I think they were both pretty weak, and this is still lacking things that I'd want in order to try a new runthrough, like being able to skip text you've already seen. I looked up the choices to get the "good" ending and they're all completely arbitrary. There were no interesting characters or stand out moments. It was overwritten, by someone desperate to show how well read they are. The
Katherine Weiss
"twist" was the worst kind of twist: one that means nothing and changes nothing. The only reason to even give a shit about that character is
that she was in Redemption.
The mystery was a nothing, the character has no agency (and not in a fun, VtM way, in a boring "led by the nose" way.
I think they were both pretty weak, and this is still lacking things that I'd want in order to try a new runthrough, like being able to skip text you've already seen. I looked up the choices to get the "good" ending and they're all completely arbitrary. There were no interesting characters or stand out moments. It was overwritten, by someone desperate to show how well read they are. The
Katherine Weiss
"twist" was the worst kind of twist: one that means nothing and changes nothing. The only reason to even give a shit about that character is
that she was in Redemption.
The mystery was a nothing, the character has no agency (and not in a fun, VtM way, in a boring "led by the nose" way.
It's just really weak in my opinion.
Re: Twist
Was that a twist? I haven't actually played either game, but I saw screenshot on GOG.com of a "Katherine" and instantly assumed it was Ekaterina the Wise because of course it was.
I think they were both pretty weak, and this is still lacking things that I'd want in order to try a new runthrough, like being able to skip text you've already seen. I looked up the choices to get the "good" ending and they're all completely arbitrary. There were no interesting characters or stand out moments. It was overwritten, by someone desperate to show how well read they are. The
Katherine Weiss
"twist" was the worst kind of twist: one that means nothing and changes nothing. The only reason to even give a shit about that character is
that she was in Redemption.
The mystery was a nothing, the character has no agency (and not in a fun, VtM way, in a boring "led by the nose" way.
It's just really weak in my opinion.
Re: Twist
Was that a twist? I haven't actually played either game, but I saw screenshot on GOG.com of a "Katherine" and instantly assumed it was Ekaterina the Wise because of course it was.
The twist is
that it isn't Ecatarina. It's a fleshcrafted double. And like... who cares? It doesn't change anything other than that you thought you were talking to someone important and you aren't.
I'd definitely go for the other endings if there was a skip text option (which is really common on the second run of VNs) but I don't know if I want to just hit the A button for an hour before I even reach a decision point.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
I'd definitely go for the other endings if there was a skip text option (which is really common on the second run of VNs) but I don't know if I want to just hit the A button for an hour before I even reach a decision point.
There is, hold Ctrl. It skips all, though, there's no option for just skipping unread text.
I finished one run of Night Road, but I really want to see how differently it can play out. There was a significant amount of content based around my wolf, which I only had because of my points in Animalism, so I'm interested to see if running some different powers feels as fleshed out.
It was also cool to see some small nods to Bloodlines. I played as a clanless, and I'd spent some time out with the Santa Monica beach thinbloods. And there could be some stuff connecting to Bloodlines 2 since I ended escaping to Seattle.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
V:TM - Night Road. It's like ... shit, I don't even know. Pick your favorite movie about a driver (Drive, Baby Driver, The Transporter, whatever), reskin it to post second crusader VtM and then make the driver good but not, like, a superhero. Baby Driver except instead of 50s nostalgia and an oedipus complex the driver sports fangs and a severe allergy to sunlight.
It's real good, I'm playing it with Storyteller mode on and the VtMB soundtrack in the background. Haven't finished it yet, but very recommended so far.
(you rock Tube!)
Edit: "...if you ever need to transport something bigger than a manila envelope, like a cursed sarcophagus, this Nissan is perfect."
V:TM - Night Road. It's like ... shit, I don't even know. Pick your favorite movie about a driver (Drive, Baby Driver, The Transporter, whatever), reskin it to post second crusader VtM and then make the driver good but not, like, a superhero. Baby Driver except instead of 50s nostalgia and an oedipus complex the driver sports fangs and a severe allergy to sunlight.
It's real good, I'm playing it with Storyteller mode on and the VtMB soundtrack in the background. Haven't finished it yet, but very recommended so far.
(you rock Tube!)
Edit: "...if you ever need to transport something bigger than a manila envelope, like a cursed sarcophagus, this Nissan is perfect."
