Having played through the game with use of the glossary and some context clues, I was able to see the game to the end. It was an interesting experience for sure! However, it is also an experience with a few noticeable problems.
I find the platforming and physics of the game to be rather clunky overall. Even basic jumps like ascending the staircase on the Statua Insula could be difficult. Another example would be the section between the Herculis Insula and the Ultima Insula, where overshooting a single jump got me killed. On a number of occasions, the boat between the Statua Insula and Herculis Insula went to quickly, causing me to suddenly fall off into the water.
This transitions into another issue I have: the way this game handles deaths. Having to restart the entire game upon death was admittedly very testing for my patience, especially when it was due to instances like that aforementioned boat. Either a checkpoint system, having the water just teleport you back to land, or a safer way to travel between the islands would have been preferable.
While I do have my complaints, I still think this game is super cool. While it was initially frustrating, working to put together what I was being told with the resources I had was interesting. Seeing what words were in the glossary, which words resembled words that I was already aware of in English (and even in Spanish on a couple occasions), and simply guessing based on context was really engaging. I got to learn a bit of Latin, but even moreso, I got to learn how Latin connects to modern language, including the one I speak! I'd love to see you expand on this aspect in the future.
A solid effort, and one that I'd love to see be refined and expanded upon!
I have noted the bugs and will try to solve them: especially the second boat and the stairs around Apollo, adjust the height of the jump.
For the checkpoints, I come from the days of Super Mario on Game Boy: you had 3 lives to finish everything. If you lost them: back to square one. Besides, you only have one game, because it was expensive and you had to convince your parents to go and buy it in a store far from you. So you start over and over again until you are successful. The best day of your life is when a friend has the same game and you play side by side. How you laugh when he has to start all over again!
Ok, things have changed and so have the games.
Have you found the power of fountains? I don't know if it's intuitive enough.
This game is as Charming as it is Wild. I smiled quite a bit while playing it because it felt so heartfelt in its mission to teach Latin paired with the small adventure. I found myself wondering if the owl's were iconography which I didn't understand. And I laughed quite a lot at the gang of sheep that corner you wherever you go. I think it would be very cool to have some form of UI element which helps with the Latin. A book you can read, or a puzzles that teach you the words. Something like a door which you need to say a word which means "open." You pick from some dialogue options until you learn what "Open" is in latin, and now you can reuse that concept in later puzzles. "Open." "close." And expand on it. "inside," then, "outside." etc. I think the game has a lot of potential though!
I'm happy if you smiled and even laughed while playing the game. The main goal is to have fun!
Wow, I really like your word puzzle idea. It's brilliant! As a technical solution, I am thinking of a sort of RPG inventory. A character gives you a word and you use it for another problem, like a key. I have to rewrite the whole game! But won't that make you lose the pleasure of exploration and adventure in immersion?
I don't understand "I found myself wondering if the owl's were iconography which I didn't understand." What do you mean?
I think the word inventory is a great idea! I love that. Because you can design puzzles around which words the player will have access to at any given time, at it would be relatively simple to hold progression for the player until their vocabulary builds. I also don't think you would lose a sense of exploration and immersion. I would look to "The Witness" as a prime example of what looks to me like the game you are trying to build. The Witness is a puzzle game that reuses concepts and builds on them, and it is VERY immersive!
As for the Owl comment. Owl's don't mean anything in particular to Americans. Owls are owls. A horse, though, a horse means a lot to American culture. It is a cultural icon of transport, the old west, etc. We Americans cannot really see a horse and not think about cultural heritage. The same goes for Pandas in China, or Lions in Africa. So when I was looking around for owls in Insularum Raider, I wondered if Owls were chosen because they represent something to Latin speakers, or, primarily, the culture from which Latin originates! Does that makes sense?
I understand what you said about the owl. You're right: owls are icons in ancient culture. Look at the symbol of this book publisher: Les Belles Lettres which publishes a lot of ancient authors!
