Alpha build of Bientôt l’été now available

[Michaël Samyn]

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.

[György Dudas]

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.

[Michaël Samyn]

Thank you for the feedback, György!

On the shore: I did not know how to pickup words, do I have to do something?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

[György Dudas]

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?

[Michaël Samyn]

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).

[Marco Turetta]

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)?

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.

[Michaël Samyn]

With the new method will we be able to select which phrases to memorize or to "forget"?

No. You will remember everything you see.

I like the idea of preparing a different phrases arsenal (or menu...) each time,

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!

[axcho]

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.

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

[Chris W]

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.

[Michaël Samyn]

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.

Glad you think so!

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.

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.

(This portion of the game is shades of Dinner Date, maybe?)

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

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.

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.

[Poemsuntold]

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

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!

[Michaël Samyn]

Thank you for sharing!

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.

That's so lovely to hear. Because one of the things that this part of the game builds on is our experiences with 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.

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?

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

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?).

Please do post a link on the forum!

[Michaël Samyn]

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!

[Noumenon]

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?

[axcho]

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?