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New backgrounds

Sorry its been a while. I got distracted and forgot to update the dev log. This week I have been tearing the game apart to implement a much improved player mechanic. I have also been adding in new pattern themed backgrounds. Since the game is a top-down perspective these will fill the entire screen.

The main goal with these patterns was to break up the previous checkers/ square pattern that was used for every level by using fun shapes and negative space to make each level feel like a fresh scene.

Great to hear you are still working on this and will happily try the demo of the demo Had such a blast with the original upload

Hey, I uploaded a big update for Sew Lovely and was hoping to get some feedback on the game 

Sew enemies, throw buttons, herd sheep and catch ghosts in an action-packed sewing  adventure. Defeat enemies by rapidly circling them with Pokémon Ranger style combat. If you have the time to leave feedback on the game it will be most appreciated :) 

Link to the game (windows download)

https://rocketsimp.itch.io/sewlovely

A curse mechanic where the tempo is increased until the curse is broken...could be casted by a 'Speed Demon' 

Thinking of Dead Cells where you opt in to get cursed to get great loot at the cost of a difficulty spike 

Take advantage of the feedback section of itch forums. Other creators can give feedback on your game's appeal and even play it for feedback

When I checked out your game's page I assumed it was a puzzle or adventure game by reading the tagline and story. But when I watched the trailer it made me think it was a lot more like Hollow Knight (the effects looked great by the way) I think the tagline and summary of your game could have better pointed to being a 'atmospheric 2D adventure' to give the game more kick and appeal. The story seemed fine but was very vague as to why I should play it when you could boast about it being a dark, mysterious 2D fighting game with bosses

If your goal was to make a Hollow Knight inspired game (just presuming here, sorry if I am wrong) then research how fans refer to their  game such as using a souls-like or hollow-like style game in your tag to draw relevant fans in. Personally 'whimsical game about a cute character called "Chi". ' sounds generic to me but a 'atmospheric 2D hack n' slash inspired by Hollow Knight' will get more people interested if the genre or style of game resonates with them. 

Take that with a grain of salt. Marketing is hard and I am not an expert - hope you get more traffic though

Echoing everyone else's sentiment, I find making 2D games in Unreal difficult at times since its pro 3D, but 2D art requires less setup and I can make it all on my tablet in bed so it is very peaceful. 

Less software, easier to learn and usually games with 2D art have more personality. I would go for 2D everyday until I have to do animation. 

Simultaneously getting back into the DOOM eternal soundtrack and Twenty One Pilots. 

Hi everyone. Back with another game update after taking a break. In this update I have added environmental items, a strike system to help you pass levels and and overall improvements to the game. The update has focused on the environmental items, allowing you to be more creative and defeat enemies without sewing them up.

Throwing glitter bombs and button skulls

Throwing a pommel

Put enemies to sleep with pillows

These new items can be sewn or thrown for different effects. You have so many new tools to defeat enemies. 

I am most interested in how far players make it through the game. A lot of people have struggled with the difficulty of the game, these new items along with the strike system should make the game much easier, some things I am looking for;

• Is the throw system feel intuitive? (easy to grasp)
• Are the environmental items fun and easy to use?
• Did the strike system (losing 3 times) help your play through?

Thanks for reading. Any feedback and input on the game will appreciated :) 

Link to the new update

Hey, I am back from my break with a new update for the game. Craftroom Armoury. This update added environmental items you can use as weapons. They all have sew and throw interactions to create new opportunities for you;

Glitter Bomb. Sew it up to detonate it or throw it at enemies

Pommel, the fluff juggernaut, throw it collide with enemies and your own sewing. You can also sew it up for a spikes powerup that leaves spikes wherever you sew 

Button Skulls, defeating an button now makes it drop a skull. Throw it at enemies to hurt them or sew it up for bonus time 

Pillows, throw them at enemies to put them to sleep. Enemies can also accidentally fall asleep by moving over them...like a non-lethal landmine

I have also added a strike system to levels. Failing a level on your third attempt will pass you despite your loss. This helps kerb the really difficult levels and lets you progress when you get a little stuck :) 

Presented with the new curtains fail screen

There are other changes throughout the game that are more patch notey. This update focused on bringing new opportunities and  breaking the monotony of only using the sewing mechanic to defeat enemies. The game feels more sandboxy and creative and its something I have really enjoyed playing with :)

Check out thenew update

I was not expecting such a deep analysis for my question aha. You've given this game a lot of thought. 

I like the idea of flower power and think it can help with progress by powering other resources or equipment...maybe something that gives you a perma-unlock or powers equipment. 

As a game that appreciates all plants it is important that the progress system does not dictate which plants you should use (strategy is important but gardening is more fun!) using plant coverage to make power will be a great way to let you choose what you want by filling it with your favourite colours and plants. 

Even a simple level flow like having a door to the next level requiring so much flower power to open will give you an overall goal in that area. 