Athena is very present on the islands of my game. All the women are her priestesses. The goal of the game, if you understood, is to find Athena's owls, dispersed by Athena's enemy, Poseidon, who unleashed a storm. The rivalry between Athena and Poseidon has been known since the Odyssey.
Thanks for the reference to The Witness.It's a game that has attracted me for a long time, and I bought it last week with the Humble bundle!I will try to play it soon, after my update for Wednesday.
A game written entirely in Latin is an interesting concept. I like the idea, but I do wish there was some sort of translation guide available so I could understand what was happening in every conversation. Outside of a couple isolated words that I could catch due to similarities to words in English or Spanish, I had not a clue what anyone was saying. That is partially intentional, of course, but I do thing that game would benefit from a sort of in game glossary. I think that would also help with the sensation of trying to figure out what's happening on this island that you've stranded yourself on.
Still, though, this is a solid and interesting foundation!
I have several solutions in mind. It should be dynamic, in action, and not didactic like a dictionary.
I have in mind a kind of double vision, like the night vision of Splinter Cell or the vision of the eagle in Assassin's Creed. By keeping a key pressed, we would have temporary access to the written words and possibly translated into several languages. Technically, it would take time, but it seems possible to me.
Otherwise I made a picture book, with the words and pictures connected by arrows.
I don't see a lot of ways to make a dictionary fun, do you ?
I suppose that simply reading a dictionary a bunch would be rather draining, so that is a very good point.
I do quite like that double vision idea. I think that would be best, though you are right that it would take considerable time to implement. The picture book is also not a bad idea; I admittedly didn't realize that it was actually defining words being used in conversation while I played, so that's on me. I'll probably want to explore the game again with that being kept in mind.
Comments
Having played through the game with use of the glossary and some context clues, I was able to see the game to the end. It was an interesting experience for sure! However, it is also an experience with a few noticeable problems.
I find the platforming and physics of the game to be rather clunky overall. Even basic jumps like ascending the staircase on the Statua Insula could be difficult. Another example would be the section between the Herculis Insula and the Ultima Insula, where overshooting a single jump got me killed. On a number of occasions, the boat between the Statua Insula and Herculis Insula went to quickly, causing me to suddenly fall off into the water.
This transitions into another issue I have: the way this game handles deaths. Having to restart the entire game upon death was admittedly very testing for my patience, especially when it was due to instances like that aforementioned boat. Either a checkpoint system, having the water just teleport you back to land, or a safer way to travel between the islands would have been preferable.
While I do have my complaints, I still think this game is super cool. While it was initially frustrating, working to put together what I was being told with the resources I had was interesting. Seeing what words were in the glossary, which words resembled words that I was already aware of in English (and even in Spanish on a couple occasions), and simply guessing based on context was really engaging. I got to learn a bit of Latin, but even moreso, I got to learn how Latin connects to modern language, including the one I speak! I'd love to see you expand on this aspect in the future.
A solid effort, and one that I'd love to see be refined and expanded upon!
I have noted the bugs and will try to solve them: especially the second boat and the stairs around Apollo, adjust the height of the jump.
For the checkpoints, I come from the days of Super Mario on Game Boy: you had 3 lives to finish everything. If you lost them: back to square one. Besides, you only have one game, because it was expensive and you had to convince your parents to go and buy it in a store far from you. So you start over and over again until you are successful. The best day of your life is when a friend has the same game and you play side by side. How you laugh when he has to start all over again!
Ok, things have changed and so have the games.
Have you found the power of fountains? I don't know if it's intuitive enough.
I did figure out that the fountains healed you. It was useful on the off chance I was able to get out of water and after the maze with the dog.
I look forward to seeing your progress on this in the future!
