Comments on: Prospective Spies: Please RTFM

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:27:24 +0000

I think that the manual’s length is just fine. This is an entirely new genre, and therefore, you need to read a few paragraphs to understand all the concepts. This is the simplest task in the world if you compare it to the learning curve of Dwarf Fortress.

By: jordy

jordy — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:18:28 +0000

3 out of 3 comments I’ve read so far:

“SpyParty is my favourite thing at PAX, the dudes running the booth are awesome and the game is hilarious and I love it.

My friends are back there playing for the third time while I had to come back to rest my feet.”

“I didn’t get to play Spy Party today (there was a hell of a line!) but got to watch a few games. I totally love it and cannot WAIT to try it myself. It just hits all the right notes.”

“I played this today, it was really fun even though I sucked at it (lost both times, lol.) I will definitely try to play it again before PAX is over — it’s the best game I’ve played here so far .”

source: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?p=16415677#post16415677

It sounds like SpyParty is/was an absolute success! Congrats!

By: jordy

jordy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:55:50 +0000

Amen.

By: Ben Gronfors

Ben Gronfors — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:32:06 +0000

I read through it all, but that’s normal for me… anytime I am waiting to play a game, I’ll read the manual to pass time :)
That’s honestly the only way I can see people reading it, while waiting their turn to play.

What about making a tutorial video in the future? (since it’s too late now) It’d be a lot more work, but I’m sure you could get the free help from your fans here :)
Maybe I’ll make one this weekend… just for fun :)

Keep of the good work! Can’t wait to be able to try it :/

By: Jonathan Fulton

Jonathan Fulton — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:44:06 +0000

I had only an inkling of how deep and thick this game is gonna be, and when I RTFM, I literally dookied a shooter and started looking for airline tickets to PAX.
I cannot wait for this game. If it releases on a platform/system I don’t currently own, I will buy that system to play this game.
This is a new chapter in game development you’ve started here, and I…. oisdncoisbudvidbkxjzvi;uebcl;ivesu! <== trying to express how excited about it I am.
The very best of luck –
Jonathan

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:21:52 +0000

The document finally made me understand Spy Party thanks to a detailed description of nuances of it. I would have gladly read it at PAX before playing. Best of luck with the game, and thanks a lot for sharing the document which bumped this to the top of my “most anticipated” list.

By: jordy

jordy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:18:34 +0000

Side by side sounds ok, but I can imagine for it to be quite some work, personally I would prefer 2 different videos after each other, first sniper (to see if you can spot soy yourself) then spy. And that times 100 ;D.

Just noticed by looking closer at the controls that the sniper really is managing the “information-flow” recording and paying attention to all the signals he receives, it’s cool that you have the possibility as a sniper to highlight suspects and books, and I think this really is a great gameplay feature that you should try to extend, of course you’ll have to find a balance between visual recording in the game itself (i.e. highlighting and stuff) and what the sniper has to record for himself in his brain, but that way the sniper really paints a picture for himself of how he thinks things are^^.
Btw, did the cctv get into this playtest? Since I didn’t read about it in the manual, but I can remember reading about it on RPS?

By: checker

checker — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:36:02 +0000

> footage

I’m trying to figure out the best way to do this, but I’m definitely going to start putting video up soon. Phil’s idea of side by side is kind interesting as well…

By: checker

checker — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:34:06 +0000

> and I would love to pull of a win by doing the whole game nothing,

A playtester did this the other day, and two of us were watching. The game starts out with the Spy character under AI control, and you have to push the A button to take control yourself. This guy just left the Spy under AI control the whole game. The Sniper was totally panicking as the clock ran down, and the Spy was having to use all his willpower to push the A button and do something. It was a totally tense game, and yet one player literally did not touch the controller!

That time, the Sniper was careful and didn’t shoot anybody because he had no suspects, so leaving the Spy as an AI turned out to be a bad strategy against that Sniper player. Howeer, often the Sniper will panic and shoot somebody, so usually it works! It’s really cool that it’s a viable strategy if you know your opponent’s playstyle, and that it’s still interesting even though you’re not doing anything at all except waiting for the clock to run down.

By: Squishy

Squishy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:28:14 +0000

That’s a great introduction to the game. It might be hard for people who know nothing about the game to process on the spot but it is very clearly written. Anyone who has heard about the game (or is reading this site) would find it a perfect blend of teaching the controls and also teaching how to play.

I was especially interested in some of the tips for starting players as this had not really come across in previous write-ups or blog posts. It was good to finally learn some of the techniques for eliminating suspects.

Good luck at PAX. I hope it helps raise the profile of your game. Any chance that you will be able to record some of the play test footage for us to see?