itch.io

Sleeper hit, great with friends

neat concept! great UI!

In playing this system a bit more I thought I would add a few of the other changes I made that improved the gameplay experience:

I found the skill rolls to be a bit too predictable after a +2 bonus (since you basically can't fail after that point) so instead of using the proficiency as a straight bonus to the roll itself, I changed it so proficiency just adds the number of dice you roll. I gave various tasks a success threshold (1 for easy tasks, 2 for more complicated, 3 for very difficult) and each dice roll can add various amounts of successes based on the result (6s give 2 successes, 5/4s give 1 success, 3/2s give 0 successes, and 1s subtract a success) This helped to add more unpredictability to skill rolls, allowed for more complex skill thresholds, and still rewarded skill investment.

Stats got to be a problem in combat whenever a target's defensive stats were just too high, turning combat into a long slog of throwing d6 after d6 only to do between 1-4 damage, so I revamped the character creation & level up system for stats. I had each player roll six batches of 6d6-5 (range of 1-31) to determine their IVs, then had them pick a nature (which I also used to reward inspiration points whenever they RP'd within that chosen nature which could be redeemed for a reroll of any roll) and then used their species to calculate their stat totals. I still kept the existing stat system for level ups, but I turned them into EV stats (which I also used to reward players for engaging in combat with minor stat boosts over time)

If you want any help coming up with various move ideas for the types I'd love to help with the brainstorming process. The way I did it in game is I gave my players the ability to come up with their own moves (limited to four total) that they could define based on their character's type, species, personality, or skills. For instance: one character is a pickpocket so they were allowed a thief-like move to steal items/poke from targets.

the simplicity of this system is amazing, this is the closest to the real PMD experience in terms of ttrpgs Ive played in the setting (and I've played most of them)

The lack of strict stats & moves makes even the strangest of pokemon choices viable, and the ease of creating player characters & combat encounters is a massive plus. The in combat math is not too difficult at all, and a simple calculator makes it a breeze.

However the loss of status moves for a strictly combat focused system is a negative. I'd suggest giving each type a utility move they can choose in combat to do instead of attacking (example: steel type could raise its defense, water type could pop an aqua ring to slowly regain HP, etc) or make those moves into TMs to add more combat strategy beyond just spamming attacks & items.

I love the way the experience system is set up, helps to reward combat avoidance & social RP, however I did make a few changes in the wording of some boxes:

Come across a place no living Pokemon has seen. ->  Explore a new location you've never been to before.
the Exploring here is its own separate action, which encourages players to scour new places and gives Narrators opportunities to describe the place in detail for an engaging in-game reason & is much more reliable when compared to the other options. 

Be seriously betrayed by someone you trusted -> Fail miserably at something and let others down
There's only so many times a betrayal can happen before it gets boring, it also starts feeling forced when players are expecting to be betrayed so they can rack up experience points. This also has the added bonus of rewarding failed rolls, which encourages players to make rolls for things they wouldn't attempt otherwise, which makes for better storytelling.

file loading/saving hasn't been working for me. I lost my initial save when I accidentally exited the tab, but thought I was fine since I had exported the save earlier, however upon attempting to load a save the entire UI goes blank and time is set to 0. I tried testing this bug on the downloadable versions too, but I can't get a single one of them to run either, loading the html just shows a blank screen

I think there's something wrong with my rat 

the use of an accelerating negative to force prestige was very interesting, tho my only complaint is it makes idling this game kind of impossible. Unless you're quick on the draw with buying upgrades to decrease the 1A/s the anger quickly reduces members/s to a crawl. The autobuy helps this problem a bit, but the early game is such a drag

God where do I begin

I guess i could start with the few things I wasn't fond of, as the game focuses on those aspects of itself primarily too. I found certain segments dull and monotonous to struggle through between the slow walk speed and a lack of obvious direction forward, but I would probably guess those aspects were on purpose to deliberately drive that specific mood home. So I guess this isn't even a critique, Oh No! My true form revealed: a fan!

I loved how you used color to contrast the dullness of the waking world vs the splendors/horrors of the dreaming world, not to mention segments where it was hard to tell if what was being witnessed was even a dream at all. Is Ollie a real person? Did the two of them actually meet? Questions without answers. Speaking of color, I was often floored by the fantastical shades thrown about, especially the sunset scene. The atmosphere had me on the edge of my seat in misery and terror, the three strongest scenes that affected me were: children's book, hot chocolate, arcade machine (kept nondescript for spoiler-free enjoyment). I was also legit impressed by the computer scene, specifically the mspaint gadget. That cant have been easy to code... unless it was... in which case still good job!

wait, I lied, one last critique... why must you prevent me from seeing my boys just hug, or hold hands for a brief moment ;n; they both deserve happiness.

fantastic game, i look forward to speedrunning it

thanks!
the endings are tied to the events in Nowhere (the parts that start with the scary music), you'll know you picked the right path if the music changes in the middle. The idea is that you have to focus on what you know about the present, the characters, and the situation to figure out what the truth is. The true ending has a looooooooooot more content in it and was the part i had the most fun writing for! unfortunately i only had time for one event in nowhere in time for the deadline, but the idea was that with a 33% chance of picking the right answer (if picked at random) at least one out of the 5 would've probably been truthful, and you only need one truth to get the true ending.

here's a hint to make the right choice: "the three choices represent what is lost: nothing, yourself, or someone else. Reflect on who you know is missing something"

the game loader works perfectly fine, everything shows up except for the rings and the arrow. Its a very confusing bug I have no idea how that could happen. perhaps for some reason those specific assets arent loading on my end?

all I can see is a black screen once I hit play? Yet still I managed to pass level 1 by just watching the timer... I really need to get a life

hey thanks! I realize probably not too many other people find existential, emotional, and physical horror to be horny, but it's kinda my kink? I have plans for a total of 5 plays and 5 related "after party" endings related to the trauma explored in each Nowhere performance. The one that's done right now is "Punishment"

weird bug i discovered but if you ever use one of the items that reduces tips to 0% they remain at 0% for the rest of the game, even if you dont have the item equipped. Also the button to quit the game doesn't work.
Otherwise, it was a fantastic experience!!! how did you do this in only one month?

tried running this on windows 7 64 bit and the game just insta crashed upon attempting to run it

a few things i encountered I thought i should inform you of going forward (Im a sucker for RPGs so even in this base form you got enjoyment out of me): you arent able to attack while moving (but if you start the attack animation it continues while moving), talking to someone facing to the left flips the dialog instructions, the floor textures arent flesh with each other and leave behind white/green lines separating them, if you are standing up against a wall and jump high enough to move over the ledge you will not be able to move forward, a few spelling errors here and there, and a barebones menu (no art no options, 4th button that doesnt do anything)

Id love to see what you do with a more fleshed out version in the future

very short, but extensively enjoyable for only 72 hours of work. I drew my own version of the map i was able to explore in MS paint and it took me back to the early days of gaming where you'd have a whole notebook full of drawings and codes to remember. I actually played the game twice bc the first time i got lost in the static mountains trying to follow the static ah la lost woods style and couldnt get out.