So what do you think?-The Series Aside edition

[Perversion]

A Series Aside had been successfully uploaded to the RPG Maker Pavilion. I want to know what people who play it think of my minigames and my writings. Having trouble finding the "easter eggs"? Post here, and I MIGHT give you a hint. Start your posting.....NOW!

[hitogoroshi]

How do you make it so you can read scrolls? Thats, like, awesome.
Haven't read anything yet, but I did do that fetch quest. (obviously.) Did you say you mentioned Torayu somewhere? I played the thief one and saw my name, but I got caught and I haven't re-done it yet.

[Perversion]

Yeah, Hito...you are the first questgiver (well, the questgiver for the easiest quest anyway)...after you talk to...yourself, get the item he requests of you. Then come back and see him and he will reward you with some gold. If you talk to him again, he should say something about Torayu.

To make it easier to avoid getting caught, I advise you to learn stealth skill level one and buy a low grade lockpick with your initial money. That should use up all your money, but should get you into at least the first two houses. Then with the money you make, save up for medium grade lockpick and stealth level two.

[Pagerron]

I just downloaded it this evening. I've checked around town a bit. Wow. There are tons of little games to play in this.
In the mansion, I played that sound guessing game. That one is cool. I gotthe first eight answers correct for a coin each. Woo hoo! The ninth question got me, but I figured it out on the second try! That one's kind of an addicting little game there. I've read two of the three writings in the mansion. Well-written. They're not long but jam-packed with feeling. Nice touch having the music change when you chose different readings. I liked the little throwback to Series 1 with the statues in the mansion. I was like....deja vu. I didn't get a whole lot of time to play today, but I like what I've seen so far.

[Chuck]

I'm really liking this. Loved the theif and locked house text adventures. Especially talking to all the Pavvies in the thief game. I didn't think to talk to people after completing the quest though. Also, liked the dating sim. And your writings are great. Like Page said, they're so full of emotion and vulnerability. It's so genuine. Seems like there's a lot more to do. I got stuck trying to get the snacks, after the first two barrels the other two just won't do anything when I check them.

[Perversion]

As for the salty snack puzzle, the invisible event in front of the door gives you a clue as to what you need to do with the barrels...(take your time). Figure it out.

[Pagerron]

Progress so far:
47 minutes - 12 gold (yay! - I would have more, but I've spent some on unlocks of course.)

What happened today:
I was laughing out loud when I got those four chests open in the castle. I checked the final chest a second time, and still laughing after that.

When I went in to the Reading room today for the first time, I was kind of blown away by how many books were in there. Lots to unlock. Cool. and then you can go back and re-read the poems/stories later whenever you like.

My favorite poem so far has got to be "Entombed in My Psyche."

Oh, and I now have the red paperclip. :) and I stink at Rock, Scissors, Paper.

I spoke to "Christian" today. That was cool. Thanks for the mention, Perversion.

So far, this is really turning out to be a cool game. It's just so unique. I haven't yet tried the thief quest, but that's my next thing to do. I plan on checking it out tomorrow.

[Perversion]

I was laughing out loud when I got those four chests open in the castle. I checked the final chest a second time, and still laughing after that.


I think that would be the mystical piece of lint.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the game so far. Keep posting your opinions. I really want to know what you think of the three short stories, as no one has posted about them yet. Thanks guys!

[irate giraffe]

I've been playing this game a bit, even though I really should be spending all my time playtesting mine so I can upload it soon.

Anyways, I figured the rock, paper, scissors out way too fast. I don't mean to disrespect your game at all (but I figure you'd like the feedback). Its just that after like two turns, I figured out to do one then another one than another one (get 3 pts), then walk away, come back do the same three and get another 3 points. It was still fun figuring it out and all, but I'm sure you were looking to make a more random RPS game.

The dating game was very fun and enjoyable. Although it seemed a bit like profiling (once I knew what she liked in one or two categories (of small talk) I could figure it out easily what her answers would be in the others (i.e. she likes indie rock -- of course she's a democrat, and believes in protecting the environment). So halfway through the dating game I felt like I was profiling a chick and manipulating her more than actually courting her (but maybe that's really what courting a chick is). It was still fun, and very rewarding when the girl agreed to go out with me.

My favorite, so far, is the first mini game (that I played): the one where you start out in a house and have to get the key to get out. Damn, that reminded me of DOS adventure games I played when I was 10 yrs old. Very fun and well done.

Next up for me is the thieving quest, and I can't wait.

