Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

That's odd. Will she ever be less useless if you don't, y'know, rape?

Rockbomb
Dog fucker (but in a good way now)

2009 Nov 13 • 2045

What a useless question DR. Who in their right mind would NOT choose to rape?

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

I'm not in my right mind.

NatureJay
SJA: Commander of Ruthless Abuse


2005 Mar 22 • 1871
574 ₧

atojamz has said you can also figure out some way to get her to believe in herself and get her to be useful that way, but it takes longer. He's more interested in The Bad Choices, or ways to make the game Faster.

While I admire the lengths he's willing to go to, it does sort of seem like you have the binary options of being Goody Two Feet or The Worst Person Imaginable.

Rockbomb
Dog fucker (but in a good way now)

2009 Nov 13 • 2045

Ah, so you're a lefty, eh?
Well I'm not ok with that.

NatureJay
SJA: Commander of Ruthless Abuse


2005 Mar 22 • 1871
574 ₧

If he's a lefty, he would be in his right mind.

God, it's like you don't know anything about brains at all!

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

i made u a bug
theirs a download link
heres the code:

http://www.slapweb.com/volume-before-quality.vbs

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

Nope! Gyllioc can either be an arrogant noble who likes to make people's decisions for them, or he can be a depraved psychopath. There is also a range in between. For example, upon encountering Fia you can help her, leave her to die, kill her yourself or rape her. It's not just out of nowhere, either, this all happens after you join a group of bandits. You don't just randomly go up to people's houses and rape everyone all the time. In fact, it's probably the only time rape will even come up in the whole story.

Gyllioc is rarely a through and through good person, it's not in his nature to be heroic. He'll generally only do things he believes will get him something. This includes traumatizing Fia, he already knows it will benefit him strategically. As the game progresses if you're consistently good it will actually change his character and change what options are available to you. If you're really good all game you'll start losing evil choices later on, and vice versa.

The pay off for being evil is that the game is much easier, the pay off for being good is that the story isn't horribly depressing. I'm intentionally designing it so that being good is very difficult. What I want is for people to give up being good part way through the game because it's too hard, and then hate themselves for becoming evil because it's so much worse than your standard "evil game morality." Obviously, for sick psychopathic people being evil has no real downsides, other than the game being too easy.

My intention is also to make the game more enjoyable if you're good, because there's a lot more effort put into the dialogue. For example, if you're nice to Fia and help her out, she's hilarious and adorable. If you rape her she hardly speaks or does much ever again... other than occasionally try to commit suicide.

NatureJay
SJA: Commander of Ruthless Abuse


2005 Mar 22 • 1871
574 ₧

That's better, I guess. Good, negligent, mercy killing, and sociopathic is some kind of spectrum.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

Not quite sociopathic. Gyllioc is capable of caring about people. Blood relatives, for example. Basically he believes only his family are real people and everyone else is to be used. Which is why he's so very upset if he has to fight his own children... and that is a great deal of the reason why being evil ends up depressing.

Having options like "Forfeit and die/be sealed away forever" or "Kill your own children who you lovingly raised through most of the game" mean you're probably going to wish you weren't so evil.

cloud_the_system

2010 Sep 16 • 51

wow thats so badass1!111

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

Am I supposed to be horrified or amazed?
I'm a little of both, to be honest.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

Here is Fyin. Fyin is short for Fyinoula. (like finn-oo-lah)

Fyin is one of four possible love/'love' interests in the game. She's generally who you're going to get romantic with if you're being as good as possible... and thereby she is completely useless. She's fun to have around, but useless. In fact, though, she is the only one of the four who will ever actually love Gyllioc.

Fyin is an orphan, a peasant, very hungry and has almost nothing in the way of useful skills. She cannot read or write, save for her own name, and on top of that she isn't especially bright. In her culture it is generally accepted that girls are supported by their families until they are married and supported by their husbands. Fyin has no family. Fyin is shit out of luck.

You encounter her travelling along a dangerous road in a desperate attempt to find work, even though she has a recently broken ankle. She was travelling with a caravan, but they were attacked by goblins. Everyone ran away and left Fyin to die. Gyllioc can show up and, as Fyin comments to herself like she doesn't really believe it, "Dashing man saved me from the monsters."

That and a few other events lead to this:

Gyllioc then points out that if anyone deserves to be married into status it’s Fyin. At which point Fyin, completely surprised, responds with, “I do?”. Gyllioc tells her he didn’t mean this instant, and she can save the “I do” for later. Obviously, Fyin hopelessly crushes on Gyllioc.

