh, and the reaction to my trying to destroy the pendant was good, too. (I'm not a good person when I play these games.) I also tried to hum everywhere. I was surprised it knew what I meant, so I just kept trying it. I enjoyed what happened in the public house because of it. Also, I was disappointed I couldn't dance. I first tried with Reden, but that didn't work... Anyway, one thing that might be a slight (very slight) bug. I tried to type "talk to mutant" instead of "talk to bartender" and it returned a message saying "You can't use multiple objects with that verb." I thought that was a bit weird. Fun stuff, CKY! Thanks!

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
RavenoftheBlack wrote: Spoiler Interesting! I love text adventures. Mostly, I love typing weird stuff in and seeing what happens! My favorite that I ran into this time was when I told her to "cry." Nicely done, there. Unfortunately, you didn't let me insult the old woman, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, I tried to use my scalpel in various interesting ways, but none of them quite panned out for me. Still, a fun little experiment, and I learned that Marid apparently can't cook. Oh, and the reaction to my trying to destroy the pendant was good, too. (I'm not a good person when I play these games.) I also tried to hum everywhere. I was surprised it knew what I meant, so I just kept trying it. I enjoyed what happened in the public house because of it. Also, I was disappointed I couldn't dance. I first tried with Reden, but that didn't work... Anyway, one thing that might be a slight (very slight) bug. I tried to type "talk to mutant" instead of "talk to bartender" and it returned a message saying "You can't use multiple objects with that verb." I thought that was a bit weird. Fun stuff, CKY! Thanks! Spoiler Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to look into adding "insult" as a verb... The "talk to mutant" bug is because of me accidentally making "mutant" also refer to the patrons of the public house in plural (because the patrons are of various races). Good catch. EDIT: Spoiler Did you realize you can TALK TO or T people? You might have missed out on some fairly substantial dialogues with the old woman and the bartender. I'll have to make these more obvious in the full game.

Author:	RavenoftheBlack [ Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:34 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
chinkeeyong wrote: RavenoftheBlack wrote: Spoiler Interesting! I love text adventures. Mostly, I love typing weird stuff in and seeing what happens! My favorite that I ran into this time was when I told her to "cry." Nicely done, there. Unfortunately, you didn't let me insult the old woman, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, I tried to use my scalpel in various interesting ways, but none of them quite panned out for me. Still, a fun little experiment, and I learned that Marid apparently can't cook. Oh, and the reaction to my trying to destroy the pendant was good, too. (I'm not a good person when I play these games.) I also tried to hum everywhere. I was surprised it knew what I meant, so I just kept trying it. I enjoyed what happened in the public house because of it. Also, I was disappointed I couldn't dance. I first tried with Reden, but that didn't work... Anyway, one thing that might be a slight (very slight) bug. I tried to type "talk to mutant" instead of "talk to bartender" and it returned a message saying "You can't use multiple objects with that verb." I thought that was a bit weird. Fun stuff, CKY! Thanks! Spoiler Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to look into adding "insult" as a verb... The "talk to mutant" bug is because of me accidentally making "mutant" also refer to the patrons of the public house in plural (because the patrons are of various races). Good catch. EDIT: Spoiler Did you realize you can TALK TO or T people? You might have missed out on some fairly substantial dialogues with the old woman and the bartender. I'll have to make these more obvious in the full game. Spoiler Sorry, I was inexact. When I say that I tried to insult the old woman, I meant that I chose the dialog option that calls her an old hag and asks what she knows of art. I may have tried to use the verb insult at some point, but I don't remember. I did talk to both her and the bartender (well, I talked at the bartender, I guess. He didn't have much to say). I had actually missed that there were other patrons in the public house, but going back there real quick here, they didn't seem to have much to say, either.

Author:	OrcishLibrarian [ Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:03 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Oh my God, I am so looking forward to this!

No Goblins Allowed http://862838.jrbdt8wd.asia/

[Game] The Weight of a Soul (Complete) http://862838.jrbdt8wd.asia/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17042	Page 1 of 6

Author:	Huey Nomure [ Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:06 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Seliunca's dialogue is very ominous, given the incipit... I'm afraid I'm not inventive enough in these games, I had to replay it to see the reactions Raven spoke about. Other than that I second OL's comment, I'm sure I'll love the finished work; other than exploring Marid's character, I think this game will do a lot to establish how Solphos' everyday life feels, and as you probably know I'm a sucker for worldbuilding. Thank you for sharing!