Interesting, so it's literally just a text adventure?
Night Road is off to a rocky start (opening page spoilers...):
Sure, stay out in the open until a measly ~30 minutes until sunrise. What could go wrong! I see we're playing an idiot.
I'm trusting you people it improves!
Opening page spoiler
you're a courier! you got distance to travel.
Pretty sure I recall some fluff about Gangrel making some of the best couriers for vampires pre-automobile due to being to turn into a bat or bird and fly and even after cars they still could just meld into the ground to wait out the sun if they couldn't find a hidey hole.
Not to mention sleeping on a night road sounds very dangerous!
+4
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
In all seriousness, I got this and I really like it, though even the text form doesn't save me from my fundamental insecurity with this sort of thing, where I make a guy who has a mechanical niche in his mundane skills and then worry about whether it was q mistake to reinforce that niche with his supernatural skills.
Like if I'm given a choice like
- sweet talk the info out of this person!
- - use Dominate on this person!
I'm like, did I fuck up by being able to do both of those things? Should my Ventrue be a killing machine with all the charm of a brick wall and just Discipline his way through social situations? Et cetera.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
I find it interesting that Night Road has more players here than Shadows, given that I didn't even know it existed...
I've not had the chance to play Night Road yet (saving it for a needed distraction), but I can absolutely vouch for the company that got the contract to make all of these text adventures. Choice of Games is pretty much the company you go to if you want a choose-your-own-adventure style text adventure these days, and they have some fucking amazing other adventures besides this and the other VtM CYOAs they have coming out (see: the first Heroes Rise trilogy, Slammed, Choice of the Samurai... they really don't have a whole lot of stinkers out there). It's really good to see them finally land a solid contract for a big property.
(Note: CoG also has a few home-written vampire books- the Choice of the Vampire series- that aren't affiliated with V:tM.)
But yeah, they've got the chops for this sort of project, so I'm already looking forward to the next ones.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
Who do I have to sign up with to see a Mage: The Awakening interactive happen? Maybe no one's even interested, dev-wise, it always was the black sheep.
In all seriousness, I got this and I really like it, though even the text form doesn't save me from my fundamental insecurity with this sort of thing, where I make a guy who has a mechanical niche in his mundane skills and then worry about whether it was q mistake to reinforce that niche with his supernatural skills.
Like if I'm given a choice like
- sweet talk the info out of this person!
- - use Dominate on this person!
I'm like, did I fuck up by being able to do both of those things? Should my Ventrue be a killing machine with all the charm of a brick wall and just Discipline his way through social situations? Et cetera.
If you want points in social skills, it might make more sense to get presence which boosts them higher instead of dominate which I guess kinda bypasses them.
I wouldn't worry about it too much though as I had plenty of skill points by the end of the story.
Having a good charisma and persuasion will also save you in low blood moments if you can't afford to use dominate.
In all seriousness, I got this and I really like it, though even the text form doesn't save me from my fundamental insecurity with this sort of thing, where I make a guy who has a mechanical niche in his mundane skills and then worry about whether it was q mistake to reinforce that niche with his supernatural skills.
Like if I'm given a choice like
- sweet talk the info out of this person!
- - use Dominate on this person!
I'm like, did I fuck up by being able to do both of those things? Should my Ventrue be a killing machine with all the charm of a brick wall and just Discipline his way through social situations? Et cetera.
I'm always paranoid about running out of blood, so I want ways to solve problems without it. I sorta accidentally turned by Brujah into something closer to a Nosferatu (high mental attributes and skills - and drive, of course). I also invested in Presence (...and another Discipline I picked up later) for avoiding combat, then Celerity and Potence in case I couldn't.
You get a lot of skill points, I wouldn't be too concerned. Have a specialty, yeah, but you also need a backup plan.
Who do I have to sign up with to see a Mage: The Awakening interactive happen? Maybe no one's even interested, dev-wise, it always was the black sheep.
Mage (both of them) teaches players to be, and relies on them being, inventive and subversive, so it's got to be extra-hard to turn into a video game compared to something like Vampire where characters have very prescribed, clearly delineated powers (which are also almost all things that you can do in various video games anyway, like run fast climb wall shoot magic etc). You could give Mage players a hundred options on every check and it still wouldn't be enough to accommodate every gonzo idea or character shtick.
