Post by Jellyfish in Ravenhaul comments

Viewing post in Ravenhaul comments

New comment for new version! :)

I installed the PostJam version (dated: 2023-05-23) using the itch.io app on Windows 10.

First general comments: WOW, this is way different from the previous version... a lot more streamlined and with some information management made significantly easier, though I will note that the extra information and how some of the old information now matters more means the information handling load is pretty heavy, though due to the extended play time (WITH NO SAVE) caused by the need to get each patron on the list rather than skipping some is useful for teaching more about how the system work and working on that muscle memory but also makes it less likely that I have a play session long enough to finish the game... so the end game will not get play tested or only one or twice I'm afraid.

I'll also add that the absolute need to get the range numbers right due to tightening up the speed and distance requirements make it possible to stuff yourself going onto a new patron... I couldn't deliver anything for the smiths for ages because I had to save up for birds that could do the work and the fastest apothecary note was also a long term saving project (made worse because I over committed due to not realising that one of my crows didn't have the range and not correctly sequencing things).

I appreciate being able to see how my birds are flying as well as being given times for sleep and return though the jump in speed of sleeping between minimal and short is rather big, no? It definitely makes getting some birds to minimal or just not bothering to upgrade that at all and going for speed as long as they have enough range. I think overall this part of the game is the hardest as I've already had to sell one bird (and extend my playthrough) because the upgrades I made didn't match what I later needed from said bird - I like that it was feasible to do this but maybe not the reason (a lack of information about what ranges are actually needed - can I suggest that either the birds' and delivery items' range be listed in the same way as sleep and not to require exact numbers (do these birds really count the exact kms they fly?? or change the patron list to include a maximum range in numbers for them?) Also see below...

Bugs:

I can no longer get trapped in the shop thanks to every overlay screen properly pausing the action and time and note being able to click on the shop once it is leaving *yay* but I did get trapped in the shop when I went to sell a bird, then hit cancel without selecting a nest (I planned and then decided against selling a bird right then) the overlay screen went away but I could not click on anything or us keys when later started causing beeping, as if they were being queued? However I accidentally pressed right click and everything started working again... so not a soft lock unless you don't know to press a button never used in the game! ;)

The predicted arrived time for one note said I would be late but my bird made it anyway... I sent it just after it ticked over from being unlikely to arrive in time but never-the-less it made it just fine... so the predictor is inaccurate despite having three possible outcomes; arrives in time, might arrive in time, definitely won't - I didn't have a choice with that one as I had a spare bird and it would be late with any other I might send it with hence sending it anyway...

I went into debt by almost a 100 credits when I bought the kernel silo upgrade for 500 credits when I had over 850 credits... it looks like it charged me for the grain I already had in the silo as well as the silo upgrade?

I ran out of time to test more but I am worried that I will have to sink a lot of time in to discover why herons have such long ranges even though so far that is useless as the only long range deliver is a note that has to go super fast (and therefore by pigeon).

Anyway, the PostJam version is way better overall even though it might have become worse in one or two ways and also exacerbated the lack of saving quite a bit!

Best wishes and although I hope for more updates to this I am just happy that you appear to enjoy your work here enough to stay in contact with your players! :) - it seems to be a little rare and unfortunately a lot of those who do also don't seem to have the time to do much about bugs (especially in anything but their most recent game *sigh*).

bippinbits13 days ago

Thank you so much, wow! It is rare to get this extensive feedback, i appreciate it. The save function is dearly missing, i agree. We love Ravenhaul and would like to continue with it and improve it, but right now we don't have the time to do it. Just too many games on our plate. We do this for a living, and we take the freedom to make a jam game for a week 2-3 times a year, but we can't put in much more time because they are free games and we can't work extended periods for free. So, i can empathize with devs needing to move on to their next game. We have 18 games on itch and 2 more on steam, and even if i love them all, we can't keep working on them all.

To the feedback: don't worry, without a save and some bugs around the later stages can be a bit straining to reach. I'd love for you to be around if we eventually can continue working on the game (making it into a full release). My hope is that we can do that next year, but plans change a lot over time.

I really like the suggestion of not having a numeric value for the distance. That would make it a lot more accessible i think, easier to understand, while providing the same challenge. It is a direction question too, whether it is a more hardcore management game or more on the cozy friendly side.

I do like that you met some challenge with finding or training the right bird - this is exactly what i wanted from the patrons, to pose a challenge to your birds. Some later patrons have long ranges or big parcels as delivery, which you need the herons for.

Jellyfish13 days ago

You are welcome to the feedback... I generally try to give feedback to all the devs of games I try and especially ones I play regularly, especially in the review but sometimes in the comments too if there is a lot but some of it might be easy to change. I'm happy to help out as I myself would love to develop games and contribute to a few but I have so little time and my origin was as an alpha tester of computer games so this is just a little light exercise for my mind (I am genuinely suprised I missed reporting the source of my copy of the game and not checking the version! But at least that little wrinkle is easy enough to fix :)

I didn't realise you had so many games but then there are always more platforms, right?

As to you feedback responses; I'm glad I was able to suggest something helpful and maybe these bug reports might make it a little easier to put in fixes. As for the patrons, I like the mechanic but I found it harder to stomach because I just don't have the time to dedicate to a whole run through, especially with the increased time due to having to mess a little to get exactly the right bird... I suppose over time as I play again and again I will develop a more streamlined understanding of the game systems and so not have so much trouble but by then I guess I will be much worse at spotting issue and wrinkles in the game since I'll be accustomed to them :/ - this is what always causes issues towards the ends of games if one is not careful with ones testing (as so many AAA titles can atest!)

All the best with your new projects and I'll just hang a little hope that some of the issues with this one can be ironed out in time :) <3