Unreal Engine - Completed - Threshold Road [v1.0] [Absent.Dogma]

Original, well done 3D animations with free camera and easy to reach chapters.
Nice story and well chosen music to accompany the way. Very weird content but it is done with attention to detail and in a not too generic way like most renpy based games.

This game is worth watching to be rated.
I'll start with the pros and what needs to be improved in the game right away:
Plot
Graphics
Animations
Character textures
Dialogues
My computer is not powerful, but even GTA 5 on my maximum graph shows 70 fps, and here 12 is the maximum when the world is open and 30 when it is closed and dark
Here are the cons in the game:
It's sooo dark in the same mission as the tunnels (But I passed this mission)
Too huge open world, something needs to be removed from the location
Most importantly, there is no editor for the creation of the main character, as in all such survival games.
I completed the game in 1:20 hours
Quests in the game are very fast and they are not remembered
Game with beer and for one evening you will like it in this case

very ugly game.
All characters are deformed. The map is too big. And very dark you cant see anything. Glitches everywhere!

The quests are very long and tedious. I dont understand people giving 5 stars for this game. Clearly it is not a playable game. The dev should ask for help from experienced devs. Because the work until here is 1/5

I think the dev should remake this game from zero if he wants to make some profit.

I has the text story in miind so drags the is score down, there is words and grammarr also to.
Please also many continu too use translated machine to get high rating also text language.
It had many a lot hope for game was greate but it can be with stories like here in game.
I cant knowing what graphics engine Unreal are useded not also performance but taxing the computer GPU it was.
Too bad!

Rated: 2/5
Based on: v0.41

Hmmm.... So I'm guessing the Trapper's Tunnels is the end of the game for now?, because I can't find a way out and it's too damn dark in there ! - am still looking for damn light switch !! lol
Jokes aside, what I find more "meh!" about this game is; it's too dark dark in all the most important areas, thus how am I suppose to enjoy this creative game if most of it is shrouded in pitch-black darkness ?? Does the Dev think that it's too horrible to see?, thus he gets us (the players) to trip up, trip down, trip over, and trip around the good, the bad, and the ugly?? LOL.
Well, if the Trapper's Tunnels isn't the end of the game, then I'm saying it is 'cause I've had just about enough of wandering around aimlessly in the darkness.
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To date: This is the darkest 3D game I've ever played. The 0-1 brightness option doesn't work, and turning up the brightness on my pc 100% doesn't improve anything.
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My thoughts about the most mentioned complaints I've read in the thread and in the reviews (in no particular order, although no.1 is about my gripe (to get that out of the way first))...
1) Yes, the pitch-black darkness = Dev needs to "flick a switch" turn up the brightness / add lighting. I can't see (no pun intended) this game having a long lasting appeal if it's TOO DAMN DARK !!!!!
2) "Her walking / running speeds are too slow" = (to run: press'n'hold W, tap L-shift). Yes they are slow.. running feels like Pamela Anderson in Baywatch on a hot summers day = slow-mo and sluggish. But, meh! I found that to be easily looked because of (3) next.
3) "Maps are huge". = Actually, No, I didn't find them to me huge, unless I've yet to see this "huge map" after Trapper's Tunnels location, otherwise I found them to be quite small. Maps in Wild Life, Bonfire, Feign game are HUGE then in comparison.
4) "Vast distances between locations". = No, there isn't. I'm guessing; the game was a lot more empty in its early days, or those people are just overexaggerating. In real life I live in the country, and vast distances would vast at least 50km --- in game terms, you don't even travel half a km to reach another target.
5) "There's no direction where to go to next". = Not once did I get lost.. I was prompt to every next location.. I just followed the path that is lined with lit torches.
6) "NPC's too ugly". = Well, you knew or should've known that before downloading it.. at least look at screenshots either here at post #1 or google image searched them. If you want to play normal and real life looking people, go play some other 3D game - the intention for this game is perfectly clear.
7) "Dialog moves to slow and too fast". = Yes, it's annoying that it can't be skipped through previously seen hoards of words due to the game having automatic save points in various locations upon entry of the location. But for me I hated that I can't read as fast as it expects me to, and can't be paused. I've gotten used to being a slow reader and use it to my advantage when I immerge myself in a good game - but game won't let you - it gives you the feeling like you should play this dark game during the (real life) day because you have thing to do today so let's rush you through this game !
8) "The lag" / "Sluggish framerate". = Only high-end / expensive computers can run this smoothly. Most people have average priced pc's.. Me! I'm one of them - I tuned down the optimism as much as game allowed me to and made the game worse, not better, Low Quality + 75fps seemed the best. Old pc users probably have no hope. Game needs a button that turns off the swaying of the trees and grass. I've said a thousand times about When are Dev's going to learn that adding unnecessary swaying vegetation is what kills a game's performance. Yes it looks great and realistic an all, but 99.999% of the time is not needed.
9) "The wording of the dialogs". Yeah, not the best, and not Dev's native tongue obviously, and possibly translated through Facebook rather than Google .lol.
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Overall: Even despite the darkness and dialogs, I give this game 3.5 rubber chickens out of 5. Although, strangely as I'm compelled to give 3.5/5, the replay value is a flat (0) zero, unless you're eager to continue with every update. For me, I think if I can't open a cheats console to do sandbox things to it, then I'm deleting the file where it stands (at v0.41).. I may look at it again in a year's time to see if there's any improvement on various repeated mentionables.
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+ Horror not scary at all / nothing like the 'Horror' we typically know it as. <--- Says a lot from a very jumpy person)
+ Originality.
+ 3D game.
+ Sound FX, Ambience, and Music to set the mood just right.
+ Attention to detail.
+ Plus loads more.

