[T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ★

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Tiagofvarela
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[T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ★

Post by Tiagofvarela »

Spoiler : Ramblings :
This is a trial I thought I wouldn't finish back when I abandoned it in 2016. I started making it for the Never Trust The Narrator competition, but ended up not having enough made to even be theme relevant, and ended up sitting at 500-ish frames. This case was also harder than my previous ones because I had to actually plan things out. Unbelievable, I know. When I abandoned it, I had enough frames done that I couldn't delete it, but I knew I didn't have it me to finish it.
Fast-forward to now and the trial is sitting at around 4000 frames + Short Prologue, 3000-ish of those made in a week. What the heck happened!? Well, this competition happened. Thank you so much to Enthalpy for hosting this competition. It was only thanks to it that I could sit down, plot things out, and finish this case! Thank you, again. Also, I stole your synopsis.
Synopsis:
"A man goes to the library to study mathematics. He promptly gets arrested for murdering a man in said library. Ah, too relatable.
Our mathematician defends himself from the nefarious Prosecutor Beth - a man without qualification, an airheaded(?) idol detective, the usual lying witnesses, and the anger of the entire court as the defendant insults them without even trying."

-Enthalpy

In my own words, this is the story of the unluckiest man you will ever know. Please, enjoy the show.
Link:
http://aaonline.fr/player.php?trial_id=78908 (Prologue)
http://aaonline.fr/player.php?trial_id=87598
Warning
This trial utilises a lot of variables in order to progress, and remembers some of your failures.
Please avoid using saves unless truly necessary.
Updates:
23/07/2019
  • Added some more assets to clarify events.
  • Added another conversation for presenting the same evidence twice.
22/07/2019
  • PROLOGUE:
  • Added more sound effects to the prologue.
  • Replaced many instances of *actions* like these with different descriptions.
  • Rewrote some of Randall's line to make his personality more consistent with the Main Trial.
    MAIN TRIAL:
  • Reworded a number of sentences to make them clearer. Some prompts better hint at what they're asking for.
  • Added a number of new frames to fix slight transitional inconsistencies with the many paths or other bugs.
  • Added a new unique conversation for an instance in which you present evidence you've already presented.
Spoiler : Old Updates :
06/06/2019
  • Made the date and time of the crime a bit clearer and more consistent.
  • Random fixes ahoy. Made the dialogue and transitions in CE5 smoother.
05/06/2019
  • Random fixes. Changed plotpoint in CE1 and 2 and 3 to make the situation more plausible and less complicated.
  • Added a new possible objection to CE3.
  • Added a bunch of lines explaining exactly what Randall is thinking and doing rather than leaving it unclear.
  • CE4 hopefully made easier.
04/06/2019 - Random updates. Added more feedback to CE2.
11/01/2019 - Fixed a few instances of decidedly bad wording.
07/11/2018 - Fixed a few typos.
05/11/2018 - Release.
Screenshots:
Spoiler : :
ImageImage
ImageImage
Aligning pictures is easy!
Walkthrough:
Spoiler : :
CE - Cross-examination. CEx with x being the number.
PROMPT - Will write a blurb of the prompt followed by the answer.
ALTERNATIVE - An alternative way to progress.
EXTRA - Leads to extra dialogue but does not progress from the prompt or CE
PENALTY - A unique penalty.

CE1
Press all Statements.
(getting penalised here alters dialogue a little in a CE3 press conversation)
EXTRA: Present My Memories at Statement 2.

CE2
Present My Memories at Statement 3. Then, Present Danllo's Investigation at the new Statement.
EXTRA: Present Theresa Reinhart at Statement 2.
EXTRA: Present Traces of Blood at new Statement.
EXTRA: Present Autopsy Report at new Statement (does almost the same as pressing).

CE3:
Present My Memories at Last Statement. Then, Present Danllo's Investigation at last Statement.
ALTERNATIVE: Present My Memories at last Statement. Then, Present Library Diagram at Last Statement. Then, Present Danllo or Danllo's Investigation. (Note: If you present the diagram and then pick wrong evidence, you will receive a double penalty if you try to bluff having pressed CE3-1 or CE3-3)
EXTRA: Present Bloody Knife at Last Statement.
EXTRA: Press statement 4. Then, Present My Memories at the same statement. Finally select that you are objecting because of what you were doing. This doubles a penalty later.
EXTRA: If you enter the co-counsel three times before presenting 'My Memories' Theresa will discover the contradiction for you (this does not change dialogue, only adds).
EXTRA: Co-Counsel conversation changes after presenting 'My Memories'. It also updates 'Danllo's Investigation' with new information.
EXTRA: CE3-1 includes CE3-3's press conversation if you have not yet pressed it. This press conversation unlocks a penalty later.


