After saying I’d leave this for next week, I started tidying up files and things went more quickly than expected. For some reason WordPress won’t let me embed the video, so here’s a link to how it looks on the main site.
I’m a little concerned that nobody outside Scotland will understand the accent. Please tell me you can understand the words!
That’s how it looks on the main site. As you can see, I’ve gone for a more traditional game site look, with prominent pictures from the game. After looking at a lot of different game sites I figured that was probably the best idea.
15 responses so far ↓
Caius // July 6, 2009 at 10:17 pm
That’s an incredible video – if people will watch it all the way through.
Given your audience, visitors to your site probably will. But if you want to start really marketing this game on other sites, you may want to think about a short, 1-minute trailer to go with your teaser.
tolworthy // July 6, 2009 at 11:02 pm
That’s a good point. Six and a half minutes is maybe a bit long. What do you think a shorter version should include? Just the very best clips and a voice over of statistics? I’m hoping that when I send the practically finished Dante for testing at the end of the month then I’ll get some nice quotes I can use.
tolworthy // July 6, 2009 at 11:05 pm
BTW, I just uploaded a slightly clearer version. Early reports were that the music was still too loud (given the accent) so the version on the site now has slightly quieter music, and I’ve selectively processed the voice to fix a couple of quite parts.
Alex // July 7, 2009 at 3:59 am
Wow that made me really excited for the next game! I would definitely cut it down for marketing purposes if I were you, though… one thing you could definitely do without is the description of ALL the characters in Les Mis… you can get away with just talking about Val Jean’s journey, since that’s what concerns Peri the most. That would take a minute or two out of it, right there… just a suggestion!
tolworthy // July 7, 2009 at 8:44 am
Thanks for the feedback! I asked the same question on another site, and the response was the same – there needs to be a shorter vid as well.
It’s funny you mention the characters descriptions. There’s a specific reason for that (not necessarily a GOOD reason though). Personally I’m more interested in the ideas and the Big Picture, so in my mind I don’t really think about characters much. So my tendency is just to have grand vistas. Yet every other game and book and movie promotion and review focuses on characters. So I make a conscious effort to say “see, I have characters too!” On the other hand, the video was planned before I decided to do it from Peri’s point of view. Originally the voice over was just neutral voice droning on about the game (i.e. it was very impersonal). But it sounded rubbish, so I re-wrote it to be from Peri’s point of view, so there’s really less need now to list additional characters.
Anyway, before I send the game for review I’ll make a much shorter version of the vid.
Caius // July 7, 2009 at 3:18 pm
A few more ideas…
I would keep the list of stories at the end – that was very good. Also, the opening of each of the two books should probably be in there.
I didn’t quite get the introduction – going into the cathedral, then clicking to go to heaven. It’s cool that I can do that in the game, but if you just show Peri exploring both heaven and Earth, that should take care of it. I wouldn’t show off the point-and-click interaction at all – that in itself is not going to be exciting for anyone.
I agree that you could get rid of most of the character descriptions. Keep Valjean and Dante, but then you can focus the remaining minute or so on exploration and on what Peri is learning.
It might also be interesting to hear a few words from the mentor figures (Victor Hugo and Gabriel). Or at least see them and have them mentioned. Come on – how many games have Gabriel as your mentor?
Oh, and I would cut the part about Beatrice. That’s just confusing for most viewers (like me) who’ve never read Dante’s Divine Comedy. Let that be a surprise in the game.
Jaes // July 7, 2009 at 3:57 pm
“I wouldn’t show off the point-and-click interaction at all – that in itself is not going to be exciting for anyone.”
I disagree – In my opinion it’s very annoying not to know which type of game is on the show
tolworthy // July 7, 2009 at 6:19 pm
> how many games have Gabriel as your mentor?
