Notgames Forum

We have opened pre-orders for our new game on http://bien.tlo.tl/ete . People who pre-order also get early access to alpha builds of the game.

I would very much like to hear your opinion. You're welcome to pre-order of course, and then you get immediate access to this build and any future ones. But if you'd like a free copy, simply send me a private message and I'll send you a link.  :)

I want to hear what you think!
Not because I want to make Bientôt l’été a widely accessible game (there's a time and a place for that, and this is not it :) ). But because I want to make it as good a work of art as it can be.

I need to see some images before I can form an opinion.

I just bought the 8$ preorder and found myself walking around and experience the great atmosphere for a good 30-40 minutes.

So here's some initial thoughts about the whole experience.

I totally looove the atmosphere of the whole experience, walking along the empty beach to the sound of birds and waves mixed with the atmospheric tune. Definitely makes me immersed in the scene.

I think the french voice over also enhance the atmosphere and the overall "poetic" and melancholy(at least for me) feel.

Regarding the controls I feel like it's 2 different combination that works the best. The most enjoyable one for me was the combination of 3rd person view and mouse control. This took the game-ish feel away from controlling the character with the keyboard and made it feel more integrated in the whole experience. It also allowed me to change the view while still walking and kind of making a beautiful moment out of having control over the camera while the character was just walking by him self. The other setup I found less game-ish was the first person view with the keyboard controls, not as good as the above one but still it felt more immersive then teh 3rd person view with the keyboard which really felt game-ish and you got the feeling that you wanted to be more agile and move around allot as in many 3rd person games.

For the whole thing with the sentences that you'll find on the beach I had a harder time understanding how to interact with that system. I later on read the instructions on how to interact with this system and understood that there was some thing that could be picked up but couldn't figure it out for some reason. I think I would like to see some more streamlined interaction here. So maybe instead of sentences washing ashore it could be some kind of object tied to the sentences, that the character would pick up by him self when walking close enough, and then get the actually sentence displayed for you. Same goes for when you then close your eye, you could get some visuals of the object, the text and the voice over at the same time.

Then for the "cafe" part, I think this could also be more minimalistic when it comes to displaying the sentences. Now it felt a bit like an old point 'n click adventure game where you go through all the different branches you have in a certain dialogue to proceed in the game or find out a clue from the dialogue. And since in Bientôt l’été you don't have that kind of explicit goal of the conversation, i presume, more then enjoying the atmosphere and the now, I think you could make it much more minimalistic to draw less attention from the user and place more of the attention on the being rather then the doing(interacting). So I could imagine something where you display less sentences at the same time but as you interact with them they either disappears totally or exchanged for another sentence.

Another little thought that popped up I had about the beach is that one thing to not break the immersion of reaching the end of the beach and not being able to walk further could be some kind of physical loop/illusion so you will always come back to the house on the beach if you just keep walking. I don't know how difficult this could be on the technical side but I can imagine that that one could do some smooth transition and move the player back to the other side of the beach as soon as he reach the end of one side. Might be a bit trouble if you still can see the house from this point....

So this is what kind of striked me at a first glance and some things suggested might break your vision of it, I don't know, but the overall feeling of the experience is REALLY good and it feels like there's allot of potential here if you just keep putting your heart into it.

Thank you, Henrik! These are very useful comments. Some of the solutions you suggest I have already tried before and rejected. But knowing the problems is more important. I feel I will definitely be able to make some improvements based on your thoughts. Thanks!

I will add some screenshots to the web page.

There (http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete).

You're right: another person who sent comments remarked how they wanted to drive the conversation to a certain outcome (love or break-up e.g.). And this is not the point at all. Maybe it is indeed the point-and-click interface that inspires goal-orientation. But I'm not sure how to make more vague. Any ideas are welcome!

Ooooooooooo! Ahhhhhhhh! Niiiiiiice! Wooooooow, that is gorgeous! 8O

:-)  Thank you.

To this day I haven't found anyone online with whom I could play.

Maybe we can have a date some day  ;)

Let's do it next week, shall we? You bring the wine, I'll take the cigarettes.

I went through the alpha few times and it started as a disappointing experience.
After a couple of epiphanies I now think this work will become something important for several people (me included).   

First impression:
I started playing without reading the instructions, this way I didn't have a clue about of how to proceed or what could I do. That broke the immersion quickly.
On the other side reading the istructions had the side effect of presenting the future experience as a bit trivial, in fact I thought of the "collect" mechanism as game-ish and much out of tone with the evocative feeling provided by the visuals/audio.

The first cafe experience was a bit confusing (like a board game I hadn't grasped the rules yet) and not very meaningful, also because of the presence of an AI instead of another person.