CE4:
Press Statement 2. Select Paragraph 4. Stop there. Press Statement 2 again, and Select Paragraph 4 again. Ask what colour the book he dropped was.
You may present it at Statement 4, or Press Statement 2 and ask about the knife (if you have asked all the new questions already).
EXTRA: Present Facing the Bookshelf at Statement 3. Then, present Browsing a Book or Yellow Book. (You will only be able to move on if you possess one of these. Failing twice to present them unlocks a new line. Because why not?)
EXTRA: Present Library Diagram at Statement 1 (you will be penalised if the librarian explained the library layout to you).
EXTRA: Present Browsing a Book at Statement 4. Allegro will now play.
EXTRA: Pressing Statement 2 gives you a variety of options. Check below.

Statement 2:
1st Paragraph
2nd Paragraph - If you have Browsing a Book you can press further here (assuming you did not already object using Browsing a Book).
3rd Paragraph
4th Paragraph - Press twice to gain access to three questions. You are free to ask them all. Once you have asked them all, you will return to the original question. Once you have the original question back you can press further.
5th Paragraph - The first time you select this paragraph there is a unique scene.
6th Paragraph - You may press further freely here. (Pressing Statement 5 changes dialogue slightly)


PROMPT - "Allow me to explain..."
Select options until you move forward.

PROMPT - "This evidence could explain the discrepancy..."
Present Autopsy Report.
EXTRA: Present My Memories.
EXTRA: Present Danllo's Investigation or Gretta Danllo. (Changes dialogue later.)
EXTRA: Present Theresa Reinhart. (Slightly changes a plotpoint)
PENALTY: The first time you present wrong evidence you get a unique scene and no penalty.

PROMPT - "Someone fooled you"
Present Henry Park.
ALTERNATIVE: Present Robert Life.
EXTRA: All other profiles have unique responses and no penalty.

If you presented Henry Park, present Robert Life. Otherwise, present Henry Park.

CE5
Listen to the co-counsel conversation, claim you have evidence that shows what happened inside, then Present Wallbreak the Fourth and 'Theresa's Phone or Yellow Hat' in any order. If you do not present Theresa's Phone now, you will get a Prompt where you will have to present it.
EXTRA: Present Safely at the co-counsel conversation. (unlocks Present later)
EXTRA: After Pressing Last Statement and Listening to Co-Counsel once, Pressing Last Statement unlocks Yellow Hat.
Note: You could remain here presenting stuff indefinitely, because I am not implementing a fail-safe for presenting things that you've already presented. If that's what you want to do, feel free to waste your time. I did! The wonders of coming back to a project months later.

CE6
In order to progress, you need to unlock the truth in each of the four statements by pressing them and then:
Statement 1: Present Danllo's Investigation and Tea Cellar, in any order.
EXTRA: Present Epilepsy Medicine. Present again for extra dialogue.
Statement 2: Requires unlocking the truth in Statement 1.
Statement 3: Present Bloody Knife.
EXTRA: Traces of Blood.
Statement 4: Unlock the truth in statement 1. Present Safely Guard (or not, there's no penalty).

PROMPT - "I'd like to call..."
Present Safely Guard or Robert Life (if you presented Safely in CE5).

CE7
Listen to the co-counsel conversation, if you can.

The rest of the game can be played by trying all the options. There are no penalties or parts to get stuck on, except one that asks you to select an area in a picture. The answer is the right arm.
Credits:
Do not look in here if you haven't played yet. And if you have, the in-game credits are ten and a three fourths times better.
Spoiler : :
Betatesters (in a very particular order that was randomly selected):
  • bigwins
  • Shikomizue
  • Enthalpy (Competition)
  • fanfreak247
  • clcman
  • Vagrant
  • Ferdielance
Sprites:
  • Randall sprites by gotMLK7.
  • Tea and Theresa by DragonTrainer.
  • Henry and Gretta done by Hesseldahl.
  • Prosecutor by LunchPolice.
  • Wallbreak's Edits done by me.
I'm pretty positive everything is either free to use with credit and/or I got permission. Please tell me if there is something I cannot use, and I will take it down.
Music & Sound (including nonsensical names for the tracks made-up by me):
  • Theresa and Lisa voice clips by Rina-chan, also know as Kira Buckland.
  • Randall voice clips by me.
  • Bethan voice clips by Lind.
  • Cross-Examination ~ Moderato (Level Up by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Cross-Examination ~ Allegro (Reformat by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Objection! ~ If I May...? (Go Cart by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Final Objection ~ Did You Think You Were Innocent? (Rhinoceros by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Beth Oven ~ No Bluffs! (Sinfonia No 3 in D Major by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Beth Oven ~ Evil Desperation (Intended Force by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • A Place of Learning and Murder (Divertimento K131 by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Logical Reflection (On The Ground by Kevin Macleod - Creative Commons)
  • Suspence (Beta-B by Kan Gao - To The Moon)
  • Mysterious Morning (Between a Squirrel and a Tree by Kan Gao - To The Moon)
  • Happy Like a Child (World's Smallest Ferris Wheel by Kan Gao - To The Moon)
  • Trial ~ A Court for Beginners (Door of Truth by KATE - Fate/ hollow ataraxia)
  • Critical Thinking (March of the Dreadnoughts by Masashi Hamauzu - Final Fantasy XIII)
  • Pursuit track is "Naoe Yamato" from Majikoi. (Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai!!)
  • Tell the Truth (Courtroom Shuffle, a fan track from Homestruck, a Land of Fans and Music 3)
  • Credits theme is Gerudo Valley, from Super Smash Bros. series.
Other:
-Safely's speech patterns borrowed from Digital: A Love Story
Last edited by Tiagofvarela on Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:21 am, edited 16 times in total.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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AwesomeYears
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by AwesomeYears »

