TICKING TIME BOMB

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TimeAxis
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by TimeAxis »

Superboss of the Turnabout
by Super Legenda
Spoiler : Screenshot :
Image
It's been less than two minutes, Athena.
Spoiler : Completion Time :
22:46
Spoiler : Synopsis :
A g*mer is being accused of murder, and apparently a really cool crazy trial happened off-screen and we're stepping in to see the end of it.
Spoiler : Review :
STORY
The idea for this case was pretty cool. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of it happens off-screen, and the writing just kind of pretends you were there and saw everything, which makes for a very disorienting start. After doing a lot of reading in the court record to catch up, however, we're faced off against the titular Superboss of the Turnabout. It's tough to judge this case's story, however, because not only is there no beginning, but there's currently no end, either. The case didn't get finished in time, sadly. We're put in a situation where it's clear who the killer is supposed to be, because we're at the end of a case, so all that's left is to figure out the howdunnit and the whydunnit, which is a part of the story that is currently absent. As such, I can't really say the story particularly grabbed me. There just wasn't enough of it.

CHARACTERS
Despite the lack of story, there were a handful of colorful characters that managed to endear themselves to me in the short time they got to shine. Particularly the defendant and main witness/suspect who are constantly using gaming lingo. It felt like a fun quirk for a character, even if it was one shared by multiple of them. There were also some canon characters used, and while some of them felt on brand, others didn't really express themselves in ways that felt true to their characters, at least in the short time we got with them. The handling of the prosecutor side was about what you'd expect from an Ace Attorney case, though.

PRESENTATION
On the plus side, the use of a custom courtroom, and music choices were on point and helped enhance the tone of this trial. A lot of the presentation felt really cool in concept. But as far as the excution went, it was a bit spotty. For one thing, the dialogue felt very stiff, and there were a lot of minor grammar issues, which is not the biggest deal given that Super Legenda is more active on the spanish side of AAO, so I'm assuming English probably isn't their first language. It wasn't distracting or anything. I got used to it quickly. But more importantly, there were some minor bugs throughout the trial that made it feel unpolished in general. For example, at one point you're asked which part of a line of testimony you want to hear more about, and if you select the incorrect one, nothing happens. It's just not implemented yet. Another thing is that having so many characters on screen on the benches at once, while helping with the overall tone of the case of it being this big epic climax, ends up looking a bit crowded, with characters not always being on the correct layer relative to each other. (e.g. the sprite of a character who should be closer to the screen is behind someone instead of in front of them) But I know from experience that that's a really annoying thing to try to control in AAO, so I don't blame you too much for not worrying about it. Another issue was that at one point, the music just stops, and then when you return to the testimony, it stays stopped, even during press conversations, unless you happen to go back to the first statement. That one in particular feels particularly egrigious, because anyone who played the game normally would encounter that bug, which tells me there probably wasn't time to playtest this case at all.

Overall I liked what this case was trying to do, and with a bit more polish, I can see it being very cool.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay, technically, consisted of only one standard Ace Attorney testimony, but there was a cool mechanic added (which I did not at all pick up on until I saw it mentioned in the walkthrough) where it shows the prosecutor on the screen, and you can tell whether it's safe to press or not based on their expression. That was a really cool idea, and it was implemented well. It was also really cool before I figured that out, how you would take little chip damage every time you made Phoenix say something stupid. Overall it really helped with that "final boss" feeling. As far as the case logic went, I didn't hate it, but I wasn't feeling it too much. At times, it kind of felt like you were meant to reference things that happened earlier in the trial which the player never saw, in order to understand what evidence was relevant to what. It was kind of like "just present the thing that kind of seems like it's related to that, and Phoenix will fill in the blanks with information that we don't know", which I don't really know how to feel about. That being said, not all of the answers were like that, just a couple. Overall I'd say the case logic was pretty average, although it's hard to really judge it without knowing the ending. I will say that there were slight hints that maybe something more was going on, which left me intrigued.

THEME RELEVANCE
This was a very unique take on this theme. First off, the case is short, putting aside that it's unfinished (it does get pretty close to the end at least), because we skip the first two trial days and go straight to the final showdown, which is a really neat idea in concept. In practice, maybe it was executed a bit bumpily, but overall I liked the idea more than I disliked the execution. A sense of urgency was also established pretty well, using the typical "we've dragged this case on for 3 days already, we can't waste any more time" logic, which makes perfect sense in the world of Ace Attorney. I'm pretty happy with the theme relevance of this case.
Spoiler : Overall :
PROS
  • Cool take on the theme
  • Fun original characters
CONS
  • Spotty presentation
  • Feels too unfinished
Okay, and that's it for the reviews. Luckily no huge delays this time.