Epiphanies:
During the second play I started searching for phrases which could be useful to establish some interaction: some with a positive meaning, some with a negative etc...
Doing that I found some sentencies so meaningful to me that I stopped caring for the "dating sim" aspect of the game (which is clearly stripped away by you) and I concentrated on finding something important to say.

At this point I started enjoying beeing there and felt Bentot L'Ete more as a whole. Also the mechanics felt more natural.
At the cafe the of course AI couldn't be the listener I wanted to have, but the cafe experience felt more organic and I was anticipating having a human playing the other side :)

Next time I was just walking in peace, checking phrases out of curiosity.
Suddenly I stumbled upon a phrase I wanted to say to someone important many years ago, but I didn't do it because I was afraid to hurt her.
It came almost as a shock, I spent an obsessed half an hour wandering about the sea, thinking of the possibilities of Bientot l'Ete.
I think it could provide a safe environment to expose some parts of myself for which i didn't even had the words, to other people I might trust since did my same path of searching for objects and sentences.
The absence of a chat or any direct contact (not even an eye contact with the other avatar) should prevent from the fragile things I might expose to be trivialized.
And possibly I won't be too afraid of hurting or getting hurt.

Thank you for testing the game and posting your comments, Marco.


This is both nice to hear and very problematic. Not everyone will be as generous as you and give the game a second chance. Can you think of any ways to prevent this initial disappointment?

Because you do seem to interpret the game the way I see it. Not as a dating sim, indeed, but more as a personal contemplation of love. It's not a love story, it's a story about love stories.

Thank you Michaël.
I wrote down some thoughts about tutorials and about suggestions which I probably wouldn't find disturbing in Bientot l'ete.

Personally I'm embarassed by the approaches a-la-gamification to tutorials: "Congratulations! You memorized your first phrase!". On the other hand I like it when the author takes the disturb of guiding me through the uncertain first steps, if he/she does it both respecting the player's intelligence and the his/her own work.

I particularly enjoy a tutorial when it integrates seamlessly in the gameplay, like the first minutes of Bioshock, or when there is a separate introductory part both creative and in tone with the game, like in Dinner Date's training intro.

Given the minimalistic nature of Bientot l'ete I feel that adding an intro or some new gameplay elements to guide the player might be out of place and artificial.

Personally I wouldn't mind to find writings in overlay which suggests the main mechanics, provided the style (also v) fits.
In The Path for example I liked the style of the mother's recommendations and also that of the Girl's thoughts: I perceived the as an integral part of the world, so I never felt like "Ok now I stop playing and start reading".
Maybe because of the literary DNA of Bientot l'ete something like this might resonate with the world.

I wouldn't see the need to explain the quantitative details (like the number of store phrases is 16).
I prefer when the suggestions feel indirect, better beeing intrigued to reach the shoreline instead of beeing told to go there. That also would reinforce the feeling that I'm free to wander and play my way, even if the collection mechanic is quite precise an so it needs to be learnt.

Generally I feel a bit anxious when a tutorial presents me several goals to be achieved, as a list. Maybe it's just a problem with my short time memory, or the fact that it starts to sound like duty :)
Continuing the overlay writings example I'd prefer to see a sentence gently inviting me to the shoreline, then another about "stopping to remember" appearing as I stumble on the first phrase, then beeing reminded of the cafe only after few sentences are collected etc...

One coincidence: the night before playing the alpha I dreamed about a strange afternoon, during which the sky became suddenly dark.
Another recurrent dream of mine is that I look at the stars at night and they slowly start moving... so I can't but love and feel so immersed in your "space" twilight  8)

Thank you for the recommendations. Much of this is covered in the Hints system already included in the alpha version, though. These hints appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Did you not see them? Or did you close them early on (by pressing X)?

In response to the feedback, I am changing the mechanics in the game to be more ambient and transparent. I liked the activity I had designed but it's too difficult to do properly or to understand how exactly to do it. So rather than figuring out how to instruct the player, I'm just changing the design so that it is hopefully more intuitive and less demanding of precision.

Great work, thanks Michael! Now I feel like I know you a bit better ;)

On the shore: I did not know how to pickup words, do I have to do something? I have not read the instructions, I do not like to be instructed in a work of art ;) So I read the phrases on the beach and was okay with that.

In the café: I like it that you do not know exactly which letter is bound to which phrase at the beginning. Later it becomes more clear, when there are gaps. Somehow I ended up with araound 50% phrases about wine. That was too much. I did not like it...

Actually, I read a bit of instruction in the readme. Left/right for smoking/drinking. But when I was in the café I did not remember. When I came back I hit the left/right key more by accident. Pleasant surprise....

I love the tree. It is distorted in the right way. Great! I would like to have some more VR effects in the cafe, but that's my own personal taste. The waves are very effective and clever. Procedural. If you stand there and watch cloesely, you will recognize the patterns...

