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Where's my Braid?

24

Posts

  • Lord JezoLord Jezo Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Why is there no demo on Steam?

    Lord Jezo on
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  • anoffdayanoffday To be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it. Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Woggle wrote: »
    Augh my brain.

    Is the greenhouse demo different from the xbl one? I swear I didn't have this much trouble completing the demo when I played it before. I missed the damn jump above the bunny the first time, so I thought you somehow had to use the bunny to jump and spent at least 10 minutes fiddling with which way Mr. Bun faced and finally tried jumping on the bunny from above, but made the jump instead. :?
    I can't even get the greenhouse demo to start. I keep getting an error, and then it just shuts down.

    anoffday on
    Steam: offday
  • ZellZell Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    It tries to run in 720p so you need to add that as a custom resolution in your display drivers, or you need to use the -windowed argument.

    Zell on
  • ImpersonatorImpersonator Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Damn, adding the -no_post parameter to the demo's shortcut makes it start with a black screen. :?

    Impersonator on
  • SpawnbrokerSpawnbroker Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Okay I just played the second (first?) world all the way through, and this game is SO BOUGHT. It took me forever to figure out the trick with the picture in the first world.

    Spawnbroker on
    Steam: Spawnbroker
  • LorkLork Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Okay I just played the second (first?) world all the way through, and this game is SO BOUGHT. It took me forever to figure out the trick with the picture in the first world.
    How did you get the piece below that one, above the door to the next area? It taunts me with its ungettableness.

    Lork on
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  • BartholamueBartholamue Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Braid is up folks, get your wallets ready!

    Bartholamue on
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  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Lord Jezo wrote: »
    Why is there no demo on Steam?

    I played the greenhouse demo, but bought it on steam, my saves carried over which was nice.

    Rook on
  • MangarooMangaroo LondonRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Lork wrote: »
    Okay I just played the second (first?) world all the way through, and this game is SO BOUGHT. It took me forever to figure out the trick with the picture in the first world.
    How did you get the piece below that one, above the door to the next area? It taunts me with its ungettableness.

    [Spoiler is a spoiler]
    Use the same trick you used to get the piece after the picture. Basically you want to make it so the platform part of the picture is connected to the platform the goomba thing is on (top left). He will walk onto it, when he is on it move it a bit so he is isolated from the other platform (make sure he was walking on the right side of the platform on the image when you move it to the right a bit so that he doesnt fall off yet). Then when he is walking TOWARDS the right, move the platform way off the area where the goomba is standing and he will fall down to right the right near the door. Jump on his head and collect when done!

    That is how i did it anyway..im not sure if it is totally right as there is a cloud above the platform (above the door) that i didn't use... i tried to get the goomba to connect with the second platform but it just cut off so i left it.

    (text in green because i'd like clarification if anyone has any...I'm guessing it could be there just to throw you off but you never know.

    Mangaroo on
  • zakkielzakkiel Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Damn, adding the -no_post parameter to the demo's shortcut makes it start with a black screen. :?

    I always start with a black screen. How can I change this?

    zakkiel on
    Account not recoverable. So long.
  • ImpersonatorImpersonator Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Try adding -windowed to the game's shortcut path?

    Impersonator on
  • zakkielzakkiel Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Nope. Well, now I'm pissed. Guess I'll have to wait until the official site is up again.

    zakkiel on
    Account not recoverable. So long.
  • peterdevorepeterdevore Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I finished it in 5 hours, I want more!

    peterdevore on
  • ImpersonatorImpersonator Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    zakkiel wrote: »
    Nope. Well, now I'm pissed. Guess I'll have to wait until the official site is up again.

    Just wait a bit then when the black screen comes up, the game should run.

    Impersonator on
  • MangarooMangaroo LondonRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I finished it in 5 hours, I want more!

    I think he is planning on giving people the chance to produce custom things. I think i read about it in the readme

    Edit:

    The soundtrack is fantastic, i love listening to it (it is in an archive in the braid folder - ogg format, vlc works).

    Mangaroo on
  • zakkielzakkiel Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    zakkiel wrote: »
    Nope. Well, now I'm pissed. Guess I'll have to wait until the official site is up again.

    Just wait a bit then when the black screen comes up, the game should run.

    I get the music, text prompts, and menus, just not the game.

    zakkiel on
    Account not recoverable. So long.
  • peterdevorepeterdevore Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Mangaroo wrote: »
    I think he is planning on giving people the chance to produce custom things. I think i read about it in the readme

    The soundtrack is fantastic, i love listening to it (it is in an archive in the braid folder - ogg format, vlc works).

    Nice catches! If you add -editor to the command line/launch options it will enable an in game editor you can open with F11 when you're in a map.