Currently playing through it, there seems to be a constant misspelling of "defense attorney" as "defence attorney". Though "defence" is the British English spelling of "defense", there doesn't seem to be a spelling of "defence attorney" anywhere on the internet unfortunately.
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Blizdi
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Blizdi »

Finished it once. It was pretty fun, now I have to literally find every single thing ever. It was pretty fun tho playing through it once.

Gonna devote the entire day tomorrow to playing this over and over again.
Image
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Ana_
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Ana_ »

AwesomeYears wrote:Currently playing through it, there seems to be a constant misspelling of "defense attorney" as "defence attorney". Though "defence" is the British English spelling of "defense", there doesn't seem to be a spelling of "defence attorney" anywhere on the internet unfortunately.
the uk isnt going to use "defense" when referring to attorneys and "defence" everywhere else but regardless of that:
Image
Image Image Image Image
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Tiagofvarela
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Tiagofvarela »

AceJakkidFan wrote:
AwesomeYears wrote:Currently playing through it, there seems to be a constant misspelling of "defense attorney" as "defence attorney". Though "defence" is the British English spelling of "defense", there doesn't seem to be a spelling of "defence attorney" anywhere on the internet unfortunately.
the uk isnt going to use "defense" when referring to attorneys and "defence" everywhere else but regardless of that:
-image-
Oh, my. I was going to reply, but it seems like somebody already jumped to my defence! (Get it?)
Anyhow, I, too, was going to post one such image.
If the series weren't called 'Ace Attorney', I'd have gladly used counsel or barrister, but alas, it was not meant to be.
Blizdi wrote:Finished it once. It was pretty fun, now I have to literally find every single thing ever. It was pretty fun tho playing through it once.

Gonna devote the entire day tomorrow to playing this over and over again.
Nice! Thanks!
But, don't expect too much. Most of the extra stuff is either me messing about or an extra/changed line so as to react to what you do or do not know at that point in time. And I'm not even sure they all work! I'm, like, 90% positive there's some 4 or 5 variables that the trial registers but then don't get used anywhere else.

Edit: That said: Penalties! Nobody ever goes for the penalty conversations, but I practically never reuse any, so it'd be nice if people read the various different ones. They can be quite fun sometimes.
Last edited by Tiagofvarela on Wed Nov 07, 2018 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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DJJ6800
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by DJJ6800 »

Well, I just finished this case and...
Spoiler : :
What the hell did I just watch? It's...I don't even know what to think of it. I mean, it's well made, the characters are interesting and the story makes sense...I think. Maybe it doesn't. Last time I felt this way about a case was with Dragon's Turnabout but this just moved up the WTF levels for me. Great work. I think.
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Hey
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Hey »

Spoiler : :
I didn't know what to say about this case but DJJ680's reply practically stole the words right out of my mouth. In comparison to any other case that I played from before, I have to say this is one of the hardest cases I've ever played IMO. Best case I've ever played this year.
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Tiagofvarela
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Tiagofvarela »

DJJ6800 wrote:Well, I just finished this case and...
Spoiler : :
What the hell did I just watch? It's...I don't even know what to think of it. I mean, it's well made, the characters are interesting and the story makes sense...I think. Maybe it doesn't. Last time I felt this way about a case was with Dragon's Turnabout but this just moved up the WTF levels for me. Great work. I think.
Hey wrote:
Spoiler : :
I didn't know what to say about this case but DJJ680's reply practically stole the words right out of my mouth. In comparison to any other case that I played from before, I have to say this is one of the hardest cases I've ever played IMO. Best case I've ever played this year.
Thank you so much for playing and commenting! I'm happy you enjoyed the show.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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Hey
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Hey »

Oh yes, I was wondering about
Spoiler : :
Tea's testimony. The contradiction about him holding it in his hands is a red herring, isn't it?
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Tiagofvarela
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Tiagofvarela »

