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Requesting Feedback

  • Large
  • 02/19/2012 10:38 PM
  • 2153 views
So, I looked at the number of downloads, then looked at the comments section of the game, and I saw very few people commenting on the actual game. I would LOVE to get some feedback on the demo that I put out last week, and I figured... "Well, out of 58 people that downloaded the game, at least 2 or 3 must have finished it by now". After all, I think it must be just 45 minutes long. I don't know.

So I ask:

If you download the game and play it till the end of the demo, can you come back here and answer a few simple questions?

THE QUESTIONS:

1. Did you like it?
2. Did you find bugs? Which?
3. What's you take on the story?
4. Did the characters feel... good?
5. What about the last part, did that leave you with the feeling of wanting to know more?
6. Was the ambient and setting something you liked?
7. Is this something I should continue to work on, or should I just leave it like a failed thing?

I really appreciate that you downloaded the demo. If you could leave your feedback, that would really help me. I'm having a hard time finding the proper motivation to move forward, and... well, I guess seeing what other people think about it would be of great help.

Posts

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Because I'm a sucker for these kinds of requests, I will download this and write some feedback. Even though I have a backlog of things I want to do, since this is short I will give it a go. Not sure when I'll get around to it but I will eventually.
rabitZ
amusing tassadar, your taste in companionship grows ever more inexplicable
1349
Ok, I know I promised a review, but where I got so far doesn't seem to be long enough to merit one, so I'll post some of my impressions here.

+ Definitely keep up with all the subtle animations and poses you have for the characters, like drawing their weapons, crouching to pick up items, the capes flowing, the animals moving and growling. They give a definite plus to the ambience, which seems to be pretty strong in this game. Add in the sounds of rivers flowing, the little footstep sounds on different surfaces and you're on to something.
= I don't know if the faces are all custom made by yourself? They are certainly unique but they need some more work. They clash badly with the rest of the graphical style. Not a huge priority, though, I suppose.
+ The story is very interesting so far. It seems to be going places. I think I noticed some typos here and there, but they were few, so I don't remember them specifically.
- The intro, although interesting, is too long in my opinion. Trying to find a way to speed its pacing would do wonders for the game flow.

PS: I got stuck in the boss fight with the lion statue that hatches from the egg thingie. What level should I be at that point?

Oh! I almost forgot: NO RANDOM BATTLES. That's a +++.

Keep up the good work!

EDIT: I'll post more as I progress with the game.
Thanks for the feedback!

1. Thank you, I've aimed for that.
2. Yes, those are custom faces. I dig the style, and even though I was a fan of anime, and I guess I still like it to a certain point, I don't want to manga-nize them.
3. Thank you; I do believe the story is interesting. I'll proof-read again soon.
4. I'll try to see if I can do something about this.
5. No random battles. Yes. Fucking hate the thing.
6. Hm, I am able to defeat the Stone Lion at level 6, but it isn't an easy fight. Let me know if it needs to be toned down.

Oh, sorry, the demo ends after you defeat the Lion...
Finally played this. It's a good game. It's worth keeping.

The intro didn't feel too long to me. It was interesting. The only problem is that you have text and action going on at the same time. I can only look at one thing at a time. So there were cases where I was watching a dead man being dragged away and I missed the words. You should try and time it better so I can see both. Pause the words when something happens.

I only got to level 2, just after killing a couple wolves then some bugs I seemed to hit a dead end. I searched around what seemed like every area possible and I couldn't figure out where to go so I quit. There needs to be a savepoint right away, if I decided to play again I'd have to sit through the intro again. That should be skipable for that reason.

I liked how you used a slower tempo as the victory music. Very interesting effect. The victory character animations wheren't so good. There isn't enough of them moving. You only see a 1 or 2 little bits flapping in the wind and it looks pretty bad. There needs to be more of their clothes moving or larger bits that make more sense. His tiny bit of black hair flapping, and I dunno what is going on with his pant legs. Good concept, bad execution.

Battles were bad. Even for "start of the game" fights it was boring. Button mash borefest. I don't get it, why every time you control a character that you've never seen before he has no skills? Did someone just hand him a sword 10 minutes ago? I would think that someone who owns a sword knows SOME kind of skill. Maybe a 2handed swing, a stab/thrust, a running swing, SOMETHING. A lot of people will talk about the importance of getting the players attention and pulling them in with the first 20 minutes(or whatever) of the game. Why doesn't this apply to battles? It's true in your game but so many others. Just like I'm not going to sit through 20 hours of bad story to get to the good stuff, I don't like mashing my way through an hour of basic fights to start getting a tiny taste of the good stuff(which is always, naturally, slow fed). My puny squire seemed to use some kind of magic power in the forest to forsee the future? or something? It was a little vague to me what actually happened. So if he has the power to do that, why can he only swing his sword in one manner? I need something in battle, or don't have them at all. It would have served the game better for me to start at level 2 or 3 or 4 and skip all the pointless fights. Better yet, give the guy some kind of skill so at least I can't complain that I'm just mashing attack.

