dpp

WTF is Telltale's new game?

Recommended Posts

They should do the thing they do in Japanese hentai porn games where you hold a button to speed up the dialogue.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I just wish it tracked which conversations had been heard across all games. That way it wouldn't start repeating until I'd already heard all content.

Yeah, that would have been great. I've only played it twice, but I heard many of the same conversations in the second game.

Also, the more I think about that article, the more I think it's right about the game of poker itself. I'd love to see TTG go back and fix it so that the actual poker mechanics were less insane. Once it's been pointed out to you, it's REALLY obvious, even to a beginner like me. And my strategy has quickly evolved into the one John Walker said it would: Playing extremely conservatively, until you have two great cards.

Of course, I can't imagine TTG going back and spending any more money on a game like this. Although even if they added a difficultly level called, "real", I wonder how difficult it would be to implement.

None of which is to say that I don't enjoy playing it... I do! In fact, I'm looking forward to playing it again, but mainly so I can unlock everything.

My wish list:

When I come back to The Inventory, the host says "welcome back!" instead of playing the opening sequence again. The world has such a wonderful, relaxed environment. I want to hang out in it, and anything that breaks the illusion does ruin it a bit... Like hearing the same dialogue rather frequently.

One of the wonderful things about The Inventory is the attention to detail. I love all the little things that all add up.

What does Flint Paper do, btw? I was kind of hoping that the more I played the drunker he'd get, until he eventually fell off his chair... but nothing has happened so far.

Still, got to say, loving this so far, just for the wonderful environment and presentation.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have nothing to do with the poker AI but I'll be trying to fix whatever else I can in the update we're putting out.

I'm glad John Walker has such high personal standards, but man do I wish he would acknowledge that in addition to high standards he has very narrow and very specific personal tastes, and he reviews exclusively to them. He surely realized years ago that Telltale titles aren't to his taste, but he continues to pick up the reviews for TTG titles, only to take huge bombastic shits on them, spilling pages and pages of ink to say "I don't like it, I was disappointed." I know its his job, and I don't fault him for it, but if I was him I would have probably just stopped writing about Telltale titles by now, and saved myself the ulcer.

I guess because they think it'd be easier to program?

So, let me get this 100% right: The deck is a "real" deck. Which is to say, if I fold when two players go "All in", and I watch the cards being dealt ("the river", or whatever it's called) and realise I would have won if I'd gone "All in", too... Then I REALLY would have won if I'd gone all in. It wouldn't have been different cards that would have been dealt?

If so, I'm very pleased :tup:

Correct. The cards' draw order is based on a random seed value generated at the start of the hand -- the digital equivalent of shuffling the deck -- so the cards that you see were fated the moment you clicked the "deal" button.

We're even burning a card between the flop, turn, river like you're supposed to do, which means nothing really other than tryin to be gratuitously accurate. I think that our programmer even populated the textures of the burned cards (which are only ever really seen face down, off to the side of the community cards), so you could conceivably see them if you used one of those 3D ripping programs that grabs whenever is being drawn to screen and lets you open it in 3DS Max.

Edited by Jake

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So when you get to peek at the folded cards they're the real cards they were holding? That's awesome...

Has anyone noticed that the indicator for who's the small/big blind sometimes doesn't show correctly? (very minor, it's deducible from where the dealer button is)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Also, I think Walker is just plain wrong about the AI. I'm perfectly able to do stuff like bluff them to fold, especially Strong Bad at this point. But it's true they sometimes play way weaker hands than you'd expect.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think that our programmer even populated the textures of the burned cards (which are only ever really seen face down, off to the side of the community cards), so you could conceivably see them if you used one of those 3D ripping programs that grabs whenever is being drawn to screen and lets you open it in 3DS Max.

Uh oh, sounds to me like people will exploit that. I hope you're using Valve anti-cheat, otherwise angry TF2 players will accuse you of making it easy to "farm" unlockables or somesuch.

I don't really know what I'm talking about.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, you don't have to go to such lengths to farm the items... put it on the easiest difficulty and hit New Game until they wager the items, that's it.

But it would be sad to cheat in this game... 95% of the fun for me is to hear the conversations and the other 5% is the new Sasha, which is AWESOME and Heavy is the class I play the most these days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Also, the more I think about that article, the more I think it's right about the game of poker itself. I'd love to see TTG go back and fix it so that the actual poker mechanics were less insane. Once it's been pointed out to you, it's REALLY obvious, even to a beginner like me. And my strategy has quickly evolved into the one John Walker said it would: Playing extremely conservatively, until you have two great cards.

That's how you play poker against aggressive or random players. Conservatively till you get a top 10 hand, then dig at the players that have been pushing in all night with garbage. It's effective against Max and Strongbad, because they're tuned to be weak to that. But you likely won't catch Tycho without better play.

Bluffing is romanticized by poker fiction. People will often bluff a better situation than they have, but a stone cold bluff is almost always a terrible idea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
. . .romanticized by poker fiction.

Poker fiction?

Romanticized?

What? How does that even exist?

Well. . .I guess James Bond, or Maverick might qualify.

Enjoy the game. But.

Fix Tycho's damn nose!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think that our programmer even populated the textures of the burned cards (which are only ever really seen face down, off to the side of the community cards), so you could conceivably see them if you used one of those 3D ripping programs that grabs whenever is being drawn to screen and lets you open it in 3DS Max.

That is SO cool. Thanks for explaining how it's done. It's nice to know that the game never "cheats", not even slightly. Excellent!