It was a nice experience. I never read anything of M. Duras... is it like that? Maybe I will read something sometime. I wonder if there is a explicit hint to Duras somewhere... maybe I should check the back of the café.

I wish there would be some form of closure. Like, you walk out of the café, planetary movements, VR creeping in, end titles. I think it would make me more fullfilled with a proper closure... something.


Another thing is: when you move along the beach, the VR is bleeding in, music changes etc. Great! I love it. When you try to move into the sea, there is an invisible wall or when you try to move past the café, there is a invisible wall. Does not feel that great or interesting. Maybe subtle VR effects could kick in ...

Controls: I used the cursor keys and it was fine. Did not know that I could look around. I am okay to be restricted to that point of view.
Is it possible to make a quick turn 180 degrees, and then experience how the VR is rebuilding the beach, or to get a glimpse of how it is buid, because when you are not looking there is no beach. Not that important, you have the eye-closed-VR, so it would be too much probably.


p.s. just discovred fast travel -> space when eyes are closed, great...
p.p.s I think the visual look and feel is apropriate. I would leave it like that... I like the female look more than the male outfit. i am not a friend of that hood. I would prefer a hat and a simple suit.

Thank you for the feedback, György!


No, you have to do nothing.  :)
Just stand still and the phrase fades out.
But I will change that design.



Actually, the game is filled with references to Duras' life and work. The entire beach scene is inspired by Trouville-sur-Mer where she used to live. That becomes more apparent later in the game, not included in the current alpha.

I'm not sure if it is true to Duras' artistic spirit. It definitely started as an attempt to capture the atmosphere of some of her work. But at some point I had to let go and just allow the game to become its own thing.



Good point. There will be some sort of evolution, things that change on the beach over multiple play sessions. But they just loop back. There is no real ending. I realize that this would be satisfying. I'll think about it.

What is it about the wine? Why were there approx. 50% phrases about wine... Are they filler? The conversation became ridiculous or nonsensical when I did use more than 2 of them... I am okay, that you do nothing to collect phrases. Do I have to wait for them to fade out? Or are they in my arsenal as soon as they become visible?

I think to play with a human on the other side could be intersting. Almost like a poetic version of the turing test. I bet I can tell a human and th AI appart if the conversation is long enough, what do you think?

In the next version there will be less wine-related phrases, the phrases will be collected as soon as they become visible (now you have to wait for them to fade out), and the choice between human partner and simulation will be automated (though I will probably include a way to tell the difference without having to Turing-test).

That's curious... I replayed the alpha and saw the hints again. Now I recall I read few of them during my first playthrough.
I never pressed X, I just stopped notice them anymore... I blame the immersive environment, while I google for memory pills.

With the new method will we be able to select which phrases to memorize or to "forget"?
I like the idea of preparing a different phrases arsenal (or menu...) each time, but also beeing forced or invited to take what you find without really choosing would feel coherent.
Also overprepared love speeches never come out as you wish! :)

Some details:

I find that the man turns is head too much, and maybe too quickly. also if he turns the head left it seems he moves the right shoulder forward a bit innatuarlly.
The woman movement seems more natural.

After they collect the chess piece, the stand-up movement seems a bit too fast.

I think that making the AI response time more variable would render it more human.

The fact the when you open your eyes the light has changed still takes me by surprise.
It's the single moment I prefer so far, it gives me a kind of vertigo.

No. You will remember everything you see.


You can't do that anyway because there's different phrases on the beach every time (there's 5 groups).



Thank you for the other remarks too. Very helpful!

By the way, I bought and downloaded the alpha a while back, but my ancient laptop is too weak to play the game, it seems. :P

At some point, I'll see if I can try it on a more powerful computer.

So my computer is having some issues lately playing games.  Most games (including this one) are giving me the Blue Screen of Death, so I couldn't play more than 10 minutes or so, but I do have a couple quick hit comments, FWIW.

My favorite thing was the art direction of the shore and atmosphere, especially when twilight and then night came.  It is done so delicately, and yet slightly unexpectedly.  That part alone is worth the experience.  The negative - when I was in the cafe waiting for someone to come (no one did), it drove me absolutely crazy that I could hear things going on around me, yet all I could do was stare straight at the back of my own head.  Obviously you can't recreate an entire bustling scene, but if you blocked off the view with a curtain or something, you could still give the player freedom to look around and feel a greater sense of place.  (This portion of the game is shades of Dinner Date, maybe?)

I was looking forward to seeing what was next, particularly because I have a memory from art school of disliking art that had text inserted into it.  Maybe this is because of the way college age students tend to use it, but I continue to have similar feelings about it.  Hopefully I'll get my system sorted out and can get deeper into the experience.