Who do I have to sign up with to see a Mage: The Awakening interactive happen? Maybe no one's even interested, dev-wise, it always was the black sheep.
It would be impossible to "properly" do a M:TA game. The other games have a lot of pretty strict rules that you can codify simply, but Mage is like freeform jazz or prog rock improv. The moment you try to codify it, it becomes something else, something lesser, and you still don't have a Mage game.
That said, I'd fucking love to see someone try. I LARPed a Mage game back in my teens and it was a boatload of fun.
+1
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
And yeah, like darksun, I literally only learned about this from Tube's post. I'm real glad he got to be the canary in a coal mine on this. Unfortunately when I hear "interactive Vampire fiction" my first thought was gonna be that shitty thing that Zak S. wrote with the severed anus (yes, you read that right) a couple of years ago. I'm really gratified that this is nothing like that sounded.
And yeah, like darksun, I literally only learned about this from Tube's post. I'm real glad he got to be the canary in a coal mine on this. Unfortunately when I hear "interactive Vampire fiction" my first thought was gonna be that shitty thing that Zak S. wrote with the severed anus (yes, you read that right) a couple of years ago. I'm really gratified that this is nothing like that sounded.
Unfortunately, the Mage video game is an otherwise-empty box with a copy of The C Programming Language, by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, rattling around inside it.
As a computer programmer, I am here to tell you that nothing implements both Paradox and Hubris more authentically than computer programming.
I've really enjoyed this game, but the one real negative is that I feel it might be a little too ambitious for the Choice of Games engine. I've played a few of those, and while I liked them too, you were only managing like 3 or 4 stats, a relationship or two, and had a pretty linear narrative.
In this, you've got the full scope of VtM stats, skills and powers. You've got hunger, wounds, willpower, humanity and Masquerade violations you need to keep in check. You've got your own inventory of weapons, clothes and gadgets. A choice of houses, and dozens of cars with their own upgrades. Multiple faction reputations and character relations. Multiple love interests, ghoul choices, and love interest ghoul possibilities. A story structure more similar to a Bioware game with multiple main quests that can be played in any order, with side quests that can be totally missed.
It was just a little bit annoying to need to stop and look through multiple menus anytime I wanted to check the status of my money, or my standing with the Camarilla before making a choice. Especially when there is all that unused space on the sides of the screen.
The good news is they have two more games in the works, so maybe they'll make all that info a little easier to parse.
Out for Blood is a spring release that has you playing a hunter!
And Parliament of Knives is a summer release that looks to be about more high level vampire politics!
That space is unused because CoG usually designs for the mobile market before they design for Steam. Everything you can find on Steam you can also find on your iTunes/Google Play stores as well. They can't develop two versions of the same game, so they just made one that can function on phones and tablets and ported it over.
That unused space at the sides doesn't exist on the mobile version- it's off the sides of the screen, usually!
I just play in windowed mode and shrink the width to, like, a third of my monitor. (also you should have the VtMB soundtrack playing in the background)
Who do I have to sign up with to see a Mage: The Awakening interactive happen? Maybe no one's even interested, dev-wise, it always was the black sheep.
Mage (both of them) teaches players to be, and relies on them being, inventive and subversive, so it's got to be extra-hard to turn into a video game compared to something like Vampire where characters have very prescribed, clearly delineated powers (which are also almost all things that you can do in various video games anyway, like run fast climb wall shoot magic etc). You could give Mage players a hundred options on every check and it still wouldn't be enough to accommodate every gonzo idea or character shtick.
Sadly, the best thing I can think of would be to do something like Harry Potter. Let people choose a house, path, etcetera, and give them paths with very strict limitations on the kind of magic they can cast.
And yeah, like darksun, I literally only learned about this from Tube's post. I'm real glad he got to be the canary in a coal mine on this. Unfortunately when I hear "interactive Vampire fiction" my first thought was gonna be that shitty thing that Zak S. wrote with the severed anus (yes, you read that right) a couple of years ago. I'm really gratified that this is nothing like that sounded.
I wish there was a save file system for Night Road.
I wanted to take back a simple choice approximately 10 seconds after making it (before seeing anything play out), but ain't gonna start all over.
Posts
You thought Coteries was better? Seems like general consensus is that Shadows is.
