itch.io

Hi, thanks for the time you dedicated writing this playthrough, it's pretty well done!

Yes, you can collect Soul Fragments from Shy Ghosts, but you can't kill them with attacks. Instead, you need to chase them down and drop an Apple Pie nearby (made with 3 wheats, 2 apples and 1 bucket of milk in an Oven).

About the limited inventory space, did you try crafting a Crate? I kinda hoped this addition would fix early inventory problems, but let me know if it's still bad as it is.

I'm aware the boss spawn killing you can be very frustrating, and although you could use a Bed to set your spawn far enough away, I guess the encounter is still too difficult. I will try to tackle these problems ASAP!

Yep, those are the games! Hopefully I can bring Flatlands to be more like them in the very distant future. Thanks again.

Hey, it's not a bother, I really appreciate comments! Thanks for testing the game and engaging with the development, it means a lot to me.

About the black screen issue, that's very weird, but upon research it does seem that Unity has some sort of problem with lighting in the version that I'm currently using, which, as you discovered, could cause errors when you don't have an up to date version of C++ installed. That's a nice catch by you, and I will promptly put up this information on the land page.

As for the caves, I agree. Truth is that even Alpha 1.1 didn't touch much on content or the gameplay loop per se. The reason being that, for now, the game is kind of steered in the wrong direction. My goal was never to make some sort of straight-up top-down Minecraft/Terraria-like game. I'm a big fan of immersion, narrative and big complex simulations (like CoQ, Kenshi, DF, TDoT, PZ), which those games arguably have none of, and sadly neither my game has at this moment. Flatlands is my first solo game, so I always just wanted to get a simple version published ASAP and do all the heavy lifting afterwards, because for me it's way easier to slowly change something that already exists, than to start big from the get-go. As of right now, I'm in the midst of a substantial rewrite of various core systems, so I can design much more complex behaviors for objects and creatures of the world in the future. In sum, my focus for future updates will probably be increasing the world in size, adding civilizations and NPCs you can interact with, and working on a more emergent, survival-focused gameplay. Many of the features that exist (even those I just added) will most likely be removed or completely overhauled with time.

Please, feel free to update this topic with more suggestions :)

Indeed! and hopefully not a lot of bugs

Thank you and your cute cat :)

Hi, Alberto!

I know it's been some time, but I just want to thank you so much for your comment. Since around when you posted it I've been working more and more on the game, to the point where yesterday I was finally able to release a fairly big update. Reading your post inspired and taught me a lot. I hope you were also able to make progress on your projects! Thanks again for being so kind :)

Thank you!

Oh, hello there! I didn't receive any notifications for your comment, sorry for the late reply.

I dropped the ball so many times with this project already, you know, promising updates and not delivering. Every single time I thought I had a clear vision of the path I should follow, I ended up second guessing myself, changing my mind, or even trying to remake the game in other engines/frameworks (like Godot or MonoGame). That being said, I'm still very slowly working on the project. Perhaps I should just put more hours of work and get stuff done and published without thinking too much about it. Easier said than done, though.

Recently I've been wanting to publish a paid version of Flatlands on Steam, which would of course require many changes and much content to be done first here on Itch. Maybe this could be a boost to my motivation, since I would aim for weekly updates. About the new game design, only one thing is certain: I want to put more emphasis on the narrative aspect of the game. I don't want it to be just a regular aimlessly survival sandbox experience. The goal is to have other characters and cutscenes with dialogues, choices, drama and humor, while keeping and enhancing the survival and procedural aspects of the game. Also, I want to add easter eggs and secrets!

Here is a sneak peek of the new Inspect/Dialogue system and some new tile designs. Thanks a lot for your kind words, the hug is really appreciated and reciprocal! I wish you the best of luck with your projects :)

Hello! The short answer is no. Since the world size is finite, almost every resource is limited (with the exception of those dropped by creatures). You are right that the game basically never says that, since I haven't implemented a tutorial. The loading screens do offer some tips about scarce resources and other things, but they are totally random. There are some inconvenient alternatives to gathering strings and derivatives, though. Common chests (those found in the surface) can contain string and cloth. Also, zombies can drop cloth with a 15% chance. I apologize about that, although it was intended by design that the player would need to take care the finite resources of their world.

Thanks for playing the game and taking your time to leave a comment! Really appreciate it.

What you wrote is totally true, the game lacks in many aspects and could be improved massively, but I'm still trying to decide the general direction to take the game in (and honestly also whether I'm going to continue working on this project or not). The truth is that my vision for Flatlands has changed so much that it wouldn't make much sense trying to fit it into this game, since it would basically be a whole different game (even graphics-wise). That's why I removed the "Early Access" stuff and the planned additions. Seeing people like you comment here kinda makes me want to get back on foot with the development, but I'm still currently conjecturing about it. Once again, thank you!

Hello! 

First of all, thanks A LOT for taking your time to play the game and to post this topic, it really means the world to me. When I released the game a couple of months ago, I was aware of many of the points you made, but I took the decision to let the feedback help me shape the game design. I basically intended to be roasted to death, so I could become a better developer and make a greater game. Turns out people were kinder (and didn't comment as often) as I expected. Some weeks ago I realized I should be actively trying to make the game better, despite of solely relying on feedback, so I released my plans for the next big update.

Anyways! Now that I have some really good points to work with, I'm actually very excited. Here's how I will be addressing some of the issues (please let me know what you think):

• More intuitive interfaces.
• Some sort of tips or tutorial system.
• Bigger worlds with more resources.
• Animal breeding system.
• Fix the damn spawn system (this really bothers me as well).
• The "spikes" in the caves are actually stalagmites, intended to be just decorative, but making them give damage would be cool.
• I swear I coded a fix to the boss spawn-kill problem, guess I didn't test it properly. Also, it follows you through floors because it's a ghost, but maybe that's OP.
• Yes, the right-click on ropes...
  
• The inventory/hotbar issue is the only stuff I'm kinda reluctant to address, because I want the player to be thoughtful about space, and bags should be indispensable items. For now I will be adding shortcuts to make swapping items less of a trouble. In the future I will rethink the whole design and/or make it easier for players to obtain better bags.
• A big improvement for the combat system is already coming in the next update.
• All the other issues will also be investigated, but I don't want to bother you with more text :)

Thanks again for being so analytical with the game.

Thanks for your feedback! New content coming ASAP.

Nice daisy collection

Thanks for the report! There was an issue with the download link, but it's being fixed right now.

Not gonna lie, my heart skipped a beat with your review. Good job, and thanks for your comment!