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A game about a kid and the monster under his bed.

"Bedtime is supposed to be a happy event for a tired child; for this child it was terrifying. While some children might complain about being put to bed before they have finished watching a film or playing their favourite video game, when he was a child, night time was something to truly fear."

The game, like many of my horror games, tries to scare you without too many of the typical "screamers", instead relying on atmosphere and suspense.

Based on a short story by Michael Whitehouse

Latest Blog

It Moves released on Steam

It's released on Steam! Get it while it's hot!


As earlier said, this release is ported to MV, so the graphics have been reworked to fit the new resolution!
Here's a link, you can also just search for "It Moves" on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1028930/It_Moves/
  • Completed
  • SnowOwl
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • Adventure
  • 02/13/2014 03:05 AM
  • 08/16/2022 03:23 PM
  • 08/27/2014
  • 459948
  • 121
  • 20118

Posts

Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
author=SnowOwl
I always leave my projects unlocked, cuz you know I don't make any money of off this thing anyway so why the heck not. Besides I use music, sounds and scripts other people made so it's only fair other people can use my stuff as long as they do it tastefully


I repeat: That is awesome. And you are awesome. If more people had that attitude, it wouldn't be so special, but it is.

author=SnowOwl
like not completely ripping the whole game and renaming it and calling it their own which actually happened once.


That you are still sharing your awesome resources after such a despicable shitheel did such a despicable thing is even more awesome. Like...superhumanly awesome.

Anyway, review submitted.

Spoilers:
It's a glowing paean.

Alright the thingy should be fixed now along with another minor thingy I've been meaning to fix. Thingys are ok now.
Also removed the brightness thingy at the start because apparently that confused alot of people into thinking you could change the brightness ingame. Maybe there's a script for that somewhere...
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
You know what's interesting? Despite my constant pushes for this game to be featured the last few months, I never actually got around to playing the whole thing all the way to the end. Well, I fixed that issue around an hour ago.

The short version: Great game, man. It was certainly a well done ride.

The longer version:

I've played this game and Skinwalker (which I'll get around to leaving a comment later), and while I don't mean to draw any unfair comparisons, this is the game that left the biggest impression on me. And I'm sure you know the reasons: The fantastic art and sound design. Seriously. The entire game was a plethora of creativity, and going through each stage gave me an adrenaline rush.

But perhaps it's a bit... too creative.

As the chapters went on, I had to keep asking myself, "Why? Why this particular nightmare? Why am I being shown this imagery? What purpose does it have to the overall story?"

Disclaimer: I have not read the story this game is based on. If all this is in there, then the previous paragraph can be freely ignored. But after a while, I started to feel like this was horror just for horror's sake. It would have been awesome to have the monster chasing me down in my dreams, and I would have to evade it by progressing through the levels. Instead, the nightmares began to feel like I'm being taken on a horror tour, and I started to relax once I realized I was in no actual danger.

Which actually brings me to one of the biggest issues I'm still wrestling with. I'm sure you've heard this multiple times by now: the fact that you can't die at all in this game. At least, not because of mistakes I made as a player.

Honestly, it did bother me at first. However, seeing how the nightmares ended, I started to think, "Well, if I died here instead of at the end of the nightmare, it wouldn't make any sense. Regardless of where I died, I still died." Once I realized that, I feel like you actually made the right call by not directly killing the player.

And if I ever say that about a horror game again I swear I will chew off my own face.

One more minor issue: There's a mapping glitch in Chapter 3. After the Skullroom, I found an area where I could walk up the wall.

Hide tag because of huge image:



I was too immersed to switch over from Player mode to Tester mode, so I didn't bother looking to see if there were other locations like that. But be aware that it might be possible.


And those are my thoughts. Great job on the game, congratulations on being featured, and I'll be making my way through your other games soon. If they're even HALF as good as this, then I can't wait to see them!

EDIT:

I step away from the computer for about five minutes, and I suddenly get a massive headache. I think this can go down as the first time a video game has ever physically assaulted me.
I never thought I'd see the day when a game being too creative was not 100% good. Well, I'll be honest, some of the nightmares are there because I enjoyed making them. Alot of the stuff I put in my games are there because I thought it would be fun to make them. For some people it works, for most people it probably doesn't.

I hope I'm one of the people it works for, and I'd like to think so, seeing as my two games that I took the most creative liberties with is the ones that got features (this and Miserere). You know I hadn't thought of it like this until you made that post. That's actually pretty cool. Maybe I should just put random shit in all my games (within limits, obviously), since it seems to work for me.

About the death thing... Well, I wanted to try to make a horror game without any gameovers or silly chase scenes where the monster gets stuck behind tables and chairs like some rpg maker horror games have. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. I'll let the players decide. So far the answer is... Maybe?
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
author=SnowOwl
I never thought I'd see the day when a game being too creative was not 100% good. Well, I'll be honest, some of the nightmares are there because I enjoyed making them. Alot of the stuff I put in my games are there because I thought it would be fun to make them. For some people it works, for most people it probably doesn't.


Hey, it's a good problem to have. You've got more ideas in this one game than I've seen in many Triple A horror games. But one of my favorite things to do after I complete horror games (Or any story-driven game) is look back at the monsters, scenery, etc. and think, "Wow, so this represents..." and, "So the overall theme(s) of this game is..." and other questions to try to piece together all the vague points the game makes.

