Hi Arthur!
Thank you for the time you took for testing my game and writing such a thorough comment to it. I truly appreciate your remarks, with most of whom I quite agree.
You don't like the inertial movement of the player? Neither do I.
At first I thought it was a nice idea, and it would add realism to the difficulty of running in environments dense with obstacles.
Now I find it just slightly annoying, and in fact I didn't implemented it in the second videogame I'm currently working on.
If I didn't remove it from Their Eyes it's only because that feature was present from the very first moment, and I'm almost positive you are the first one complaining about it. But, who knows?, I might reconsider this point.
Combat is not an option, you say.
Actually, although it's not possible to beat the game without shooting a bullet, you can theoretically avoid most of the enemies.
Pigs and cows attack only if provoked, as you know; bugs and darkmen can only see before themselves, and only if they have a clear line of sight; hounds can smell you within a certain range, regardless of obstacles, but will not stray too far from the starting point. Not to speak of worms, which are basically harmless if you deal with them with a little cold blood.
Most of those enemies can be killed with a single hit, if caught unaware, and they never respawn - with few exceptions. Furthermore, bugs can be removed permanently from the game.
As a general idea, sounds are of great help in understanding whether you are dealing damage to someone or not.
Bouncing (i.e. ineffective) hits produce a sharp sound, while damage-dealing hits produce a very different, deeper sound.
The graphic effect is pretty different too.
On the other hand, I didn't implement sneaking mechanics on purpose (sorry for the ambiguity represented by the tall grass! I didn't think about it, but you're perfectly right).
I like them a lot, as a player, but I felt it was definitely beyond my reach to implement an interesting sneaking mechanic in my very first game.
Furthermore, I wanted to prevent the protagonist from becoming too comfortable in a place that was meant to be uncanny and inherently unsettling.
I'm surprised about the issue you encountered with hurtboxes.
They are supposed to be aligned with creatures, and even to change shape accordingly, wherever the vertical and horizontal sprites differ substantially (for instance, the pig's). They actually do, as far as I know. They appear to behave correctly also in the playthroughs of my game I've watched on YouTube.
Nevertheless, as a newbie developer mostly familiar with MacOs, I can't exclude weird bugs I'm not aware of, maybe on some versions of Windows? Would be helpful if you could post a short footage of the problem.
Conversely, I have to admit I don't really understand what you are saying about breaking a door. You mean the door's hurtbox feels off too, or something different? Please explain, I'm really interested.
What you say about the menu is so true!
Would be very helpful to somehow recall the functionality of each object. Since, as you remark, once you miss the tutorial popup for any reason you have no clue whatsoever on how to use items!
Thanks, I'll work on that - and I'll implement something similar in my new game too (future players will be grateful to this post! :D).
The doll is not working always? That's weird, again.
I assume you are conscious that the doll is a disposable item, correct?
With that said, I'm not aware of any bugs concerning it. I'll look into it.
In conclusion, I'm not trying to persuade you that my game is good and you are wrong! :D
I'm sorry if you had too high expectations because of some positive comments: Their Eyes is just the first experiment of an amateur, most real programmers would have done better in almost all respects.
Some people did like the game, some other didn't, but I reject the accusation of making the game unfair just for the sake of it.
I did my best, trying to make something tough but entertaining.
I really hope I'll do better in the future, and this also thanks to detailed reviews like yours. :)