Post by Gab on Nov 17, 2020 17:22:01 GMT
I was pretty monstrously busy last night and exhausted afterward, so I didn't have the opportunity to share this, but a new gameplay teaser premiered on the Homestuck channel, with a release date reveal at the end.
Here it is. youtu.be/x-TkWSgSAeo
If you just want the release date, I'll put it right here:
Video content discussion:
OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN. This looks SO GOOD. I cannot wait, I'm so hyped to play this. It has so much personality and seems to up the ante so much from the relatively lonely and quiet Act 1 experience. There's tons of intrigue just from the glimpses we get from this, and I am soooo eager to pore through it all for myself.
Gonna go through the video again and see if I can spot any particularly interesting details on a rewatch:
Okay, that's enough of that. But yeah, really really hyped. And considering this is only 'minor' spoilers, I'm absolutely thrilled. Only 8 days to go!!!
Here it is. youtu.be/x-TkWSgSAeo
If you just want the release date, I'll put it right here:
NOVEMBER 25, just over a week from now, is when the game will be released.
Video content discussion:
OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN. This looks SO GOOD. I cannot wait, I'm so hyped to play this. It has so much personality and seems to up the ante so much from the relatively lonely and quiet Act 1 experience. There's tons of intrigue just from the glimpses we get from this, and I am soooo eager to pore through it all for myself.
Gonna go through the video again and see if I can spot any particularly interesting details on a rewatch:
Well right off the bat I'm a little curious about this font on the WARNING screen. Is it custom? Have we seen it before?? At least I know the subheader is Courier New, of course.
Full shot of the train, fitting for this Act. This time, we get the name up front: Dead Freight. Pretty obvious pun there. Seems to imply there will be at least one (canonical) murder on the train, though the mystery segment we see later on explicitly is not about that. And of course that green moon off in the horizon, peeking beyond the clouds, keeping a close eye on everything.
The back we'll later learn is called the lusus caboosus (hell yes), so that's where all the lusii are kept, clearly. Next is the rustblood zone, which we've seen plenty of. It's subtly but hte next cab actally has two shades of yellow. One might look kind of limeish? But that's most likely symbolic of the olives. Then the jades and teals get a cab together.
Looking closely, it seems like the ingidos and purples share a cap too, though they get one full floor each. That would suggest the next cab is entirely for seadwellers? I was expecting there to be none, considering, well, it's a land train and all. At the front is fuchsia, and that must be where the drone running the train sits.
When you start a new game, you're prompted to import a save from Act 1. Pretty expected, considering the nature of games like these, but nice to have the confirmation. I wonder if it imports ALL of your (completed) saves from Act 1, or you just pick and choose. Also, Trizza's theme playing on the title screen, or at least in this teaser.
Oh, I didn't notice before. The Slot is labeled "WithECells," referring to the batteries you can get in Act 1. I think that name is likely from debug testing more than anything, but it definitely suggests that can make a difference in gameplay here.
This area reminds me of Charun's cave, with all the weird paraphernalia around. I don't remember if we saw or learned what their lusus was, but that would appear to be it.
I notice in that pile of rubbish some troll-horn colored traffic cones. This will come up later.
Oh wow, wait. I didn't see that before, but it looks like that lusus has been outfitted with some extra armor. How thoughtful!
Looks like more than ONE way to die is in this game, boys. It sort of seems like the deaths are heavily warned of and immediate, though. Kind of like the Problem Sleuth deaths, where doing an obviously bad thing kills you immediately, then you just go back.
Next stop seems to bee Zebede's hive. Wait, he keeps his lusus locked up in such a tiny cage? D:
Based on the description, it seems like this honey is similar to or the same as Sollux's Mind Honey, and that might be the only kind of honey this planet produces. Apparently extremely volatile, and probably exceptionally dangerous to anyone who can't absorb the power the way Sollux could (not that he handled it all that well either).
The book appears to read, "Beeooty!" Also, sound design seems different from act 1. Act 1 had sort of a problem with sound balancing. Some sounds were kind of loud, and others were way too quiet. It feels better mixed this time, and actions such as the psychic powers feel more impactful this time around.
This dance is so cute, oh my god.
Xefros really doesn't hold back. Either on Joey's strange appearance, or his low position on society, for that matter. He's a pretty honest dude.
This is a pretty fun choice, but it also seems to kind of poke fun at the idea of what a pointless decision this really is. Then again, I don't remember if we've seen art of Joey with straight cone horns, I only remember seeing the curvy ones she has in this trailer. I wonder what kind of a difference it might make.
