Thanks for playing and for taking the time to leave such thoughtful feedback!
Consistency with the interactions was something I struggled with definitely. I responded previously on the forum here that I thought it might be related, at least somewhat, to the current scale of the game? If it was even smaller than it is now, maybe just a single room, I could have afforded to have every object reacting to the mouse, the game would then become about finding the right object or the right order? On the other hand, if the game was a bit longer it would perhaps have allowed more time to build up a "language" of interactions, starting with more straightforward ones and slowly developing them as the player became familiar with how the game works. As it is at the moment it maybe falls somewhere in between and, as you say, becomes about luck, just waving the mouse around to try and progress, some things respond, some don't and there isn't much to let players know either way.
I specifically didn't want the player to feel like they were playing as the woman! :D The idea was for the player to act as a driving force for the narrative and a kind of helping hand/guiding spirit for the character, I wanted the "cursor" to exist within the game world. The problem was maintaining that separation consistently while still coming up with enjoyable/interesting interactions that simultaneously connected the character, the environment and the little story I was trying to tell. The close-up interactions, as they are, blur the line too much; could the woman see you moving the objects? Were you actually moving her hands to perform the actions? With more time and a more nuanced performance from the character I think some of those issues could be addressed; as an example I could have had her start the job of unscrewing the laptop only to struggle with seeing the tiny screws, she could get distracted and the player could help out, unscrew, peel the label off and then she could return to the job and finish it off herself? There is an awful lot more work in conveying all of that succinctly to the player though!
The aim isn't to expand this particular game really, but to make a series of similar small stories set in the same world. Hopefully with the next one though I'll be able to address some of the issues that popped up with the first!
Thanks again!
Nick
(I really enjoy Florian's work! There's so much conveyed in the seemingly simple interactions of Lieve Oma!)
Thanks for playing and I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
Those little gaps are always my favorite part of any story! Having said that, I wish I'd been able to give the lady a bit more character, a more nuanced performance would give the player more to interpret! I had enough trouble getting her to turn around without exploding though never mind getting her to look wistful!
It's tricky to know exactly what to add or change, I've seen people click through all the lights as if they knew exactly where they all were already, and I've watched (in dismay!) as people click furiously over the entire screen except on the hot-spot!
I did try implementing an electrical hum that changes depending on cursor proximity (you still might be able to hear it on one of the lights!) but didn't get working in a way I was happy with, it might be something i go back to! Just in general, sound is something I need to work more on.
As for interaction consistency I think part of the problem might be the size of this particular game, if it was a single screen/room you'd maybe expect everything to have a different mechanic attached? If it was longer and had loads more objects you'd be able to build up a familiarity with all the different types? As it stands this maybe falls awkwardly in the middle? I had a vision of having everything on screen being interactive in some way, that way it would be the narrative that would give objects significance rather than just the fact that they wobble, but I was pushing it just to get it done in the 4-months as it was!
Thanks again for playing and for all your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Yeah, I don't think I have the balance right yet between subtle and confusing! :D
I was really keen to keep the cursor as minimal as possible and to remove as many non-diegetic elements as I could. In this case though I might just have too many different kinds of interactions for that to work intuitively!
Fixed an issue with the ESC menu being blurred while rotating objects
Hopefully fixed jittery UI elements in menu
Removed easing on rotation for close-up objects to try to improve responsiveness
Disabled cursor while close-up objects are translated on/off
Fixed issue with close-up objects parenting/transforms
Added a reset to close-up objects to return them to their original position each time if they get off-set
Know issues:
It's still possible to off-set the little booklet while rotating it, closing and re-opening should fix it though
There is an annoying click in the left audio channel which I can't yet pin down!
I really appreciate everybody who's taken the time to give the game a go! And thank you to those who've persevered through the bugs and left super useful feedback, let me know if you find anything else!
Glad you're liking it! :D You need to hold the button down for a few seconds, there's a little stop-watch in the notes to suggest that but it might not be clear enough!
Thanks for this! There seems to be a sneaky little hotspot in the light scene that shouldn't be there and it's triggering things out of order! I'll try and get it fixed today!
The obstacle just after the bicycle actually isn't clickable, but should respond to some gentle "swishing" in the right direction? I might need to tweak it to be more reactive though, it maybe isn't picking up the mouse-over at speed!
A quick little update to address a few issues with the cursor:
Made difference in cursor-state more pronounced when over clickable objects
Increased size of certain hit-boxes to make them slightly more obvious
Fixed issue with cursor getting very small at different camera FOVs
I've also added a Linux build, at the moment I have no Linux system available so it's completely untested, Unity's Cloud Build has been pretty solid so far though so I thought it was worth giving it a try?