[Perversion]

Thanks for the honest feedback. You must have been lucky, because the RPS game is actually the most "random" of the minigames. See Pagerron's post above re: RPS. My buddy was purposely LOOKING for a pattern, and after 20 minutes, still couldn't find one and gave up on the game. However, I did figure out a pattern myself and exploited it and won within five minutes or so. You do have to realize, without a random number generator, making a game truly random is impossible. There will always be a pattern, no matter what. I was just kind of hoping it wouldn't be that obvious.:) In any case, I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the text adventures, although by time spent making the minigames, those actually involved some of the least time spent. The ones with "random" numbers sometimes took 5 hours or so to program. Let's see if you can figure out a pattern to the card battle minigame. I'm thinking that if you figured the RPS game that quickly, then the card battler should be no problem for you. Let me know what you think of the writings, too. And, yeah, the dating simulator was a bit obvious, and was basically used as practice for the dating segment I hope to incorporate in Series 3. I guess I need more work in that area.:) Anyway, keep playing and keep giving me honest feedback. I appreciate it.

[Pagerron]

Well, just an update. I've played now for a total of about 3 hours, and I've made some interesting progress. I finished the theif mini-game, or so I thought. The writing that was to be unlocked by beating it wasn't. Even though I found the tiara, I have a feeling I missed something related to the jeweled staff and Chuck Rich. I have to go back a mess around with that some more.

I read through the short story "The Castle.." (I can't remember the subtitle exactly.) Well, I read through the first three parts. Then I found out that I had to unlock the fourth part. Doh!

I really wanted to, so I figured out the tower maze without much of a problem because I made a map for myself, which helped quite a bit. I found both unlocks in there and I went back to read part 4 of "The Castle".

Wow! What a story that is...man, I wish it were finished to see how it ended up. I must admit that I have re-read it a couple of times. I would recommend doing that. Little details, like cobwebs and colors of papers helped me sort out the timeline and logic. I still have questions about it though. I'm not sure if this is the place to post specific questions about stories or if you'd prefer a PM, Perversion? Anyway, you guys should check out "The Castle." It'll make you think twice, maybe even three times. :)

Another writing that I found intriguing was "The Graveyard." Both strange and sad.

I only have 2 gold, but I'm fine with that. The unlocks have been worth it so far. There are always mini-games to keep my pockets full too.

[Perversion]

I playtested the whole game, Page, and the unlock for the Thief minigame should have opened up something for you. As long as you get the tiara, it does not matter if you did the other stuff along the way. I'll have to check to see exactly what it was supposed to unlock, then check it tomorrow. And The Castle...IS finished being written. It's the only complete short story in the game. There are 5 parts to it. The fifth part is on a table in Reading Room 2. But you need to catch one of the fish in the fishing minigame before reading it. And the timelines for that story re: the cobwebs, etc. are related to the subtitle of the story, Or How I Lost the Memories of my Childhood. Hopefully, some of your questions will be answered when you read the final chapter. And if you have questions, so as not to spoil the story for everyone else, I would prefer if you PM'ed me. Do so now if you so desire. I'll be at the computer lab for a while anyway.

[Perversion]

Page, I think you were looking in Reading Room 2 for the story that the thief game unlocks, because there are song lyrics that require that you solve the text adventure minigame called Locked House. Maybe you were thinking this was the thief minigame. It is not. I looked at the code, and playtested it, and that minigame should unlock a writing in Reading Room 1, 6th pillar in on the right hand side, called Life Is Bleak. There are two text adventure minigames, and the Locked House minigame is different from the Town Thief minigame, so I'm thinking that's where you got confused. If not, let me know, and I'll go back and check it again.

[Pagerron]

Yes, Perversion, you're right. Thank you for checking that. I was in Reading Room 2. Cool. I can't wait to get back to playing a bit on Friday.
-----
So as not to double post,
10/27
Have played for more than 4 1/2 hours now.
Figured out the barrels in the castle
Beat the fishing mini-game
Played the "guess the sound" game until it disappeared on me. Cool!
Read the 5th (and final) part of "The Castle" - Ties things up well.
Earned 9 points with Rock, Scissors, Paper
Tried my hand at the dating mini-game (that's a neat little game there)

[Perversion]

I really have nothing to say here; I just want Pagerron to make a new post instead of editing his last post the next time he decides to post something about the game (I'm assuming, of course, that he will BE the next one posting about the game).

[incrediblehewoman]

You would be wrong...I'm the next one to reply. *devilish grin* BTW, I like your games. Keep up the good work.

[Perversion]

Here are some screens from A Series Aside.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n304/incrediblehewoman/1-1-2004-76.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n304/incrediblehewoman/1-1-2004-77.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n304/incrediblehewoman/1-1-2004-78.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n304/incrediblehewoman/1-1-2004-79.jpg
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n304/incrediblehewoman/1-1-2004-80.jpg

[Chuck]

How'd you get screens?

[Perversion]

Read my reply to Hito's exact same question in the Series 4 thread.

[Pagerron]

I've been hoping to have a chance to play some more, and that chance came this afternoon. Yay!