I am sure you have much richer ideas than the above. Your ideas on the game sound great and you have a much greater grip on it than I have :)

Appreciated the insightful response :)

Your channels looks very well made and the new thumbnails are so clean. I'll subscribe because it looks like your making good work

Made me think "Gottta sew em' all" There are sew many to pick from ><

Sewing has never been so cool! Draw circles to sew up enemies before the timer runs out! The game play is inspired by Pokemon Rangers and only requires your mouse to play  Try Sew Lovely here

Hey everyone. I have released a new update for Sew Lovely and I am looking for feedback. I am mainly curious about the difficulty of the game, I have been given lots of feedback to help make the game easier and accessible. This update has added in the push tool, letting you push enemies and throw objects around. I have also done a lot of work on the AI 

If you fancy trying Sew Lovely i would be grateful to receive any sort of feedback. Thank you :)  Try Sew Lovely here

The push update is now live! you can  try the update here. Push enemies around, throw napom back at enemies and enjoy an AI overhaul. I am happy with the changes going into the game. I have wrote a dev log on all the changes but here is a quick list of what I have been up to;

• Added the push tool, you can push enemies around or throw items at them
• Reworked Boo into a passive enemy
• Changed up the Knight enemy
• Improved AI navigation nerfed some enemies 
• Added some effects to maps 
• Improved the UI 

I will not be working on Sew Lovely for a couple of weeks and I hope to return with a list of feedback from players :) The next lot of content will continue to work on the push tool and adding player interactions to weaponize the map. 

Try the latest update here

Hey! I have a new update for Sew Lovely and I am after feedback for the state of the game. If you fancy trying it I am interested in;

• Difficulty of the game 
• State of AI, which enemies enjoy and hate
• What do you think of the new push ability

This updated added in the push tool. When you sew into enemies or hazards you can push them around and interact with the arena. This has helped me change up a lot of the AI and so I have implement changes to the enemies which need  a review. Lots of changes can be found in the dev log 

I would love to hear any feedback on the game and am curious whether the game is a lot easier now after the changes I have made. Try the latest version here

This is looking great. When I saw the first screenshot I imagined this game would be great for terraforming an abandoned buidling. 

Was wondering if there was a goal outside of the simulation? Like needing a % coverage of plants or gathering resources from the plants? 

I can see people making their dream garden in this game which is definitely something to work towards but wasn't sure if there was a grand goal? 

Liking it so far :)

Hey, finally got round to playing your game :) 

Loved the musical intro. it did a great job of setting the tone of the game and was really well made

Trying not to spoil the *character selection screen* but I was blown away. seriously well made and felt very Undertale. I was really enjoying it and enjoyed how none of the game play was repeated. 

I think your current intro is a great setup for the game. I lost the first fight at the very end because I did not blind her. The fight had lots of twists and turns that made it very exciting

Some feedback, I cant give much sorry as I simply enjoyed it and dont play these kinds of games often:

An option to skip Rebel girl's fight intro when you retry would be great. You have to go through a dozen text boxes to challenge her again. I am sure it is useful for players who are confused and  trying again but I wanted to get right back in there and try again personally. 

Your attack option changed to 'FAIL' on the second turn which makes sense after seeing how lame your hero  is ;) but I assumed fail meant to surrender rather than you sucking. This made me try status instead which was a nice touch but ate up my second turn, Having it read something like 'FIGHT?' with the question mark could be a fun way to show how uncertain the player is of their hero's attacks while not being misleading. 

The itch page, it was hard for me to understand what kind of game this was based on the page. Feels like you put passion and storytelling before selling the product since all the details I can get are story extracts and recommendations. Its great to see a more passionate presentation of the game and how you want to present your game is up to you. I think a quick summary of the game before the story extract would help me press the download button and know what I am getting into. Clearly though you are having no trouble finding players to try the game so this isn't a huge problem.

Overall no bad criticism. I really enjoyed it and am actually interested to see where it goes next. Glad I came across you and this game, Great job!

Damn this forum came back out of nowhere 

Not been sure about the one line pitch for my game. It's been tricky to describe and I am not sure if the pitch sounds fun:

 "Cosy, action packed sewing! Draw circles to sew up enemies!"

The page for Sew Lovely

Improved navigation, preparing for the push features

Today I have been responding to feedback and making changes to the AI navigation to safely implement the new push tool 

I have added a new rule to the AI navigation when it moves. Now it must check whether it's next destination is inside an imaginary border. This stops the AI from getting too close to the edge of the map which made them un-sewable. They will always provide enough space to sew them from the sides of the screen.

Buttons cannot get close to the edge of the screens, purple lines showing where they try to move to

In addition to the new barrier, pushing enemies back into the map when they touch the edge, AI can never leave the map. They will always be accessible which is important in time sensitive missions 

Pushing sheep is Baaad

This gif shows the new barrier keeping enemies in naturally as a last attempt to keep them in play. They bounce off to a space where they can be sewn from the edge. 

I imagine the tabletop community on itch will have lots of posts that you can learn from. 

I would recommend just making a prototype for now (no fancy art) and aim to make your card game something to enjoy between you, family and friends. If it takes off then make it into a more commercial product. 

And without stirring up an argument...AI can help create batch artwork. Some devs have made card games with art that can rival Magic within a week.