Hey wrote:Oh yes, I was wondering about
Spoiler : :
Tea's testimony. The contradiction about him holding it in his hands is a red herring, isn't it?
Spoiler : Answer :
Her testimony is essentially a battle of lies. The hard truth is what's in Randall's memories, but Tea is 'neglecting' to mention anything that points to Randall's innocence (i.e., him picking up the weapon off the ground). The only contradiction that will move the case forward is 'he dropped the yellow book', which shows he did drop something, something hitherto unmentioned. Forcing her to admit Randall dropped something makes the police realise she was purposefully hiding this, as she claimed the contrary during the investigation.
There are, however, some other contradictions regarding how Randall hid the weapon from sight until the shout when he was supposedly holding it in his hand, and why the hell he was faffing about with a book in the first place.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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Pigfaced
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Pigfaced »

So this is the first case I've ever tried on this site, and boy what a case...
I really appreciated the fact that the format is way too different than what I'm used to, seeing all these original characters and all. However, I do have some complaints:
Spoiler : :
1. I wasn't a really big fan of Randall as a character. Not really the author's problem, just a personal thing.
2. Usually I'm really good with cases, but near the end I ended up just thinking "...wait WHAT?". Again maybe it's my problem, but even after I completed the case my mind was still blurry about what happened. Some things just weren't explained at all clearly; what was the kidnapping ring? Who organized it and why in the library? I'm still asking questions like that in my mind. Maybe I just "didn't get it".
Despite these issues, I really liked that part near the end. The music and the sprites were great too and I definitely enjoyed playing through it (mostly). I definitely respect the author for putting so much work and spending nearly 2 years of his life (sort of) in this one case.

I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a hard and different case.
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Tiagofvarela
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Tiagofvarela »

Pigfaced wrote:So this is the first case I've ever tried on this site, and boy what a case...
I really appreciated the fact that the format is way too different than what I'm used to, seeing all these original characters and all. However, I do have some complaints:
Spoiler : :
1. I wasn't a really big fan of Randall as a character. Not really the author's problem, just a personal thing.
I actually expected this to be the most common reaction, but I've actually seen a fair few people like him or think he's cute. I'm happy with that, considering I know he can sound quite mean a lot of the time.
2. Usually I'm really good with cases, but near the end I ended up just thinking "...wait WHAT?". Again maybe it's my problem, but even after I completed the case my mind was still blurry about what happened. Some things just weren't explained at all clearly; what was the kidnapping ring? Who organized it and why in the library? I'm still asking questions like that in my mind. Maybe I just "didn't get it".
Some of this is understandable. The kidnapping ring is ultimately something that comes out of the left field, and mostly unrelated. Most of the things that occurred that night are coincidence, including the ring meeting.
What surprises me more is that you don't know who organised it and why it was in the library. Understanding this is important to understanding the possible motivation if Randall were to be guilty.
Robbert made it clear that while he was aware of the kidnapping ring and lent the library, he didn't really partake. He also made it clear that he was completely controlled by his brother. The idea is that his brother, Givon Life, heads the kidnapping ring. This Givon Life is also the one who rendered Randall's arm immobile in an operation. This is a possible motive for Randall to try and get in on this kidnapping ring and try to sabotage it.
Are there any surprising new facts in what I've said here? I'd love to know what it was that I failed to convey in the case.
Despite these issues, I really liked that part near the end. The music and the sprites were great too and I definitely enjoyed playing through it (mostly). I definitely respect the author for putting so much work and spending nearly 2 years of his life (sort of) in this one case.

I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a hard and different case.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Replies in bold inside the spoiler.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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Pigfaced
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ●

Post by Pigfaced »

Tiagofvarela wrote:
Pigfaced wrote:So this is the first case I've ever tried on this site, and boy what a case...
I really appreciated the fact that the format is way too different than what I'm used to, seeing all these original characters and all. However, I do have some complaints:
Spoiler : :
1. I wasn't a really big fan of Randall as a character. Not really the author's problem, just a personal thing.
I actually expected this to be the most common reaction, but I've actually seen a fair few people like him or think he's cute. I'm happy with that, considering I know he can sound quite mean a lot of the time.
2. Usually I'm really good with cases, but near the end I ended up just thinking "...wait WHAT?". Again maybe it's my problem, but even after I completed the case my mind was still blurry about what happened. Some things just weren't explained at all clearly; what was the kidnapping ring? Who organized it and why in the library? I'm still asking questions like that in my mind. Maybe I just "didn't get it".
Some of this is understandable. The kidnapping ring is ultimately something that comes out of the left field, and mostly unrelated. Most of the things that occurred that night are coincidence, including the ring meeting.
What surprises me more is that you don't know who organised it and why it was in the library. Understanding this is important to understanding the possible motivation if Randall were to be guilty.
Robbert made it clear that while he was aware of the kidnapping ring and lent the library, he didn't really partake. He also made it clear that he was completely controlled by his brother. The idea is that his brother, Givon Life, heads the kidnapping ring. This Givon Life is also the one who rendered Randall's arm immobile in an operation. This is a possible motive for Randall to try and get in on this kidnapping ring and try to sabotage it.
Are there any surprising new facts in what I've said here? I'd love to know what it was that I failed to convey in the case.
Despite these issues, I really liked that part near the end. The music and the sprites were great too and I definitely enjoyed playing through it (mostly). I definitely respect the author for putting so much work and spending nearly 2 years of his life (sort of) in this one case.

