So I recently finished scenario number 2, and the whole demo as far as I know.

I really like what I see. For those people not in the know, the game follows 4 different main characters over a vast difference of time periods.

Now, let's start with what I like about the title, which is an awful lot. First off, I have to compliment you Karr on making an engrossing and always interesting story. While some characters have the same theme of having a painful past, it's thankfully pretty varied between characters, and so things never feel the same between the characters. And speaking of characters, that is what I like most about the game. You switch to a different character often enough to keep things interesting, and such an idea would be disaterous if executed incorrectly, but you absolutely nailed it. The characters are all likeable and believable, which allows us to really feel for them.

Another bright point is the amount of text. Almost everything can be examined. And it rarely feels boring. There is a lot of text to read, and if you get into the game like I did, there's thankfully a lot of history and backstory to read here. I love the library in Haider's first chapter!

Actually, this reminds me of an opposite Secret of Everyone. In SoE there's a lot of text, but the title goes into so much detail during cutscenes that it feels slow. Here the pace seems to be perfect, with lots of additional reading off to the side if you'd like.

Having said that though, the rather big problem with your game is the grammar. This seems to be the complete opposite of what I'd expect! I mean, on the forums your text is well written and mostly free of typos, but in the game they are all over the place. For me personally I don't mind misspellings that much, it doesn't bother me much as long as I can still read it. But I bet some people will cry foul over it.

Actually, while we're on the subject of surprises, I must say the game did surprise me in one particular aspect: Early in Haider's first chapter and shattered randomly throughout are some mature themes. Had to say, again, the library was a point of some laughing out loud with the librarian.

Graphically, the game is startling good. There's some unique designs and it's pretty consisent with every level. I did enjoy some levels in particular; the port town in Haider's chapter 2, and the enemy camp in Lady Keli's chapter 2. And the doors surprised me with their detail. On the other hand, I really didn't like how I could see level borders in inside levels. Like, if I walk to the end of a room, I can see a little bit of the next room, and that irritates me.

Sound wise everything was great. It was very different it the fact you'd use slower or faster tempos to the music instead of the regular speed, something I think was good. And sound effects were spot on; all appropriate and pulled off great.

I did run into a few bugs during my run, most of which I've already relayed to you. Xiko's first chapter gave me the most trouble, because it's the most open ended of the chapters. I got stuck very often. Oh, and here's a big annoyance; why are there invisible, unwalkable events in the higher floors during that same chapter? They were there for seemingly no reason. Another glitch was the bottle in the enemy camp in Keli's second chapter, where you move a bottle to distract the guards. Problem is, if you get caught the bottle doesn't reset and you have to reset, since you can no longer reach the moved bottle.

So, what do I what to see more of? Out of all the scenarios, I personally enjoyed Xiko's storyline a bit more than the others, partly because for the first two chapters you are stuck in the building. What does the world look like 200 years after it's apparent destruction? What about Kelly? Very interested to see what happens there.

Oh, in case I forget, I loved Keli's multiple choice decisions in the second chapter. I love that you gave an option to: Then I 'did the splits' in front of enemy officers. I'm actually kind of disappointed that I didn't try and play that section over just to see what everything did. You should consider putting a save point right before that scenario (if it's not already there).

I'm not sure if this is addressed later in the game, but the demo didn't make any mention of it. Does the title have anything to do with the game?

Overall there's so much I liked about your game that I can't wait to play Scenario 3 and onward. You have to keep going with this project, because it's managed to deliver a solid story insofar. Short, long, doesn't matter. I think this title has the potenial to upsurge the so called "Big Three". Please continue to keep me (and everyone else) posted on the game's progress. I'll admit the game wasn't high on my most anticipated list before the demo, but it sure is now.

thank you for the attention and the praise. this is what a designer needs, to know that people out there do like what they see and want you to finish it. my writing has been the same and i rather miss the cult following my writing produced while i wrote and played tibia online.

some of those mistakes are from players breaking the limits of the game. i clearly didnt anticipate some of the results while others are from the ridiculous amount of editing i have done. after so many edits you forget that perhaps making scrolling text easy to read by darkening the screen doesnt work when its set to a particular color afterwards. my spelling is atrocious but i have it under control when i post because i get hit with red lines when i make a mistake and im not freaking imputing text by hand.

as for the mature themes: i really wanted to make a game that people would enjoy differently. i want people to know early on that there will be very mature themes throughout this game, perhaps the most mature themes ever tapped in an rpg maker game. this is a serious game with some fun diversions so the topics it will broach will be serious, more realistic of the real world. my characters are believable because they exist in our own world.

i really aimed for a game that has a good plot and solid character development. ive gone out of my way to give the characters depth and ill continue to deepen who they are. each card has an underlying theme, you can notice this most during the final scene of each char when they have that black screen monologue. if you didnt catch this then dont worry, it really isnt important to notice it, only important that you see the transitions that the characters will undergo.

