This is a really well made game. You fit the theme well and definitely have a good story. I really liked the flowery jokes (like "holy seedpots") and how the story was able to show flowers' perspective on life. I almost felt I'm a flower whilst playing. :) Also, it was really nice to be able to walk around and choose the order of the interactions. I also like the addition of information from other objects (like paper, bottle ...). The mini game is a really nice touch to offer a short "active break from the narrative part". The graphics and music are also very lovely and fit the whole concept really well! It started as a game, but ended up having a few life lessons in it as well. ;)
I would still however like to be able to skip through the dialogue, since during the second play-through, I was just interested in what the other ending would look like. And since I've just read the whole story, I didn't feel like reading it again. Don't get me wrong - the story is really beautiful and well written. I was anxiously waiting for the moment when I'll finally find out about the gardner's daughter and it also made me emotional at times. It's just too long to read again right after you've just read it. :)
I would suggest a new button option for skipping the dialogue (like the K with the minigames). When I just tried to progress through the dialogue quickly with the spacebar, I ended up restarting the whole dialogue whilst clicking it and not realizing where the end is. So (for the second play through!) I would just like to be able to walk up to a flower, press a special button that would just "make the talk happen in a second", get the water that I need and walk to another flower.
I was actually not able to get the other ending ... After I've collected all 4 flowers for the bouquet, the LOCK kept on saying, I should do a better job.
Also, I think adding actually voices, so that the text would be narrated would make it even better. Or maybe an option to either:
- read on your own,
- listen the recorded voices.
And maybe some really minor things:
- When collecting flowers for the bouquet, when you come to the Petunias, it would be nice to have their pictures next to the options. I forgot which one is Tulla for example, so it would be nice to be reminded of that.
- The music is really beautiful. I just didn't like the slight "mobile-ringing like" sound after some interactions.
All in all a great game! Everything was well-thought and makes up a nice experience! ;)
Viewing post in Locks and Lilies jam comments
First of all, from all of us... thank you SO much for taking the time to play through the game twice with such close attention and for leaving such a detailed comment. I'm so happy you enjoyed the game and the story enough to be willing to do this! It really really means a lot.
Your notes are incredibly helpful. All of them will help us develop this game and fix some issues when the game jam is over! I will try to keep this reply organized as I address them all.
With skipping dialog, I actually did not know this... but there is a skip button! Josh just told me you can hold escape (ESC) to skip dialog or press it to skip sections. If you're in full screen, the first time you press it, it will bump you out of full screen. But once you're in windowed, it works. Apologies from us all! A bit of a miscommunication between us... probs the result of the final night cramming xD I'll go ahead and add that control to the itch page. Also, we did originally have a plan to have an option to just replay the bouquet phase, but ran out of time to add that in. But no, I totally agree with you that it's a must for replaying the game. I actually played the game 4 times before I found out about the skip button and I agree, it's really long haha, I understand (thank you so much for the kind words about the story on the first read though! :D ). I feel your pain with the space bar thing too. If you decide to try again, hopefully esc. makes it easier :)
With not being able to get the true ending... that's really really weird. The Lock saying you have to try harder happens when you don't have enough flowers. I think it's a UI bug that where the 4th flower's picture doesn't get added into the bouquet, making it seem incomplete. Out of the 7 playtests I've done, I've only seen this happen once, and for the life of me I can't figure out what makes it happen. My guess is it happens if you try to invite the same flower twice or talk to it after already inviting it... but I don't know. I haven't been able to replicate it since. Either way, I'm so sorry you experienced that after putting in so much time to get the true ending! I did test the true ending just now, and it did work for me...
Just out of curiosity, do you remember what flowers you added to the bouquet when you tried for the true ending (it's cool if you don't remember their names haha, just the type of flower :) ) I can tell you if that's right or wrong if you want, if you'd like to try again for the true ending with skipped dialog! But if you'd rather not, I totally totally understand, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to share the true ending's text with you (maybe over Discord DM if you're on this Jam's discord? if not, maybe I can put it in a google drive and share the link in a comment reply) because after all the time you put into playing our game, you sure as heck deserve to know the true ending :)
Omi voice acting this would be so fun. It would be quite the undertaking because of all the characters and implementation but who knows, maybe in the future! Thanks for the suggestion! :)
With having pictures for the Petunias and Cacti, that's an excellent idea! Or maybe their names can be colored in the choices. We'll have to see if we can figure out how to do that. But for reference, the order of name choices for the petunias at least is listed in left to right. So Penny = Purple, Tulla = Red, Nivia = White
And finally the music! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm particularly proud of how this score came out. It was so much fun to write.
But ehehehehehehe... that sound you mentioned is the sound that plays when you add a flower to the bouquet. And now that you mentioned it, you are absolutely right! It totally sounds like a cellphone ringtone. I couldn't stop laughing when I read that. I can't believe I didn't notice before. And you're right it totally does clash with the music. I wanted to do something that could clearly be heard above the soundtrack but I think I went a little too far. I'll think of something different! Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention.
Thank you again so much for leaving such detailed feedback. I hope this reply addresses all the concerns! Let me know if anything I said is too confusing haha xD
-Sasha
So, I tried playing again with the help of the Esc button - it works! :) I thought the key turning point in the story was when Lillian has to decide to be included in the bouquet or not ... But I got the same story ending both times. So yes, I'd be happy if you could reveal the end mystery to me. ;) I joined this jam's discord, so you can find me there (same name as here).
And about the situation when the lock wouldn't let me through... I don't remember which flowers I choose, but I know that I went back to the lock after collecting only 3 flowers and the lock said I could do a better job, so I went to get another one, but then it kept on saying the same thing ... Even though the picture of the 4th flower was added. I can explain more on Discord if you want. ;)
Hey thanks for playing, and for the detailed feedback + suggestions! I see that Sasha told you about the ESC key to skip. I honestly took it for granted while testing the game and totally forgot to mention it to anyone (lol.) I remember that if I do another game with multiple choices/endings. We've experimented with dialogue voices (more like the sounds the play when the dialogue is being written) in a previous game and had to delay that for the sake of finishing the jam. It would be a really cool way to add even more to the different flowers' unique personalities. Thanks again!
- Josh