Hope that helps and best of luck :)

The game from the start of the dev log looked so good and polished and continues to impress. I am loving the progress 

Please make every post pirate speak like this. Love the dedication...matey

Okay! Thanks for giving it a go. No need to be sorry :)

Will do. I'll play it when I have a minute :)

Winning the Boo. Oh noo aha 

Adding a push!

Been getting good feedback from my last update (thank you) this week I have been making a new push effect for the player's drawing mechanic. You can push enemies and objects around by drawing into them

Pushing button around

This push effect gives you more interaction and opens up more creative opportunities to defeat enemies. Sewing up enemies will remain the focus of game play, but messing with the AI like this is pretty fun. Some things you can do include;

• Push enemies out of a group, single them out and sew em'
• Push enemies into a wall! it deals 2 damage!
• Throw Napom back at enemies...you can throw items at them!
  • I will be adding more items to throw soon :)

Pushing an enemy into a wall deals 2 damage to it

This effect has changed up how the player sews. Drawing into an enemy no longer hurts you, it ends your sewing as normal but there is no long stun time. Hazards still block your sewing but they can be thrown at enemies, offering you utility.

Boos have also had a big rework since their hazards are now sort of useless. Throwing anything at boo or trying to push it will go right through Boo and it will teleport....like a ghost would The more you interact with Boo the more slippery it gets. 

One new trick: Push a weak Pom-bom next to another enemy so it's death explosion deals damage to it

Pushing is still new and I am adding more features to support it. Will be available in the next update

Try the latest update here

Sorry it has taken me a while to respond. Needed for a worthy reply (especially for that wordplay)  :) 

 I am glad you enjoyed the game and were able to finish it in spite of the rough difficulty. That Hide-and-seek level is bit of a monster I have realized and it will be changing soon. It means a lot to me that you stuck with the game and had a great time, reminding players of Pokemon rangers is a massive win for me 

For your bullet points, I have fixed these issues in a work in progress update. Enemies now bounce off walls so they are always a good distance away from the wall and Boo's hazards are removed so they wont present such a cluster-fu... :)

Its very true Bump In the Knight should be for Boos and Knights. You are so right...Better find a witty pun for pins and ghosts 

I will need to check out your game soon :)

Thank you so much! I have read your feedback, just need to time to reply with sincerity. 

This game was just meant to be a 3 month project but I'm really enjoying working on it at the moment so it will keep going :) 

Thank you for trying the game! It's unfortunate and strange what happened here. I am grateful you tried both versions. 

Sadly I can not reproduce this and other people can play it fine. But this will be something I'll investigate on other devices for sure (since its slightly completely game breaking)

And thank you for spotting the issue with the menu button. I think it mainly occurs during the tutorial but I will need to check it out and write it down :) 

Really appreciate the feedback despite facing a big issue! And I will add that quit game button :)

You are too kind :)

it's the latest one. The v1 :) 

Hey. I am looking for more feedback for Sew Lovely after latest game update. The update focused on making the game easier and more accessible as most of the feedback I got was aimed at the difficulty. I would love to see if I am heading in the right direction with the changes I have made. So let me know how challenging the game is during your playthrough will be great.

In the update I made reduced enemy stats and increased the level timer while introducing a slow-motion ability for easier sewing 

Some slow-motion game play

I will also be doing bigger changes to make the game easier down the line. The current issue is the drawing mechanic can get frustrating for players. Link to game

Sew Lovely - PC download https://rocketsimp.itch.io/sewlovelyalpha

Action packed sewing in a cozy world. Draw around the enemies to defeat them. This is a work in progress and I am after feedback to improve the game 

You can and you will probably get more views there but you should take any opportunity you can to link your game on itch.  The announcement forum is crowded and more or less a one time deal so its hard to use it to spread your game post-launch. 

There is no harm posting it to sub forums like these 

Very kind of you to go through these games and give feedback. Most users on itch struggle to get any feedback or testers which is why your in such high demand :) the feedback sub forum is good but has very rarely produced any feedback for myself or other users. 

Shameless plugin time as I am also looking for feedback :) I have a downloadable windows game called Sew Lovely that's about 15-20 minutes. Its similar to Pokémon Rangers, you draw circles around enemies to sew them up in a sewing themed world. I am mainly focusing on the difficulty of the game right now as users are struggling with the drawing mechanic. No worries if you don't try it out or enjoy it. 

https://rocketsimp.itch.io/sewlovelyalpha

Easy Sewing Update

This week I released an update to make the game much easier. I sat down with my fiancé and watched her beat the game with the new difficulty and I am happy with the progress. 

The update focused on quick difficulty changes I could make to get the game heading in the right direction for testers. I will now start making new content that will make will create more opportunities for the player and therefore making the game easier. 

Some fun ideas I hope to implement next include;

• Adding explosive barrels for multi-kill opportunities 
• Adding a nudge tool to let the player push enemies, barrels and hazards around 
• Give enemies parry frames, while attacking you deal bonus damage to them 
• Making new game modes so enemy difficulty does not have to increase so much as more modes stimulate the game flow 

Try the new update here

Oh yehh. Its worm time. My best score was 73. I did not read the description fully so assumed my worm friends were also trying to hurt me ;( 

Well made and I liked the sound design