ultimately this will be a long game. i was trying to speed it up but i realized early on that there is just too damn much that needs to happen in order for this to resolve itself. this is perhaps the only game that isnt about saving the world. the world is important and you may try to change the past, but the story is about the characters and the central theme of, change, regret and choice. by the end you will save nothing, only yourself!

by the end of the 3rd card the party will have undergone its first time travel and will meet up for the most part. each of the cast has past issues and through the game they will overcome them to understand the world around them and most importantly themselves.

im tired so ill keep this short as im becoming incoherent. crystal shores would of been explained in a scene perhaps on the 3rd or 4th card. im playing around with a custom graphic to best work with this scene but ill say it here because secrecy is crap. crystal shores is a reference to how a city looks on the waterline. the reflection of steel (strength) along the water (change) mirroring a different picture (hidden friction) then the city it trans pics, like crystalline facets (multiple possibility) and how looking through it at one object produces endless views (what if's). an irony that harmless beauty is itself a dangerous illusion. society vs humanity

Yours, too, huh?

Well, it's around midnight and I can't sleep. So, I'm going to chat more about this game. Maybe the better word for it is rant. Actually, maybe the better word is questionare, since I ask a lot of questions.

Jeez, it's this late and I'm so active. I'll be sleeping at 4 in the morning.

After finishing the demo up, I did a lot of research and have seen more story bits here and there. And then I came across the 'all heroes unite' thing. Now, I probably should have seen this theme coming, but that just rubs me the wrong way. At least in scenario 1 and 2 they're self contained stories, and maybe that's why the idea runs me the wrong way. I really liked seeing each individual storyline, different from the others unfold in it's own way. Personally I'd be content with having everybody split and NOT come together, because the story would just seem to be the old cliche "Let's band together to fight the ultimate evil!". Then again, you've managed to bring some of the best storytelling to RPGMaker, so I'm not overly concerned, and I realize working on 4 seperate stories must be taxing. Food for thought, if nothing else.

Actually, speaking of scenarios, when is number 3 coming out? Do you plan to release it all at once or in segments?

Oh, and before I say anything more and forget it; chipping away at unneeded filler = excellence. In fact, maybe that's why I so enjoy your game. There's a good chink of story to go with the game, and there are rarely areas where there's fighting. And then the long corridor's and other stupid fiiller stuff isn't there! This is the kind of idea I had with Usuru; except it didn't work quite as well. That's another story, though.

I think you may have misunderstood me when I said mature content. I meant mature more along the lines of sexual innuedo. Again, this is just something I rarely see with your mag avatar, so it was a bit of a shocker.

Those three guys at the end of the scenarios are just a blast too. What was his name, Brognan and crew? Great stuff there. Loved the scene (watched on youtube), "Hey, we're up high on this tree. Even the birds don't come up here. Hey, maybe we can sh*t on them for once." Genius. But I did have one issue with them; the story continuation seems to be confusing from scenario 1 to 2. Maybe it's because I chose the guys to report all the loot. That didn't change the story at all though, did it? Why even bother putting the choice in there then? I dunno, it just confused me.

How long has this baby been in production, I wonder? By the earliest post, late 2007, but I think I saw somewhere else this has been on the backburner for a while. For some reason I love hearing the backstory on this stuff.

Oh God, I must be talking (texting?) your ear (eyes?) off. I'm forcing myself to go to bed now.

i thought about this and it is extremely taxing to make a game with 4 separate storylines - really 6 separate lines if you include the overall main arc, the 4 character lines, and the 3 guys at the end of each card. i also know that it really is cliche to have them all meet up and all that crap so i have to join them carefully- one reason for the long delays in my work. what ive decided is that at the end of card 3, two will meet up directly, one will stay in their time period, and another will be sent to another time slot. by card 4 i want all the main chars to have met (met, not nessisarily be traveling together).

i have to tell a story and part of that is exposing the characters to the whole plot. the other part is that the world is made up of people interacting, people facing the same problems. to run their stories parallel would change the message of my game. ff6 was a very well rounded game, the characters had deep depth and they where developed individually as well as a party. i plan to continue this trend by not having a single team of playing characters that wont ever leave. i want the party to constantly change, i want them to have their own separate arcs. the focus is first and formost on the characters development. hell even the lord of the rings had a party join and split up long before the end of the series.

im still working on scenrio 3. ive had some hohum days and havent worked on it much but ive started to return to it. i had a major impass with my mini game which is often a big source of delay. now that its mostly cleared i can get back to the thick of the game. ill release it in segments, so when each card is done ill release the new piece as well as the edited cards with any bugs and game fixes they need.

one pavillion whos name escapes me, mentioned that an rpg maker game shouldnt have filler because its boring, its used to lengthen a game without adding substance, and its just a waste of my time for making it and yours for playing it. my game has no dead ends, i cut the fetch quests down to the absolute minimum, and battles are fought by choice and are well balanced to be easy. i shrink my maps during the design process so your not walking for no apparent reason, and when i edit i usually trim them down more and include more story elements in any place that i do make. everything has to have a purpose, my space and time is precious. this makes for an interesting and jam packed game.

