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I enjoyed the lore setup to the game. I also enjoyed the gruesome killing. Felt very satisfying to blast some enemies into pieces. A lot of stuff definitely felt like cool demo tech as well. There is definitely a lot to do in this game.

I thought a lot of mechanics were cool with some caveats. I liked the jetpack boost mechanic but sometimes it is pretty hard to use without 100% focusing on platforming. I feel like a little more forgiving platforming would allow you to do some fun fighting in the air with the jetpack (which was fun to use near the ground). The gun has a pretty small effective range, which I think also somewhat detracts from the experience and some of the cool combat you could pair with the jetpack.

While I liked a lot of the cool shader effects, I feel like they were just demo tech and not necessarily cohesive or contributing to the environment (which is fine, I assume one of your jam objectives was just to push tech). The level design was kind of wonky as well with some being linear and others having completely uncertain goals.

A  lot of that I see you've addressed already as being a scope issue.

I enjoyed my time in it, congrats on the release.

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Which shaders and effects did you feel where not cohesive or contributing? There are some interested things going on with the cel-shader I designed, and I created an adjustable vertex wobble shader to recreate some early PlayStation hardware limitations, but those effects where intentionally subtle, and the goal certainly wasn't to create a "tech demo".

Every effect that ended up in the final game was chosen purposefully with the goal of making a stylized and cohesive experience. I'm not exceptionally skilled with environments or character modeling but the visual appearance of the game was one of the few things I thought I'd done well, I invested a lot of time in making sure everything had a uniform Texel densities, similar looking textures, lighting in key areas deliberately tweaked and colored, and that the shader effects did not vary too much between locations (with the exception of the chromatic area) . I'm interested to know which effects felt out of place for you?

I'd also like to know more about how the game has uncertain goals while also being too linear? I've received somewhat similar feedback from someone else but they struggled to elaborate. If anything, I expected to get criticized for the unbeleiviably cliché gameplay loop, exploring a map to find keycards then clearing specfic linear areas is quintessential DOOM. I intended to push the concept a little by making seemingly open areas deceptivly linear by drawing the player towards specfic locations (Like the the red room practically begging to be climbed to find the first keycard) and make linear areas deceptively non-linear (The hidden teleports in the yellow hallway). It's wholly possible that my level design just wasn't good enough to pull this off, At least one person I watched play simply got lost and couldn't find the blue door for over 40 minutes despite my deliberate attempt to encourage the player to jump up there to avoid enemies lol. 

In general, I was actually hoping to make the player feel lost, or at least uncomfortable, without actually getting lost.  I think the part I may have failed was that the discomfort was supposed to come from the environment and space, not from frustration at not knowing where to go. And the strange effects should have been sparing and spread around multiple maps, not crammed into one. Having to scope down to a single map made my design goals really difficult to pull off :/

If I had the time, I would scale down this first map and make it much more "normal", the enemies would be less strange and there would be almost no platforming, giving a much more traditional FPS experience, but then, after stepping through the elevator you are taken to a totally different level, abstract and colorful like the blueroom with platforming, nearly no enemies, and large environmental hazards. Each level after that would seek to build on that back and forth in new ways.

ah see this is where you caught me with hand in the cookie Jar. I don't think I realized exactly how many shaders you've actually put into the game, and this is absolutely is a deficit on my part, because some are so seemless I didn't even think about them.

> I'm not exceptionally skilled with environments or character modeling but the visual appearance of the game was one of the few things I thought I'd done well, I invested a lot of time in making sure everything had a uniform Texel densities, similar looking textures, lighting in key areas deliberately tweaked and colored, and that the shader effects did not vary too much between locations (with the exception of the chromatic area) .

You are totally 100% valid on this one. The only areas I didn't like were the chromatic ones. The cel-shading is great and speaks to my overview point. Also I'm certain there are a lot of shaders you are putting on that again I am not noticing, like the one you describe on your itch page. I was completely out of bounds with this criticism I think, especially because I'm just thinking about the chromatic rooms.

I'd also like to know more about how the game has uncertain goals while also being too linear? I've received somewhat similar feedback from someone else but they struggled to elaborate. If anything,

Goals is probably the wrong term from me. goal itself is straightforward, find keycards, leave. I think the inconsistency is in the level design, which you've already tapped into. I feel like the first area I enter I'm in for a big arena focused high-paced boomer shooter and like DOOM eternal jetpack floaty mechanics and many entrances and exits to explore - what I experience is a platformer, without much need for shooting, and all those auxillary areas just add confusion. It is completely in contrast to hallways for the other two areas, but primarily the yellow hallway which I recall as being just a long corridor and I don't think I felt the teleporting mechanic hard or at all.

At least one person I watched play simply got lost and couldn't find the blue door for over 40 minutes despite my deliberate attempt to encourage the player to jump up there to avoid enemies lol.

I had a similar issue, I indeed have to loop around at least once. I am not a level designer but it was indeed unintuitive to find this one.

I agree though that my original comment is kinda bad and misinformed.