    For anyone wondering where exactly the music can be found: there is a package.zip in the data folder of braid. Inside there is another data folder with the music directory in it.

    I'm going to dick around in the editor now, see if I can make something interesting.

    peterdevore on
  • JohnDoeJohnDoe Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Bought it on Impulse.

    This game is FANTASTIC.

    JohnDoe on
  • IdolisideIdoliside Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Man i'm gonna have to get this based on these reviews. No time though, no time!

    Idoliside on
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  • DaxonDaxon Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I completed all the puzzles and played all the levels last night.

    Now I'm just confused as fuck, what just happened? I don't understand what it's about O.o

    Daxon on
  • MangarooMangaroo LondonRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    You know those books placed on pedestals before you enter the world, they basically tell a story which describes the particular set of rules for that world.

    I'm not sure if that helps, I haven't completed it yet (done everything up to world 5 - Fickle companion was a bitch) as I'm playing on my shitty netbook with about 4fps and want to finish it on my super rig + tv setup.

    It's pretty neat that I started out on a demo and when I bought the full version on steam my save was intact.

    @peterdevore: Anything good come from playing with the editor?

    Also: (spoiler of sorts for one of the levels up to end of world 4 iirc). My conscious will appreciate concurrence!
    You know that level where the goomba mimics you for the first time - the second part of that level where the goomba isn't affected by time but there are three green tube plant monster things that you control by moving across the horizontal platform below. You control the plants with the hope that the goomba gets through unharmed so you can use him to jump up and collect the puzzle piece at the end...

    WELL, I could get the timing and pacing right for the first two plants but the last one where you have to jump over the spikes and climb the ladder before hiding the plant just got me every damn time. The timing was impossible or at least sf4-hard-trial-5-like, as i tried for a good 20 minutes and wasn't about to spend 3 hours like i did with street fighter (blanka) to nail it.

    So I did the time reversal speed * 8 (by holding shift and pressing down rapidly numerous times) to get from my position down below to where i had to be so that the green plant was down and let the goomba through. It worked but im pretty sure it was cheating because the next level was called something like exaggerated mimicry which didn't make use of the fast time reversal...

    Anyway, my ocd just needs to see what people did for that part.

    Mangaroo on
  • ReviloRevilo Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Bought, downloading.

    The editor sounds promising, but do you think many people will be able to make levels as clever as found ingame?
    Maybe people will start recreating classic side scroler levels....*wink wink* me

    Revilo on
  • shadydentistshadydentist Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Idoliside wrote: »
    Man i'm gonna have to get this based on these reviews. No time though, no time!

    Realistically, it takes 5-7 hours to complete. And 7 is stretching it.

    Worth every penny, however.

    shadydentist on
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  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Revilo wrote: »
    The editor sounds promising, but do you think many people will be able to make levels as clever as found ingame?

    Almost certainly not.

    LewieP on
  • peterdevorepeterdevore Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I haven't found a way to actually save the levels you make in the editor yet. It has a Save As button, but loading the same name next time you start the game doesn't get you what you saved, just a blank level. I've tried extracting the packages and using the '-universe' option, but it didn't work. I guess we'll just have to wait until the mod docs come out.

    peterdevore on
  • Delicious SteveDelicious Steve Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    LewieP wrote: »
    Interesting thought:

    Steam have separate pricing for different regions (UK/USA/EU)
    Gamersgate have a USA price and a Euro price (in Euros)
    Impulse have one price in USD, and convert it to other currencies. Greenhouse does the same.

    It is inevitable that there will be different prices for the same game in the UK, on the different platforms.

    Steam has always given me the price in USD and then converts it into AUD when i go to buy it, i've never seen this "separate pricing" thing you mention, but then I'm not in one of the 3 regions you listed.

    And Braid is coming out on PC now? It seriously took that long? I just assumed it came out back in November or something, either way, great puzzle game, hope those of you who haven't played it already enjoy it.

    Delicious Steve on
  • GMaster7GMaster7 Goggles Paesano Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Picked this up late last night (after consistently hearing good things about it between its release on XBLA and its release yesterday) and stayed up until like 7 AM slowly playing through it. I tried to absorb everything, and really, really enjoyed it. Thanks for reminding me that it came out this weekend, PA!

    GMaster7 on
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  • DaxonDaxon Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Mangaroo wrote: »
    You know those books placed on pedestals before you enter the world, they basically tell a story which describes the particular set of rules for that world.

    I'm not sure if that helps, I haven't completed it yet (done everything up to world 5 - Fickle companion was a bitch) as I'm playing on my shitty netbook with about 4fps and want to finish it on my super rig + tv setup.

