Ditto :)
Jellyfish
Recent community posts
I'm glad that everything is already in the process of being dealt with, I didn't want to be causing any "out of left field" moments! If I come across anything else glaring I'll mention it but it's been pretty sparse pickings since then, I guess you've improved your sense of direction since the very start! To be expected I guess and I hope you are given the time to smooth things out and maybe even become a little more ambitious over time :)
Edit: Just had a hard crash, seemed to start again fine and it had saved on the screen before the screen it crashed on; I was going to sleep for two nights before confronting Lillian about her potential blackmailer after speaking with Grace, after speaking with Grace I clicked the map icon and then the bed icon in the top right and a small window came up (with Victoria's face in it?) and then the game entirely closed... I don't know what happened that I might otherwise have done (Windows 10 laptop and I'm playing the game via an itch.io app install and launching it from the app). Repeating the above actions from the save point did not repeat the problem!? (Maybe a stack issue? Inconsistent variables that got cleaned out with the restart? - This Lillian quest is the only quest I was doing at the time with no other quest lines open (as far as I know).)
The error log contains these messages:
(Address: 00007FFC6E6F3A7E)
0x00007FFC6E6F3A7E (UnityPlayer) (function-name not available)
0x00007FFC6E6F3C8B (UnityPlayer) UnityMain
ERROR: SymGetSymFromAddr64, GetLastError: ''
(Address: 00007FF7C24611F2)
0x00007FF7C24611F2 (Magic Academy) (function-name not available)
0x00007FFCB7E47374 (KERNEL32) BaseThreadInitThunk
0x00007FFCB98BCC91 (ntdll) RtlUserThreadStart
So it looks like a null somewhere :/
Very good from what I have seen so far but I wanted to note a few difficulties here before I forget them later! (I am playing 0.3.2 I believe).
Evenings are nigh on useless in the early game and I lost a few days curtesy of Victoria skipping waking me up and then cutting to the next day due to a quest item having been finished which was a bit odd and potentially frustrating if there is a day count being kept (I haven't seen one though so maybe it doesn't matter? - many of these types of games have a day cycle which matters and many don't so I never know which to expect! :)
Collecting things through the portal takes no time at all but using the resource mini-games does making them harder too use than just repeating the easy starter quest... bit odd.
The difficulty scaling so far on the portal quests means that I'm all done upgrading the fire branch (which seemed necessary for the ice quest) as well as halfway done with the physical attributes upgrades and some of the magical spells upgrades by grinding the starter quest and then doing the ice quest once... I don't know if it is intentional but to start with there was a difficulty curve but then it just fell away as I soared above all like a phoenix (cf fire magic! - plus the magical armour!!)
Some of the (English) dialogue is in need of corrections and Tom, in particular, needs some tone corrections (I was friendly to him) unless he is meant to be split personality, bipolar or have some other reason for changing emotional tone wildly within the same conversation! I understand he isn't supposed to like us but the tone of the English comes across quite strangely! (If I have time I should go back through and pick out the minor mistakes but Tom looks more like rewrite territory - though maybe it is due to my "friendly" choice?) I might also try it out again in a different language.
Oh, mustn't forget, the English descriptions of the first two Victoria pictures doesn't match them! (Probably just due to updates)
I'll note that I've had a crash also but as the game is unloading... maybe it is an itch.io app problem as I install the game using that - bug report sent but I don't know who it goes to!
Overall this is an amazing game - the things above re more QoL than anything and some likely due to the still progressing nature of the game! (But I though it might be useful to have a beginners view of the game in case it highlighted things that old eyes had missed...)
Edit: I forgot the thing that prompted me to remember to make a comment in the first place! It would be helpful if the magic upgrades to damage, duration etc. were reflected in the descriptions of the spells in the same way that the weight of the spells was updated! For me I now can't tell which offensive spell is best except by trial and error on tough enemies (ones I don't want to experiment with) because they all have completely the wrong numbers! :)
2nd Edit: I found it strange that I could convince Audrey to become a model for Olivia by suggesting the practical aspects of clothing but I was not allowed to do the same with Louise!?! Maybe an option for the future?
Installed this game with the itch app and got the following error:
Unable to parse Build/LudumDare50.framework.js.gz! This can happen if build compression was enabled but web server hosting the content was misconfigured to not serve the file with HTTP Response Header "Content-Encoding: gzip" present. Check browser Console and Devtools Network tab to debug.
Had this a few times with games that were tested on the web but not with the itch app... something to do with the compile stage maybe? (Never tried to build a Unity? app)
I installed this game via the itch.io app and got the following message:
"Unable to parse Build/build.framework.js.gz! This can happen if build compression was enabled but web server hosting the content was misconfigured to not serve the file with HTTP Response Header "Content-Encoding: gzip" present. Check browser Console and Devtools Network tab to debug."