It's just really weak in my opinion.
Re: Twist
The twist is
Well.
They got me.
There is, hold Ctrl. It skips all, though, there's no option for just skipping unread text.
It was also cool to see some small nods to Bloodlines. I played as a clanless, and I'd spent some time out with the Santa Monica beach thinbloods. And there could be some stuff connecting to Bloodlines 2 since I ended escaping to Seattle.
It's real good, I'm playing it with Storyteller mode on and the VtMB soundtrack in the background. Haven't finished it yet, but very recommended so far.
(you rock Tube!)
Edit: "...if you ever need to transport something bigger than a manila envelope, like a cursed sarcophagus, this Nissan is perfect."
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Interesting, so it's literally just a text adventure?
It's neat seeing that they progressed major players like Hope into new roles, too.
I'm trusting you people it improves!
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Steam Profile
3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
Not to mention sleeping on a night road sounds very dangerous!
Like if I'm given a choice like
- sweet talk the info out of this person!
- - use Dominate on this person!
I'm like, did I fuck up by being able to do both of those things? Should my Ventrue be a killing machine with all the charm of a brick wall and just Discipline his way through social situations? Et cetera.
(Note: CoG also has a few home-written vampire books- the Choice of the Vampire series- that aren't affiliated with V:tM.)
But yeah, they've got the chops for this sort of project, so I'm already looking forward to the next ones.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
If you want points in social skills, it might make more sense to get presence which boosts them higher instead of dominate which I guess kinda bypasses them.
I wouldn't worry about it too much though as I had plenty of skill points by the end of the story.
Having a good charisma and persuasion will also save you in low blood moments if you can't afford to use dominate.
I'm always paranoid about running out of blood, so I want ways to solve problems without it. I sorta accidentally turned by Brujah into something closer to a Nosferatu (high mental attributes and skills - and drive, of course). I also invested in Presence (...and another Discipline I picked up later) for avoiding combat, then Celerity and Potence in case I couldn't.
You get a lot of skill points, I wouldn't be too concerned. Have a specialty, yeah, but you also need a backup plan.
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Mage (both of them) teaches players to be, and relies on them being, inventive and subversive, so it's got to be extra-hard to turn into a video game compared to something like Vampire where characters have very prescribed, clearly delineated powers (which are also almost all things that you can do in various video games anyway, like run fast climb wall shoot magic etc). You could give Mage players a hundred options on every check and it still wouldn't be enough to accommodate every gonzo idea or character shtick.
It would be impossible to "properly" do a M:TA game. The other games have a lot of pretty strict rules that you can codify simply, but Mage is like freeform jazz or prog rock improv. The moment you try to codify it, it becomes something else, something lesser, and you still don't have a Mage game.
That said, I'd fucking love to see someone try. I LARPed a Mage game back in my teens and it was a boatload of fun.
... I have questions.
As a computer programmer, I am here to tell you that nothing implements both Paradox and Hubris more authentically than computer programming.
Also, Infernalism.
In this, you've got the full scope of VtM stats, skills and powers. You've got hunger, wounds, willpower, humanity and Masquerade violations you need to keep in check. You've got your own inventory of weapons, clothes and gadgets. A choice of houses, and dozens of cars with their own upgrades. Multiple faction reputations and character relations. Multiple love interests, ghoul choices, and love interest ghoul possibilities. A story structure more similar to a Bioware game with multiple main quests that can be played in any order, with side quests that can be totally missed.
It was just a little bit annoying to need to stop and look through multiple menus anytime I wanted to check the status of my money, or my standing with the Camarilla before making a choice. Especially when there is all that unused space on the sides of the screen.
The good news is they have two more games in the works, so maybe they'll make all that info a little easier to parse.
Out for Blood is a spring release that has you playing a hunter!
And Parliament of Knives is a summer release that looks to be about more high level vampire politics!
That unused space at the sides doesn't exist on the mobile version- it's off the sides of the screen, usually!
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Sadly, the best thing I can think of would be to do something like Harry Potter. Let people choose a house, path, etcetera, and give them paths with very strict limitations on the kind of magic they can cast.
I don't.
I wanted to take back a simple choice approximately 10 seconds after making it (before seeing anything play out), but ain't gonna start all over.
But yeah, this is pretty neat!