i wouldn't recommend this game. Supposedly it should be a terror game with sex content. And clearly it failed because:

- Many glitches
- Poor graphics
- Map is unnecessary big
- Too dark
- The characters are not appealing at all
- The story line progression is ponderous

Version: v.04

Review:
This game will remind you of Pathology and Outlast, but not because of the gameplay but because of the setting. But wait, don’t think I’m referring to this game with the two games I mentioned, I just wanted to make a little resemblance and not the fact that both gameplay are similar. The game manages to hold your attention a little until a moment comes that will make you tired. The reason? very distant tasks, slow gameplay and no save or checkpoints manually. But this is not a problem for people who like a challenge, but it does end up being irritating the fact that it is a little slow or not being able to skip dialogues more quickly. The scenes also cannot be skipped, since in the game you will die a lot and go back to your checkpoint, so you will have to do everything again.

History:
Your MC is Sasha, a journalist who had the brilliant idea of interviewing a cult leader in a totally hostile environment. So, can you imagine a woman alone walking in a strange and hostile place? Death or rape.
Gameplay:
There are good and bad things in the gameplay, the MC can run, crouch, jump, but the combat system sucks, remember Pathology? Yes, I suspect it is proportional, because no woman will be strong enough to confront a man in a miserable place. Here comes the dialogue part, you need to interpret the text to give a correct answer, and never try to make the NPC end up becoming hostile, otherwise it will kill you or have consequences that will make you die the same way. The moments when you will refuse to do such a thing, then you will end up being killed. But you're thinking this is great, isn't it? yes and no, the checkpoint system is not constant and the saving is automatic and not manual, in addition, the game has slow dialogues and a huge map for you to walk running.
Graphic & Sexual Content:
The MC has a very acceptable body model, it wouldn’t make any sense to have a pretty girl with a sensual body going to a totally hostile and strange place, don’t you agree? So, she looked great. See this game in another way; The sexual content is quite violent, but also, what would you expect? that MC would gain affection and create a romance? No, there is a lot of rape content, but also it is not just that, that is, do or die. The animations are good, say, acceptable. There are good moans from the MC while she is fucking and the sexual content is pleasurable. So nothing is bad, wonderful, it’s just acceptable.