These guys are so expressive!! They were pretty expressive in Act 1 too, but the general vibe then was fear and terror, so they didn't have too much to be expressive about. But Joey seems so gleeful and Xefros a bit blunt, but kind of shy too. We didn't really get to see any person-to-person interactions in Act 1 until the very end. We saw Joey and Jude communicate via radio, but that was mostly text based rather than visual. Small detail, but I like the way the camera zooms in and moves around for cutscenes like this and in accordance with what's relevant, like moving to the weird grubcorns or whatever when Joey brings them up. Good stuff.
Interesting, guess for whatever reason they are off to attent Jeevik Week (whatever that is) after all. They don't even get the relevant text until after they've already decided what they're on the train for. Also, there's Chixie! After her friendsim route, it's kind of strange to see her skittish, antsy looking appearance retained here, considering her personality was kind of overhauled. But considering Zebruh is poking in off of frame left, maybe that's what's got her feeling anxious.
Also, this interaction with Elwurd IS pretty cute. Joey IS cute.
Interesting background music here. It seems to be cycling through friendsim tracks? With intercuts of unintelligible gibberish no doubt pertaining to arrival times and unattended bags and whatnot.
It looks like Joey and Marvus hit it off pretty quickly. Much like in friendsim, he's weirdly very cool to just help her out, even though it's far below his station.
Also, idk if it's just me, but I laughed out loud while they were checking out the bad mixtape. His smile just, fades ever so slightly, and that's it. It's brilliant.
You know, this is nothing new, but as I look it over, the other main friendsim trolls have been out in the open, but Vikare here is kind of blended into the pack with a bunch of randos.
This is our first look at Chittr, at least in some time. Looks like it's compulsory to follow Trizza on this program, not surprisingly. What is kidna surprising though is Cridea seems to have almost as many members herself. Who's the one person Trizza is beating her by? ... Herself? Seems unlikely she'd follow Cridea, so maybe.
This just in: Xefros is adorable.
Also, Dammek is only following three people, supporting the idea that these are the other tetrarchs, including Xefros, something I imagine he's not aware of. But then, only two people are following Fiamet's account, and one of them is Dammek. The other could be Cridea? OR, the Tetrarchs follow a system where they're not all following each other. So maybe Dammek is following two Tetrarchs, Fiamet and someone else. One of the other Tetrarchs is also following Fiamet. And Fiamet is following two tetrarchs. I... don't know how much sense that makes, though. And it kind of doesn't necessarily rule out Xefros as the secret fourth tetrarch, either.
Anyway, Fiamet knows quite a lot, which is very strange. I wonder if we're going to get much followup on that this act, though.
Also, there's something funny to me about "Jeevik Island." That is all.
I feel like someone (Tirona maybe?) put Marvus up to essentially be his honorable tyranny for this trial and he just decided to because he seriously gives no fucks
I just realized, this is a trial where Tyzias is (at least serving an advisory role) against Stella. Is this like, a date for them? If so, cute.
Also, troll trials don't have defense lawyers. This goes against everything I understand about alternian rule of law.
The splash bubble here says, "Take that!" With an english exclamation point instead of an alternian one. The ace attorney vibes arent exactly subtle, here.
Oh, wait. Joey here (in this lovely alternate style art) has straight cone horns. So I guess you can wear either. I... doubt? You can actually switch them around midgame, but the option is being clearly shown here. Which means all the art had to account for having different horns. I admire the extra effort.
Oh my god. Tirona is sooooooo ADORABLE!!!! I don't want to pressure her u0u
Haha, this is like a fancy pants remix of the train theme, obviously for the indigos. They even get an elevator for their section of the train. and fireplaces, as we'll see. God damn blue bloods.
Oh, that makes sense. I don't know why this didn't occur to me, but of course this train would be ceruleans and indigos, which makes that last, biggest train exclusively for the purples. That makes much more sense. Cerulean section seems a bit lower class compared to the downright stately indigo section, but still ritzy compared to the rustblood cab.
I'm sure the indigos train is a complete turnaround of this, considering how they are. They COULD make it the nicest, but, well, they're indigos. And they can do whatever they want. So of course it's going to be nothing but clown madness.
Hahaha, this part is so strange, but not unexpected. Joey's weird meta awareness of the situation, and Ardata's weird upfrontedness about her intentions. That screwdriver sure is familiar, though...
Ah, the drone. Oh my god, I don't think I noticed that little hat its wearing, wow. It looks decrepit and fused to the train, but it doesn't seem to be essentially comatose like I thought it would be. This is a pretty interesting Strife concept! And I like it.
