Questions for the Crimson Echoes team

[lunar7]

I'm in the sunken mammon machine palace place in 12kbc and stuck.  I've been through the entire explorable region and can't get to any new ground.  Is there some trick that I'm missing to move the plot forward?  Or is this just an incomplete stage with no exit?

Help me out!  I was really enjoying up to this point.

that's not one of the places you can get stuck AFAIK. there are two main showstoppers, one you can get around if you go a different way, the other one you can't do much about, all you can do is trigger events of a few chapters later by going to a certain place, after which it's possible to play to the end. the dialogue gets pretty sparse at the end, and AFAIK there is only one ending possible and it's a very depressing ending indeed.

looking forward to see what's really supposed to happen in the videos because i've probably played this version as much as it can possibly be played already...

[nightmare975]

Hey.  I downloaded the pseudo-alpha version rom that's been going around.  I hear it's nowhere near to the 98% complete version they were working with toward the end.  But I got a question anyway.

I'm in the sunken mammon machine palace place in 12kbc and stuck.  I've been through the entire explorable region and can't get to any new ground.  Is there some trick that I'm missing to move the plot forward?  Or is this just an incomplete stage with no exit?

Help me out!  I was really enjoying up to this point.

Here's how to solve the problem:
1. Take game file
2. Right click file
3. Select delete
4. Confirm
5. Empty trashbin

[kando]

such hate towards the alpha....i played it start to end...yea i used savestates but i never "cheated", and i have to say, it was a CHALLENGING, and extremely fun experience, and as much as the team didnt want it to come out, it

a) shows 5 years minus a few months work, which is a fully playable game minus some polishing, tweaking, 2000+ bug fixes, etc.

b) when comparing it with the CEMemorial videos, its also an excellent way to see a development process, comparing what you have played with the way it is polished up, and especcially with the commentary its awesome :]

i hope the devs dont take this the wrong way, im sorry it had to get leaked, and at least its not the 98% complete version....but now that its out, please dont mind that I/we pay tribute to an amazing hack and a very epic storyline

kudos!
-kando

[Mr Bekkler]

such hate towards the alpha....

No hate. It's just illegal to have. And nobody should be talking about "how cool" it is on the one site that might be on the receiving end of legal repercussions from said alpha leak. That's a little rude, frankly. Just don't rub it in their faces, or ask for "tips", cause it's reasonable to assume it's a bit of a sore spot.

[ZeaLitY]

Yeah, but I wouldn't consider it any "worse" than downloading a song. And we're all "guilty" of that.

[kando]

Yeah, but I wouldn't consider it any "worse" than downloading a song. And we're all "guilty" of that.

except a song u can legally buy, where as this you cant....

[Mirenately]

It looks like you guys are not used to computer piracy...And never used emulators without buying the original console and/or legal copies of the games you wanted to play this way...I suppose that's not quite true. Right?
Yeah, I agree with Mr Bekker that asking for tips is rather rude. Especially on the site that could be endangered by your illegal actions. One should be happy for even being able to get this leaked alpha. I don't mean any harm to the developers team, but the leak is already a history that cannot be changed (If only you don't have a hidden Epoch on your backyard-_^). It is probably already spread between the ones who wanted to play the full version anyways. (I may be gravely mistaking, but that's how i see it, sorry) Now we can only wait if there would be any consequences and hope for the better future to come...

[Chickenlump]

After experiencing the end result, would you be happy with the product in comparison to other "official" games of this type? Do you feel happy enough with the end result that you can imagine it as worthy competition "It's just as good as anything on the shelves, if not better"

Are you regretting not being able to implement something you thought might have made the game feel more complete, or felt something was missing and would add that something in now if you could to give it that "Finished" game feel? Can be a scene, character, graphic, song, subroutine, engine tweak...

Last question, what one aspect was the absolute toughest to work on, a map or event or script that drove you mad because getting this aspect to turn out like the version in your head and what you see during testing became ulcer inducing? Was it worth all the trouble once it got working as planned? Did someone point out the problem as something obvious, followed by cursing, headbanging?