I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a hard and different case.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Replies in bold inside the spoiler.
Well, I got some of it cleared out in my head now, thanks a lot for explaining! It's time I check out some other cases in here...
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Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ☆

Post by Bad Player »

Spoiler : QA :
Well, here we are...

Our protagonist has indomitable bad luck, which this time takes the form of... finding a bloody knife in the local library and promptly getting arrested for murder. This seems like it should be a straightforward case (especially since we don't even know of a victim), and in many ways, it is. The scenario sounds a bit plain, but with a tight, well-written cast, solid contradictions, and increasing trickiness, the case stays entertaining the whole way through.

Here's a stream of consciousness, cuz I'm too lazy to split it out into different sections (also I didn't get frame numbers for everything):
837: You don’t need two dashes. Delete the one on the second line.
501: Not grammatical; rephrase
446: 1 -> !
1372: deductible -> deducible
1576: Instead of making the lifebar flash here, you should make it flash after selecting the paragraph (since the place with the penalty isn’t the paragraph you pick, but whether you push harder or not)
In the Yellow Book evidence description you need a space in “Ms. Cellar”
2132: Delete “have” and “on”
At the beginning of the trial you use “co-council” instead of “co-counsel”
During Wallbreak’s court intro sequence, the lifebar never stops flashing
In Wallbreak’s (first) testimony:
  • After presenting the Autopsy Report, the press conversation shouldn’t just repeat itself
  • After presenting the Epilepsy Medication, presenting the Epilepsy Medication again shouldn’t give a generic penalty convo (and probably shouldn’t give a penalty at all)
  • You should only be able/need to present Safely once
  • There should be something that says/implies Wallbreak didn’t see the knife, since I think simply not mentioning it doesn’t necessarily imply he didn’t see it (especially in his testimony), and even if the knife had been there its omission from the testimony is natural because it is a well-established scientific fact that it is impossible to see a knife in the dark
If you say you want to call Robert Life, Beth shouldn’t say “We’ll need to call Mr. Life, too.”
If Wallbreak is supposed to be at the prosecutor’s bench, the background should be flipped.
3532: Remove the second hyphen
3598: You should probably mark Safely’s location on the map.
3664: you misspelled your own protagonist’s name smh
If Beth chooses to go over the footage again, you shouldn’t get the Yes/No question of whether you want to hear the explanation… You should just hear it.
3785: you can’t use british spellings all game then plead the fifth smh
3591/4092: Shouldn’t Theresa be there?

Also Prologue notes:
-Gretta's namebox says "Gretta" even though she doesn't introduce herself
-The main trial seems to have a lot more polish in terms of SFX and fades than the prologue
-Randy seems uncharacteristically rude in the library. I get (and really like) his "he says things that sound really rude but he doesn't actually intend any offense because he's just that dense" shtick, but here it just seems rude.

Anyway.

Good job on the case! The game has a simple premise and never gets too caught up in itself, but says fun with solid contradictions and an entertaining cast. The core cast is really funny, and the Randy/Theresa/Gretta dynamic is awesome. Out of the main characters, Beth feels a little flat, since his classical composers shtick feels a bit tacked on and never amounts to much. But his persistence definitely becomes apparent as the trial comes out, and pulls through in the end in a big way. The witnesses have just the right amount of eccentricity for one-off witnesses, with Wallbreak and Robert being the stand-outs. I think you did an especially great job matching the character with the sprite set for Robert, since the existence of breakdown/reveal sprites in the canon sprite sets can serve as a potential spoiler, but you took that and flipped it on its head.

The technical aspects of the case were all top-notch. You picked out high-quality sprite sets, and used music and sfx at appropriate places. You also put in a ton of effort into adding mini-branches to the trial, which gives a lot of leeway to the player in how they approach the case and helps prevent "right idea wrong evidence" frustration. (Of course, by going out to do this yourself, you open yourself up to requests to add even more mini-branches... but I think there were only a few places where I wanted you to add them, so good job.)