Updated Progress:
Earlier today, I beat the locked house mini-game (I drew a little map for myself which helped a great deal). It really turns out to be quite a logical map too, with all of the details you include in the descriptions, Perversion.

I've started reading "The Crypt" (I know it's an unfinished story, as you explain in the game, but the first part definitely draws you in).

I won myself some gold playing that card battling game and the other matching game. I have a good handle on the dating game now, and that's my next mini-game to beat.

So, right now, I have 5 1/2 hours of playing time.

Lots more to do, but a lot has been completed already.

[Ωbright]

Well it looks like I'll be playing this one instead of Series 1 for now! :lol

[Pagerron]

Oh, I'm so close to beating the game!!

Today, I played for about two hours. I was able to get lots and lots of things done in that time. I was so hoping to be able to beat it today, but I'm sure that the next time I play, I'll be able to.

Dating Mini-Game -beaten
Rock, Paper, Scissors - beaten (finally!!)
Card Game - beaten
Reading Comprehension Questions - beaten
I read through "The Becoming" (that one was SOME read-through) and "The Crypt" and unlocked several other writings.

I have 7 hours and 25 minutes of playing time and 2 gold.

I working on figuring out how to unlock "Days Into Nights Into Days" and that other text that isn't in either Reading Room. Everything else is unlocked.

One thing I would strongly recommend to those of you who are playing is to just jot down some quick notes as you play.

I've made a map of both reading rooms to know where every text is (so as not to have to continuously go back and forth to figure out which texts have and have not been unlocked or purchased).

Also, taking notes helped make several of the mini-games much easier, especially the reading quiz. :) Oh, and taking notes helped me figure out the Card Battler with no problem. Woo Hoo!

--------------------
November 24, 2006

I completed the dungeon puzzle. I had totally forgotten to do that. No wonder I wasn't able to unlock that poem! Duh.

Thanks for your PM help, too, Perversion.
---------------------
November 26, 2006

I found some hidden writings. Perversion has been very helpful by PM. Thanks buddy! I'm considering my A Series Aside experience complete.


------------------------------------------------------------------
11/27
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS about "A Series Aside"

Battles: None. Yay! I love not getting interrupted by random battles. If Perversion had kind of forced them in here, it wouldn't have been the same. I think it was a great idea to keep them out all together.

Field/Town Layout: Small and easy to get from place to place. There are no huge maps to traverse because your complete game is in the "Town of Pervy" and the small field around it. If you don't like running and running, then you'll find this refreshing, to say the least.

Story: Are you kidding? That's what this game is about!! Perversion spills out his stories, writings, and poetry all through the game. There are two reading rooms that are just busting at the seams with parts of short stories, poetry, prose writings, and if I remember correctly even one stream of consciousness work. This is the strong point. No, I take that back, this IS the point of the game. It’s about entering the thoughts, the mind, the very soul of the game’s creator.

Puzzles/Mini-games:
These broke up the game nicely. There is a nice variety of different kinds too. Text puzzles, Logic puzzles, Card games, Actual dungeon mazes. Well done. The theif mini-game was really cool because it gave a little insight about some of the other people here at the Pav. That was really cool.

Favorite Parts / Stories / Poems:
-The best mini-games in my opinion were the locked house text game and the relationship text game.
-The short story I liked the best was “The Castle, or How I Lost My Childhood"
-The poem that was my favorite was the one entitled "Glimmering Sun"

The Writings:
First note, as Perversion has stated already, this game is NOT FOR CHILDREN!

Prepare yourself for some writing that comes from the deepest depths of Perversion. Do you want to experience utter darkness, ecstatic joy, extreme depression, fleeting happiness, unbridled passion, unrequited love, agony, ecstasy, defeat, victory, shock, horror? I’m serious. All of those. Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Some of the content I saw began to get very explicit towards the end, and I must admit that after having unlocked all of the texts in the reading rooms, I just couldn’t deal with some of the content and had to just stop. (There were several hidden storytellers I chose not to read for that reason and as a result never officially got the “Ending” credits).

I’m very glad that, as one of the NPCs stated in the game, these writings do not necessarily reflect the way he views the world nowadays.

Suggestions to the Player

-Take your time. Don’t try to finish this in one sitting. It won’t be as satisfying for you. Reading through the stories may take a while if you are really going to try to understand what they are saying.

-Take notes during the mini-games. This can help you complete them more quickly. Also, this can help you find patterns in some of the semi-random ones.

-Make yourself a map of each reading room and what is or isn’t unlocked. That way you won’t have to wander around too much to find which writings have yet to be unlocked.

-Send PMs to Perversion regarding his writings if you have any questions. He was very helpful when I communicated with him.

Well, in summary, you’ve created quite a one-of-a-kind game here, Perversion. Not an epic like Series 1, but a unique glimpse into your mind and soul. Thank you for trusting us with your writings. Good job.

[Perversion]

:)