You can read about the Miss Clue games here.

Today, they made this announcement about Lani Minella (the former voice of Nancy Drew):



I found this to be very interesting news.

That is very exciting indeed, Marian! I really hope the games are a hit!

Thanks for your sleuthing out the news!

Ana

I imagine the voice of Lani Minella will act as a huge draw !!

Thanks for the news, Marian

Wonderful!
Thanks Marian!

Marian

I hope this means VFK has a serious stake in and commitment to upping the quality.

Thank you Marian.

As I said in the ***I miss Nancy*** thread,

I liked the graphics well enough, the voices not so much --
They sounded more like people reading a script than real people.
I've been spoiled by BBC productions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FatZXMKv6xI
vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXY7LgEXwy0

I expect there will be quite a void left by the change in Nancy Drew though.
HerInteractive will lose their core audience and that audience will be looking for a replacement for the old Nancy Drew.

Well that's enough for me to check out the Miss Clue games. Thanks for the news.

Thanks for the news Marian!

I've bought and installed the game. While I agree with Marian about production values vis a vis the BBC, if I compare Peril in Pemberley to vaguely similar casual games (Remember the one that got you married off to the odious vicar if you were too polite?) and even to some of the less engaging Nancy Drews, then Peril in Pemberley is acceptable; if I compare to casual games in general and even to adventure games in general, then Peril in Pemberley looks and feels surprisingly good. Tugging on the tasseled bell rope for the maid--not my maid alone apparently, Pemberley is seriously understaffed--was amusing. Also I chuckled at mysterious and effete Cousin Clement's doggerel. A groom so discrete as to be unseen brought round my horse, whose tack was authentic, so well done I could almost smell the leather.

On the downside, the problems with narrative and immersion go deeper than voice acting although it's true that if the voice acting were better I might not notice other issues. For example, Jane says she is going to Lambton to look at the shops, which she does not do, instead she talks to her friend Kitty. I am willing to accept this unlikely but not entirely impossible for the times friendship for the sake of the story. For the same reason, I will also go along with the young detective's obvious fib about her intentions while out. What rankles as a player entering into a contractual relation of willing suspension of disbelief with the developers is not getting to see the promised shops unless I am let in on Jane's unspoken intentions beforehand and maybe not even then. I am playing because I am an Austen fan. If a modern detective skipped the mall in favor of a bento box shop, I would not care, indeed I would be grateful. Don't promise me the writer Jane Austen's version of shops in Regency England and blithely ignore the promise.

Sidesaddles: I just checked. The sidesaddle seems to be from 50 or 60 years after the costumes. That's okay by me. I don't mind anachronisms that look great. Detective Jane's flat model is probably much safer than the higher cantled, slipper stirruped version of the period at least according to what I've read so I will credit her parents with being forward thinking on the subject of riding safety. Here is a paragraph on the safety of sidesaddles from the Regency Redingote:

After the changes introduced by Catherine de Medici, it was to be another two centuries before any further changes were made to the design of the side-saddle, improving both its safety and its comfort. The ladies of the Regency were not to benefit from any of those design improvements, as they were all introduced after the death of King George IV, the erstwhile Prince Regent. Regency ladies would ride side-saddle much as Catherine had done, by placing their right thigh between the two horns or crutches of the saddle. They would bend the right knee so that their right foot was in front of their left leg, about twelve inches above their left foot, which rested in the single slipper stirrup. By the end of the eighteenth century the seat of the side-saddle was designed to be wider and to slope at an angle down from the front to the back, to accommodate the supposed greater fleshiness of the feminine derriere. The higher cantle at the back helped to keep the lady from slipping off the saddle when riding a rough-gaited horse or when going over a jump. But only a horsewoman with superb balance would be able to maintain her seat and keep control of her horse while riding on such a saddle at any speed, over rough ground or taking a jump. For that reason, many women did not choose to hunt or even routinely gallop their horses, at least while riding aside, that is, on a side-saddle.

8dognight, thanks for the observations about the game. It sounds like it has potential but that there's definitely room for improvement.

I suspect that Trials of Salem will have quite a few more players due to the fact that Midnight in Salem still does not have a release date and that Lani has been added to the voice actors.

EDIT: The interview with Lani is now on the Miss Clue website.

Thanks for the headsup Marian!

Ana

That sounds good! Thanks Marian!

A new announcement from the company:

Sounds like it's coming together much better the ND games!

Thanks, Marian!

Ana

My thoughts too, Ana. And today on the Amateur Sleuth Blog of HeR Interactive, it was stated, "Midnight in Salem is still in our plans."

You know, I have a plan to retire someday, too... I may not ever be able to, but it's a nice plan...

"still in our plans" doesn't sound like something that is being actively worked on.