cobaltnine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cobaltnine) wrote2010-10-12 11:01 pm
cobaltnine) wrote2010-10-12 11:01 pm
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IFComp 2010 Reviews - Aotearoa
Aotearoa, by Mark Wigdahl.
Preliminary Anecdote: I take a shuttle bus to school, and I used to take the same one to work. About two years ago, it was really, terribly rainy. I was in a foul mood because I hated my job and it was raining and I couldn't get my phone to tell me when the next shuttle was going to show up. A guy offered me his umbrella and I said, "No, thank you," in that sarcastic-petulant teenager way, which was pathetic from a woman in her mid-20s. So the next day I apologized to British-Looking-Guy-with-Umbrella. And that's how David and I became bus friends.
David looked really British, but it turned out he was from New Zealand. He said he couldn't speak any Maori, and I have learned that I can't get used to typing it.
I don't have too much to say. The premise is that you are a young boy who has been chosen for a conservation trip to Jurassic Park, er, part of Aotearoa (New Zealand) that has dinosaurs, and things start off not looking so good. You missed your flight so you're on a dodgy boat that for some reason took a kid as a passenger; the boat capsizes and things get more dangerous from there.
The tension is done appropriately; I had the feeling of "don't screw this up, me," that I often go through with certain games. Tropes fill in where necessary; the scenery is pretty good for making up for that. There are a couple of things I want to point out that detracted from my enjoyment, but I don't want to let that get in the way of what I think isn't a bad little game at all. It has multiple solutions to some of the puzzles and a non-annoying companion, which can be hard to write.
First, with regards to the highlighted words. If you choose to play with highlighting, and I did, because it was somewhat novel, you will occasionally see words highlighted that are in Maori. Retyping them doesn't define them, which I would have liked.
Second, regarding naming. It's nice that I can name the major dinos. It's kind of cute. I called my companion Glinda and the first oviraptor 'Eggy' since I was put upon for ideas at the time. That being said, apparently I'm Tim. No choice in that, Timmy boy, just be Tim. It doesn't come into play, so I don't see why that couldn't have been chosen in the game as well.
Something I thought was strange was the emphasis on traditional New Zealand words and culture; not in and of itself, of course, but the way the plot seemed to have nothing to do with it. The intro text describes myth; the character has visions; the plot is dinos. As an ex-archaeologist, I was kind of hoping for cultural exploration and felt oddly misled by the intro text. Pacific history is definitely under-appreciated and not well known in the US (and I'd guess the UK, Canada, and Europe) and could be a nice change of setting for IF.
Finally, I did stumble upon a bit of text that I wasn't expecting; upon acquiring the GPS and expecting the response to 'OPEN GPS' to be something along the lines 'the battery compartment is empty,' but instead, the response reminds me not to remove the battery (that I didn't have yet.) Not a big problem, but given the squadron of beta testers, I'm kind of surprised it was there.
I didn't actually make it through this game in 2 hours. I'm rarely playing both straight, which may slow me down a bit. Reading the walkthrough seems to show that there was a timed puzzle with well-cued directions coming up, which seems fair.
My overall rating is 'pretty good.' I do want to see what else is coming up...
Preliminary Anecdote: I take a shuttle bus to school, and I used to take the same one to work. About two years ago, it was really, terribly rainy. I was in a foul mood because I hated my job and it was raining and I couldn't get my phone to tell me when the next shuttle was going to show up. A guy offered me his umbrella and I said, "No, thank you," in that sarcastic-petulant teenager way, which was pathetic from a woman in her mid-20s. So the next day I apologized to British-Looking-Guy-with-Umbrella. And that's how David and I became bus friends.
David looked really British, but it turned out he was from New Zealand. He said he couldn't speak any Maori, and I have learned that I can't get used to typing it.
I don't have too much to say. The premise is that you are a young boy who has been chosen for a conservation trip to Jurassic Park, er, part of Aotearoa (New Zealand) that has dinosaurs, and things start off not looking so good. You missed your flight so you're on a dodgy boat that for some reason took a kid as a passenger; the boat capsizes and things get more dangerous from there.
The tension is done appropriately; I had the feeling of "don't screw this up, me," that I often go through with certain games. Tropes fill in where necessary; the scenery is pretty good for making up for that. There are a couple of things I want to point out that detracted from my enjoyment, but I don't want to let that get in the way of what I think isn't a bad little game at all. It has multiple solutions to some of the puzzles and a non-annoying companion, which can be hard to write.
First, with regards to the highlighted words. If you choose to play with highlighting, and I did, because it was somewhat novel, you will occasionally see words highlighted that are in Maori. Retyping them doesn't define them, which I would have liked.
Second, regarding naming. It's nice that I can name the major dinos. It's kind of cute. I called my companion Glinda and the first oviraptor 'Eggy' since I was put upon for ideas at the time. That being said, apparently I'm Tim. No choice in that, Timmy boy, just be Tim. It doesn't come into play, so I don't see why that couldn't have been chosen in the game as well.
Something I thought was strange was the emphasis on traditional New Zealand words and culture; not in and of itself, of course, but the way the plot seemed to have nothing to do with it. The intro text describes myth; the character has visions; the plot is dinos. As an ex-archaeologist, I was kind of hoping for cultural exploration and felt oddly misled by the intro text. Pacific history is definitely under-appreciated and not well known in the US (and I'd guess the UK, Canada, and Europe) and could be a nice change of setting for IF.
Finally, I did stumble upon a bit of text that I wasn't expecting; upon acquiring the GPS and expecting the response to 'OPEN GPS' to be something along the lines 'the battery compartment is empty,' but instead, the response reminds me not to remove the battery (that I didn't have yet.) Not a big problem, but given the squadron of beta testers, I'm kind of surprised it was there.
I didn't actually make it through this game in 2 hours. I'm rarely playing both straight, which may slow me down a bit. Reading the walkthrough seems to show that there was a timed puzzle with well-cued directions coming up, which seems fair.
My overall rating is 'pretty good.' I do want to see what else is coming up...