The Dink Network

I've been working a D-Mod named Bounty Hunter. Released when it's done

Private Message

Why should each part of your trilogy try to outdo the one that came last? I don't see that necessary, or even possible, as you know. With a good trilogy, each of its installments has its own role to play, while all parts are united by sharing a common storyline. I could compare it to a piece of music, a three-part symphony for example...

You and Arik started from humble beginnings with the original CC. It set the stage for the coming storm. It was a light adventure, clearly not the centerpiece of this trilogy. Here you established the characters and their goals. CC is the EXPOSITION of this “symphony”.

When you finally completed CC2, you purposely left some things unexplained and open to make way for the final installment. CC2 was huge; something in scope that had never been done before as far as Dink modding is concerned. You did things most of us could never do, and created an immortal adventure. Comparing CC and CC2 in terms of gameplay content and other things simply cannot be done; they are all so different in scope. But they each have their roles with this trilogy. CC2 is the DEVELOPMENT and RECAPITULATION.

What is CC3 to you, then? Or what has it been? Were you simply trying to ambitiously surpass CC2 by making an even larger game because you couldn’t settle for anything else? My suggestion, of course, is to make it a CONCLUSION, tie up the adventure, tie up the loose ends. No need to invent the wheel twice. Not bloody try to outdo CC2, but to use its strengths to your advantage!

Classical symphonies are composed mostly in three movements: FAST-SLOW-FAST. Few pieces of music work when their form is FAST-FAST-FAST, because we’ll get tired of the speed if we cannot get any rest sometime. Many classical pieces run for hours and every second is worth listening to, simply because there is a RHYTHM present that connects the different sections of the piece together. I see the “finished” CC trilogy as this: SLOW-FAST-SLOW, a fine piece of modding art that has a relaxed, short overture leading into a strong centerpiece, leading along into a quiet, conclusive ending...

In short, don’t release the demo. Release the game. Even this “demo” can be the conclusion to the trilogy. It doesn’t have to “outdo” CC2, and even if the demo happens to be something half-assed and not conclusive at all, it won’t invalidate CC2’s merits. It strengthens them.

Bloody long post, this