Glad you think so! :)


Instead of creating the scene that players want to see, I have -hopefully- removed the reason why they would want to. In the next alpha (scheduled for end of next week), there is far less sound in the café. I had first experimented with a completely abstract version of the café (the fictional context being that instead of an actual table, you use a screen on the holodeck to communicate with another player) but it didn't feel nice. So I went back to a realistic presentation but gave it a more solitary feel.


It reminds me of Dinner Date as well. Maybe when no other player shows up, the game should launch Dinner Date instead.  ;D


We started Tale of Tales with a desire to have no text in our games at all (not even in configuration screens). Mostly because text came with cultural baggage that we wanted to avoid (accents, slang, and of course nationalities). Text gradually made its way into our games. In The Endless Forest there's no text in the game, but there is text in the configuration screens. In The Graveyard there is a song, a Flemish song. Perhaps this was the start of a sort of love affair with language: to use it, indeed, for its cultural baggage. We started The Path with no text in mind. But I did keep small journals for all six protagonists on Live Journal. And when playtests showed that some players had trouble connecting to the characters, we decided to use the style of those journal texts in the game. When we chose Oscar Wilde as one of the inspirations for Fatale, we of course had to include his writing. And in Vanitas the quotes serve the same purpose as in The Path.

Since Bientôt l'été is inspired by a writer again, it makes sense to give text prominence. But it is also an homage to Nouvelle Vague film. The text in the café is spoken by the characters, next to being shown on screen. It has been a funny evolution to come from anti-text to text-centric. But it's not a permanent change. The next games we have planned have no text in them.

Ok, this is my first post after signing up. It took me quite a while, I wanted to share my experience with the alpha a lot earlier. And I probably didn't play it like it was meant to be played - I think it was the very day the alpha build was made available when I tried it together with my girlfriend - sitting face to face on the terrace of her apartment on a pretty nice afternoon. It glitched a little on her MacBook, so somehow we didn't meet when we entered the cafe for the first time. In the second attempt it worked and we used the phrases and gestures we had at hand. And somehow it was an oddly intimate experience - it felt like we talked (in a very abstract way, of course) about things we wouldn't have been able to talk about outside Bientot, or at least not with the same degree of honesty. It was like a masquerade that, paradoxically, allowed us to be extremely truthful. Or maybe it was like a mediator? I'm not sure if she perceived it the same way, we only talked about the design and mechanics afterwards. But that was probably the most interesting impression the game made on me so far.

Here's a photo I took later: http://i.imgur.com/65Qg5.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/65Qg5.jpg)

Other than that, Bientôt l’été looks and feels beautiful. Oh and - not sure if this was mentioned before, but what's your stance on sharing screenshots of the alpha build?

PS: Just a few words about myself/my background - my name's Daniel, I'm from Germany and I'm very interested in videogames moving beyond game's form. I recently made a little interactive experience myself as my final bachelor's project. Hopefully I'll have a little documentation website up and running in the next few days (weeks?). It's nothing spectacular, but I'm still a little proud of it. :) I took a lot of inspiration from discussions on this forum. So, thanks for that!

Thank you for sharing!


That's so lovely to hear. Because one of the things that this part of the game builds on is our experiences with Wirefire (http://entropy8zuper.org/wirefire). This was an online sort of VJing tool that Auriea and I performed with every week for several years. It too allowed us to "discuss" things about our relationship that were difficult to address otherwise.


Feel free to share. If possible, mention that they are images of an unfinished version of the game.



Please do post a link on the forum!

We've just released alpha 2 of Bientôt l'été. Mostly functional changes, some cosmetic. If you'd like a copy, feel free to send me a private message. Or preorder (http://bien.tlo.tl/ete)! :)

My PC is several years old and wasn't exactly cutting-edge gamer hardware even then, so can you give me an idea of how demanding this is going to be to run - do you have anything like the rec/min spec data I find so upsetting to look at in the mainstreat titles I buy at my peril?

Okay, I played the new alpha build on a more powerful computer. Not sure if this is the preferred place to put my feedback, but I'll put it here anyway.

Here are my thoughts, as I played the game a few times:

The space station setting was not obvious to me, despite the "traveling through space" and "looking at cryo-pods" scenes. Some sort of establishing shot that ties these together and provides more of a sense of place would help tie these together, I think.

I experienced the "framerate hiccups" that were mentioned as a known issue (at the highest quality setting).

I found the turning by moving the cursor to the edges of the screen to be an awkward and annoying experience. I would like to see if it feels better with a "turning hot zone" that is bigger (so I don't have to move the mouse so far), but also slower, so the turning is not so fast and abrupt (the closer the cursor is to the edge of the screen, the faster it would be). And without a delay between moving the mouse to the side and the camera turning.