Why I did gave 2 star?
In my opinion I thought the game interesting, even if it has a lot of boring things. But unfortunately it seems that the game is very incomplete and many things in the game will end up annoying you a lot. I was really a little confused as to what to do, surrender and see a scene or attack and see no scene. You’ll be confused about this, as most of the time a mistake will cost the MC’s life, causing her to die and you come back from the last checkpoint. Another thing is that there is no concrete reason for what you have to do, for example, your decisions, because in moments, if you refuse to do something, you are dead. But the worst of all is the map, which is quite extensive, since the developers could create something shorter to make life easier for both, as players will be bored by running long runs on an empty map. The good thing about the game is that there is an objective and we can say that there is a story, even if it’s bizarre and crazy, but that's when we notice the empty size when we see the mechanics in the game, like for example the combat. I felt a little bit of the pathology setting, that terrain, that setting, and I also felt a little bit of Outlast, the strange and hostile people, of some deformed humanoid creatures, but I want to make it clear that it has nothing to do with the games. But unfortunately, Threshold Road is a game that you will have a small void in the gameplay. The sexual content is good, but you will need to spend a few hours to get there, as the game is slow and there is no possibility to skip dialogues or scenes. Anyway, the game would be much better if the map was not so huge and it was also a little faster or if you could skip the scenes or dialogues.

Movement is terrible, the models are *fine*, but what absolutely ruins the game is that it isn't made for people above 18. The text takes forever to appear and move on as though it was made for a toddler. I had to quit after going through the arch at the very beginning because it was so unplayable.

Very fun to play. A work in progress but still fun. Some choices lead to bad ends some don't. Sometimes its hard to figure out what side characters want. Overall the main story is investing a mysterious cult in the middle of nowhere. World map is still a little empty but is split up into different areas. The areas are somewhat small but it makes it easy to move around. Ui is also a WiP. However Dogma works by himself and listens to his patreons. So I have high hopes.

Good game if you like a dark occult atmosphere and rape, bdsm, humiliation, submission, gang bang themes.

It delivers on the tags.

Downsides:

- The 3D art isn't the best. You can see the action, but hardly any details, and all figures look like mannequins from a shop window

- Movement is tedious, sluggish and slow

If you are into the mentioned themes and have patience, you could try it.

My rating is low because as it stands this game isn't good as a whole to play.

That's not to say a lot of effort went into making the game and that it goes unnoticed. It's in fact quite ambitious, but 3D games require a lot of work in multiple areas for everything to feel good. I know this as a UE4 dev. myself. Anyway it's not like the game doesn't have any positives, it's just that the game as a whole doesn't feel good because some things are dragging it down. Which i think is fixable.

Presentation
I think the presentation and intro is good, it has a certain mystery to it. Investigating a cult is always a good plot setup.

Dialogue
I found the the dialogue system is pretty neat honestly and i'm curious to see how each option changes the outcome.

Animation
The sex animations look good. I would prefer if they were speed up by double the amount as the animations are really slow. Which should be a simple fix.

Models
The models range from good to bad. I think the main character looks quite nice, but hannibal for example could use some polish. In say areas like the hair department.

Grotesque by design?
I'm not sure why most of the things that want to fuck you have to be grotesque looking things. I don't doubt that this is by intention, but it does make the game less approachable for a wider audience. I'm not downrating because of this btw, since it's just not my cup of tea.

Performance:
Now there are some major things that are dragging the down.
The performance from indoor to outdoor areas the change is quite big.
I recommend finding outdoor assets with less vertices/faces and multiple LOD's. Test performance with the console command and "stat rendertarget" i think it's called. Try disabling each element one by one to see what hogs the most. It could be the fog, the models or landscape. Right now the trees and grass also dissapear rather abrutly.

Sluggish
Another big issue i the pacing. The game feels incredibly sluggish in every area. From game progression, dialogue and sex scenes. Dialogue should be skippable. Sex scenes sped up. Distances between locations can be reduced greatly to avoid the "walking simulator" feeling.

Ooooookay then.

So, it's a weird game (you should be able to tell that from screenshots). It starts very slow then it becomes very fast. Basically I couldn't find a scene in like first 20 minutes then there are scenes all around. I think that's a mistake because people may quit the game in first part also there should be spaces between scenes so you can get a longer experience.

I love the setting where you are literally the only women in town and serve man (yeah, sue me). I also like the weird characters because if you are looking for normal characters, there are plenty of games like that.

Game is little bit of confusing though, because of the dialogues you probably miss some scenes and as far as I can tell there is not a way to check which scenes you've missed. I've finished the current version and I'm not sure how many scenes I've missed.