I guess this is a bug in the setup from Unity? when exporting the finished product (it happened with a few games I've tried, something to do with building it both for the itch website and for installing...
Having installed this on the itch app I get the following error as soon as the window pops up:
Error
The following features required to run Godot projects on the Web are missing:
Cross Origin Isolation - Check web server configuration (send correct headers)
SharedArrayBuffer - Check web server configuration (send correct headers)
And I have to close the programme...
I am guessing I face a bug given that none of the images I have seen of this game feature the same but the skybox kept duplicate images of it's edges and of the LiDAR detections and then spammed them across each other as I moved slowly moving them down the screen to take up everything but the floor and the only way to stop this was to sweep my focus down to clear it and then look up again at which point the skybox would restart messing up what I could see... given this is also a LiDAR game that made this game near unplayable and I just could get past the mountain cabin thing the forest part... too much skybox.
There is a bug if you have nothing left when the enemies try to remove that thing from you, e.g. if you have no health and are hit for damage then it crashes. This means that it is possible to lose without a crash but very unlikely because usually it is overwhelming enemies that kills you are they rarely get you down to zero health exactly.
This is a deckbuilder so they are the number of cards left in your deck (on the left) and the number of cards you have already "used" on the right ("used" because it includes cards you played and cards you discarded at the end of a "day" - "day" being the three cards (upper left for how many you have played on this day) you can play per turn).
Note that the cards currently in front of you (your hand) are not counted in either pile.
Once you finish using your whole deck (the number on the left is zero) the deck is shuffled and you reuse your deck (the number on the right reset to zero and the number on the left becomes the size of your deck). You will notice a pause in your cards being dealt if this happens part way through dealing your cards for a day.
Knowing how far you are through your deck is useful (and becomes more useful as you get more cards) because if, for example, you used your sword on the first day then it is very unlikely to be dealt to you on the second day but equally if it wasn't dealt to you on your first day it must be dealt on the second day. This makes card counting a useful advanced strategy to making beating the game easier and makes beating the game in less than two weeks easier.
I hope this helps ;)
Can I request that the first time you start the game you ask which language the player wants rather than forcing them into what you guess might be the correct language? (Yes, this is a minority problem but it nearly stopped me playing the game because the change language button isn't obvious and there wasn't a setting button in the centre menu... I tried every button!)
Thank you for your time :)
No problem, thank you for the workaround and apologies... it seems that the app is not so popular though it is pretty useful for my gaming needs! (I guess a lot of devs might not find it so useful? But for me it is a better version of Steam! :D - faster, simpler and with a better selection of good games ;)
Thank you again and once I've given the game a fair try I'll leave a review :)
I installed this game via the itch.io app and the only compressed file I could find was a gz(ip) file with the file manifest in it having gotten this error (except that only the C++ Runtime was missing) - I'm not surprised as I have DirectX installed and given the dozens of games I have played on this machine I also have just shy of a dozen MS Visual C++ runtimes installed so either your one is very old (I've everything more recent, 32 and 64-bit) or the ones already installed are not being checked... this is an issue because there is a limit to the number of times I want this single library installed, thank you (especially since nothing is kind enough to uninstall it once they are done with it :( - least of all MS :( :(
I've not heard anything but I keep a list of ones it'd be nice to have updated because maybe the Dev will have time to add them or even to do the recode that they wanted - sometimes you have to be happy with what you've to though I'm afraid! (There are a few tricks I've found for replacing the original bricks with ones that match close enough in some cases).
I'd take on the challenge of re-coding things but I just don't have the time in the foreseeable future and the time I do have is terribly disjointed... hence only being able to create the odd model now and then... it all adds up though :)
You are welcome to the feedback... I generally try to give feedback to all the devs of games I try and especially ones I play regularly, especially in the review but sometimes in the comments too if there is a lot but some of it might be easy to change. I'm happy to help out as I myself would love to develop games and contribute to a few but I have so little time and my origin was as an alpha tester of computer games so this is just a little light exercise for my mind (I am genuinely suprised I missed reporting the source of my copy of the game and not checking the version! But at least that little wrinkle is easy enough to fix :)
I didn't realise you had so many games but then there are always more platforms, right?