The way the (male) avatar's head leans as it turns (combined with the effect of the wind on the hood) looks disturbingly unhuman, like the avatar has a rubber neck and no head (turns too far?). The way the shoulders move with the turn also looked very unnatural.

The way the avatar side-steps (when turning?) looks very awkward and unnatural, as the legs twist into each other.

I liked it when the surf came up to my avatar's feet. I wanted to wade further in, and was disappointed when my character could not walk past an invisible boundary on the beach.

This may be intentional, but the white text of the messages was usually obscured by the white of the background (so I could rarely read more than half the letters of the text).

The messages also came up and disappeared very fast, so by the time I realized one was there it was already gone and I was unable to read it.

The seagulls shoot off like rockets when I approach them, instantly snapping into a full-speed flight away from me, which looks very odd to me. There is no gradual waddling away and gradual take-off like I would expect.

When I turned to look back at my avatar as he faced the building, the camera was inside the building and could see stray pieces of polygons.

While waiting for a partner at the table, I don't like seeing the back of my avatar's head (low-res texture and polygons) filling the screen. I would like to see my avatar at the table, far enough away so his fully body is visible (at a comfortable distance if I were a person watching him, not shoved up into the back of his head).

The top-down view of the chessboard with a partner feels claustrophobic, feeling like someone is holding my head down (since I want to look at my partner but can't). I would really like to see my partner as a first-person view of what my avatar would be seeing.

The lag between moving my mouse cursor and the chess piece following feels annoying - I would prefer the movement to be one-to-one. Or at least, the hover text could be based on the mouse cursor position rather than the chess piece (that would feel more immediate). You could have a highlight on the circle that the mouse is over, in that case (use a white circle instead of black).

The transition to text (instant cut to black screen with text) feels jarring, and then it goes away too fast, before I've registered what has happened. I'd like a more gradual transition, and also for the text to stay up longer, so I can feel it (instead of remember it fleetingly). And I'd like a second or two of delay between releasing the chess piece and seeing/hearing the text.

I would like to be able to move the objects on the table, not just click on them (wineglass, ashtray, cigarette packets). The transition to black screen for drinking/smoking is also too jarring and brief for me (just like the text).

Holding down the right mouse button while moving the mouse and then clicking the left mouse button without letting go of the right mouse button is uncomfortable for me, and I imagine it would be even more so for people who are used to only using the left mouse button (casual gamers). That may not matter to you.

The hard edge on my "eyelids" as I close my eyes feels weird (doesn't feel like closing my eyes). I'd prefer to see a blurred edge (and rounded, concave) to feel more like eyelids.

The intake of breath when smoking a cigarette sounded like a woman's even when I was playing as a man.

I was disappointed in how similar the woman's clothing is to the man - they seemed interchangeable, when I was expecting a different style, and maybe dark colors, for the woman.

I often found myself clicking on an object to walk toward it, only to find that since the thing I clicked on wasn't walkable, the game ignored my click. I would prefer if then my avatar would walk as close as possible to the object instead of ignoring the click completely.

Pressing the scroll wheel only closed my eyes - I was unable to run. Maybe a double-click could be a run action?

Thank you for the elaborate to do list! ;D
Other than these issues, did you enjoy (anything in) the game at all?


There's not supposed to be any lag!
How high would you judge your framerate? What CPU and GPU do you have in that computer?



It's my tribute to Nouvelle Vague. Sorry.  :)



You actually can let go of the right mouse button as soon as the cursor is over an on screen button.


I prefer to keep this more abstract.


I'm not a fashion expert, but according to me the style of their clothing is completely different! The color is the same, yes. The same as the color of the beach and the building.


You're right. I need to fix that.


Thanks for mentioning this. I admit I haven't tested this. My trackball doesn't use a scrollwheel. What platform were you playing on? What brand of mouse were you using? Does the scroll button work as a middle mouse button in other applications on that computer?

I liked it when the surf came up to my avatar's feet.

I tested on Windows 7, and the scroll wheel is clickable in other applications (like Firefox). It has a 2.6 GHz processor, 8 GB of RAM, and I don't know how to check the GPU.

I won't be offended if you choose not to address my feedback. Do what you will. I hope other people are able to appreciate it better.

I'd like to say that I really like it. I feel like the minimalist atmosphere of the beach contrasts nicely with the dialogue of the cafe. I love the idea of it, that you have to communicate using someone else's words, and you must use your imagination to figure out what's going on, the subtext, and when we're done you must go and ponder and receive inspiration from the ocean.
I only realized it was a holodeck after reading your description of it on the blog. I thought it was just a sort of self-awareness of the program's videogame-nature, and I think I like it to be vague. There doesn't need to be another level of make-believe, you're already in that future, using that holodeck.
I really like the chess-board, although I've had trouble with lifting the chess piece only to find that none of the options suits me. I'd rather have a drink than just put down the piece. Although I suppose it doesn't matter too much -- lifting the chess piece is an action.
I have mixed feelings about the switch to mouse control. On one hand, it feels less like I'm steering him around, it feels more organic. On the other hand, I feel more distanced from the avatar, and I think that he walks too quickly. The latter is probably a technical issue that needs to be worked out. As for the distance, it might be mitigated if I didn't have to point to an area of the ground -- if I'd just click, and he'd simply move forward if my mousebutton were held down.

