Squeeky wrote:At times I really do question what I consider to be kessie8yl's abrupt diplomacy, but out of respect for him, he does call things as he sees them. And now .... having played through the game I must agree that his assessment was accurate from my point of view. Yes, the 3-D animation was great (when you could concentrate on it), and part way through, when I was expecting the ultimate ending I found more and more routines of the same! Congratulations to the animation team, but I felt that I was somehow playing "Pacman"!
I usually try to be easy on game development virgins - and am the first to acknowlege that I wouldn't have a clue how to go about it, even if I had the time... I just felt that this particular game "borrowed" a lot from certain well-established houses when it came to the look of the thing but then stripped it of most of the things that makes those other games so playable....
Having re-read my post however, I admit Squeeky has a point and I probably was a little less diplomatic than necessary. Given the similarities already mentioned, it is possible that the controls were clunky simply because clinteastwood was trying too hard not to be seen as another "me too" who just copies what's already been done.
Those who have arrived in the lagoon relatively recently may not remembr that not too many years ago I, and others, levelled almost indentical criticism about controlling the action at Leo & others. Some small sections of fans seemed to consider this as some kind of blasphemy and that "the best" were beyond criticism. I take no personal credit for the fact that the better developers nevertheless seemed to listen to the feedback and acted upon it. The better developers take criticism in a constructive way and use it as part of the process of continuous improvement, while others take any perceived negative comment as if it was a personal insult and try to defend their position, only to reproduce the same thing every time. I sincerely hope clinteastwood will be in the former category.
I would certianly be interested in seeing more from clinteastwood - The basic story seems sound (which is not often the case with first timers) and it is very apparant from the weight of opinion that the artwork is very good indeed. With such a good foundation it would be a great pity if his talent was never to see the light of day again.
I hope he will accept my apologies for any hurt or embarrassment he may have felt.