blackwwatch

[blackwwatch]

I know this sounds like the deranged ramblings of a senile old man but I swear it used to be possible to look up information on the internet

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[blackwwatch]

It's always a trip seeing post-Homestuck webcomics try to emulate Homestuck's narrative structure without understanding that Homestuck's narrative structure only worked because of its extremely rapid update schedule. Like, yeah, you've got the whole elaborate acts-within-acts thing going on, but your comic has been running for nine years and you just hit the halfway mark on Act 1; I think maybe some reassessment is in order!

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for april fools we’re deleting this entire site sayonara you weeaboo shits

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the group chat when i ask whos available to hang out next week

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Thinking about Kent from Stardew Valley, I've often wondered why basically all he talks about to you is about his trauma. Like that's fine I guess but I've casually wondered why it's pretty much the only thing he ever talks about to you.

But it just occurred to me that Sam, Vincent, and Jodi note that he doesn't tell them what's wrong. It's surprising to Jodi that he hates the sound of popcorn, Vincent and Sam both note that he's different but they don't know why, he goes to festivals even though crowds and open fields trigger him.

He's trying very badly to hide it but he needs to talk about it. And the farmer has no preexisting ideas about him. Depending on how long he's been gone this time, you may be the only person in town that didn't know him before he went to the front lines. He's trauma dumping to you and only you because he has no idea to live up to in your mind. You're a blank slate. A new relationship. He doesn't have to pretend to be strong around you. He can just be miserable in your presence and you let him and give him roasted hazelnuts sometimes and roasted hazelnuts remind him of his mom and that's basically what your relationship boils down to. You're the person that will stand next to the river with him and go "Damn dude that sucks do you want an egg"

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something i haven't seen wrt FoM feedback is the character writing and dialogue. there's a lot of it, and they can react differently if you give certain items, seen certain dialogue, experienced different events, etc. which makes it really fun to talk with them several times over the course of an in-game day.

i think it's also nice that they have preexisting relationships with each other. i think it would be even better if there was more conflict, goals, and distinguishing characteristics between them to allow them to develop as characters.

1. dialogue

it's a little difficult since many characters have similar backgrounds and therefore speaking styles, but i think the character voice could be improved by varying sentence length, word choice, structure, and topic. otherwise, many of the characters talk very similarly--very articulate, forward, and kind. if i take away the speaker, can you distinguish who's speaking which lines?

You're so busy, and you still find time to be this thoughtful! Thank you, [player].

Adeline was originally suspicious of me, but she let me stick around. Guess I have my uses!

This gift is wasted on me, [player]. But maybe I can pass it on.

I like to drop by the General Store on Friday before everyone starts gathering!

Early mornings are my least favorite time in Mistria. Everyone's so... cheery. Like they're about to break into song.

the answers are: Adeline, Balor, Valen, Reina, and Juniper.

it was probably easier to narrow down the last one to either March or Juniper, right? and i think that adds to their popularity--they're distinguishable from the other characters in that they're ruder and less cheerful. they talk about you or others more than they talk about themselves.

that being said, i'm not saying dialogue quirks is what needs to be added. we already have holt, dell, maple, and luc.

each piece of dialogue should say something about the character themselves. whether that is their outlook on life, their aspirations, etc., and every character should have something different about them. they can be cheerful--i think that's a charm of Mistria, where it's so safe and trusting that celine keeps her door unlocked so that juniper and the player can barge in to ask for help--but emphasize different parts of the cheer.

is adeline more optimistic than everyone else? is balor more persistent in his beliefs? does this translate to shorter, and more casual dialogue for balor because he's preserving his out-of-town accent?

does valen have higher standards for you? is her dialogue full of more jargon and prose than adeline because she believes you also share her language?

is reina confident in her organization and time keeping? does she talk as if she's giving you advice because everyone could use a little help in time management?

2. progression

i think seeing character development as you gain hearts with the characters would make it more rewarding to talk with them every day. we have mini "plot lines" that follow them (Balor getting more into D&D, Juniper and Terithia speculating about the townsfolk), and i think there could be more "subplots" to add to the excitement of a new day. for example,

could Adeline be so focused on running the town that she doesn't realize that Eiland would actually prefer spending all his time at the dig site instead? do you get to encourage her to put Eiland on more hands-on tasks instead of paperwork?

is ryis struggling to get noticed as a maturing carpenter in his own right? does landen ask for your help to promote ryis and officially retire?

it could be rewarding to see ryis or another character achieve their goals because you helped them, or even saw a different villager help them. it's nice that you could see them grow and change because you had taken the time to build that relationship.

3. heart events

i would also like to see heart events for non-romanceable characters because i think it would add more life to the town. since this is early access, i assume they're still in-progress.

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[blackwwatch]

Olric you have my utmost respect and admiration as you fight for your LIFE in the 'trying to help my brother make friends' olympics

[blackwwatch]

My first DE playthrough's entire tribunal scene was characterised by catastrophic dice luck. Despite replaying it soon after, this stuck in my mind

[blackwwatch]

it’s still hot out. time to romanticize the bleak mid-winter

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As much as I would love for narumitsu to be Canon, I just don't feel like it's ace attorney style to heavily explore cutesy romance stuff. It would feel a bit odd I think to have a game where they have a romance arc as aa is not a dating sim 😭

However I think it's absolutely hilarious if they come out with a new game where they just sorta don't ever substantially say it but it's obvious what's going on.

Ways they could make Narumitsu Canon that I think are funny:

-One of the locations is called "My Apartment" whilst you're playing as Phoenix, and when you go there sometimes Edgeworth is just like... sat on the sofa drinking tea and you're just meant to accept it. (alternatively. You are able to play as both Phoenix and Edgeworth at some point and both of them go to the same "my apartment")

- They put wedding rings on their sprites and never ever elaborate on it.

-There's an almost hidden piece of dialogue that you only get when you fail spectacularly where Edgeworth gets smug and Phoenix thinks "That's it. I am so going to divorce him when we get home" or something sarcastic along those lines. That's the only time it's mentioned.

-There's a case where there are two people in love and Maya is like "Nick you must be so lonely you haven't dated anyone in years. All you do is hang out with Mr Edgeworth all the time >:( " and Phoenix just thinks "Yeah. There's a reason for that" and that's it. You're meant to infer wtf that means.

-Larry complains about being a third wheel once when with Phoenix and Edgeworth.

-Edgeworth's office has a tiny nearly illegible photo that is clearly just a wedding picture of the two of them. You click on it and Phoenix is like "As nice as this day was, did he really have to use the photo where I'm blinking??"

-You present a ring as evidence to Edgeworth and he says something along the lines of "Interesting. It almost reminds me of the one you gave me, Wright"

[blackwwatch]

[blackwwatch]

Study: Hotel Dusk - Room 215

Kyle Hyde

Hotel Dusk (2007)

Developer(s): Nintendo, Cing

Frame sheet can be found here.

Note: Due to the sprites having an alpha fade from the paper outline to the transparency colour, I’m forced to upload the frame sheet with a transparent background, this way, it will retain all of it’s special qualities. Also, once again it’s hosted on a friend’s site due to the filesize.

[blackwwatch]

so shocked was I that I could not find an existing side-by-side that the lord compelled me

[blackwwatch]

So, who's paying?

[blackwwatch]

you don’t need me anymore. you’ll be okay.

slipping through my fingers (updated)