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[Zaphos]

Empyreal -- I think you're taking the ending at face value, when most of its strength lies in its use of understatement and unreliable narrators.

[Chaoseed]

Man, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this...I think I'm about halfway through...the idea is intriguing, but I'll need a few more days at least to say anything intelligent about it.

However, I do think the instructions could be a little clearer. Maybe the guy giving you instructions could talk about how the computer extrapolates backward in the past based on your constraints. Also, there was a bit talking about the interface that I found confusing...The guy is talking about how to set the beginning point of the migration routes, and he says something like, "Set the time on the timeline and then click on it". And by "it" he actually means the migration route...To create a migration route, first you click on its ending point on the timeline (closer to the present), then you draw the migration route on the graph, then you click on its beginning point on the timeline (closer to the past), and then you click on the migration route itself. It took me a few minutes to figure out that last part.

All in all, I think it's good that you have the "tutorial-like" section included in the game, but I also think it would be nice to have a document included with the game that explains the interface...that's just my personal feeling, though.

[increpare]

I'm sorry to ask this so late, but is it possible to make fullscreen optional? I tried fixing this myself, but couldn't seem to find the files to linking lua.

there isn't a lua option for it, but...hmm...ok here's a binary compiled in windowed mode for windows...just for you, baby...

[William Broom]

Empyreal: I really liked the ending. It seems to me that almost every game ever made ends with a 'bang'. But there are many good endings in other mediums that just 'fizzle'. Even though games are probably very much more conducive to a 'bang' ending, it's great to explore other possibilities too.

I cannot figure out how to get the spoilers in that post to show!

Just quote him?

[Bennett]

I just got to the ending. I don't mind having a subtle ending, but I think it would be cool if the character acted a bit like the man in 'an artist of the floating world': he should angrily deny that his historical theories had any role in causing the war. He should kind of hint that he is haunted by feelings of responsibility.

[William Laub]

I'm sorry to ask this so late, but is it possible to make fullscreen optional? I tried fixing this myself, but couldn't seem to find the files to linking lua.

there isn't a lua option for it, but...hmm...ok here's a binary compiled in windowed mode for windows...just for you, baby...

Thank you. Hopefully someone else will find it useful as well.

I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's really great in a lot of ways. Thanks again for making the windowed version.

[Massena]

Thanks  lot for that, Bennett; I really appreciate it.  I'll have a very close look at it after dinner.

Can't really say much about the game, as I haven't played it.
Could you compile it for 10.4? I tried but it looks complicated. Anyhow, I'll try again and report back.

As a rule I don't concern myself with versions pre-10.5.  I can send you the xcode project files/makefile if you want to give it another go. (needless to say, if you do compile something, I would be cheerful, and happily redistribute it with your permission).

Ah yes, good man. I would be grateful.

[Traveller]

I'm fascinated!  That was fun.  Difficulty all over the place though, so while it makes narrative sense, it weirded out my gameplay sense when some levels were literally one-click trivial right after a hard one.  I expected to see more options, too--like the ability to tweak wars more directly than with migration routes.  Like, the ability to mark a city as being a battlefield between times X and Y.

That and when I saw "Future" in the levels, I have to admit I expected either time travel, or something where you were actually planning things INTO the future directly for the war effort, possibly not knowing that's what you were doing at the time.

It was a very fun change of pace!

[Paul Eres]

Yes, more options / a sequel would be nice. It seems like this mechanic hasn't been fully explored in the 20 levels given.

[muku]

I just tried finishing level 18, but couldn't seem to do it... (mild spoilers perhaps, though with people spoiling the ending outright, who am I trying to kid Seriously, Bennett, spoiler tag, please?). I managed to get all towns to show the others' population as zero at t=0, but the overall population panel still showed a population of 2. I'm guessing there's some weirdness with rounding errors going on?

[increpare]

I'm guessing there's some weirdness with rounding errors going on?

yeah.  easiest way to do it is to make sure they all have a more-or-less equal population when the populations are still high.  So, say, try to divide them into four groups of 4k each, or something along those lines.

[muku]

'kay, thanks for the hint, I'll give it a try. Have you considered rounding the population to the nearest integer for checking goal conditions? Because I guess 0.31 of a person doesn't make much sense.

[increpare]

'kay, thanks for the hint, I'll give it a try. Have you considered rounding the population to the nearest integer for checking goal conditions? Because I guess 0.31 of a person doesn't make much sense.

yeah, I have. I should change it as well.  I'll...make a note...

[jimmythechang]

My partial understanding of the mechanics were that people on the move don't have the time nor the resources to procreate. So for Level 18, just link up all the cities in a circle at the beginning. The Adam and Eve of the Others will never have had an opportunity to meet.

Throughout the game I understood what I was supposed to do, and I admit I...took to the task rather readily. For me, the Others were marginalized to the point of being really nothing more than numbers and squares, which may have been your intention in the first place. Perhaps they really weren't the "violent savages" they were professed to be, but as far as I was concerned, they were just a variable standing in my way.     

[Will Vale]

I downloaded this and played it last night - I found I got confused perhaps more than I should, and I had to re-read the briefings several times to figure out what to do.

But still, I looked up and it was an hour or so later and I'd got to level 12, so something's definitely going right I think the core concept is brilliant, but I must admit that only a couple of levels have clicked for me - by which I mean reached the point where I'd internalised enough of the rules to go and set out the solution without trial + error.

I do wonder if it would be easier to grasp if the mechanics were discrete rather than continuous (one block of population moved per one bar of years) but then you wouldn't have some of the fiddly but interesting optimisation you have to do on the levels with tight constraints.

A minor nitpick: I think the story tips its hand a bit early on - mentioning the Romany people is a bit of a clue as to where things are going/what kind of a place your country might be.

Now I just need to finish the game

[edit] Finished now, I did much better today than yesterday. I guess I must be a dyed-in-the-wool coder since level 18 immediately felt like a rounding error trick That was probably my favourite.

Not sure about interpreting the ending, I don't think I would have made the inference others did, but then maybe I'm too thick to draw my own conclusions. I wonder if this was because the protagonist has my name (yay!) and therefore it was hard for me to ascribe genocidal motivations to him?

Cheers and thanks for making this, certainly very different to my usual fare!

Will