This looks..amazing. I loved the Phoenix Wright games, but I'll be honest, I did get sort of bored of the characters.
I don't think it's POSSIBLE for me to get bored of these ponies though! This is exciting!
The creator has set up a blog to update everyone on progress for the game. If you are interested, check it out here!
Also a video after the break!
70 comments:
If Twilight Sparkle gets to point and shout "OBJECTION!", I'm sold.
ReplyDeleteAll of my money. Take it.
ReplyDeleteLooks pretty damn awesome
ReplyDeleteWho is this "App" you speak of, Applebloom? IS SHE A SPY!?
ReplyDelete-Twilight "Paranoia" Sparkle
I agree with the first comment. If she goes "OBJECTION!" once, sold, bonus points if you can actually get Tara Strong to do it!
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing I love the expressiveness of the characters
ReplyDeleteBefore this video I wasn't aware that ear to ear grins were actually possible in real life.
ReplyDeleteFUND IT!
ReplyDelete@ Anyonymous 1:00pm
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my hooves.
It looks great but I'd love to see more expressions during the interrogation. Like PW, one of the bets bits was catching somebody out in a lie and seeing them change expression and mannerism.
ReplyDeleteStill, great idea and seems really fun! :D
Seth, are you sure you want to play a game where Trixie may very well end up being the culprit? Would you be able to handle Twilight Sparkle, once again, getting the upper hoof on her?
ReplyDeleteAh, witnesses being pointlessly difficult. Feels like a Ace Attorney game. Twilight is the perfect pony to put in the defense position.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD SCOOTALOO KILLED OPALESCENCE
ReplyDeleteOh man, this really does have the potential to be more awesome than anything... especially if the plan to make the case files moddable (and hopefully able to be created by anyone) comes to pass.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there'll be a chapter where another pony (cough*Trixie*cough) is conducting a counter-investigation, and you have to uncover the truth before they get an innocent suspect wrongly accused. That could get pretty intense with the proper writing.
More bonus points if there's a ladder/stepladder joke.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite gaming series combined with my favorite show, very awesome concept. Especially since the gameplay is modeled after Investigations. I like the Investigations style interrogations more than the original ones.
ReplyDeleteOne minor complaint, all of the audio bleeps are at the same pitch. The AA games switched the pitch according to the speaker, making it easier to know who was talking. I hope the finished game will do the same thing.
Game looks amazing. :O
ReplyDeleteDo want.
Celestia is the culprit!Whatever happened!
ReplyDeletecan't tell if this is based of Phoenix Wright or LA Noire
ReplyDeleteTwilight Sparkle Ace Attorney
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Phoenix Wright
ReplyDeleteDO, FUCKING, WANT!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteIt's based off of Ace Attorney. More specifically, the spin-off series, Miles Edgeworth Investigations. The "interrogation" music makes that clear.
Anyways, this is absolutely amazing. Ace Attorney is one of my favourite game series ever, and this just looks so amazing. I NEED THIS GAME IN MY BODY.
I can dig it.
ReplyDelete@ZeldaFan777
ReplyDeleteLOL At Comic Con: "Miss Strong, can you shout OBJECTION! in Twilight's voice, please?" Take out a microphone.
>Truth
ReplyDelete>Doubt
>Lie
Oh wait, wrong game...
Needs more of the 'dings' and sound effects associated with PW in it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Twi needs a Truth Gauge. For reasons of not being invulnerable.
Also, I agree with whoever said Celestia did it. Probably to teach Twilight a lesson about friendship.
Phoenix Twight: Pony Attorney
ReplyDeleteThis game is going to be a favorite of mine, if done correctly.
My Little Pony with Phoenix Wright mechanics...
ReplyDeleteI. NEED. THIS!
nice, looks interesting ^^
ReplyDeleteALL MY BITS
ReplyDeleteSo this isn't Equestria Noire?
ReplyDelete"Your lying Ms. Pie, you were at Rainbow Dash's house and I can prove it."
