One thing that hasn't been acknowledged yet is the SFX.

Closest thing I have to a complaint with that is the quarter-second breaek when it loops, but that's easily let go. The SFX all sounds fantastic and adds a great atmosphere.

Lovecraft is pure weird fiction. I know King is one of many who has been influenced by him. Speaking of Lovecraft, have you read The Colour Out of Space? Talk about a creepy story set in the countryside. If you haven't heard of Thomas Ligotti, track his stuff down. He's most likely the best weird horror writer currently alive. His stuff is very Lovecraftian without relying on Lovecraft's mythos. Just be sure to read Ligotti's stories in short bursts. His horror tends to be very, very bleak.

As long as we're talking cosmic horror and weird fiction, I have a few titles to suggest shamelessly plug:

David Nickle's "Eutopia" takes a little while to get going, but it's amazingly well researched and the concept behind it is terrifying. It takes place in the early 1900's and deals heavily with the Eugenics movement. It isn't an action-packed page-turned, but it works up a very fierce feeling of lingering dread that'll take a few days to go away after you've finished it.

China Mieville's "Looking for Jake" is an anthology of short stories--not all of which are scary. Melville self-identifies as writing 'weird' fiction, but he also has a Stoker prize under his belt and can do some seriously good conceptual horror. If you're wondering whether you could ever be made afraid of pattern recognition, your own skin, or mirrors, the answer is yes and this man can do it.

David Wong's "John Dies At the End" is a raunchy, punchy, surprisingly humanist romp through the lower-income parts of the south USA. I've never before known a book that could scare me and make me laugh at the same time, but the author is a senior editor over at Cracked, so I suppose that makes sense.

For Ligotti try out the short story collection Teatro Grottesco. You can snag it from places like Amazon for 10 bucks. It has a good selection of his stories. If you ever hit used book shops, ebay, and the like, see if you can track down a copy of The Nightmare Factory. That one has over 39 of his short stories, but it is long out of print and can cost quite a bit. But if you dig around maybe you'll luck out and find a cheap copy. I highly recommend him if you're after dark, quiet horror.

There's also some really great horror anthologies out there too. These are less focused on just weird fiction, and branch out to a much wider range in the genre: The Dark Descent, early volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and the first volume of Borderlands . A personal favorite of mine that leans in the baroque is Black Water: The Book of Fantastic Literature. Many of these are long out of print, but are so worth finding.

^ Is a better way to describe what I tried to say earlier in the blog post.

Just felt like pointing that out, as it more clearly states the issue without sounding like it detracts any support for the game itself.

You'll always have folk who are just interested in reading visual novels, so don't worry about that.

Problem is that trying to please both people is what creates the issue; those who just want to read a scary visual novel will be put off by having to run back and forward to collect wood, while the people who want to interact will be put off by the lengthy ending cutscene.

Not that I'm saying no one will be happy with the game, just that it's generally better to select your demographic and focus on catering to that genre and what you specifically want to include in the game. Adding in or taking away features to suit others outside your primary target audience won't likely do much good in the long run.

Personally, I'd prefer it with more gameplay elements, but if that's not the kind of game you want to create, then fuck me; it's your game, at the end of the day, you're the only person that needs to be happy with it, so do what feels right to you :)

I never said you should keep your game to yourself. I just made a reply to the post above mine. That's what this: "^" usually means.

And seriously, guy? My post was "whining"? I told you what I didn't like. Why I didn't like it. And how could you have improved it. This was in fact still called FEEDBACK last time I checked. xD ...And this has nothing to do with my "dislike" of visual novels. Sure, they're not my cup of tea. But that doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy one that is well done. And yours could be better, that's all.

It's Ok, we're still BBs forever. :B