[ZeaLitY]

I have a good question. After experiencing the end result, would you be happy with the product in comparison to other "proper" games in the genre? Do you feel happy that your work rivals any big name company's work (it's just as good if nothing else) or are you regretting not being able to implement something you thought might have made the game feel more complete (Difficulty changing something, not enough time for something, an idea you got implemented and suddenly wish it could be removed, changed or improved)?

One other question, what one aspect was the absolute toughest to work on, a map or event or script that drove you mad because getting this aspect to turn out like the version in your head and what you see during testing became ulcer inducing?

Yes. But if I could have changed something, it'd be the maps. There are a lot of maps that really need to be polished, but we didn't have the time to do it, especially since navigating complicated z-plane is a real pain.

Toughest aspect will probably be for JP to answer. For me, it was probably writing the three dialogue possiblities for the three versions of 1005 A.D. that could result from your 605 A.D. decision. With more time and patience, there would have been NPC differences, etc. but we just couldn't dwell on it too long, and writing so many generic lines was maddening.

[Chrono'99]

If I could have changed something, it'd be working on all the game instead of only the first half and the ending. In addition to unpolished maps, there are a lot of little details that could have been corrected, like battles that start with the menu covering the characters, or enemies that get covered by the "description" line, dialogue with sentences that

span two textboxes or even

more, etc. Unfortunately, time was our greatest enemy in this project (how ironic). I had barely played the second half of the game at all when the project entered the betatesting phase and release preparations started.

[mav]

[CE] is probably already spread between the ones who wanted to play the full version anyways. (I may be gravely mistaking, but that's how i see it, sorry) Now we can only wait if there would be any consequences and hope for the better future to come...

Eh, I think the lot of us who've been around this community long enough (and trust, I haven't been around here long at all) had the decency to restrain ourselves from downloading and playing any of the CE leaks. We might have the inclination to do so, but if you noticed, none of the mentions of the alpha have come from long-time members, and on top of that most members who've been here for a while backed off the idea of demanding the game, demanding Zeality and co fight for it, etc.

Oh, I had a quick (but somewhat useless question): were there any plans for multi-language releases, had the C&D not been issued? If I recall correctly, Prophet's Guile was/was going to be translated to a different language (French, I believe). Would you have pushed for any translations for CE, as opposed to waiting for someone to request to translate it?

[Chrono'99]

The team that translated Prophet's Guile in French said they wanted to do a translation of CE once it's released. I would have helped them (unlike for PG, since I was on CE) but needless to say it won't happen now.

[Guts]

With the whole Alpha thing going on, I thought of trying to find it but thought it loss respect to the original team. Although I'm sure the Alpha is being passed around could this have some sort of repercussion on the CE team at all or is there any defense against the leaking?

Also, with all the youtube videos posted you think they could ask you to take them down if they (and probably will) notice them?

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I just want to thank the CE team for changing Glenn/Frogs final tech... I always thought that it was just so lame for him to use a giant toad to deal damage. Where the fuck did that toad come from anyways?

[Mr Bekkler]

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I just want to thank the CE team for changing Glenn/Frogs final tech... I always thought that it was just so lame for him to use a giant toad to deal damage. Where the fuck did that toad come from anyways?

I agree with this part at least. The giant summoned frog is equal to the giant summoned Dinosaur Tail that Ayla can conjur up in ANY era. The team fixed that, if you consider FW one of the team. I mean, seriously he's like an honorary member or something. That guy helped a lot! New techs and all that video? But I digress.

[FaustWolf]

I prefer to call myself a "consultant."    I might have been more involved had I plopped into the Compendium forums a couple years earlier, but I didn't become active in CE until post-production. It was sure fun while it lasted. Yeah, the giant frog and dino tail always turned me off from Ayla and Frog in CT too, and really screwed with the player's suspension of disbelief...uh, if having a talking frog didn't do that already.