Hey I tried to play your linux build and record some video footage with commentary, but the game was freezing for me around the part where your 3rd screenshot is.
It's a weird game, and I don't know what you are going to do with it. Sorry for not being more helpful. Good luck in future demos.
I couldn't really figure out what to do. Interesting choice of mechanics, dividing 1st and 3rd person like that, but not sure about the practical applications of it.
I really hate how you have to switch between third person and first person view.
The game is also way too dark in quite a few places.
Didn't play for long. I guess this might keep the attention of someone into Resident Evil or Silent Hill or whatever for longer but the controls are a pretty hard filter.
Movement feels unresponsive. There's a delay before the character even starts accelerating, and turning is jittery. Is the animation procedural?
What's with having to hold a button to go into first person and then only being able to control pitch with the mouse and having to use A and D to yaw? Why not just have a third person/first person toggle?
If the first person mode is only for interacting with things, just add more camera angles. This is clunky as hell.
Don't let the player leave the view of the camera.
Really needs a frame rate limit.
The character not having his glasses isn't that much of an inconvenience, and the hearing aids don't seem to do anything at all except when you get caught.
Is there anything to do except picking up the three items and eventually getting caught by the red guy? Couldn't find anything to use the glove on.
Keep the puzzle and horror elements separate. The red guy quickly just becomes an annoyance when you've been caught several times trying to figure out what you're supposed to do (he's really easy to avoid, but that just makes him feel less threatening). I don't think the 2.5 minute timer is a good addition. If you want to add a sense of urgency without it becoming frustrating, just make it long enough that you'll never actually run out of time. A "fake" time limit can be just as effective as a "real" one.
Accidentally closed the game 3 times by instinctively pressing Esc before tabbing out.
Wow, this is a very interesting project. You have an amazing talent for creating atmosphere. The sound, lighting, and structure of the place creates a very unique and very intriguing feeling. I am absolutely compelled to learn more about this world, and the events happening. There's something very obtuse about the entire thing which I love... that goes so hard against the grain of modern game design, but finds an element of mystery in doing so.
When it comes to the nuts and bolts though, I think there are a few things that could be improved a bit. The walking feels good, no issues there. But it's a bit finnicky to align myself properly with items so that I can interact with them. I'm not sure the reason that left/right movement is disabled in first person, but I assume there is a good one. Perhaps allowing just a small amount would be good? If I walk to a switch or something I want to interact with, and I'm slightly misaligned, I have to go back, fiddle around, try again, etc.. It doesn't feel very good to do that, and works against all the atmosphere, in my opinion. The distance in which you can interact could stand to be a little more generous too.
The other thing I wonder, is whether the game would benefit from a trust building moment early on. That is, very early giving the player one moment of clarity that they did something "right". That would help them trust the game knows what it's doing, that they are doing what they should be doing, etc.. I don't personally know how this would work, or would affect what you are going for, but I did find myself getting a little lost and wondering if there was more to the game, or if that was all. Looking at the screenshots, I see the guy with glasses on, blood on the floor, drinking water, which I wasn't able to do. I was taking pictures, putting on the glove, flipping switches, but wasn't able to leave the apartment, find the glasses, or make any other progress.
How much of that is due to the format, being in a demo day with 59 other games. It's not the ideal format for a game that is asking something of you, like this game is doing.
It's really a quickfire horror game with an attempt at some immersion aspects, I'm hesitant to add much UI nods for what the player should do honestly; the most indication you get right now is the player character's head will turn to face something interactable
You have to look and feel around, take stock of (currently rather sparse) surroundings, such as the glasses on the shelf in the kitchen
As for the camera controls and such, I'm just messing about with a few concepts
It's all a bit experimental honestly, there isn't a big goal to achieve currently; but there is one "goal" that is hinted at in the game!
Comments
Hey I tried to play your linux build and record some video footage with commentary, but the game was freezing for me around the part where your 3rd screenshot is.
It's a weird game, and I don't know what you are going to do with it. Sorry for not being more helpful. Good luck in future demos.
I couldn't really figure out what to do. Interesting choice of mechanics, dividing 1st and 3rd person like that, but not sure about the practical applications of it.
I really hate how you have to switch between third person and first person view.
The game is also way too dark in quite a few places.
Didn't play for long. I guess this might keep the attention of someone into Resident Evil or Silent Hill or whatever for longer but the controls are a pretty hard filter.
I like the feel of this a lot. I’m really excited to see more.
The glove is for holding super hot water!
Wow, this is a very interesting project. You have an amazing talent for creating atmosphere. The sound, lighting, and structure of the place creates a very unique and very intriguing feeling. I am absolutely compelled to learn more about this world, and the events happening. There's something very obtuse about the entire thing which I love... that goes so hard against the grain of modern game design, but finds an element of mystery in doing so.
When it comes to the nuts and bolts though, I think there are a few things that could be improved a bit. The walking feels good, no issues there. But it's a bit finnicky to align myself properly with items so that I can interact with them. I'm not sure the reason that left/right movement is disabled in first person, but I assume there is a good one. Perhaps allowing just a small amount would be good? If I walk to a switch or something I want to interact with, and I'm slightly misaligned, I have to go back, fiddle around, try again, etc.. It doesn't feel very good to do that, and works against all the atmosphere, in my opinion. The distance in which you can interact could stand to be a little more generous too.
The other thing I wonder, is whether the game would benefit from a trust building moment early on. That is, very early giving the player one moment of clarity that they did something "right". That would help them trust the game knows what it's doing, that they are doing what they should be doing, etc.. I don't personally know how this would work, or would affect what you are going for, but I did find myself getting a little lost and wondering if there was more to the game, or if that was all. Looking at the screenshots, I see the guy with glasses on, blood on the floor, drinking water, which I wasn't able to do. I was taking pictures, putting on the glove, flipping switches, but wasn't able to leave the apartment, find the glasses, or make any other progress.
How much of that is due to the format, being in a demo day with 59 other games. It's not the ideal format for a game that is asking something of you, like this game is doing.
Thanks for trying!
It's really a quickfire horror game with an attempt at some immersion aspects, I'm hesitant to add much UI nods for what the player should do honestly; the most indication you get right now is the player character's head will turn to face something interactable
You have to look and feel around, take stock of (currently rather sparse) surroundings, such as the glasses on the shelf in the kitchen
As for the camera controls and such, I'm just messing about with a few concepts
It's all a bit experimental honestly, there isn't a big goal to achieve currently; but there is one "goal" that is hinted at in the game!