    It's pretty neat that I started out on a demo and when I bought the full version on steam my save was intact.

    @peterdevore: Anything good come from playing with the editor?

    Also: (spoiler of sorts for one of the levels up to end of world 4 iirc). My conscious will appreciate concurrence!
    You know that level where the goomba mimics you for the first time - the second part of that level where the goomba isn't affected by time but there are three green tube plant monster things that you control by moving across the horizontal platform below. You control the plants with the hope that the goomba gets through unharmed so you can use him to jump up and collect the puzzle piece at the end...

    WELL, I could get the timing and pacing right for the first two plants but the last one where you have to jump over the spikes and climb the ladder before hiding the plant just got me every damn time. The timing was impossible or at least sf4-hard-trial-5-like, as i tried for a good 20 minutes and wasn't about to spend 3 hours like i did with street fighter (blanka) to nail it.

    So I did the time reversal speed * 8 (by holding shift and pressing down rapidly numerous times) to get from my position down below to where i had to be so that the green plant was down and let the goomba through. It worked but im pretty sure it was cheating because the next level was called something like exaggerated mimicry which didn't make use of the fast time reversal...

    Anyway, my ocd just needs to see what people did for that part.

    Your solution is basically THE solution to the puzzle.. I can't think of any other way in which you'd be able to do it.

    I love this game and the puzzles were brilliant but I'm just really confused what to make of the story. Like:
    is the Princess a nuke? Who's the knight? Why was she running away? During the epilogue if you stand behind a thingie when the red book is open you get dialogue from the princess' viewpoint. Wtf does it all mean?

    Game hurts my head.

    Daxon on
  • gjaustingjaustin Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Daxon wrote: »
    I love this game and the puzzles were brilliant but I'm just really confused what to make of the story. Like:
    is the Princess a nuke? Who's the knight? Why was she running away? During the epilogue if you stand behind a thingie when the red book is open you get dialogue from the princess' viewpoint. Wtf does it all mean?

    Game hurts my head.

    I'll answer your questions one at a time.
    The atomic bomb is A princess, but not THE Princess. Actually, that probably doesn't help :)

    The knight isn't Tim. Beyond that, it doesn't really matter.

    She's running away, because from her perspective you were watching her sleep. Creepy...

    The purpose of the text is to show you events from multiple perspectives. To help you understand why, despite your noble intentions, the princess became terrified of you.

    And whatever you do, don't read the GameFAQs plot summary article. It won't help. Calling it misleading is being charitable.

    gjaustin on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    gjaustin wrote: »
    Daxon wrote: »
    I love this game and the puzzles were brilliant but I'm just really confused what to make of the story. Like:
    is the Princess a nuke? Who's the knight? Why was she running away? During the epilogue if you stand behind a thingie when the red book is open you get dialogue from the princess' viewpoint. Wtf does it all mean?

    Game hurts my head.

    I'll answer your questions one at a time.
    The atomic bomb is A princess, but not THE Princess. Actually, that probably doesn't help :)

    The knight isn't Tim. Beyond that, it doesn't really matter.

    She's running away, because from her perspective you were watching her sleep. Creepy...

    The purpose of the text is to show you events from multiple perspectives. To help you understand why, despite your noble intentions, the princess became terrified of you.

    And whatever you do, don't read the GameFAQs plot summary article. It won't help. Calling it misleading is being charitable.

    I have to say, the writing in this game is really bad. The story and it's elements are interesting, but the way it's presented via the books is horrible.

    Rook on
  • gjaustingjaustin Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Could you clarify what you mean? I'm not sure how the presentation of the story in the books qualifies as bad writing.

    Do you mean the content of the books?

    gjaustin on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    gjaustin wrote: »
    Could you clarify what you mean? I'm not sure how the presentation of the story in the books qualifies as bad writing.

    Do you mean the content of the books?

    Yeah, I mean the actual words you read.

    Rook on
  • SirUltimosSirUltimos Don't talk, Rusty. Just paint. Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Mangaroo wrote: »
    I finished it in 5 hours, I want more!

    I think he is planning on giving people the chance to produce custom things. I think i read about it in the readme

    Edit:

    The soundtrack is fantastic, i love listening to it (it is in an archive in the braid folder - ogg format, vlc works).

    I'm not sure if you're the type of person who listens to music while going to sleep, but the Braid soundtrack is perfect for that purpose.

    SirUltimos on
  • gjaustingjaustin Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Rook wrote: »
    gjaustin wrote: »
    Could you clarify what you mean? I'm not sure how the presentation of the story in the books qualifies as bad writing.

