I don't see myself playing this any time soon.
- The party size is too damn high. Which wouldn't be a problem, except...
- The interface is SHIT. Aesthetic differences aside, it's unintuitive as hell. The first rule of computer videogames is: you press Esc and you get options to leave the game. In Grimoire, pressing Esc does nothing. I get it that Cleve went for the "retro" type of videogame... but you have to be clinically retarded to think this crap is a good excuse in 2017. Character screens are a mess (look at Age of Decadence for interface done right), there are tons of small buttons everywhere... What's funny is that the same people defending this in the following comments are probably the same people who claim Skyrim had a shit UI. Sure it did, but it got the job done rather well.
That said, I'm glad you decided to make the "zoom in when moving" effect completely optional. It was annoying and I'm glad people are able to turn it off.
Esc does do something, just not very much
Party size aside...
I was a Grimoire beta tester in the very early days of this. I wasn't one for very long, because of the interface issues. I think the last words Cleve and I had (an amicable parting it was) went along the lines that "I wasn't suited" to the game. We parted ways.
What he meant was that he wasn't prepared to listen to construcive criticism.
It wasn't as if these were radical new fangled ideas. FFS, how hard is it to make Esc = click on EXIT button?
In the early days of RPGs (Bard's Tale, MMI and such) interface issues almost didn't exist, I guess partly because there were no standards, and partly because the mouse was almost an afterthought.
A decade later though, I didn't get why these things weren't in the game from day 1, and frankly I am astounded that these same 'features' haven't been addressed. It isn't as if I am the first one to mention them.
Forget Monthy Python taking him to task, think of all the future RSI and carpal tunnel cases this clickfest will cause.
Forget no excuses in the 2017s, there were none in the 90s. A poorly designed interface is a poorly designed interface (think Elminage). Get past this, and you most likely have an amazing game. I wasn't able to get past it back then, (probably because there were so many alternatives) and now... I dunno, I might be able to
It is such a freaking pity that a true gem may be hidden underneath an interface that will turn even fans of the genre off, and not let potential new fans to enjoy it.
Esc should exit whatever screen you are on.
Scroll bars should scroll windows, without needing to click on a freaking arrow.
Can't remember if mouses had scroll wheels back then, but today... they do.
Anyway, onya Cleve, I hope it is onwards and upwards for you and your game.