i know my avatar isnt one to make sexual comments, and my own personality is civil because i was taught to mind my manors and stuff. for my game i do want to include this line of direction and im doing so for all the reasons i mentioned in my previous post. a good writer is able to write outside of his personal comfort zone. some topics are very hard for me to write and its those that i wish to explore because they are a part of reality, which is what im trying to capture in my game.

brognan, dovin and the f guy i cant ever frigin spell are what im calling the wild card. to a time traveler, time appears stagnant, never deviating within the same periods. what if an anomaly happened that forced time to deviate within its own confines? these 3 are that anomaly, though as to why will remain a secret for now.

you may or may not have noticed but already the first decision you have made has split an arc resulting in one scene over another. had you chosen the other option then youd of seen a different scene play out during card 2. as you progress deeper into the over all plot you will notice changes (or maybe you wont the first time, but a second playthrough might). a large and powerful army suddenly deprived of its finances may have a rather difficult time running a campeign? in the same token, maybe a certain group of soldiers could form the backbone of an army to counter said organization which is after them? the point is the plot is moving slowly, mainly because of the 4 arcs being weaved simultaneously, thus why so little has appeared to be occurring.

ive produced this game since rpg maker 1 came out back in 2000 i think. the project originally began as a lame rendition of every game out there and was titled chronicles of the sword (later changed to sword chronicles). the project never quite made it past 2 cards and kept changing with every restart. eventually i grew tired of the name sometime in 2003 id wager and changed it to crystal shores and came up with the basic plot outline for what i have developed now. im currently into the 600 hour mark and still plugging away at the 3rd card. i get periods of bordum and just stop producing. the game has been in hiatus for long periods over the last 9 years.


im glad youve taken an interest in my game. ive played most of your game and will give you some feed back.

Still posting here, yep.

Maybe it's just a testament to how much I enjoyed your game. But I really want you to continue making this game.

Out of all the upcoming games, I look forward to yours the most. Slayer's Reign, Secret of Everyone, they fall to the wayside of this game; Crystal Shores has them beat in my opinion.

Perhaps the best way to continue is releasing your game in cards like what you have done. Releasing the game in pieces would be perfectly fine for a big game like this. I'm still looking forward to card 3.

im just trying to get organized. this stupid online game is eating time but im slowly balancing things. ive got a week off so i may use some of that time to get my game back into production, even though ive got lots of other stuff planned.

work itself is destroying my life, i need to get my boss to sort it out because im getting destroyed. soon as its all is worked out ill be good. card 3 is close to production but im gona need to reacquaint myself with the game and that means a playthrough.

now that i finally caped fallout and need a break from my awesome new tv and gaming console (im burning out all the good games and i cant do that!), i can return to my rpg maker game.

i have broken the major impasse i had which prevented me from going farther. all i need to do is finish the game events and hook some parts together. ironically enough im having a harder time creating believable script for the characters, perhaps its because of the long length of time in between production that has me befuddled. i really need to go through it all and make a list of stuff not to forget about the story and world, point out critical choices and have them do more impact, and retain my original ideas as far as undertone for each story arc (authority vs freedom ect).

the 3rd card itself is stuffed with games and interaction. it filled itself out of a strong desire to break the usual rpg maker style of play and to perhaps bring the player deeper into the game mechanics (and as something of a personal challenge to my creation skills). i cleaned up all the deadwood that didnt add to the game and eliminated the lackluster stuff. im still unsure on a few parts but that will resolve themselves when i discover ive blow my space budget and have to axe them anyway.

im still debating events for the 4th card which is perhaps the main reason now as to why i havent gotten as far as id of liked (a new tv and gaming console was definitely up there as well). i am suffering so much because i dont have a true storyboard to work with. the scope of my story is so complex and vast that i cant keep focused. it takes so much re polishing to get it right that i waste tons of effort just fixing stuff that should never of been an issue. i am going to have to think ahead and plot my damn course fully. i have the ending already figured or most of it anyway, its just all that gooey filling in between that needs some attention. the characters have to transition to the ending for it to have impact.

when i figure out what it is im doing with the plot line ill let you all know. thanks again ice for the playthrough, i like to refer to it every so often for a second opinion.

Hey Karr:

Right now I've been busy with several projects, including Josh's Adventure. As soon as I get the chance, I will play through Crystal Shores again and give feedback. I figure since I have mostly forgotten what has happened in the game, I plan to play through from the beginning till card 3. If possible, I'll get my friend to play it as well, and see if I can wring any feedback from him.

thanks, i have to go through the game and do another play test because stupid me made changes after that i didnt think would impact anything and it didnt. should only take me a few days to go through it. ive also made some changes to the game itself since you probably played it last.

i really need to move forward with the game, so much editing is draining me. i may work on card 5 simultaneous as it deals directly with the plot characters and i can run their arcs without finishing 4.