"You don't have anything Detective Sparkle."
Besides the general missing quirks from the Ace Attorney series (such as the music suddenly cutting out with a "ding" sound when a successful objection is made), this is pretty damn good. Yeah, it could use more expressiveness and all that, but for a beta build? Nice going, creators!
ReplyDeleteIt should be somepony, not someone.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea for the game though.
The Phoenix Wright games piss me off because of how terribly butchered the legal system is. I don't know whether it's based off the Japanese legal system, but all I know is that the defense attorney isn't supposed to be doing investigations. Also, Phoenix is both super annoying and blindingly incompetent, constantly needing to call on his dead boss with huge knockers (it's just an excuse to show more cleavage, I just know it).
ReplyDeleteThat said, I hope this isn't a direct copy of Phoenix Wright, because I love detective point n clicks.
Equestria Noire right there.
ReplyDeleteI'm very excited for this. And since any legal stuff would be Pony law we wouldn't have to bang our heads about how the law doesn't work that way in the real world :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the positive feedback, guys! You folks are terrific. :)
ReplyDeleteTo respond to a few recurring comments:
1. Audio/Visual complaints
The audio and visuals seen in this video are completely tentative; as I mention in the developer diary, they're basically just there to give me something to look at and hear while I work on the game engine. The visuals are just ripped straight from frames from the MLP:FiM show, and the audio is taken straight from Phoenix Wright. When this is done, I expect that things will look and sound quite different. As it stands right now, I'm basically constrained by what I can find in those two sources. This also accounts for the lack of expressiveness in the characters.
I also agree with those who mention that this is missing some of the frills from the Ace Attorney series, such as the music cutting out when you catch someone in a lie, differently toned text blips, and so forth. Rest assured that I AM aware of these shortcomings; however, I'd like to nail the real meat and potatoes of the game engine before tackling those bits of icing. Don't worry; I'm a huge fan of the Ace Attorney series, so I most certainly do notice touches like that. :)
(I'm also surprised that nobody mentioned that button clicks are soundless - that's something that bugs me too.)
2. "OBJECTION!"?
I didn't reeeally want to copy the Ace Attorney games exactly, but if someone could actually get me clear and crisp voice clips of Twilight yelling "OBJECTION!" and "HOLD IT!", I would probably find it difficult not to include them in the game after calming down my sheer giddiness.
3. LA Pony vs. Ace Attorney: Twilight Sparkle
This game is based on Ace Attorney, not LA Noire, guys. :P If you haven't played Ace Attorney, do so right now! It's an amazing game series.
(I do like LA Noire, mind you. But that's not what I was going for here.)
And now to address a few specific comments:
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
Right now I'm just concentrating on getting the core game mechanics up and running, so I don't want to comment too much on things I haven't really entirely thought through yet... however, I DO plan on making it so that case data is defined in a separate, modular fashion, and I also do expect that for my own sanity I probably will be needing to make a case editor as well.
As such, I will certainly consider the possibility of releasing the case editor into the wild if I think it's sufficiently polished and robust once I'm done building it. No promises at this point, mostly just because, like I said, I haven't thought about it very much - but I will certainly say "I'll consider it".
@masem
ReplyDeleteCould you remind me what "ladder/stepladder joke" you're referring to? I think I'm a little dense. :P
@Purim
ReplyDeleteI've actually been going back and forth on the topic of the truth gauge. On one hand, you're right that without it Twilight is invulnerable. On the other hand, I have to admit that I sometimes found it more annoying than anything in the Ace Attorney games. In cases where I had no clue whatsoever what to do, I basically had to either just keep retreading the same ground over and over to get to the point where I can try something else, or consult a walkthrough... neither of which seems to be terribly good game design.
As such, I've actually been considering purposefully not including the truth gauge. It makes it so you can't lose, sure, but other puzzle games have that as well, like point-and-click adventure games, and they aren't worse off for it. I mainly just want to avoid putting in a broken game mechanic solely because it's in the source material. I'll have to continue thinking about it.