I'm glad John Walker has such high personal standards, but man do I wish he would acknowledge that in addition to high standards he has very narrow and very specific personal tastes, and he reviews exclusively to them. He surely realized years ago that Telltale titles aren't to his taste, but he continues to pick up the reviews for TTG titles, only to take huge bombastic shits on them, spilling pages and pages of ink to say "I don't like it, I was disappointed." I know its his job, and I don't fault him for it, but if I was him I would have probably just stopped writing about Telltale titles by now, and saved myself the ulcer.

Hmm. Not sure that's fair. For a start, I'm pretty sure he really liked (if not loved) the Strong Bad games, Tales of Monkey Island, and Sam & Max Season 3, didn't he? So I don't think you can say he shits on all TTG releases.

Also, his Poker Night "review" was more of his personal editorial piece, rather than an attempt at an objective review. As he puts it: "These are not straight reviews, but articles about wot WE think".

I do think that everything he says about the AI is very true, as well. Once it's been pointed out, and you play the game, you can really see what he's talking about. The players are unbelievably erratic. Often making several thousand dollar bets at when the blinds are only in the 100s.

Completely legitimate criticisms include: "Frequently characters will chuck in an enormous raise, then fold at almost nothing after the next card. And there’s outlandishly stupid betting like putting in all but 200 of their chips, and then folding when re-raised for the final few. Or raising after the only other opponent is all in."

In response to some suggesting he shouldn't review the game, he points out: "I know how to play poker. That seems a reasonably sensible qualification for someone reviewing a poker game. If this were a backgammon game – a game I have no idea how to play – I think people would be rightly miffed if I were to review it, and therefore have no idea if the AI was any good, was a worthwhile opponent."

Personally, the whole experience (the world, animation, dialogue, presentation, attention to detail) manages to outweigh the weirdness of the AI. And like I said, it'd be awesome if you could slip in a "Realistic" difficult mode for those who want to play it like a real game of poker.

For my part, however, I really, really enjoyed Poker Night at the Inventory and can't wait to play it again! :tup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Walker completely lost me when he made it clear he was going to spend the article being a pretentious poker fan.

For my skill level (low) this is a very fun game. I am really enjoying it. I think most people that have played the game are enjoying it, from what I hear on forums, twitter, etc. Obviously that doesn't mean nobody can criticize the game, but the game does seem to be doing what it says on the tin, which for five dollars is decent going. So... I'm really not sure I see the point of that article at all.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmm. Not sure that's fair. For a start, I'm pretty sure he really liked (if not loved) the Strong Bad games, Tales of Monkey Island, and Sam & Max Season 3, didn't he? So I don't think you can say he shits on all TTG releases.

Fair enough. I'm sure I notice his name far more when it's on a scathing, disappointed piece, and notice the name of the outlet more on a positive one. Not on purpose, but probably unfortunately how my mind works if I'm not super attentive.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Fair enough. I'm sure I notice his name far more when it's on a scathing, disappointed piece, and notice the name of the outlet more on a positive one. Not on purpose, but probably unfortunately how my mind works if I'm not super attentive.

I think it's a common human trait, to be honest!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bugs for the pile:

C: When you lose/win a game and you want to quit, you have to go to the Main Menu... No problem, except for some reason it loads the whole street scene (which takes a while) instead of the quick 2D version.

C: Once the camera has zoomed in your last opponent, if you resize your resolution/flip from windowed to fullscreen, the camera reverts back to its original position, and the character talks to where the camera was, instead of where you are.

Minor stuff! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think many of Walker's criticisms have a point, but he approached the game as a serious poker game while I think it's more about the characters and humour than the poker.

I have played a little bit of Hold'em with players who are pretty good, I'm sure they had a similar opinion about my playing as John Walker has about this game's AI :)

We're even burning a card between the flop, turn, river like you're supposed to do, which means nothing really other than tryin to be gratuitously accurate. I think that our programmer even populated the textures of the burned cards (which are only ever really seen face down, off to the side of the community cards), so you could conceivably see them if you used one of those 3D ripping programs that grabs whenever is being drawn to screen and lets you open it in 3DS Max.
:tup: awesome

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I played it a few times and dropped it, because I'm not that much of a poker fan and, playing on the most chatty option, I ran out of new banter after half a dozen game.

HOWEVER, the game is incredibly successful at its most difficult ask, which is to bring those characters together and have it make sense. No surprise for Max & Strong Bad, but Tycho is a perfect 10 - and I wouldn't have bet on it at all.

I'd be more nuanced about The Heavy - the facial expression and the neck-bending look-at were disappointing and I wish you'd use more of the "Meet the Heavy" persona and range of expression rather than going full-on ingame persona. But, heh, that's a valid choice too.

Anyway, I, for one, found the poker personalities - how they played vs their stereotype - to be very well done.

Another wish though : make The Inventory a more atmospheric place, because it is very, very bland right ... there doesn't seem to be any history to it. And, also, if there's a next game, I think an awesome thing would be to have a brand new character for the host ... I dream of Claud Eggerton Eggerton Greene in this role, but it's taking the dream too far, isn't it ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It would please me greatly if, in the next "Inventory" game, Max Ides is a real character.

U:

Possibly also Phaedrus.

Oh, and Space Asshole, and The Wizard.

I think that should just about do it, yeah?

(I'm so sorry.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was most disappointed when I heard Strong Bad reel off a list of domain names but neglected dot museum :(

Also, I doubt you're Gordon Freeman; if you were, everyone would be dead by the end of a simple game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Actually you are the secret of Monkey Island. Ask Ron Gilbert and he will not deny it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now