I tend to get a little frustrated when the answers to these questions turn out to be, "Horror, and horror," I think to myself that if they were linked into the story somehow, this would have gone from a great game to a jaw-dropping game.

Then again, you have two featured games and I have none. I'm gonna stop talking like I'm some sort of expert on this now.

I hope I'm one of the people it works for, and I'd like to think so, seeing as my two games that I took the most creative liberties with is the ones that got features (this and Miserere). You know I hadn't thought of it like this until you made that post. That's actually pretty cool. Maybe I should just put random shit in all my games (within limits, obviously), since it seems to work for me.


I would hope so. Since this isn't a commercial game, you should be the FIRST person the design decisions work for.


About the death thing... Well, I wanted to try to make a horror game without any gameovers or silly chase scenes where the monster gets stuck behind tables and chairs like some rpg maker horror games have. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. I'll let the players decide. So far the answer is... Maybe?


I definitely understand what you mean. I tried to do chase sequences in my own attempt at a horror game. The keyword there is, "tried."

Again, I think you made the right call with not killing the player.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
author=Red_Nova
Then again, you have two featured games and I have none.


You have one, remember? ;)
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
author=CashmereCat
You have one, remember? ;)


Oh yeah, that's right. I guess I didn't think of it because it wasn't just MY project. Oops.
author=Red_Nova
author=SnowOwl
I never thought I'd see the day when a game being too creative was not 100% good. Well, I'll be honest, some of the nightmares are there because I enjoyed making them. Alot of the stuff I put in my games are there because I thought it would be fun to make them. For some people it works, for most people it probably doesn't.
Hey, it's a good problem to have. You've got more ideas in this one game than I've seen in many Triple A horror games. But one of my favorite things to do after I complete horror games (Or any story-driven game) is look back at the monsters, scenery, etc. and think, "Wow, so this represents..." and, "So the overall theme(s) of this game is..." and other questions to try to piece together all the vague points the game makes.

I tend to get a little frustrated when the answers to these questions turn out to be, "Horror, and horror," I think to myself that if they were linked into the story somehow, this would have gone from a great game to a jaw-dropping game.

Then again, you have two featured games and I have none. I'm gonna stop talking like I'm some sort of expert on this now.

While some of the worlds are things I enjoyed making, that doesn't mean they are completely unrelated to the story or the mind of the protagonist. I just wanted to clarify that.
Got to chapter 3 and almost fearquit. Nope, nopity nope nope nope so much NOPE

Managed to finish it though. Great game. I was wondering, on the last level with the two creatures talking about the crossroads--does this imply some kind of puzzle to be solved over to the right? I've played with it a little but all 3 paths seem consistently blocked.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
Ha, I love the idea of "fearquitting" something. I never have myself (not a game anyway: in real life I am a creature of anxiety) but I know exactly what you mean.
Btw SnowOwl you should do some CSSing.
What kind of CSSing are we talking about here?
Gamepage CSS. Some dark themes, instead of this white default.
I was watching Pewdiepie yesterday and, surprise! He already downloaded 'It moves' (more than one time, apparently something went wrong) I think we can expect a let's play soon *W*
Its super cool so far i made a video if you wish to check it out
Is making this game worth paying for the RPGMAKER VX Ace? Seems like a high price for making such a good game. Do you get anything out of getting a popular game, or did you artistically just want to share a fiction?
RPG Maker is one of the cheaper game makers (probably because of it's limited functionality), so it's not THAT big of a investment. Luckily, my investment was nothing, since I got it gifted to me by Liberty I believe it was. Even so, I would probably have bought it either way. Either way, I enjoy the simplicity (some would call it noob friendly) of RPG Maker, and above all that I don't have to program anything. I hate programming.
As for what I get out of it, mostly it's a creative outlet.
Doesn't hurt my ego getting some e-fame, either. There are probably more than a hundred Let's Plays of It Moves by now, and I am simply stunned by it.
With all the talent demonstrated on this game. Are you planning on a new project?
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
problems/issues/questions with plot

1.how old was your character?
2.where was the brother? and why did we not see him once?
3.why were you being harassed?
4.what was it?
5.did it stop? if so why?
6.when did your mother come back?
7.did your parents experience it in the end?
8.why did they move on the 11th day?

need explanation's
the player needing to make assumptions is not a good plot!

^ for those who for some reason don't understand why/
if i am to assume events. for each thing i need to do this for it takes away credit from the creator and becomes my story not theres.
at which point i mys well make the story mine and or my own story because theres gaps in information that should be clearly stated.
i want to know what the authors intentions are.
how they think what there ideas and perceptions are. just using my own has less value when looking at someone else's work.

it feels lazy honestly to not come up with a satisfactory explanation to things that may benefit the story. and just put it on the player to do w/e they want.
while its fiction thus they can do so.
it take away value because its not set it stone.

fan fiction is for a person to write there own version of something or a spin off. when the main thing itself has holes...that's just wrong...
its another matter if its obvious thru information in and around a game to come up with a most likely/specific answer but just plain utter assumptions based on multiple if non existent factors.
is really really bad.

as im allowed here to say say the story went how ever i want its cant be bad which is a bad design choice!