As to you feedback responses; I'm glad I was able to suggest something helpful and maybe these bug reports might make it a little easier to put in fixes. As for the patrons, I like the mechanic but I found it harder to stomach because I just don't have the time to dedicate to a whole run through, especially with the increased time due to having to mess a little to get exactly the right bird... I suppose over time as I play again and again I will develop a more streamlined understanding of the game systems and so not have so much trouble but by then I guess I will be much worse at spotting issue and wrinkles in the game since I'll be accustomed to them :/ - this is what always causes issues towards the ends of games if one is not careful with ones testing (as so many AAA titles can atest!)
All the best with your new projects and I'll just hang a little hope that some of the issues with this one can be ironed out in time :) <3
New comment for new version! :)
I installed the PostJam version (dated: 2023-05-23) using the itch.io app on Windows 10.
First general comments: WOW, this is way different from the previous version... a lot more streamlined and with some information management made significantly easier, though I will note that the extra information and how some of the old information now matters more means the information handling load is pretty heavy, though due to the extended play time (WITH NO SAVE) caused by the need to get each patron on the list rather than skipping some is useful for teaching more about how the system work and working on that muscle memory but also makes it less likely that I have a play session long enough to finish the game... so the end game will not get play tested or only one or twice I'm afraid.
I'll also add that the absolute need to get the range numbers right due to tightening up the speed and distance requirements make it possible to stuff yourself going onto a new patron... I couldn't deliver anything for the smiths for ages because I had to save up for birds that could do the work and the fastest apothecary note was also a long term saving project (made worse because I over committed due to not realising that one of my crows didn't have the range and not correctly sequencing things).
I appreciate being able to see how my birds are flying as well as being given times for sleep and return though the jump in speed of sleeping between minimal and short is rather big, no? It definitely makes getting some birds to minimal or just not bothering to upgrade that at all and going for speed as long as they have enough range. I think overall this part of the game is the hardest as I've already had to sell one bird (and extend my playthrough) because the upgrades I made didn't match what I later needed from said bird - I like that it was feasible to do this but maybe not the reason (a lack of information about what ranges are actually needed - can I suggest that either the birds' and delivery items' range be listed in the same way as sleep and not to require exact numbers (do these birds really count the exact kms they fly?? or change the patron list to include a maximum range in numbers for them?) Also see below...
Bugs:
I can no longer get trapped in the shop thanks to every overlay screen properly pausing the action and time and note being able to click on the shop once it is leaving *yay* but I did get trapped in the shop when I went to sell a bird, then hit cancel without selecting a nest (I planned and then decided against selling a bird right then) the overlay screen went away but I could not click on anything or us keys when later started causing beeping, as if they were being queued? However I accidentally pressed right click and everything started working again... so not a soft lock unless you don't know to press a button never used in the game! ;)
The predicted arrived time for one note said I would be late but my bird made it anyway... I sent it just after it ticked over from being unlikely to arrive in time but never-the-less it made it just fine... so the predictor is inaccurate despite having three possible outcomes; arrives in time, might arrive in time, definitely won't - I didn't have a choice with that one as I had a spare bird and it would be late with any other I might send it with hence sending it anyway...
I went into debt by almost a 100 credits when I bought the kernel silo upgrade for 500 credits when I had over 850 credits... it looks like it charged me for the grain I already had in the silo as well as the silo upgrade?
I ran out of time to test more but I am worried that I will have to sink a lot of time in to discover why herons have such long ranges even though so far that is useless as the only long range deliver is a note that has to go super fast (and therefore by pigeon).
Anyway, the PostJam version is way better overall even though it might have become worse in one or two ways and also exacerbated the lack of saving quite a bit!
Best wishes and although I hope for more updates to this I am just happy that you appear to enjoy your work here enough to stay in contact with your players! :) - it seems to be a little rare and unfortunately a lot of those who do also don't seem to have the time to do much about bugs (especially in anything but their most recent game *sigh*).
<3
Okay I've found why the PostJam version is not the default to install. The Jam version's data file lists the Jam version as having been updated 26th November, 2023 but the PostJam version is listed as having been created and updated at 23 May 2023 so the app finds the latest version to be the Jam submission and therefore installs that by default and it is not obvious from the interface that there are other versions... indeed the "Install" button is visible once seeing the very top of the page so someone my never see the list of versions before deciding to install the programme and then the drop down for other versions exists whether there are other versions in that dropdown or not and so it is not clear if a programme has an alternate version without active clicking on the dropdown to find what other versions there are.
All this means that since your latest updated version (according to the metadata the app uses) is the Jam version that was "updated" 26th November 2023 and so that is given as the default (by the looks of it). I presume that, if nothing else, you "update" the PostJam version this issue will be fixed nd you'll stop getting so many reports about the Jam version! ;) <3
Apologies for entirely forgetting to specify my system information. I installed the game using the itch.io app in Windows 10 which I believe usually makes it the latest available version of the app... but I've just double checked and it looks like it defaulted to the Jam version, so yes, I will need to double check this lot - apologies... I be back to you with what I can find once I've played the latest version. I have to say I'm a little perturbed as every time I've had reason to check previously it was indeed the lastest version installed by default, I wonder what happened this time?