As for the plot... There's a fair amount to unpack. First, "the answer was in the security footage the whole time lol" could very easily be a disappointing resolution to a case, but you put in the work to explain why they didn't just find it there, so good job on that. The mystery kind of peters out at the end, but it remains steady until then, plus you lampshade this and the case transitions to more of a story-focus, so it's all fine. As for the story... boy, this is not the case for people who like closure. I get what you were trying to do, and it was totally fine the was was a relatively simple, relatively straightforward, not-epic (not in a bad sense, just that it isn't one of those "epic" cases), plain ol' fun cases for the vast majority of the playtime, but the end felt like it would've felt more at home on an "epic" case. The twist that, since this is all just a retelling by Wallbreak, he obviously couldn't have known what Randy was thinking and the thoughts were just made up, was a fun idea, but... doesn't feel like it changed much. All Randy's thoughts really did was recontextualize the rude things he said, so if you take that away he changes from a well-meaning but incredibly socially awkward guy into a rude guy. But the ending already potentially turns him into a cold-blooded murderer and the blue text twist doesn't have any effect on the actual plot, which takes away a lot of the impact a twist of this type could have. That being said, the fact that the case is of a reasonable length and isn't overly complex makes it a lot easier to both build and comprehend the twist, so I suppose there's that. Also, the twist removes all the blue text... but that would leave the "Randy's thoughts" evidence in place, wouldn't it? According to that, Randy fighting the knife was just a coincidence, which strongly cuts against the guilty Randy route. Since the ending otherwise seems so ambiguous, I can't tell if the innocent Randy is the canon end/truth and this is a small nod to that, or if it's some sort of 'plot-hole'. I'm also kind of curious whether the person in orange at the end was set up by Randy, or if that was a coincidence. After all, the way that whole segment opens was "Randy was falsely set up, and golly, a whole lot of coincidences led to his arrest! But that's all been straightened out now" "OBJECTION! No, he is guilty... And those weren't coincidences, he planned the whole thing!", but if Randy was acquitted just because another guy in orange happened to be there, that wouldn't really fit.

Also, a small nitpick in the plot: if Theresa lost her phone in the early early morning on the 20th, shouldn't she have noticed before the morning of the 21st that her phone was totally missing?

But anyway. On the whole, this case is really solid, with effort and attention to detail clearly visible throughout the case. I know I spent a lot of words pulling apart the twists and endings, but that's just going into the nitty-gritty for the sake of examining everything that could conceivably have been improved. The vast majority of the case is a fun, light-hearted mystery, and the end is... Well, I myself am one of those people that really really like closure, so I really wanted an explicit "true end". But it for the most part does what it sets out to do, so I can't really fault you for that.

so yeah. gj. you get a gold star.
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Tiagofvarela
Posts: 357
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Spoken languages: English, Portuguese
Location: Portugal

Re: [T][CE] A Tricky Turnabout ☆

Post by Tiagofvarela »

I actually, genuinely forgot about this. I have three other half done cases that are taking up my attention, I suppose.
Bad Player wrote:
Spoiler : QA :
Well, here we are...

Our protagonist has indomitable bad luck, which this time takes the form of... finding a bloody knife in the local library and promptly getting arrested for murder. This seems like it should be a straightforward case (especially since we don't even know of a victim), and in many ways, it is. The scenario sounds a bit plain, but with a tight, well-written cast, solid contradictions, and increasing trickiness, the case stays entertaining the whole way through.

Here's a stream of consciousness, cuz I'm too lazy to split it out into different sections (also I didn't get frame numbers for everything):
837: You don’t need two dashes. Delete the one on the second line.
Done.
501: Not grammatical; rephrase
"Was carrying the murder weapon all the witness saw me do?" -> "Secondly.[#200] The witness saw me carrying the murder weapon. [#100][#100]
That is all that was witnessed?"

446: 1 -> !
Hahaha. Fixed.
1372: deductible -> deducible
Do your taxes.
Fixed.

1576: Instead of making the lifebar flash here, you should make it flash after selecting the paragraph (since the place with the penalty isn’t the paragraph you pick, but whether you push harder or not)
This will force me to add the flashing to each individual question rather than just once, but it can be done.
In theory it's working there, but it might've broken everything because there were a few redirects there in the middle of it.

In the Yellow Book evidence description you need a space in “Ms. Cellar”
Fixed.
2132: Delete “have” and “on”
Though I prefer Randall to sound clunky in his speech, the tenses were messed up here and the sentence was ungrammatical as a consequence.
Fixed.

At the beginning of the trial you use “co-council” instead of “co-counsel”
Fixed.
During Wallbreak’s court intro sequence, the lifebar never stops flashing
Ugh. This. I thought I fixed that, but the paths to get to that point are varied enough that I actually hadn't. Uh, I've forcibly fixed it now, even if it doesn't disappear at the most elegant moment. I don't even care.
In Wallbreak’s (first) testimony:
  • After presenting the Autopsy Report, the press conversation shouldn’t just repeat itself
    At no point is the Autopsy Report presented here, so I'll assume you are referring to the Traces of Blood evidence, which has the same image.
    Added a mention of the lack of blood.
  • After presenting the Epilepsy Medication, presenting the Epilepsy Medication again shouldn’t give a generic penalty convo (and probably shouldn’t give a penalty at all)
    I hate the idea of making conversations for Randall repeating himself, as that doesn't quite fit with my image of him, but I will not go out of my way to confuse players if I don't have to.
    Added a conversation for it.
    I also added one for the Traces of Blood evidence. The rest either cannot be presented again or the game mentioned they shouldn't be, so they give a generic penalty.
  • You should only be able/need to present Safely once
    I honestly never even considered this one this statement being resolved before the others.
    Fixed.
  • There should be something that says/implies Wallbreak didn’t see the knife, since I think simply not mentioning it doesn’t necessarily imply he didn’t see it (especially in his testimony), and even if the knife had been there its omission from the testimony is natural because it is a well-established scientific fact that it is impossible to see a knife in the dark
    You think anybody here knows any science? They're all as stupid as I am!
    As you may have noticed, this entire testimony, like the ones before it, is not traditional and relies on gimmicks. In order to clarify this particular statement, I have altered the question to be like this:
    "The picture of the scene you have presented is incomplete. This evidence is of some import:"
If you say you want to call Robert Life, Beth shouldn’t say “We’ll need to call Mr. Life, too.”
Maybe this feels a bit weird for the player, but it works with what Randall is actually saying. It's just a bit redundant. Nevertheless, I can change this.
Added conditional for the case in which you started the argument by mentioning Mr. Life.