Author:	Brentain [ Mon Nov 14, 2016 3:18 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Spoiler On the one hand, I like the atmosphere this portrays. On the other, I don't feel like there's really much choice involved, which makes this more an interactive fiction than a game. I couldn't even brush my teeth before bed. Quote: Black stains run down his cheeks like tears. Uh-oh. Quote: An image of Mercury takes pride of place, with sword aloft in one hand and water-spout chalice in the other. Greek mythology is a thing here, or just the one figure? Quote: This burnished badge bears the symbol of a snake coiling around a staff, certifying you as a qualified apprentice of the ars vitalis. This too is a reference to Earth religions. Intentional? Huey Nomure wrote: Seliunca's dialogue is very ominous, given the incipit... No kidding. Incidentally, I recently learned that dovecotes were once built as a source of fertilizer.

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Brentain wrote: Spoiler Quote: An image of Mercury takes pride of place, with sword aloft in one hand and water-spout chalice in the other. Greek mythology is a thing here, or just the one figure? Quote: This burnished badge bears the symbol of a snake coiling around a staff, certifying you as a qualified apprentice of the ars vitalis. This too is a reference to Earth religions. Intentional? Spoiler Solphos employs similar imagery and motifs to classical European alchemy and medicine. Think of it like Kamigawa borrowing the torii gate and Shinto imagery, or Theros's association of the snake with Pharika. Note that the Mercury referenced is not Hermes, but an anthropomorphic personification of the element of mercury, which becomes clearer if you >X IMAGE OF MERCURY. Brentain wrote: Spoiler On the other, I don't feel like there's really much choice involved, which makes this more an interactive fiction than a game. I couldn't even brush my teeth before bed. Spoiler I'm sorry you feel that way. This is the Prologue, so I put the gameplay on rails to a large degree -- the idea is to teach the player to be comfortable with the text adventure format, and not overwhelm with a large array of options right out of the gate. Nevertheless, you are right in that story takes precedence over choice in The Weight of a Soul -- this is a "game" in the sense of Firewatch or The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. I'll add a response to >BRUSH (MY) TEETH.

Author:	Lord LunaEquie is me [ Wed Nov 23, 2016 10:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
(and a touch of , but mostly )

Author:	RavenoftheBlack [ Wed Nov 23, 2016 10:51 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Lord LunaEquie is me wrote: Okay, got past the opening scene (failed, btw). I can't help myself but open and close the refrigerator again and again, hoping there's something in there worth eating this time. EDIT: Spoiler What, "dance" is a verb you recognize, but "laugh" isn't? At least you could say the same as with dancing, that I'm not in the mood... Still checking that refrigerator, seven minutes later. For some reason, my first go-to verb in the game was "hum." I was surprised the game recognized it. I was more surprised by the one point in the game where it "worked."

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Thu Nov 24, 2016 6:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Re: laughing: Duly noted. See, this is why I need crazy lovable playtesters like you lot. Re: tasting: Try tasting the food that the patrons are eating. Re: standing: The game interprets "stand" as a synonym for "get up", "get off", "exit", etc. If you aren't sitting in anything, that translates to "go outside", which is why that happened. I'm working on the next act of the game, and it's a big one with lots of exploring. Watch this thread around the beginning of December.

Author:	Lord LunaEquie is me [ Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
spoiler Also mildly nsfw So, I hadn't said before, but basically, because of the game Don't **** Your Pants, I tried to tell the heroine at various points to use the lavatory with no lavatory, with unfortunately no results.

Author:	TPmanW [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 12:04 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Alright! I lost track of the page of the shop talk thread where this was linked. Now I'll check it out for sure.

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 6:54 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Yeah, I don't think I plan to implement the various unnecessary bodily functions. Or body parts, for that matter.

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Author:	Huey Nomure [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 7:41 am ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
chinkeeyong wrote: Or body parts, for that matter. How young is Marid? She drinks wine, but I remember her being rather young for that kind of content.

Author:	OrcishLibrarian [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 12:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Oh my God, CKY, this is so cool! It takes me back to playing interactive fiction games in my dorm room, late into the night. Now, I'm unfortunately pretty awful at said games, so everyone else here has already managed to delve way deeper into the world than I managed on my first go round, but I just love the atmospherics that you've created. I pretty much felt like I was in blind panic in the operating chamber -- every time I mistyped a verb or something, I was screaming inside my own head, "no, you idiot, you're running out of time!" Anyway, I can't wait to see where you go with this. I think it is insanely cool!

Author:	RavenoftheBlack [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 3:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
I kept trying to stab things with my scalpel, but I never found anything that let me do it.

Author:	chinkeeyong [ Fri Nov 25, 2016 8:24 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: [Game] The Weight of a Soul (Demo)
Huey Nomure wrote: How young is Marid? She drinks wine, but I remember her being rather young for that kind of content. Marid is 17 in this story. OrcishLibrarian wrote: I just love the atmospherics that you've created. I pretty much felt like I was in blind panic in the operating chamber -- every time I mistyped a verb or something, I was screaming inside my own head, "no, you idiot, you're running out of time!" All part of the master plan... Thanks for the praise!