Smaller thoughts:
I feel like the expanded number of potential lines of dialogue in the 2nd alpha could be pruned a bit.
The music is wonderful, reminds me of the Void soundtrack.
I can see some artifacts, the edges of a rectangle, in the surf waves, which annoys me.

I'll probably think of more later, and as I play the game more.
So far, I really like it.   

Another thing:
The phrases come in on the waves too frequently. I think they should come in more sparsely, like every 5th wave or something randomized. It feels too rapid-fire, walking along the beach and collecting phrase after phrase.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

You're right: for me, too, the holodeck and the videogame are one. The cyberspace in the game is representation of or a reference to the "actual" cyberspace of the networked computer. And outer space functions as a metaphor for the internet. Though the internet could also be a metaphor for human relationships.

The keyboard controls will remain part of the game. So you can always use those if you prefer. Holding down the mouse button to walk is an interesting idea. I might try that.

I find this is one of the most interesting (and for me more important) aspects of the game, also something I wouldn't have expected reading the description of the gameplay!

How would one describe such a thing?

I often refer to our games as tools for self-exploration. But that sounds very vague and dry and presumptuous.

Yes, it's seems to fall into the category of things only others are allowed to say about your work.

Alpha version 3 of Bientôt l'été has been released (http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete/index.html). If you'd like a free copy, please let me know.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments!

Here's a summary (http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete/blog/alpha-3/) of the major changes since the previous release.

Wonderful! I was ridiculously excited when I heard there was a new alpha. All the graphical additions are excellent, and I especially like the 'clouds' when you're in the cafe. The bench at the end of the world is also a bit mindblowing. The blur effect and the increased (I think) usage of bloom lighting makes things more intense and dreamlike, so I like this. The wet area of the sand on the beach seems to receed now, although this might be a side-effect of the bright sand; in any case, I like it. Also happy to see splashes, although they could definitely be more substantial. The blur effect is great, and also makes it look like wind is blowing the surf. I feel like there are more phrases in this version, which seemed to even out the tone. Previously, the conversations felt a bit more hostile to me, more like a breakup or misunderstanding. There's more happiness now. Of course, that may just be an anomaly, but I like it. I'll have to post more of my thoughts on the new version after I've played it a bit more.

Thank you. Good to hear. I'm so happy that we decided to pre-release the game. I feel it has become much better thanks to input like yours.

Yes, the tone of the conversation really depends. And things are not necessarily what they seem or sound like. A bit of imagination helps. ;)

Also, the phrases are grouped loosely in chapters that each have their own atmosphere, from early desire, over boredom, to despair.

I had a dream last night where I was watching an unfinished behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of a French-themed notgame designed by Raph Koster. :P

Nightmare!  ;D

I just played the latest Alpha (version 3) and I had a much more compelling experience this time. No rough edges distracted me, and I felt like I was playing and thinking the way I was "supposed" to. I'm guessing it would also be a lot more interesting with a real human to play with, instead of just a simulation.

Nice to hear.
Yes, a real human would more exciting, I think. Even playing with yourself in two windows is more fun.

Been meaning to put some feedback up for ages. Not played the latest alpha (link expired on me), but I gather from the posts that the rough edges are disappearing. That leaves me in the wonderful position to simply gush.

I love the conversation system, despite not yet experiencing it with another human being. The collecting of conversation pieces from the environment is great, too. I haven't had a go at Bientôt l’été for a while, but I think I remember collecting one piece from elsewhere than the beach? That's where I see the greatest potential for this mechanic (in games with less abstract settings), in the constructiion of conversations from envrionmental objects that are part of procedurally generated scenes. Perhaps not enough to warrant dozens of playthroughs, but certainly enough to give each player at least one experience unique to them.

The coversations in Bientôt l’été are a game, but unlike the branching conversation scripts that most gamers are familiar with. They are a game that is probably best played with another human being, but I see the potential to catergorise and score coversation components. Nothing as obscene as visible scorecards, simply under-the-hood structure that would allow rudimentary AI to collect their own conversation parts and play with you. Like The Sims, but with real words and the possibility for deeper conflict and/or connection.

