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Shadow of a Doubt [Demo]'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #104 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Cleverness | #423 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Playability | #943 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Artistic Style | #957 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Hello! Great start to a game- I liked the theme being integrated by "spreading the word"! Thought that was clever. The game ended abruptly before I could truly dive in- perhaps too much exposition to get into the meat of the game.
Did you include your Game Design Document in your downloadable files?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
The story involves you taking control a true crime podcast host, who at the behest of his co-host and fans, goes to investigate a decade old murder in a small town. A man has long since been charged with the crime but some are not so sure that the true criminal has been found and an innocent man may be sitting behind bars.
The mechanics involve you making choices that branch the story and affect how characters interact with you. Not only will your reputation pass to other characters in the town but you can use your platform to influence your followers, which can also have effects on how the story plays out.
Information always spreads. Will you broadcast the truth or spin a web of lies?
Did you remember to include your Game Design Document?
Yes
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Extra Notes
Due to time limitations and inexperience, the game is missing some features such as the social media app which would help visualize the effects of publicizing events to your followers. All base systems are in place but because the demo only takes you through Day 1, the long term consequences of your actions may not be shown even though the systems are in place to do so if the story continues.
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Comments
Heyo, I played your demo. I am not a big VN fan so my experience with games like this is pretty limited. Anyway I liked the overall vibe of the game, I tried all choice options and so far there is not much to do. I liked the writing, maybe the exposure was a little too much, but other than that it is a very intriguing start for a mistery game. Good job for getting so far, but there is a lot of potential for this to get even better!
I am going to give an honest feedback here as a long-time Visual Novel player/reader.
The story sounds good and the writing is nice. There is a good idea for a VN that could turn into horror/suspense and investigation.
The exposition of everything at the beginning might be a little too much. Try to dispatch more your information's to not overload your reader with informations that they do not find useful at the time.
Good points to keep up :
- You have good writing, maybe try to expose a little less the characters & story elements straight on. Even more on a pure Visual Novel.
-
Novel StudioRen'py gives you a wide set of tools to make a key-in-hand VN and you tried to use them all which is nice.(Edited as I mixed up names)Try to avoid :
- Try to not use AI for the characters next time. Novel Studio uses AI for it's in-package assets.
- You didn't had time to do the main piece of gameplay that is outside of
Novel StudioRen'py current toolset (The social media app) from what I understand. I would have preferred to see a poorly-drawn paint or free-assets VN game with less exposition but with the Social media App included.- The music isn't really fitting the ambiance and kills the mood.
I tried to make this feedback hoping you didn't knew you were using AI artworks to help you as much as I could.
Thank you so much for playing our game!
I truly value your feedback and appreciate the information about Novel Studio. Our game was coded in Ren'py, not the Novel Studio engine, but we used character sprites purchased from Novel Studio's itch.io store. They unfortunately don't disclaim anywhere on their page about AI being used in the creation of their sprites. If we continue the project from here, we will look into replacing those first and foremost. Your feedback was very helpful. Much appreciated.
I edited my answer as I inverted Novel Studio with Ren'py on my points, sorry !
Yeah that's what I thought as I looked into it but it's clearly AI and not stated anywhere. Which is why I prefered to think that it wasn't wanted.
Good job on your game still, you can be very proud of it ~ I hope to see you more someday !