As I suspected, the hint system is feeling more cooperative this time around. It seems first it will warn you against bad actions, then if you persist, give you more direct suggestions. I wonder if it still only works for Joey.
Hahaha, this last montage is pretty great. This is no PG-rated Act 1-fest. We actually use the Fuck word around here.
I was right about the middle kart. Seems catered to the yellows, mostly, so the olives feel sort of tacked on. Also, yellows seem to be especially bizarre in general. Most of them have the colored eyes, some have headgear, and there's a couple who appare to be pestering each other. Olives seem pretty even headed by comparison. Makes them feel even more out of place here. Like maybe they're filling a spot that used to be occupied by something else.
Full shot of the train, fitting for this Act. This time, we get the name up front: Dead Freight. Pretty obvious pun there. Seems to imply there will be at least one (canonical) murder on the train, though the mystery segment we see later on explicitly is not about that. And of course that green moon off in the horizon, peeking beyond the clouds, keeping a close eye on everything.
The back we'll later learn is called the lusus caboosus (hell yes), so that's where all the lusii are kept, clearly. Next is the rustblood zone, which we've seen plenty of. It's subtly but hte next cab actally has two shades of yellow. One might look kind of limeish? But that's most likely symbolic of the olives. Then the jades and teals get a cab together.
Looking closely, it seems like the ingidos and purples share a cap too, though they get one full floor each. That would suggest the next cab is entirely for seadwellers? I was expecting there to be none, considering, well, it's a land train and all. At the front is fuchsia, and that must be where the drone running the train sits.
When you start a new game, you're prompted to import a save from Act 1. Pretty expected, considering the nature of games like these, but nice to have the confirmation. I wonder if it imports ALL of your (completed) saves from Act 1, or you just pick and choose. Also, Trizza's theme playing on the title screen, or at least in this teaser.
Oh, I didn't notice before. The Slot is labeled "WithECells," referring to the batteries you can get in Act 1. I think that name is likely from debug testing more than anything, but it definitely suggests that can make a difference in gameplay here.
This area reminds me of Charun's cave, with all the weird paraphernalia around. I don't remember if we saw or learned what their lusus was, but that would appear to be it.
I notice in that pile of rubbish some troll-horn colored traffic cones. This will come up later.
Oh wow, wait. I didn't see that before, but it looks like that lusus has been outfitted with some extra armor. How thoughtful!
Looks like more than ONE way to die is in this game, boys. It sort of seems like the deaths are heavily warned of and immediate, though. Kind of like the Problem Sleuth deaths, where doing an obviously bad thing kills you immediately, then you just go back.
Next stop seems to bee Zebede's hive. Wait, he keeps his lusus locked up in such a tiny cage? D:
Based on the description, it seems like this honey is similar to or the same as Sollux's Mind Honey, and that might be the only kind of honey this planet produces. Apparently extremely volatile, and probably exceptionally dangerous to anyone who can't absorb the power the way Sollux could (not that he handled it all that well either).
The book appears to read, "Beeooty!" Also, sound design seems different from act 1. Act 1 had sort of a problem with sound balancing. Some sounds were kind of loud, and others were way too quiet. It feels better mixed this time, and actions such as the psychic powers feel more impactful this time around.
This dance is so cute, oh my god.
Xefros really doesn't hold back. Either on Joey's strange appearance, or his low position on society, for that matter. He's a pretty honest dude.
This is a pretty fun choice, but it also seems to kind of poke fun at the idea of what a pointless decision this really is. Then again, I don't remember if we've seen art of Joey with straight cone horns, I only remember seeing the curvy ones she has in this trailer. I wonder what kind of a difference it might make.
These guys are so expressive!! They were pretty expressive in Act 1 too, but the general vibe then was fear and terror, so they didn't have too much to be expressive about. But Joey seems so gleeful and Xefros a bit blunt, but kind of shy too. We didn't really get to see any person-to-person interactions in Act 1 until the very end. We saw Joey and Jude communicate via radio, but that was mostly text based rather than visual. Small detail, but I like the way the camera zooms in and moves around for cutscenes like this and in accordance with what's relevant, like moving to the weird grubcorns or whatever when Joey brings them up. Good stuff.
Interesting, guess for whatever reason they are off to attent Jeevik Week (whatever that is) after all. They don't even get the relevant text until after they've already decided what they're on the train for. Also, there's Chixie! After her friendsim route, it's kind of strange to see her skittish, antsy looking appearance retained here, considering her personality was kind of overhauled. But considering Zebruh is poking in off of frame left, maybe that's what's got her feeling anxious.