The difficulty of non-scripted conversations and the like is part of the reason why the gaming industry is mostly about violence and gratification (the easiest human conflict/reward relationship to computer-model). So overall, while the lack of a human 'opponent' meant I wasn't immediately grabbed by Bientôt l’été, I feel it has taught me something important about the nature of computer-modelled conversations. Perhaps this wasn't your aim (or your main one), but Bientôt l’été perfectly demonstrates that conversations, in the absence of real AI with the capacity to undertand and communicate with us, are not something the designer must script. With some more smoke and mirrors, and a little game theory (and a lot more data), I think it would be possible to build something that is indistinguishable from a person playing the same game.

So on the mechanic front, it's a solid thumbs up from me. I'd love to see this mechanic developed further and I hope others take inspiration when Bientôt l’été reaches a wider audience.

I quite liked the experience, the music transitions were really good, the atmosphere is amazing and I actually had a really nice experience with the bot (never found someone).

But I felt some things "off", like the "cutscenes" when you pick an appeareance, seems very psx (reminds me of old games that "showed" you something you have alredy seen or that you will be seeing it a lot), stiff, an atmosphere kill.

Also the "mechanic" of an appeareance everytime you exit the coffee place, it seemed like the feeling of discovery was drowned after a couple of tries (specially since most of the stuff appears next to the coffee house and you can see it just closing your eyes).

I also found a bug (I guess is nothing that will come very often), but at the start of my second game I was pressing B randomly and a "cutscene" triggered (just white) and the pick up animation also triggered, then I could walk into the water and never come back.

We can always renew the link. I believe there's a form for that on the download page. Or just send us an email (reception at tale-of-tales).

What an exciting idea!

Personally, I'm more and more inclined to think that it's not necessary for us to believe that the virtual character is a real person. Maybe we can model them in such a way that they have a life of their own, a unique synthetic form of life that you would never confuse with human. Maybe at first we can model simple or stupid life forms, not dissimilar to animals or children. But perhaps this can evolve into strange and new and fascinating and complex life forms, that are still not human.

And maybe there is an important lesson to be learned for humanity here: that we shouldn't require our fellows in life to be like us. Vive la différence!


Thank you. I would love to see that as well.

Sounds like a wonderful experience!  :)

(but I'm afraid I have fixed that now  ;) )


I understand what you mean about the old school cut scenes. But I think this will make the experience more understandable for people with less imagination.

I'm holding on to my thoughts on Bientôt as hard as I can. I suppose people far more watchful and knowledgeable are testing the program and sending valuable feedback, which enables me not to participate in this alpha testing as a tester with a tool belt around my waist, more like someone who's just silently delighted by the opportunity while while puffing large clouds of smoke. Because I've praised your work on more occasions than I can remember, I'll use this last sentence to mention that I find Walter Hus' contribution to the project to be of inestimable value - his music and sound design are gifted with a refinement and sophistication I don't think has ever been known in this format.

I also find it charming that the concept seems somewhat... autobiographical.

Thank you. We are making Bientôt l'été especially for you!  :) And people who share your talents of appreciation.

It's not the last you'll hear of Walter Hus. Our next (small) project will feature his music as well. Very different. But equally nuanced and rich.

The beta version of Bientôt l'été is ready. Please download it and let me know if you find any errors.

Thank you so much for all your feedback!

To stress-test the multiplayer part of Bientôt l'été, we invite you to play on Wednesday 28 November at 10 PM in Belgium (= 9 PM London = 4 PM New York = 1 PM San Francisco = 1 AM Moscow the next day = 5 AM in Bejing the next day = 6 AM in Tokyo the next day).

Looking forward to Wednesday, Michaël.

Anyone around? I keep waiting for partners but am not getting matched up at all.

We discovered a serious technical problem. I will fix this and release a new beta. Then we can test again next Wednesday.

Sounds good, look forward to it. :)

Just to report:
I noticed that most of the time I'd just be waiting on the first screen. A couple times I got to the second screen where I was sitting down, but never was able to match with someone in the end.

I have a PS2 gamepad I usually have plugged in my computer and apparently if you Bientôt L'été with it in, the view starts rotating left (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUqmEK6B5to) (even if you unplug it). Starting with it unplugged solves it but I can't say I've had any similar problems with any other Unity-games.

It froze after about an hour and a half for me. I had left the building without meeting anyone, seen the black rock, collected the item and went into the building again. Here's the crash-report (http://www.solidfiles.com/d/dafae236b3/).

Thank you for reporting on this. How do you connect the PS2 gamepad to your PC? Through some kind of adapter? Is there anything you can change in the Input Configuration of the game that fixes this? (I'm guessing that the PS2's horizontal axis has a different number than on the joysticks I have developed with -XBox 360, Logitech Rumblepad).