The ATB in battle is hard to see below the number of MP. All the colors are kind of dark. Not that I need to know exactly when I get my next turn, but it's something I noticed.

All the animations are cool. The sprites poses. The blinking. All the eventing is well done. The atmosphere is decent. The story is gripping enough, imo. At the very start it looked like a zombie invasion or something? People were battling robed guys all around, that was a cool scene.

The walkspeed...sucked. I'd go in and change it. If it broke the caterpillar system, I wouldn't care. If it broke the game, I'd stop playing. It is a personal choice/opinion, and mine is that it's a deal breaker. As much as you hate random battles, I hate slow walk speed. It's up to you if you want more people to play the game or stick hard to your original vision. Whatever. I prefer the default to be a running speed, with the option to hold a button to walk. If I wanted to "take in" the scenery I'd walk. Most of the time I want to get from point A to point B and not waste my time.

So overall; It's a great game but all gameplay aspects in the first 30 minutes~ are too simple. Make it interesting or don't include it. Keep the story moving along until I can do something worthwhile instead of pointless animal murdering.
Thank you Link, for taking the time to look into it.

I am aware of the battle problem and realize that it is my weakest point. I already included some things (like skills, funny you should mention that), that hopefully will make the battles more interesting; we'll see.

Walking speed: I will change it; the consensus is "Wah, it sucks, I want to breeze through the map", so I'll change it.

The ATB was also changed, so that it is more visible.

I added a skip intro option.

It wasn't clear to me from your post if you hit a dead end because you encountered a software bug, or after killing some forest bugs, lol. You can PM and describe what you did, and I can give some pointers, if you're still interested.

Oh, also, I didn't understand the part about the squire foreseeing the future. What gave you that impression?

author=Large
Walking speed: I will change it; the consensus is "Wah, it sucks, I want to breeze through the map", so I'll change it.


You should try and introduce a run button on shift, if you have nothing else assigned to that button. I would agree that some parts are better played with the slower speed, but locking the player into that speed for the entire game is the problem.

Don't forget to add a savepoint at the fire when you first gain control.

It wasn't clear to me from your post if you hit a dead end because you encountered a software bug, or after killing some forest bugs, lol. You can PM and describe what you did, and I can give some pointers, if you're still interested.


It wasn't because of a bug. I just didn't see where to go next. From memory; I beat the wolves, there was a bear in the next map I think, I started seeing bug enemies, on the second map that has bugs on it I hit a dead end. I followed the edges and couldn't find a way to go. I tried going back to the fireplace and when nothing new happened I quit.

Oh, also, I didn't understand the part about the squire foreseeing the future. What gave you that impression?


Well, I think it was after the wolves? but at some point the squire starts talking to himself about the killer. He seems to mudder some kind of enchantment "oh goddess of something....eyes...." then he seems to know for a fact that the killer is in the forest? or something about the killer? I dunno, that whole monologue didn't make sense for me. It's like all of a sudden he gets information that he must keep from Lord Jerkface. It seemed like he used some kind of power to magically gain information. All seeing eyes? haha I dunno
author=Link_2112
You should try and introduce a run button on shift, if you have nothing else assigned to that button. I would agree that some parts are better played with the slower speed, but locking the player into that speed for the entire game is the problem.

Don't forget to add a savepoint at the fire when you first gain control.


I don't think I'll be adding a save point at the fire spot. It just seems... no.

I'll look into the running button.

author=Link
It wasn't because of a bug. I just didn't see where to go next. From memory; I beat the wolves, there was a bear in the next map I think, I started seeing bug enemies, on the second map that has bugs on it I hit a dead end. I followed the edges and couldn't find a way to go. I tried going back to the fireplace and when nothing new happened I quit.


In the map with the moth and bug, near the wall you'll see a ledge, press enter and jump to the left.

author=Link
Well, I think it was after the wolves? but at some point the squire starts talking to himself about the killer. He seems to mudder some kind of enchantment "oh goddess of something....eyes...." then he seems to know for a fact that the killer is in the forest? or something about the killer? I dunno, that whole monologue didn't make sense for me. It's like all of a sudden he gets information that he must keep from Lord Jerkface. It seemed like he used some kind of power to magically gain information. All seeing eyes? haha I dunno


Nothing like that. This guy is a zealot, so he's always praying; he was just elevating a prayer to the goddess.
The paladin is a guy who hates complications; Trent is just trying not to mention the animals being violent. He needs to explore a bit more.
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