So, a new update is in order. I've been working on Pageturner 2: Not Home for this past week and something has started to become increasingly obvious. This game is going to be too big to fit on Scratch's website. Yes, 50 megabytes was simply not enough for the huge amount of content in this game.
So the question is, what will I do?
In the past, I've offered demos with full downloadable versions. However, that's usually only confused people who think that the demo is the full game. Also, the amount of people who end up playing the full version is usually less than the amount who play the demo. That's just not right.
Another option is to split the game into two parts, but of course, that has its own problems. For one, though the game is big, it's not that long, (though it does have a ton of re-playability thanks to all the usual secrets and hidden stuff I put in it), so splitting it into two parts might feel odd. Second, my guess is that this will, again, confuse people further. If, for instance, the second part gets featured or something and not the first, that could cause problems. Locking the second part off to people who haven't played the first part might discourage people from trying the game to begin with. I've been there, it's a lot of work to search up the first part of a game, and that work will restrict the overall number of people who end up enjoying my content.
So what I've decided to do is this. Pageturner 2: Not Home will come in two editions:
THE GUMSHOE EDITION
&
THE MASTER SLEUTH EDITION.
The Gumshoe Edition is essentially a stripped-down version of the game, with less images and less overall content. The entire story will still be there, and I'm keeping things like secrets, but certain story details will be missing and there will be less cutscenes in general.
The Master Sleuth Edition is a downloadable version of the game, decked out in all the bells and whistles I can muster. My original plan for investigating the crime scenes will be implemented: basically a 3D environment that you can rotate and zoom in on to search for evidence. This edition will also have more sprite costumes to liven up the dialogue, include things like cutscene animation, and have longer music tracks and just more music in general. It will be the best possible version of the game.
Hopefully, the Gumshoe Edition will be enough to satisfy people who can't download the Master Sleuth Edition. I think there's definitely enough cool stuff in it to do so.
In other news, since Pageturner: Something Other has finally been announced, it now has its own page in the comic section. Look out for more news soon — I want the release to tie into Pageturner: Not Home's release.
-- LockedOn.