I have no idea how to use the data in those crash reports. But thank you for describing the circumstances of the crash. So it happened as the game was loading the interior scene? When it crashes, it always crashes there for me too (on Windows only, it doesn't crash on Mac). I have already managed to reduce the crash frequency but I'll look at this some more.

Changing the Input Configuration fixed it (I'm guessing one of the buttons must have been interpreted as an axis).

Yes, it happened while the interior scene was loading, and I am indeed using Windows (7).

I looked through the output_log.txt and I can see several InvalidOperationExceptions due to modifying a Collection as it's being iterated over:

InvalidOperationException: Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute.
  at System.Collections.Generic.List`1+Enumerator[Antares.Vizio.Blocks.UniversalReceiveMessage].VerifyState () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at System.Collections.Generic.List`1+Enumerator[Antares.Vizio.Blocks.UniversalReceiveMessage].MoveNext () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Antares.Vizio.Runtime.MessageManager.SendMessage (UnityEngine.Object receiver, System.String messageName, System.Object[] parameters) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Antares.Vizio.Blocks.UniversalSendMessageToReceiver.In () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Antares.Vizio.Runtime.Trigger.Invoke () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at Antares.Vizio.Runtime.TriggerLink.Invoke () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0
  at VizioComponent+<WaitForSeconds>d__10.MoveNext () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

I don't know if it has anything to do with the crash (the exceptions themselves did not cause any crashes).

Wow, playing with a real person on the "other side" felt more intense than expected!

During the simulation wine and cigarettes seemed mostly cosmetic to me, but yesterday they ended up being an essential part of the experience.

...also I feel the need to buy filter-less Gauloises :)

Speaking of a filter-less, it'd be great to have some kind of setting to tone down the glow. My retinas... :P

After dipping my toes in the water alone occasionally I connected during the last pre-arranged period and actually conversed with a person. At least, I assumed so because there was a definite aspect of themed response to my move-speech acts; unfortunately I had not collected sufficient phrases in the Beta to be a very dynamic conversational companion, so after a glass of wine I rather undermined the whole experience by running up and down the beach like a five-year-old until I had a bunch of things to say... and didn't find anyone to talk to when I got back.  :(

I don't think I've given feedback before, but my general reaction is that this is a really nice experience. My girlfriend was looking over my shoulder and even at this extra remove she complained far less than she usually does when I'm gaming; and when I'm non-gaming - she had no patience with Dinner Date at all, and quickly did other things while I was soaking up Dear Esther. I think she liked it, in fact.

I found it odd that there was no apparent visual difference between a simulation player and a real one. Having the simulated partner be clearly simulated is logical but I guess I wonder why, being able to create such a vivid and pseudo-real environment, my long-anticipated encounter with another person would be realised via the same trappings of artificiality. It was obvious once my player-partner began to interact that this was what it was, but then I remembered that when I stand at the edge of the holodeck what I saw was another person, physical, not a holo-figure, so there is a precedent set in the game for seeing a "real" person (I assume I'm not describing a fault, but whichever gender I picked for myself my "reflection" was the other - hence my assumption that this was intended to be me "seeing" through the glass wall to another holodeck with another user).

I also spotted that, when my partner smoked a cigarette, the exhale appeared to come from ME, not from THEM. Not exactly disorienting, but odd - more so when I note that, while they are a holo-smoker and they smoke a holo-cigarette, the smoke they produce is just as cloudy-grey as my own; perhaps two layers of smoke could be generated, one with the blue-y tones of the simulation.

I had one instance of the game crashing (the same as mentioned by someone else above); I can dig up the report if you would find it useful. Only one though. While playing the Alpha build there were a few moments in which the avatar glitched. It was when standing/turning on the walkway above the beach (I think); the avatar's foot clung to the surface, twisting in a rather painful-looking manner... Not sure if this is still an issue with the Beta, I'll see if I can make it happen again the next time I play.

A final observation. I think someone else has mentioned this but when I went out, desperate to find new phrases, I activated the visions immediately and at long-distance. Then I didn't mind because time was a factor, but in general I feel the game loses something with this being possible. The most satisfying aspect so far is the sedate pace of walking the beach; the addition of these new features means a hint of anticipation is added to this experience through the "laborious" process of slowly approaching (or of running, eyes closed), watching the thing grow in ones perception, etc.; however, because the new object fades away as the piece is retrieved, that opportunity is quickly lost. I would make some degree of proximity required before the object (and maybe the hotel) can be "clicked".

That said, I find the whole experience strangely satisfying. And if you want two words for the poster quote, I'd make it those...

Thank you for the report! You're right about the holo-smoke. Might look interesting.

Glad to hear the game is at least tolerated by your girlfriend. But please do make her play. We are very interested in how no-gamers respond to our work.

I will quote your "strangely satisfying" !