    Do you mean the content of the books?

    Yeah, I mean the actual words you read.

    I've heard people complain about the presentation itself (optional books you stop and read), so I wasn't sure which one you meant.

    I personally enjoyed their lack of concreteness but I can understand people not liking that.

    I also liked the presentation itself, since the stories get you started in the right direction and then the gameplay takes you the rest of the way.
    SirUltimos wrote: »
    Mangaroo wrote: »
    The soundtrack is fantastic, i love listening to it (it is in an archive in the braid folder - ogg format, vlc works).

    I'm not sure if you're the type of person who listens to music while going to sleep, but the Braid soundtrack is perfect for that purpose.

    I bought the soundtrack right away on ITunes. It wasn't an "official" soundtrack, but all the songs were available individually. I've been enjoying it quite regularly for the past 8 months.

    gjaustin on
  • LunkerLunker Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I think the writing in Braid is fantastic. It's not easy to figure out what's going on, or even if there is actually one "thing" to figure out, but I like that it's more of a thematic game instead of a concrete narrative. I've read the giant huge post about "the meaning of the game" but I prefer to think of that as just one interpretation of the game's larger themes.

    Lunker on
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  • DeathPrawnDeathPrawn Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    I think the narrative elements are exactly what they need to be. If they bug you, they're unobtrusive enough that you can ignore them, but if you so choose there are multiple ways to read the piece and still come away with a meaningful message. And it does a great job of actually using the gameplay to emphasize the themes rather than have the story and the gameplay be two separate elements (i.e. the player's manipulation of time as a metaphor).

    DeathPrawn on
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  • peterdevorepeterdevore Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    My interpretation/idea jumble of the story:
    It's about how childish the wish is to be able to undo your mistakes. It forces you to go back and rethink about what you could have done. Tim has become so obsessed with looking back, time flows in reverse for him, and rewinding is actually moving forward in time. His going back in his memory becomes mixed with the present. The books before each world are all written in the present and in order, but are about Tim going back in time in his head to think about the events in reverse order.

    The last level (in world 1, so the beginning of Tim looking back in time), where the princess seems to help you at first, in reverse (reality) she is actually running away from you and blocking your path towards her.

    The epilogue is world 6: the origin/childhood of Tim. I'm not exactly sure how it fits in, but it characterizes the psychology of Tim that helped him to be obsessed with looking back, being spoiled, stubborn, scientific, inquisitive and destructive. Tim doesn't learn this, he's out view/blind to the interpretation of the princess (in that era his mother). In the space that isn't defined by his real memories, from before he was born, Tim builds a castle of his interpretations of his memories and he seems happy about that place, but wants to build even more on it. This and the cyclic nature of the game suggests that Tim isn't yet absolved from his past and is doomed to repeat it. He can't find the princess in his past, the part of the game that's closest to the present is the only place we meet her.

    Oh and a major brainfuck is this: because we are looking backwards in time and reverse any mistakes we make, how can we say we are learning anything? The player learns, sure, but from Tim's perspective he's piecing together a world in which he never made mistakes. His achievements are made up of doing things perfectly, he jumps perfectly, he never dies, he gets all the puzzle pieces. To have such a view of your past can't be sane, and it's no miracle that his biggest mistake, scorning the princess set him off into an insane quest of self-justification.

    peterdevore on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Lunker wrote: »
    I think the writing in Braid is fantastic.

    Really?

    "Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, toward whatever the new
    day held. He felt something like optimism."

    Doesn't reading that make you want to throw up in your mouth?

    I like the narrative of the game, but those little chunks of writing are just amazingly badly written.

    Rook on
  • LunkerLunker Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Rook wrote: »
    Lunker wrote: »
    I think the writing in Braid is fantastic.

    Really?

    "Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, toward whatever the new
    day held. He felt something like optimism."

    Doesn't reading that make you want to throw up in your mouth?

    Not really, no. It's flowery and a touch poetic, but the text has a nice way of both describing the specific method that time shifts in each world and also pulling together a larger story.
    "Tim needed to be non-manipulable. He needed a hope of transcendence. He needed, sometimes, to be immune to the Princess's caring touch."

    I much prefer that to straightforward text telling me that the hook for World 3 is that green sparkly items are unaffected by Tim's rewind power.

    EDIT: Though really, the nice part about Braid is that if you want, you can pretty much ignore the story entirely and just suss out each world's angle on your own. I'm not normally a Games as Art kind of person, so I gambled on Braid because of this fact, and I ended up really liking the entire package.

    Lunker on
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  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Immediately I noted, the next morning, to stop listening to your opinion when it came to matters of the English language.

    Rook on
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