This looks amazing so far! XD I will definitely have to look forward to this one.
ReplyDeleteAce Attorney + ponies = flawless victory.
You got BORED of the CHARACTERS?!?!
ReplyDeleteOh, no. No no no no no no. That simply won't do.
Pinkie Pie, prepare the interrogation room. Make sure the waterboard is filled and the shock therapy chair is fully charged.
As for the actual game itself, if it can keep the feel of the AA games, ALL OF MY MONEY!!!
@C.Olimar788 No, Mortal Kombat + Ponies = Flawless Victory.
ReplyDeleteThe correct equation should be "Ace Attorney + Ponies = GUILTY... OF BEING AWESOME!"
@GabuEx
ReplyDeleteNot the person you replied to, but he's referring to the running joke in AA where they argue about ladders. See:
http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/Ladder_and_Stepladder
I agree that the truth gauge is an unnecessary annoyance. Most adventure games don't punish you for experimenting and I prefer it that way. I'd say it'd be better to leave it out.
If there aren't at least 5 references to me during the whole game, I will be very dissapointed.
ReplyDelete@GabuEx
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying to me.
There's a third way to get around being completely lost. Save the game before you make a choice and simply reload if you choose wrong. But that's called "save-scumming" so...
I guess it's up to you. Having there be no penalty for messing up will change the mood of the game. Compare how light Kirby's Epic Yarn (where you literally cannot lose) to Super Mario Bros. 3 (Where there are difficult sections that make you feel tense, but it's not a 1-hit an' yer dead situation most of the time). But, again, it's your choice. I'm not gonna tell you how to run your project.
...On the note of voice clips, Twilight's "Aha!" from "Feeling Pinkie Keen" could be used as a replacement for Objection or Eureka (if Logic is in the game). And I'm pretty sure she does say "Hold on/it" somewhere.
Anyway, thanks again for replying to my post.
ALL MY BITS!
ReplyDelete@Purim It may be called save-scumming but most modern games do that with autosave to a degree. In most Valve games, if I die, I get back to an autosave that represents no more than 2 minutes of lost time.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very important to avoid punishing players for exploring and experimenting. "Failure is not an option" is definitely a perfectly valid way to achieve that, but it isn't the only one at all.
@GabuEx
ReplyDeleteOh, I understand completely. Making sure the game itself is complete and working properly is top priority of course, and what you've shown so far really is looking promising, even at this early stage.
Eventual editability/moddability would be extremely awesome, but even if that's not possible you've still got a really sharp and entertaining game in the works here!
@Purim
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is the possibility of allowing people to save before making a decision (and, heck, I did that in the Ace Attorney games), but then that raises the question of purpose, really.
At its heart, really, the point of making it so a person can lose is to make it so that the person gets nervous and tense, and so that the person proceeds carefully, since they know they will materially lose something if they fail. If I made it so a person can just save and then reload that save if they screw up, it would seem like I might as well just do away with the ability to lose, since the only thing I've added at that point in time is mild frustration, which isn't going to improve the gameplay experience for anyone, in my view.
I'll still think about it, as there's no reason to come to a conclusion at this point, but at the moment I'm veering more towards the side of pushing the game closer to point and click adventure games and just not having a way to lose. The more I think about it, the less value and enjoyment I see for players if I were to add a way to lose. Having to do the same thing over again in a game like this if you fail really doesn't sit well with me.
On the topic of voice clips, I definitely was considering possibly grabbing appropriate clips from the show. We'll see how that goes. That's still a ways off in the future.