You see? Gyllioc can be charming and heroic... it just results in marriage to somebody of no value. Also her potential daughter is probably the least useful child you can get. She has magical healing abilities (like all of Gyllioc's children), but she's not the sharpest crayon in the closet. Also she can get lost in her own home (which, in her defense, is a large castle) and end up virtually anywhere.




I appear to have done an extremely good job drawing her... somewhat shaming my previous drawing. Oh well. Please point out anything you may dislike about the drawing because it is difficult to judge one's own work.

SRAW
Rocket Man

2007 Nov 6 • 2525
601 ₧

Yay! It's a game where all the characters are girls!!!

SRAW
Rocket Man

2007 Nov 6 • 2525
601 ₧

and I don't get it when you say "drawing".
I mean you show a large pixalized version of it, so did you draw it on paper or did you do it in the computer or what

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

Computer. It's 146x146 resolution because the game is 480x300. It's pixelated because the game is pixelated. And I'm just drawing the girls first... because I like drawing girls. There's actually a lot less girls than guys. You end up with a party of six in the end, and I don't think more than one of them will ever be female. Possibly two if you have a daughter that grows old enough to fight and has some sort of combat ability.

The game is somewhat realistic in that women are pretty shitty in melee combat. Save one, the only women that are useful in combat have magic abilities, and magic is very rare. Azmagelle's daughter is supernaturally fast and can fight well in melee... but she's the only one.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

This actually sounds interesting. Well done. There have been discussions I've seen about games where the evil path is easier in a way with the good being more difficult. I think some of KotOR might be like that... also Bioshock, but that kind of fails because overall you end up with more Adam when doing the good route. Then man of the rest of them have the three way split of Irritating Paragon of Justice, Nice Hair and Being Nice to Mums; Psychopath Who Does Bad Things Because, Well, Why Not and finally the one that's basically OK but really likes money.

(This is basically how I characterised Jade Empire. Though, in fairness, mostly the bad actions available to you were those that benefited you personally. They had their split as Closed Fist/Open Palm.)

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

I redid Azmagelle for realsies. First picture was getting outdated.




Bask in my majesty.

I'm really trying to avoid the "Psychopath who is bad for the evulz" idea. You won't have the option of stabbing the small starving child in the eye for no reason. Instead you'll have the option to take advantage of his desperation and send him on a dangerous recon mission that could easily get him killed.

I want all of Gyllioc's evil actions to be something someone evil would actually do, as opposed to something evil and silly a person playing a video game would want to do.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

Pleasing! Not that I would do them, you know; I'm too much of a pansy. I tried going evil at the end of Jade Empire and actually had to give up!

buq25

2008 Jul 5 • 583
295 ₧

The eyes. They don't seem to line up. Maybe it's deliberate to make her look dumb. In that case, it doesn't really work :(

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

I'm assuming you mean on Fyin, and yeah, you're right. That doesn't look right. It actually looks fine if her hair isn't in the way of her eye. It's weird. I'll fix it though.

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

It's much less of a choice and much more of an act of desperation in Dead Kings' Quest (working title, also hilarious). The game will get harder and harder as you stick to the good path. You won't so much choose the evil path just to see what it's like as you'll give up and be evil because good is frustratingly difficult.

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

I'm also the kind of player who sees challenges like that and says "that's for me!" even if it's really not. But I do like the idea of the player being forced into situations - and decisions - that, ideally, they'd not take, but things are far from ideal.

I also forgot about one of the endings of JE. There were the standard good/bad endings but also the one where you are transformed into a giant gold statue to be revered for all time. Good/bad/greedy bastard!

aaronjer
*****'n Admin


2005 Mar 21 • 4940
1,227 ₧

Depending on how well you did in the game previously, and whether or not you prepared for it, it might not even be possible to beat the game if you pick all good choices.

Also, is the greedy statue thing like you're getting punished by the gods for being a douche? Or is it more like your own stupidity getting you killed all on its own?

Down Rodeo
Cap'n Moth of the Firehouse


2007 Oct 19 • 5486
57,583 ₧

Well, effectively the latter part of the game is you preparing to murderise the actual villain. When it comes to the time for the confrontation the guy gives you the option of immortality, to be worshipped as a hero of the Empire for all eternity. If you choose this he's happy and makes you into a giant statue.

It's a false ending, really, because you haven't completed the main task you were supposed to be doing. I really need to replay JE, it's great.