Anyways, it's a weird game indeed and if you are looking for different kind of game, go for it.

probably one of the worst games i ever played:

-Gameplay is very slow
-Characters are all ugly
-The story is boring and too long
-Map is huge (u walk and walk and walk)
-Dialogue Transition takes many seconds to keep forwarding

People who gave 5 stars to this game probably dont understand what makes a good game and a playable game

This is a game that tries to be different and delivers. It's true that the models aren't exactly pretty, neither from a technical standpoint nor by the standards of "beauty" common in most porn games. I'm fine with that because Threshold Road is not trying to conform to the norms - it's bizarre, creepy, and offers an unusual but decent storyline.

The maps are tad big and empty but somewhat understandable given you can get chased off (and caught) by enemies. It wouldn't be the same if you were restricted to a small, linear map. Also, it's still being developed so these empty areas may be enriched in the future. As a side note, you can explore and investigate a few sites and locations to unlock new dialogue options with certain NPCs.

Overall, it's an interesting experience. It's not for everyone but if you're into odd things and dark themes, and aren't too nitpicky about the visuals, you can give it a try.

(PS: Be warned that there are bad endings that can end your adventure short. Also, at the moment of this review, the game is filled with grammatical errors and poorly structured sentences, aka broken English.)

Great game it's a mind freak game with some nice elements to it. The story definitely trumps a lot of your standard adult games and you don't really know whats next sometimes it is what you expect other times it is a surprise.

My this is certainly... an experience?
Haven't gotten too far in yet, but Ill share what I've gathered so far.
Pros:
Ambitious in its design. Several mechanics to take into account.

The psychological aspect of the game is... interesting? If all you wanna do is fuck then the decision making becomes a bit trivial.

Definitely NOT for the faint of heart.

Nice animations and design*

Does not hold back any punches.

If you are into weird crap, yep, this is right up your alley in several aspects.

Surprisingly few bugs

Cons:
For a game that heavily relies on paying attention to the dialogue, the writing needs to be better, not so much in terms of narrative but of editing. Seems to be that English is not the language of the dev. Because of this, it can be quite challenging to follow what the hell is going on. Seeing that the horror tag alludes more than anything to psychological horror, this issue needs to be sorted out fast.

Not enough backstory to make the player care for the mental health of the character. I am given no reason as to why not join the cult, or be more apprehensive to my decisions.

Definitely needs more polishing.

Sometimes too innovative. The floating signs and always fading away, floating thoughts are very easy to miss.

Sucks if you are a slow reader, cause dialogue keeps going on its own.

Verdict: lots of potential but needs a lot of work. Marking 4 stars for the ambition and guts to do weird, impactful stuff.

Excellent atmosphere and setting. If you like horror, this one's for you. I never felt it went too long between scenes, although the layout of the world can be confusing sometimes especially with the skips.

Pretty pimpin game. Got some shortcommings(can be slow and unintuitive at times), but I dunno - I like these kinds of slower-paced creepy sex games with a nice branching story. Pretty hot stuff, keep er goin.

Pros:
-Interesting idea with horror vibe.

Cons:
-Map is too big
-The gameplay is very slow and tedious
- Many parts of the story are unnecessary. Especially the long dialogues
-Poor graphics
-The protagonist is very ugly
-The environment is dark, even when you are walking through the forest on daylight
-Everything seems outdated


Resume:
This game is likely to die in the coming months and the work is very sloppy u cant enjoy the sex scenes. It is a ugly game.

Just, way too slow, tedious, and unnecessary. Everything about this game screams unpolish to the new level. I've played some new indie games, but never to this amplified level of "bad" technical-wise.

• Map too big, if only people can tell these guys that in no way you need such a big map, at all. You already got fog, use it to make the illusion of distance.
• DONT use smoothing to your camera control. Raw input is the best input.
• Everything is just totally clunky.
• The place is too dark when it's dark, not even light is useful.
• Talking took way too long, unnecessary animations also slow. Waited almost an eternity for it.
• Checkpoint when you die is way too far away.

I can't believe it praised highly by others, really. Tho yeah it might be unique, but I just won't try anymore to explore the good tidbits.