ErikH2000
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DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold got reviewed on Killer Betties by... can't say his real name, I suppose... Thankeeka.

The review

Thoughts about the review: Interesting that the writer talks about JtRH as though many of the readers have played KDD. I have my usual winces at the graphics being called outdated, but the reviewer understands the tradeoff needed to accomodate the design. He gets it, and when somebody criticizes the graphics, that's all I ask.

Killer Betties is a gaming site oriented towards women. I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes in which games are covered, but presumably some of the testerone-infused titles that cater to adolescent boys are given a pass. They have some interviews with female game designers there too. It seems like a pretty cool site.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

Oneiromancer
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KDD review from a few days previous.

He/she's really harsh on the graphics and the voice acting in the KDD one. I admit it's not all perfect, but I thought Sten was a pretty good voice actor. And Todd Downing (the Slayer) in JtRH is excellent...it's too bad the reviewer didn't point out his speech as being above average.

And also, in the KDD review they show both AE and 2.0 graphics. Ah well...

Game on,

____________________________
"He who is certain he knows the ending of things when he is only beginning them is either extremely wise or extremely foolish; no matter which is true, he is certainly an unhappy man, for he has put a knife in the heart of wonder." -- Tad Williams

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[Last edited by Oneiromancer at 03-07-2006 12:17 AM]

Citrus
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NES graphics? I hope he means AE!

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

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[Last edited by Ezlo at 03-07-2006 12:22 AM]

Abbyzzmal
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A bunch of high school kids trying to put on a play?

That is a loaded and confusing thing to say.

I've seen some wonderful high school theater in my time, and I've seen some terrible high school theater. I played Cyrano de Bergerac is high school, and I also played Man #2. As extras 6-20 in JtRH, I feel somewhat slighted, since I believe that whatever she means by high school kids, (s)he doesn't mean well.

I bet our acting is better than hers/his would have been.

The horribly voiced dialogue that sounds like it's ripped from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

That seems completely contradictory! That movie is the most mimicked piece of popular culture out there! Seemingly for a reason!

I grumble!

ErikH2000
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Let's see, where are we on the scale of voice acting? I know it can't be at the absolute bottom. Hmmm....

* White noise
* Arnold Schwartzenegger
* Man with severe stutter. Also his mouth is filled with cotton balls and stapled shut.
* Same guy, but he had speech therapy to conquer his stuttering. Mouth still filled with cotton balls and stapled shut.
* Hellcab (anybody remember that game? Oh, I winced with embarrassment at the dialogue.)
* Bad high school theater production.

<-- DROD

* Good high school theater production.
* Starcraft
* Escape from Monkey Island
* Simpsons
* Glengarry Glenn Ross with Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail

See, it's all relative. We're trying, and we'll get better, but we've still got a ways to go. It is my hope that the voice acting in DROD: The City Beneath will reach the quality level of a good high school theater production. At that point, I will write a press release announcing this achievement.

But seriously...

The real statement is that voice acting in games is generally very shoddy when compared to other forms of entertainment that have been around longer. It actually would be a fine achievement to reach the level of a good group of high school actors. You know, like kids that took classes to develop their abilities, put hours into rehearsing, and delivered their lines with other actors present so that they sounded more natural than our chopshop methods.

We're working on it.

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

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[Last edited by ErikH2000 at 03-07-2006 02:03 AM]

coppro
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C'mere! I'll bite your legs off!

mscarpel
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*shrugs* I can only speak for the voice acting in JtRH, but for me it was one of the outstanding highlights for the game. I expect good voice acting from a Halo or a Quake 4, but I was hugely surprised to see what I would defend as quality voice-work from a game that seems smaller-time (which basically means, more indie), such as DROD.

There's a definite level of polish to the sound, as well as with all other aspects of the game. And believe me, I've reviewed a lot of games in a short time, and there are some real clunkers when it comes to audio out there, to say nothing of other aspects.

____________________________
http://hadoken.us/downloads/r6-doomsong2.wav

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[Last edited by mscarpel at 03-07-2006 02:39 AM]

Banjooie
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This is possibly the harshest review DROD's gotten yet, and it's still 4/5 stars.

--also, it's possibly the first person who's gotten CaravelNet at least somewhat right, so I don't have any complaints with it.

ErikH2000
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Banjooie wrote:
This is possibly the harshest review DROD's gotten yet, and it's still 4/5 stars.

Hey, it's tough love. The guy actually likes the game; he just takes an apologist stance. I'd rather have a harsh review from somebody that understands DROD, then a namby-pamby didn't-really-play-it report, i.e. "Uh... Tom Sawyer is a very important novel about... uh... Tom Sawyer... and it was written by Mark Twain... who wrote many important novels I recommend reading, like... Tom Sawyer".

-Erik

____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
dev journals | twitch stream | youtube archive (NSFW)

mrimer
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I don't mind harsh-but-accurate reviews, and these reviews are mostly relatively correct. I like the crispness of many things that were said. However, saying DROD's graphics are a step up from a text adventure is completely misleading. Reading that, I'd be afraid to get some kind of old Atari game like Adventure with monochrome ASCII graphics, which simply isn't true. Granted, it's relative. But then what is two steps up from text adventure graphics? Doom 3? [/rant]

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 03-07-2006 07:44 AM]

Alneyan
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mrimer wrote:
But then what is two steps up from text adventure graphics? Doom 3? [/rant]

Wouldn't that be one step up, two steps down? Well, performance-wise anyhow.

Briareos
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Alneyan wrote:
Wouldn't that be one step up, two steps down? Well, performance-wise anyhow.

So there I was last week, buying a brand-spanking-new Radeon X1900 XT, and DROD *still* looks the same...

What gives?

(Oh, and I still can't arse myself to buy the tech demo DOOM 3 is - but hey, UT2k7 comes out later this year...)

____________________________
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
R.I.P. Robert Feldhoff (1962-2009)

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[Last edited by Briareos at 03-07-2006 12:51 PM]

Banjooie
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mrimer wrote:
However, saying DROD's graphics are a step up from a text adventure is completely misleading.

It's hyperbolicious.

One of my favorite parts, though, is how in the KDD review, the screenshots change from DROD:AE to DROD:JTRH without any notice.

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[Last edited by Banjooie at 03-07-2006 05:51 PM]