If Wallbreak is supposed to be at the prosecutor’s bench, the background should be flipped.
I sure do love extra work doing things that have never been established in the actual games. Ah well. To be consistent with the courtroom interior some kind of inversion would've been necessary.
Done.

3532: Remove the second hyphen
Done.
3598: You should probably mark Safely’s location on the map.
I hate that you're so right. I'll try and do it with a pop-up if I can. Should make it easier.
Done.

3664: you misspelled your own protagonist’s name smh
That was the judge!1!
Fixed.

If Beth chooses to go over the footage again, you shouldn’t get the Yes/No question of whether you want to hear the explanation… You should just hear it.
I know, but all these small things you keep pointing out saved me minutes of frustration. I swear.
With a bit of thinking, I figured out a way to do this that doesn't require me redoing all frame redirects.
Done.

3785: you can’t use british spellings all game then plead the fifth smh
I figured this would've been better than switching between spellings for Randall and everyone else. He's British, did you know? He's just living in Japanifornia and knows the law.
3591/4092: Shouldn’t Theresa be there?
You mean 3951, I guess? Anyway, doing that courtroom minisprite is very difficult for me. I'll look into it again.
Nope. The minisprite doesn't exist and I can't do it, so you'll have to put up with it. If it's that big of a problem I'll just remove the frames with the courtroom overview.


Also Prologue notes:
-Gretta's namebox says "Gretta" even though she doesn't introduce herself
Fixed.
-The main trial seems to have a lot more polish in terms of SFX and fades than the prologue
Well, it was missing the spinning cane sound effect, for one!
But I think it feels this way because Randall undertakes a lot of actions in silence. Without anyone else to comment on them, the only way I can represent them is with *sound effects*.
I've mostly replaced those with sounds or comments after the fact that clarify what happened.

-Randy seems uncharacteristically rude in the library. I get (and really like) his "he says things that sound really rude but he doesn't actually intend any offense because he's just that dense" shtick, but here it just seems rude.
Definitely true. I did a pass to make him less so, but there's no way I can fix this problem without removing some of the more colourful language. Alas. To the bin it goes.
He should now still sound like something of an arsehole, but doesn't specifically use insults. His sentences are insulting, but don't have insults in them. That's the proper Randall way.


Originally, the trial was supposed to work without the prologue. The only reason I even kept it was to reduce confusion to the player about the events at the library, to introduce Randall and Theresa, and to foreshadow the medication and sleepwalking.
To be quite honest, I'd prefer to just get rid of it, but I shouldn't. I also agree that Randall was worse in the Prologue because his personality was rewritten a bit between the two. He was supposed to use harsher language outside of court originally, but that ended up not making much sense with the final product.


Anyway.

Good job on the case! The game has a simple premise and never gets too caught up in itself, but says fun with solid contradictions and an entertaining cast. The core cast is really funny, and the Randy/Theresa/Gretta dynamic is awesome. Out of the main characters, Beth feels a little flat, since his classical composers shtick feels a bit tacked on and never amounts to much. (Because it is tacked on!) But his persistence definitely becomes apparent as the trial comes out, and pulls through in the end in a big way. The witnesses have just the right amount of eccentricity for one-off witnesses, with Wallbreak and Robert being the stand-outs. I think you did an especially great job matching the character with the sprite set for Robert, since the existence of breakdown/reveal sprites in the canon sprite sets can serve as a potential spoiler, but you took that and flipped it on its head.
Just according to keikaku

The technical aspects of the case were all top-notch. You picked out high-quality sprite sets, and used music and sfx at appropriate places. You also put in a ton of effort into adding mini-branches to the trial, which gives a lot of leeway to the player in how they approach the case and helps prevent "right idea wrong evidence" frustration. (Of course, by going out to do this yourself, you open yourself up to requests to add even more mini-branches... but I think there were only a few places where I wanted you to add them, so good job.)
I think requests to add more things are good. Since they don't affect the pace and they're fragmented, they can be done any time. That means that, although I might not have it in me to do them all at once, I can just come back and add them in a few months or something. So, if you want things added, just say so!
Most of the things you pointed out here were things I gave up on when I was writing it, but now I'm fine with doing them since I had time away from it to rest.