I don’t know – this game has Michael
I chose Michael because he’s the captain of the heavenly hosts (he’s the one who arranges stuff in the books of Daniel and Revelation, whereas Gabriel is God’s personal messenger). Choosing Michael suits the game because as a military man he’s more likely to get to the point about what needs to be done – it makes dialog easier to write.
It probably would have made more sense to use Victor Hugo or Michael as voice overs, but my real problem is I don’t have any voice over artists. I like my daughter’s voice (I am of course entirely detached and objective about this) so I needed an excuse for why the voice over sounds like a child. That’s why the start has that awkward bit about “I was a baby, now I’m a child, then I’ll be an adult” and then goes up to heaven. It’s to cover why the voice over sounds so young. Not ideal I know, but I quite like the overall result.
Anyway, I’m working on an ultra short teaser (about 90 seconds) and hopefully that will be finished tomorrow. Then I can finally get back to what I should have been doing all along, adding the last of the essential dialog to the game.
Alex // July 7, 2009 at 6:54 pm
The list of games at the end is essential, because I think anyone interested in this idea will find at least one or two stories they LOVE in that list, which will make them stick around for more.
Also, the part at the end, when the “camera” is zooming out from earth, and the universe, and all that other stuff, and Peri’s like “I want to know EVERYTHING” – I *loved* that. Definitely, definitely keep that in.
If you want to keep both the scrolling list and that ending bit and you find that the video’s too long, perhaps you can combine then (i.e. have the list scrolling during that part) – you don’t necessarily need Peri saying “ooh, I like treasure island” and all that stuff.
Just some more suggestions – take them or leave them, but I’m sure your shorter teaser will be great!
Caius // July 7, 2009 at 10:26 pm
@Alex, I agree. Having the list scroll during the zoom-out would be great!
(Question about that zoom-out: the final image looked almost like a microscope magnifying bacteria. Was that intentional, or am I seeing things?)
@Jaes, I didn’t mean that the video should hide the mouse interaction completely. You’re right, the video should give an idea of how the game is played. But I think the way it’s shown can be shortened, so that it’s not the focus.
And I meant to say Michael, of course.
tolworthy // July 8, 2009 at 8:35 am
You guys must be psychic! I just put the scrolling names during the end part then checked my email.
About what the zoom shows: originally I made this years ago for a CV. The complete zoom is a looping video that starts in a laboratory in a local business, with a man looking in a microscope. You zoom out to see the building and the local scenery and then planet Earth etc. When you get to the scale of the universe (the cloudy red bit) this is revealed to be a quark at the heart of a proton which is at at the heart of a carbon atom (the blue-green bit) which is part of the surface of the steel microscope. The video then loops forever.
It was a speculative CV and I didn’t get a job out of it. That was one of those things that made me think “I really should try and work for myself – I’m sure somebody, somewhere must like this kind of stuff.”
The really frustrating part was that you’ll notice the zooming sequence is a bit jerky. That’s because I was using a free 3D program to fake the zoom and it was incredibly awkward to put together. One day when I’m rich I’ll get some proper compositing software and that kind of animation will be much easier to do.
Anyway, I’m just finding the last music segment for the new shorter video, then I’ll record the new voice over and it should be online in a few hours.
Caius // July 8, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Blender (www.blender.org) has a GREAT compositing toolset!
tolworthy // July 8, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Thanks for the tip. One day I’ll have to get round to learning Blender. Ten years ago I used 3D software every day, but since then I’ve forgotten everything.
Luke // July 13, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Glad to see that The Count of Monte Cristo is being included in EnterTheStory. I hadn’t seen it mentioned before and was going to suggest that it should be considered – I think it will fit in perfectly. (Guess it’s quite a long way off though, I think it was quite far down the list).
Coming up a bit sooner is Macbeth – my all time favourite Shakespeare play.
tolworthy // July 13, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Hopefully I can do them justice! I’m not really a great reader of regular novels/dramas, but I make an exception for the Count of Monte Cristo. It’s just such a great book!