Also, this interaction with Elwurd IS pretty cute. Joey IS cute.
Interesting background music here. It seems to be cycling through friendsim tracks? With intercuts of unintelligible gibberish no doubt pertaining to arrival times and unattended bags and whatnot.
It looks like Joey and Marvus hit it off pretty quickly. Much like in friendsim, he's weirdly very cool to just help her out, even though it's far below his station.
Also, idk if it's just me, but I laughed out loud while they were checking out the bad mixtape. His smile just, fades ever so slightly, and that's it. It's brilliant.
You know, this is nothing new, but as I look it over, the other main friendsim trolls have been out in the open, but Vikare here is kind of blended into the pack with a bunch of randos.
This is our first look at Chittr, at least in some time. Looks like it's compulsory to follow Trizza on this program, not surprisingly. What is kidna surprising though is Cridea seems to have almost as many members herself. Who's the one person Trizza is beating her by? ... Herself? Seems unlikely she'd follow Cridea, so maybe.
This just in: Xefros is adorable.
Also, Dammek is only following three people, supporting the idea that these are the other tetrarchs, including Xefros, something I imagine he's not aware of. But then, only two people are following Fiamet's account, and one of them is Dammek. The other could be Cridea? OR, the Tetrarchs follow a system where they're not all following each other. So maybe Dammek is following two Tetrarchs, Fiamet and someone else. One of the other Tetrarchs is also following Fiamet. And Fiamet is following two tetrarchs. I... don't know how much sense that makes, though. And it kind of doesn't necessarily rule out Xefros as the secret fourth tetrarch, either.
Anyway, Fiamet knows quite a lot, which is very strange. I wonder if we're going to get much followup on that this act, though.
Also, there's something funny to me about "Jeevik Island." That is all.
I feel like someone (Tirona maybe?) put Marvus up to essentially be his honorable tyranny for this trial and he just decided to because he seriously gives no fucks
I just realized, this is a trial where Tyzias is (at least serving an advisory role) against Stella. Is this like, a date for them? If so, cute.
Also, troll trials don't have defense lawyers. This goes against everything I understand about alternian rule of law.
The splash bubble here says, "Take that!" With an english exclamation point instead of an alternian one. The ace attorney vibes arent exactly subtle, here.
Oh, wait. Joey here (in this lovely alternate style art) has straight cone horns. So I guess you can wear either. I... doubt? You can actually switch them around midgame, but the option is being clearly shown here. Which means all the art had to account for having different horns. I admire the extra effort.
Oh my god. Tirona is sooooooo ADORABLE!!!! I don't want to pressure her u0u
Haha, this is like a fancy pants remix of the train theme, obviously for the indigos. They even get an elevator for their section of the train. and fireplaces, as we'll see. God damn blue bloods.
Oh, that makes sense. I don't know why this didn't occur to me, but of course this train would be ceruleans and indigos, which makes that last, biggest train exclusively for the purples. That makes much more sense. Cerulean section seems a bit lower class compared to the downright stately indigo section, but still ritzy compared to the rustblood cab.
I'm sure the indigos train is a complete turnaround of this, considering how they are. They COULD make it the nicest, but, well, they're indigos. And they can do whatever they want. So of course it's going to be nothing but clown madness.
Hahaha, this part is so strange, but not unexpected. Joey's weird meta awareness of the situation, and Ardata's weird upfrontedness about her intentions. That screwdriver sure is familiar, though...
Ah, the drone. Oh my god, I don't think I noticed that little hat its wearing, wow. It looks decrepit and fused to the train, but it doesn't seem to be essentially comatose like I thought it would be. This is a pretty interesting Strife concept! And I like it.
As I suspected, the hint system is feeling more cooperative this time around. It seems first it will warn you against bad actions, then if you persist, give you more direct suggestions. I wonder if it still only works for Joey.
Hahaha, this last montage is pretty great. This is no PG-rated Act 1-fest. We actually use the Fuck word around here.
I was right about the middle kart. Seems catered to the yellows, mostly, so the olives feel sort of tacked on. Also, yellows seem to be especially bizarre in general. Most of them have the colored eyes, some have headgear, and there's a couple who appare to be pestering each other. Olives seem pretty even headed by comparison. Makes them feel even more out of place here. Like maybe they're filling a spot that used to be occupied by something else.
Okay, that's enough of that. But yeah, really really hyped. And considering this is only 'minor' spoilers, I'm absolutely thrilled. Only 8 days to go!!!