This game is as Charming as it is Wild. I smiled quite a bit while playing it because it felt so heartfelt in its mission to teach Latin paired with the small adventure. I found myself wondering if the owl's were iconography which I didn't understand. And I laughed quite a lot at the gang of sheep that corner you wherever you go. I think it would be very cool to have some form of UI element which helps with the Latin. A book you can read, or a puzzles that teach you the words. Something like a door which you need to say a word which means "open." You pick from some dialogue options until you learn what "Open" is in latin, and now you can reuse that concept in later puzzles. "Open." "close." And expand on it. "inside," then, "outside." etc. I think the game has a lot of potential though!
I'm happy if you smiled and even laughed while playing the game. The main goal is to have fun!
Wow, I really like your word puzzle idea. It's brilliant! As a technical solution, I am thinking of a sort of RPG inventory. A character gives you a word and you use it for another problem, like a key. I have to rewrite the whole game! But won't that make you lose the pleasure of exploration and adventure in immersion?
I don't understand "I found myself wondering if the owl's were iconography which I didn't understand." What do you mean?
I think the word inventory is a great idea! I love that. Because you can design puzzles around which words the player will have access to at any given time, at it would be relatively simple to hold progression for the player until their vocabulary builds. I also don't think you would lose a sense of exploration and immersion. I would look to "The Witness" as a prime example of what looks to me like the game you are trying to build. The Witness is a puzzle game that reuses concepts and builds on them, and it is VERY immersive!
As for the Owl comment. Owl's don't mean anything in particular to Americans. Owls are owls. A horse, though, a horse means a lot to American culture. It is a cultural icon of transport, the old west, etc. We Americans cannot really see a horse and not think about cultural heritage. The same goes for Pandas in China, or Lions in Africa. So when I was looking around for owls in Insularum Raider, I wondered if Owls were chosen because they represent something to Latin speakers, or, primarily, the culture from which Latin originates! Does that makes sense?
I understand what you said about the owl. You're right: owls are icons in ancient culture. Look at the symbol of this book publisher: Les Belles Lettres which publishes a lot of ancient authors!
The owl is a symbol of wisdom and a symbol of the goddess Athena. There is even a species of owl that still has Athena's name : Chevêche d'Athéna — Wikipédia (wikipedia.org).
Athena is very present on the islands of my game. All the women are her priestesses. The goal of the game, if you understood, is to find Athena's owls, dispersed by Athena's enemy, Poseidon, who unleashed a storm. The rivalry between Athena and Poseidon has been known since the Odyssey.
Thanks for the reference to The Witness. It's a game that has attracted me for a long time, and I bought it last week with the Humble bundle! I will try to play it soon, after my update for Wednesday.
A game written entirely in Latin is an interesting concept. I like the idea, but I do wish there was some sort of translation guide available so I could understand what was happening in every conversation. Outside of a couple isolated words that I could catch due to similarities to words in English or Spanish, I had not a clue what anyone was saying. That is partially intentional, of course, but I do thing that game would benefit from a sort of in game glossary. I think that would also help with the sensation of trying to figure out what's happening on this island that you've stranded yourself on.
Still, though, this is a solid and interesting foundation!
Thank you for your kind attention.
I have several solutions in mind. It should be dynamic, in action, and not didactic like a dictionary.
I have in mind a kind of double vision, like the night vision of Splinter Cell or the vision of the eagle in Assassin's Creed. By keeping a key pressed, we would have temporary access to the written words and possibly translated into several languages. Technically, it would take time, but it seems possible to me.
Otherwise I made a picture book, with the words and pictures connected by arrows.
I don't see a lot of ways to make a dictionary fun, do you ?
I suppose that simply reading a dictionary a bunch would be rather draining, so that is a very good point.
I do quite like that double vision idea. I think that would be best, though you are right that it would take considerable time to implement. The picture book is also not a bad idea; I admittedly didn't realize that it was actually defining words being used in conversation while I played, so that's on me. I'll probably want to explore the game again with that being kept in mind.
Thank you for the reply!