Happy Holidays, everyone. We'll get back to you when we've got a winner and an award ceremony to share with you.
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Question Arcs (Threads Coming Eventually)
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Gaiden Episodes
Champion of Turnabouts ★
HALLOWEEN HERO
Other
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attornauts
The Curious Case of the Phantom Limousine (Coming Eventually)
The Imposter's Turnabout (Coming Maybe)
XavierWright
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by XavierWright »

Let's gooooo, all the reviews are done. In less than a week, too, which I suppose has mostly to do with the short length of the entries, but nonetheless well done! I look forward to the award ceremony.
Super legenda
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by Super legenda »

Thanks for the review, I imagined the way it's done would not be everyone's cup of tea... and ye, I basically did like a third of the case so far in one day by the end of the deadline.
Last edited by Super legenda on Sun Dec 25, 2022 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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GuardianDreamer
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by GuardianDreamer »

TimeAxis and I are now in the process of Talking About Stuff. Please wait warmly.
Hosted The Year of Luigi competition (and here's the awards ceremony).
Current AAO projects (to be completed eventually, probably, hopefully): A Silly Little Dream (hopefully 2024), My Dearest Direst Disgrace (hopefully 2025)
Stuff I've made on here: QotU
Make My Life Worse
Malleus Maleficarum: The Witch of San Ignacio
The Six Transgender Lesbian Goddesses of Love Are Having A Petty Argument, So They Try To Settle Things Alongside The Three Transgender Gay Gods of Flavor
Defend Him, Not Me!
The Guardian and the Dreamer
I was a guest judge and did a bit of writing for the TICKING TIME BOMB competition.
My Twitter is here
Avatar is of Marth from Fire Emblem, commissioned from @PiyoStoria on Twitter.
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GuardianDreamer
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by GuardianDreamer »

Hi hello it's me the legal double post, how are you all doing.

TimeAxis and I have decided on awards stuff, comparing our lists in a heated debate that lasted days (it did not last days, nor was it heated). Now the focus will be on actually making the awards ceremony, but yeah, all the awards stuff technically exists. We really want to make everyone feel celebrated since there was a lot of great stuff this competition and showing your creative work to be judged can be mildly terrifying but also feels nice. Please continue waiting warmly, especially as the end of the year rolls around and it feels like everyone is busy and also everyone is not busy at the same time (or maybe that's just me).
Hosted The Year of Luigi competition (and here's the awards ceremony).
Current AAO projects (to be completed eventually, probably, hopefully): A Silly Little Dream (hopefully 2024), My Dearest Direst Disgrace (hopefully 2025)
Stuff I've made on here: QotU
Make My Life Worse
Malleus Maleficarum: The Witch of San Ignacio
The Six Transgender Lesbian Goddesses of Love Are Having A Petty Argument, So They Try To Settle Things Alongside The Three Transgender Gay Gods of Flavor
Defend Him, Not Me!
The Guardian and the Dreamer
I was a guest judge and did a bit of writing for the TICKING TIME BOMB competition.
My Twitter is here
Avatar is of Marth from Fire Emblem, commissioned from @PiyoStoria on Twitter.
Trybien
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by Trybien »

Take as much time as you two need (in reason). Broken Commandments was a delight, and I am willing to wait to see what you two have in store for Ticking Time Bomb. Though I am curious if it will be pulling from previous competition lore or not.
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Winner of the “Broken Commandments” Case Competition
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DeathByAutoscroll
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by DeathByAutoscroll »

Can't wait to see what you two are cooking up for this ceremony!
Thrower of bricks.

Co-host of the Into the Takumi-verse case compeition.

Stuff I've made in 2 weeks:
The Impossible Turnabout
Erinaceinae Griminance

Cases I have collabed on:
Don't Resort to a Turnabout (W.I.P)
Trucy's Magical Catastrophe
That time I got reincarnated as a fictional Defence Lawyer in An Ace Attorney fangame and had to defend myself against incredibly unfair odds.

Stuff I've made by myself that is good:
...maybe in the future.
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GuardianDreamer
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by GuardianDreamer »

Hi hello it's me again, I checked in with TimeAxis and we've decided to make it clear that you're all free to make minor edits and stuff to your entries under these official guidelines. TimeAxis does want to emphasize that you do not remove anything though (I bolded it AND underlined it so you all notice it), that's very important. But if a stray typo or presentation bug was bothering you a lot that you've noticed since submitting, feel free to go do the thing. Poke your bombs and stuff, they're defused already so it's probably harmless (note: not actual bomb safety advice).