As for the plot... There's a fair amount to unpack. First, "the answer was in the security footage the whole time lol" could very easily be a disappointing resolution to a case, but you put in the work to explain why they didn't just find it there, so good job on that. The mystery kind of peters out at the end, but it remains steady until then, plus you lampshade this and the case transitions to more of a story-focus, so it's all fine. As for the story... boy, this is not the case for people who like closure. I get what you were trying to do, and it was totally fine the was was a relatively simple, relatively straightforward, not-epic (not in a bad sense, just that it isn't one of those "epic" cases), plain ol' fun cases for the vast majority of the playtime, but the end felt like it would've felt more at home on an "epic" case. The twist that, since this is all just a retelling by Wallbreak, he obviously couldn't have known what Randy was thinking and the thoughts were just made up, was a fun idea, but... doesn't feel like it changed much. (And I've just figured out why. I'll continue in a second.) All Randy's thoughts really did was recontextualize the rude things he said, so if you take that away he changes from a well-meaning but incredibly socially awkward guy into a rude guy. But the ending already potentially turns him into a cold-blooded murderer and the blue text twist doesn't have any effect on the actual plot, which takes away a lot of the impact a twist of this type could have. That being said, the fact that the case is of a reasonable length and isn't overly complex makes it a lot easier to both build and comprehend the twist, so I suppose there's that.
One thing that wasn't made clear was that the prologue was also made up! Wallbreak wasn't there for it, though he was present for court. I forgot to make this clear, but I'm kind of afraid to go through with it since just mentioning the 'blue text' is much simpler.
Added the following statements from Wallbreak after mentioning the blue text is made up:

"Indeed, I'm only really sure of what happened at court. The things at his house? At the library in the morning? No idea! Those are just what he told me. Sorry to disappoint, but I only witnessed the events on the night of the crime and at the courtroom."

Also, the twist removes all the blue text... but that would leave the "Randy's thoughts" evidence in place, wouldn't it? According to that, Randy fighting the knife was just a coincidence, which strongly cuts against the guilty Randy route. Since the ending otherwise seems so ambiguous, I can't tell if the innocent Randy is the canon end/truth and this is a small nod to that, or if it's some sort of 'plot-hole'.
I don't get what the problem here is or what you're pointing out. Everything Randall claims can obviously be a lie, which is also why the Prologue was supposed to be cast into doubt as well, but that was less clear.
I'm also kind of curious whether the person in orange at the end was set up by Randy, or if that was a coincidence. After all, the way that whole segment opens was "Randy was falsely set up, and golly, a whole lot of coincidences led to his arrest! But that's all been straightened out now" "OBJECTION! No, he is guilty... And those weren't coincidences, he planned the whole thing!", but if Randy was acquitted just because another guy in orange happened to be there, that wouldn't really fit.
Assuming Randall is guilty, Randall allowed the court to reach that point BECAUSE he saw a guy in orange there; but he didn't plant him. Pointing that guy out would solidify his Not Guilty, but he was nervous about/failed to initially notice the hand.

Also, a small nitpick in the plot: if Theresa lost her phone in the early early morning on the 20th, shouldn't she have noticed before the morning of the 21st that her phone was totally missing?
Uh, she stayed behind to look for her phone (and never found it) and that's why she ended up witnessing the events that night. What gave you the impression she was unaware she'd lost it? She become immediately suspicious of Wallbreak when she meets him because of it.
When she receives the phone, she says "I... I must have..."; maybe this is what misled you, so I've changed it to "He... He must have...".


But anyway. On the whole, this case is really solid, with effort and attention to detail clearly visible throughout the case. I know I spent a lot of words pulling apart the twists and endings, but that's just going into the nitty-gritty for the sake of examining everything that could conceivably have been improved. The vast majority of the case is a fun, light-hearted mystery, and the end is... Well, I myself am one of those people that really really like closure, so I really wanted an explicit "true end". But it for the most part does what it sets out to do, so I can't really fault you for that.
I really felt like the theme was asking for it. What is a more terrible, wicked narrator than one that asks you to finish the story for him?
That's what I felt about a 300 page book I once read, anyway >:(


so yeah. gj. you get a gold star.
There you have it. Should've replied to most things. Assuming you have no issues with my fixes and solutions, all bar the things that require art should be done.

EDIT: And now I've added the indicator for where the witness was on the diagram.
A Laggy Turnabout ★
A Batty Turnabout ★
A Tricky Turnabout ★
Upcoming: A Worldly Turnabout, A Courtly Turnabout, A Clumsy Turnabout, A Needy Turnabout
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