Right, this is an amazing game but could be so much better if there were not so many weird GUI issues, bugs and two odd choices.
GUI: Mixing the mouse and keyboard feels weird to start with and gets downright horrible later on with lots of birds, even the keyboard is objecting since pressing two keys at once often/always locks the vertical movement out and you slide awkwardly along the horizontal. Having to go to the bottom and then to each bird (especially pigeons) for each message (even when messages are grouped) is cute to start with but gets frustrating fast with lots of messages and birds... I spent more time giving messages than I did anything else in the game and paying attention to deadlines was not worth it beyond half-way through the game... make sure your birds are upgraded and just send them with the right size package plus don't take on the apothacary or the other short deadline patron... not worth the trouble because there is too much time just trying to get message to birds in the roost.
Bugs: Upgrades to birds cost nothing despite what it says. Birds taking twice as long as they should (occassionally but impactfully in the case of multi-parcel deliveries, especially with the queen given the hit to reputation is at least twenty well sent packages... plus the time it takes to do so given the decline in reputation over time. Looking at the bird seller screen when they leave the page makes it so you can't leave that page ever again... this is a HARD RESET BUG. Kernels seem to jump in price by ten times once you go into buying them individually (whatever the price marked) - I was within days tens of thousands in debt due to having run out of kernels... no the price being charged for kernels was not matched by what was being charged automatically. Going into debt doesn't end the game? It is not possible to leave debt though as the cost of kernels far outstrips your ability to make money.
Design choices: keyboard plus mouse. no save function. little to no information on the main stat in the game (reputation), it seems to be impacted by debt status, failed packages (by a huge degree) but not improved for delivering early or for larger deliveries (because four stork delivery a day ahead of time is entirely normal for a forge!?! Never mind four note deliveries over 1400kms on the same day - and that wasn't even a short deadline!?!?)
I have to say this feels a lot like a game that was always playtested from beginning to end (given the lack of saving this is even less surprise) and therefore the start of the game experience is very good and then the end of game experience is a terrible mishmash because little problems magnify to become big problems because the choice of "difficulty" curve was "all of them" (more packages, more reputations to maintain, more birds, less time (caused by a slow and inefficient UI) and way too much information that just can not be parsed in time... I would challenge you to create an automated bot to play this game to the end without having the same issues as human players (which given their speed suggests that the mechanics of the game themselves are the problem, not human skill).
Anyway, I have to say that this game starts out great and I could see it doing well in competitions where completion is not necessary but remember that fans will complete your games and may not stay fans if the game drops off in quality as one progresses through it... this is a real problem in clicker games, time blocking games and AAA games that playtest only the first few hours of their games because after that no refunds are possible.
All the best and keep on improving :)
Heh... I was slowly working my way through but I guess too slowly? There was a lot to go but I (hope) I have the years left even if it is only a few snatched minutes here and there... either way though, I don't mind not having the goal, it's not like it was the main reason to play! ;)
Thank you again for your hard work and time <3
Just got "trail" and "trial" and picked the wrong fifty/fifty... happened two other times but I didn't spot the second of the anagrams... (I had already confirmed the word I chose had exactly the correct letters) out of five games which gives a rate of 20% of lives lost due to this bug and about 3% of problems posed - I got to an average of about 20 puzzles solved in each run.
Great game though - still play regularly! :)
I forgot to mention; if you have any of your own models built and imported into BS or if you fix the Marina Bay Sands one (you can open it in the editor even though it is greyed out in the game... it is missing about half its dependencies - clear blocks at right angles at the bottom; yuck) I am happy to put them into the same Git Repo as mine... I've a few from someone else who had a go and it is relatively straightforward to add things to a git that already exists :) (I'm happy to create a step by step if it'd help, though I think I just need to cull it from somewhere on this comment section! ;)
There's also another few new builds in the git... nothing large yet... and three more miniture Architecture ones I'm working on.
Thank you for saying so - I appreciate the support and it's nice to know other people also get joy from these models :D :) <3
Most of the builds are designed to be built by someone on the ground with limited jump ability rather than designed to obscure the final result but I guess I could redesign some with that in mind instead... maybe rather than designing them to be built up go from the core outwards instead? It would definitely give them a different feel but I'm not sure a lot of the buildings would work very well! :D - Maybe I'll try it with some plane or fish models ;)