Anyway feel free to continue waiting calmly. Uh I mean, panic, bombs and stuff!!!
Hosted The Year of Luigi competition (and here's the awards ceremony).
Current AAO projects (to be completed eventually, probably, hopefully): A Silly Little Dream (hopefully 2024), My Dearest Direst Disgrace (hopefully 2025)
Stuff I've made on here: QotU
Make My Life Worse
Malleus Maleficarum: The Witch of San Ignacio
The Six Transgender Lesbian Goddesses of Love Are Having A Petty Argument, So They Try To Settle Things Alongside The Three Transgender Gay Gods of Flavor
Defend Him, Not Me!
The Guardian and the Dreamer
I was a guest judge and did a bit of writing for the TICKING TIME BOMB competition.
My Twitter is here
Avatar is of Marth from Fire Emblem, commissioned from @PiyoStoria on Twitter.
User avatar
TimeAxis
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by TimeAxis »

Some of you probably want a hypeshot to see that the ceremony is progressing. I'm still sticking with my previous ETA of a couple weeks since I last mentioned it (which would mean probably about a week from now). So far nothing's happened to change that estimate, but we'll see.
Spoiler : Hypeshot :
Image

casewriter wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 10:21 pm
That's cool, and welcome, but this isn't the thread for that. I recommend reading forum descriptions and checking what thread you're in before replying.
Image
Question Arcs (Threads Coming Eventually)
ImageImageImageImage
Gaiden Episodes
Champion of Turnabouts ★
HALLOWEEN HERO
Other
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attornauts
The Curious Case of the Phantom Limousine (Coming Eventually)
The Imposter's Turnabout (Coming Maybe)
User avatar
DeathByAutoscroll
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by DeathByAutoscroll »

TimeAxis wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 12:57 am Some of you probably want a hypeshot to see that the ceremony is progressing. I'm still sticking with my previous ETA of a couple weeks since I last mentioned it (which would mean probably about a week from now). So far nothing's happened to change that estimate, but we'll see.
Spoiler : Hypeshot :
Image
Spoiler : Relevent I swear :
Thrower of bricks.

Co-host of the Into the Takumi-verse case compeition.

Stuff I've made in 2 weeks:
The Impossible Turnabout
Erinaceinae Griminance

Cases I have collabed on:
Don't Resort to a Turnabout (W.I.P)
Trucy's Magical Catastrophe
That time I got reincarnated as a fictional Defence Lawyer in An Ace Attorney fangame and had to defend myself against incredibly unfair odds.

Stuff I've made by myself that is good:
...maybe in the future.
XavierWright
Posts: 166
Joined: Tue May 18, 2021 8:43 pm
Gender: Male
Spoken languages: English

Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by XavierWright »

TimeAxis wrote: Sun Jan 01, 2023 12:57 am Some of you probably want a hypeshot to see that the ceremony is progressing. I'm still sticking with my previous ETA of a couple weeks since I last mentioned it (which would mean probably about a week from now). So far nothing's happened to change that estimate, but we'll see.
Spoiler : Hypeshot :
Image
Spoiler : :
NO, DON'T, YOU'LL KILL US ALL-
Er, anyway, hyped for the awards ceremony.
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GuardianDreamer
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by GuardianDreamer »

Happy new year everyone, we're on good pace in terms of writing the awards ceremony, a significant amount was done today. Have this totally not relevant message I sent on the case developer DIscord.
Image
Hosted The Year of Luigi competition (and here's the awards ceremony).
Current AAO projects (to be completed eventually, probably, hopefully): A Silly Little Dream (hopefully 2024), My Dearest Direst Disgrace (hopefully 2025)
Stuff I've made on here: QotU
Make My Life Worse
Malleus Maleficarum: The Witch of San Ignacio
The Six Transgender Lesbian Goddesses of Love Are Having A Petty Argument, So They Try To Settle Things Alongside The Three Transgender Gay Gods of Flavor
Defend Him, Not Me!
The Guardian and the Dreamer
I was a guest judge and did a bit of writing for the TICKING TIME BOMB competition.
My Twitter is here
Avatar is of Marth from Fire Emblem, commissioned from @PiyoStoria on Twitter.
User avatar
TimeAxis
Posts: 389
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 8:27 pm
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by TimeAxis »

Quick progress update: We've finished the writing, just need to get everything all implemented into the editor properly. It'll probably take a day or two of fiddling around and maybe 1 day or so of testing, if I had to guess. So basically, don't be surprised if the ceremony drops some time this weekend, assuming nothing unexpected happens.
Image
Question Arcs (Threads Coming Eventually)
ImageImageImageImage
Gaiden Episodes
Champion of Turnabouts ★
HALLOWEEN HERO
Other
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attornauts
The Curious Case of the Phantom Limousine (Coming Eventually)
The Imposter's Turnabout (Coming Maybe)
Trybien
Posts: 3050
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 12:20 am
Gender: Male
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by Trybien »

Loving the turnaround speed.
Patiently contains hype.
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Winner of the “Broken Commandments” Case Competition
XavierWright
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Re: TICKING TIME BOMB

Post by XavierWright »

Time to get prepared, boys and girls.
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