itch.io

I know it's impossible to fully tile a sphere using just hexagons, so what did you do to get around that limitation? Are there 12 pentagons tucked away somewhere? Or did you use some other method?

In response to your second Bad point, I think Cassidy's argument should be phrased along the lines of: "And how did the killer spill that blood? Easy: He [used the gun] at the crime scene!" In this case, [used the gun] is a yellow statement, and Assault Rifle contradicts this statement, because its truth bullet description indicates that it was never fired. The Knife bullet wouldn't work, because it doesn't refute the fact that the gun is a valid option.
However, I do believe that the game should have a special way to handle statement-bullet combinations that make sense on their face, but aren't airtight enough to serve as a refutation or agreement. For example, if you use the Knife bullet on the statement [used the gun], this should happen:

Damon: "{COUNTER} No, that's wrong! There was another potential murder weapon: the bloody knife, also found at the crime scene. It's entirely possible he could have used that instead."
Cassidy: "{COUNTER} No way! You trying to say some lame knife was superior to a big, scary gun?"
Damon: "It's not a matter of which weapon is superior; the point is, an alternative weapon could have been used!"
Wolfgang: "I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, Damon. Before we consider the knife, let's first establish why the rifle is not a viable candidate for the murder weapon."
Damon: (I see; this calls for a more direct approach. Cassidy is convinced that the assault rifle was the murder weapon. But if I show what state the rifle was in when we found it...)
{Nonstop Debate resumes; no HP is lost}

This should be roughly the pattern that close-but-no-cigar statement/bullet combinations should follow. The game affirms that the logic is sound, then points out a minor flaw which prevents this particular combo from decisively ending the debate, and gives the player a hint toward the correct solution. Ideally, no HP should be lost.

I think this deserves its own topic, because I find that the UX of this segment of the game is far rougher than any other segment that comes before. In fact, I think the Closing Argument minigame needs a complete overhaul.

• The panel stock is shoved all the way to one side and takes up very little screen real estate; as a result, a very important component of the minigame does not draw the player's gaze. Meanwhile the comic book pages are given a far larger space than they actually use, with an overly generous amount of blackspace padding.
  • There is a large box that says "Page" in the lower-left corner of the screen, and a smaller box on the upper-right corner of the comic page which shows the current page number. These two UI elements need to be consolidated into one; this would help free up screen real estate to give the panel stock more breathing room.
• On keyboard, WASD controls a highlight cursor on the far right, while Q and E change comic book pages. It's very disorienting for adjacent controls to control entirely different elements on-screen.
• The order of operations the player needs to take to place panels feels backwards from how it should be. I look for a blank panel which I know how to fill, then look in the stock for a match. However, the game makes me select a stock panel first, then click the blank panel where I think it belongs. This feels clunky and unintuitive, and slows me down as I have to think from end-to-start each time I want to place a panel.
  
  • To rectify the above two issues, WASD should be used to select blank panels, instead of selecting from the stock on the right. While you have a blank panel selected, the hint for that blank should appear, even if you aren't hovering the mouse cursor over it.
  • Pressing Space should choose a blank panel, and move the cursor to the stock, where the player can select from the stock. Pressing Space on a stock panel should select that panel and attempt to insert it into the chosen blank panel; or, the player can press Esc or Backspace to return to blank panel selection.
  • Alternatively, the player should be able to simply click-and-drag stock panels into the blanks where they belong, and click on the left and right arrows to switch pages. In any case, it should be possible to play the minigame using the keyboard only or using the mouse only.
• It is not clearly communicated how padlocks are cleared away from the stock panels. I thought the stock panels would be gradually unlocked as I placed panels correctly, but it seems that they clear away the first time you highlight them. I'm not entirely sure what the point of this mechanic is, and it either needs to be more clearly explained, or axed entirely.

I'm really liking this story so far and am excited to see it continue. However, I do have a few UX complaints.

Gamepad issues

• If the game detects controller input, the game should display gamepad controls instead of keyboard controls. Alternatively, the player should be able to choose what control scheme is displayed, or the game should simply list keyboard and gamepad controls together.
• You should be able to adjust the aiming reticule speed in the options menu.
• It would be nice to remap the controls to something more comfortable; I don't like pressing Y to shoot while using RT to slow time.

Trial Mode issues

• Some of the statements move too quickly even in slo-mo. I understand that that's part of the challenge, but maybe save some of the harder shooting segments for later in the game, when the player is more experienced and has acquired some support abilities.
• Turning down the action difficulty has no effect on the time limit or statement speed. Consider tying the pace of the nonstop debates to the action difficulty, to accommodate players that want to focus more on logic than arcade action.
• When the controls screen is opened, the timer should be paused. The timer should continue to run while checking your Truth Bullets (as it currently does), but checking the controls screen should not do the same, since a player should only visit that screen if they need help getting acclimated to the game, and they should be able to do so without time pressure.

Free Time / Investigation Mode issues

• While walking around, the distance to interact with doors, people, and other objects is too short, as you often have to stand right next to a door or get up in a person's face to interact with them. You should be able to interact from at least triple the current distance.
• In conversation, when a character walks away, their sprite fades too quickly, and is usually halfway invisible before the camera finishes focusing on them. There should be a 500ms delay between the time their dialogue starts and the time their sprite starts to fade; I would also consider having the sprite fade out more slowly, and accompany the fade-out with a footsteps SFX.

Anyway, keep up the good work!