Thanks for your suggestions and comments - I really appreciate it! :)
Like it, might play it sometime after completion, or at least watch youtube videos of the investigations.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteJust realized I forgot to reply to this - thanks for the link! Having played through every game in the series, I can't believe I never even knew about that in-joke. I might consider throwing a few subtle nods to Ace Attorney in the game. We'll see. :)
@GabuEx I wrote a ponified Phoenix Wright story for candybag when he was working on his humanized MLP Ace Attorney game many months ago. I recently asked him about his game, and unfortunately he had stopped his effort. I'm curious if you'd like a copy of the script instead? Since we never got far with the game the story is still rough, but maybe that'd be good too because it is more easily modified? :) If you're interested, it's yours.. please email me mlp at kidsquid.com
ReplyDelete@GabuEx
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that made Ace Attorney stand out was the writing and humor. So, don't let tweaking the audio and visuals distract you from working on the story. Also, there are fan-fiction proof-readers who would be happy to help review the text and make the story the best it can be.
Shame I'm doing something similar just an animated series though. Inspired off one crossing over Disgaea and Phoenix Wright...I need voices for it so I can shamelessly plug it here XD
ReplyDeletehttp://voiceactingalliance.com/board/showthread.php?67414-My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Is-Magic-Phoenix-Wright-Crossover-Part-2-2M-5F
Ability to "get bored" of Miles Edgeworth and Detective Gumshoe = ULTIMATE FAILURE on the part of Eq Daily.
ReplyDeleteWANT I NOW THIS GIVE
ReplyDeleteConcerning losing: There are a few things that you give up by not having any ways to lose. One is the game over cutscene. Sure, in the normal Ace Attorney games these were generally extremely generic, but I've heard that in Investigations, you get different game over scenes for different ways of losing. You also lose those scenes that happen sometime that make it look like you are about to lose only for someone to burst in with the critical evidence. Maybe to preserve this you could include an option to turn the truth gauge on and off, or have options upon game over to either return to the beginning of the chapter or just go back to the last decision point.
ReplyDelete*Throws a wad of cash at the screen*
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteUnless I'm mistaken regarding what you're referring to, the times when you look like you're about to lose in the Ace Attorney games only to have someone burst in with the case-making evidence aren't a result of the truth gauge, but rather are more a result of the writing making it out as though there's no correct option to pick. I don't think that would be lost if there were no truth gauge.
I do think it might be a reasonable idea to make it case-specific regarding whether the truth gauge was present or not. I'll have to think about whether I might want to do that. It would be extra work and extra debugging, and I'm still not sold on the idea that it adds value for the player, but I'll consider it.
Looks great, i like this kind of games. All i want to complain about in this video is the background; its just a still image and its pretty boring. Think about making the background live on its own, with ponies walking around, trees blowing in the wind, general stuff going on.
ReplyDeleteJust try to make it look as interesting as possible. :)
@Jonathan
ReplyDeleteAs I said above, all of the visuals are just ripped straight from frames in the show, so they're heavily constrained by what I can find there. All of the audio and visuals are just placeholders right now; they're not final. So don't worry about that part. :)
me likey.
ReplyDelete@GabuEx
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, (if you ARE going to do away with penalties) how will you go on about recreating scenes where the story purposely give you only one chance to do an action? Those scenes, I felt, were the most tense since they showed how serious your decision would be.
...Unless you just avoid situations like that altogether. Now that I think about, Investigations didn't even require those moments since it never actually took place in the courtroom unlike the Phoenix Wright games.
@Infusions
ReplyDeleteA fair point, and one I have been thinking about. The main thing I really want to avoid is just what I feel is the fundamentally broken gameplay mechanic of forcing players to re-solve puzzles they've already seen just because they couldn't figure out what to do in one of them. I don't think that adds to the player experience.
That said, I do agree with the statement that moments like the one you describe serve to create a lot of tension, and *that* aspect of it I do think adds to the player experience. I'll have to think about whether there's any way to potentially get the latter effect without forcing players to go through the former effect.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei have heard of u from pinkamena daine pie or was that just an fake
ReplyDeletei have heard of u from pinkamena daine pie or was that a fake
ReplyDelete