Some comments in no particular order:
- yeah, I should probably let players use real world food for the protein puzzle. The lab was the first area that was developed and bringing items into dreams wasn’t a thing back then.
- if the diary say ‘…’ then there’s nothing left to do story wise. Most likely. I guess you can still have some generic conversations with the girls or explore the dream world for lore.
- You’ll have to suspend your disbelief and assume the PC wants to turn back. I understand this might be a crucial RP aspect, but that approach would require writing and essentially developing 2 separate games. I’m already struggling that the PC could still be male or female in the story.
- Have you ever played Yume Nikki? It’s exploration for exploration’s sake. That said, story segments will eventually be hidden behind dream exploration. For a while I made it convenient for people to experience the story without participating in exploration. That will change.
- Case in point, because I was concerned players will miss the latest story even - nightmare with Yuri - doesn’t require finding her in the basement. And once the event is done, the flag updates to having already found her.
- Yes, I suppose the story is lagging behind at this point. Last month gameplay was lagging. I only have so much free time in a day.