First off, congratulations on completing your first jam! A visual novel is no easy feat, especially in such a short time. Everything looks really polished and runs smoothly. And you worked solo on this right? The fact that you got a full visual novel done on your own for the very first time is amazing! You should be very proud of yourself :)
I thought the concept was really cute too! Three girls playing a DnD like for the first time is a fun idea for a slice of life game. I also liked the dice rolling thing and how the actual game play felt like they were in the world. So good job there!
The only thing I'm not too sure about is the idea of the player controlling the actions of all three girls. There were a lot of times where that got pretty repetitive and had me skimming through the text. Especially at parts where all three girls made a decision back to back, like choosing the style/wisdom/magic points or buying things at the store.
If you decide to develop this game further... I wonder if it would work better if the player got to take control of just one girl? Maybe they could even play AS her... getting to name her and stuff. That could also help the player get even more immersed in the story, since the characters would talk directly to the player instead of just each other!
Also, this game could really really use some sound design. It doesn't have to be anything too fancy either! Maybe just some background music (whether from a composer, or royalty free stuff online!), and a few sounds like dice rolling could take the game to a whole new level!
Hopefully these notes are helpful! Congrats again on your first jam! :)
Thank you so much for playing the game and giving me some great feedback! I really appreciate it. :)
Totally agree that making decisions for all three girls is a bit tedious. I had planned to have it be a setting where decisions would be 1) manual for all three girls, 2) manual only for Lisa/Endaleus (the player character) while the other two are automatic, or 3) automatic for all three girls. In the interest of time, though, I only implemented the all manual option. I definitely plan on adding that setting in for the next (hopefully full) release, with option #2 set as the default.
Being able to customize the girls’ names and pronouns is also something I programmed for but didn’t get a chance to fully implement, so that will hopefully be included in the next release as well.
And yes, the poor game really does need some good music and sound effects. I decided to leave that until after the jam in the interest of time (even though I had already picked out some nice dice rolling sound effects), but it’s amazing what a difference sound design - or the lack thereof - can make! I’ll keep in mind to prioritize it higher for future game jams.
I do plan on developing this game further. I think there’s a good foundation there, both programmatically and thematically, and I’d like to see where it could go if I gave it a little more time and love.
Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to not only play my game, but also leaving some awesome feedback, encouraging novice creators, and spreading positive vibes. I appreciate you. <3
My pleasure!! I'm glad these notes help (and it's really great that you were already aware and working on some of them, like the dice rolling sound!) Also clever possibility with having the player choose between controlling all three girls or just one!
I'm sure this game's next update will take it to a whole other level! Can't wait to check it out and see how it all turns out!
If you have time, would you like to check out our SuNoFes game as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! :)
Comments
Heyya!
First off, congratulations on completing your first jam! A visual novel is no easy feat, especially in such a short time. Everything looks really polished and runs smoothly. And you worked solo on this right? The fact that you got a full visual novel done on your own for the very first time is amazing! You should be very proud of yourself :)
I thought the concept was really cute too! Three girls playing a DnD like for the first time is a fun idea for a slice of life game. I also liked the dice rolling thing and how the actual game play felt like they were in the world. So good job there!
The only thing I'm not too sure about is the idea of the player controlling the actions of all three girls. There were a lot of times where that got pretty repetitive and had me skimming through the text. Especially at parts where all three girls made a decision back to back, like choosing the style/wisdom/magic points or buying things at the store.
If you decide to develop this game further... I wonder if it would work better if the player got to take control of just one girl? Maybe they could even play AS her... getting to name her and stuff. That could also help the player get even more immersed in the story, since the characters would talk directly to the player instead of just each other!
Also, this game could really really use some sound design. It doesn't have to be anything too fancy either! Maybe just some background music (whether from a composer, or royalty free stuff online!), and a few sounds like dice rolling could take the game to a whole new level!
Hopefully these notes are helpful! Congrats again on your first jam! :)
Keep up the good work!
-Sasha
Thank you so much for playing the game and giving me some great feedback! I really appreciate it. :)
Totally agree that making decisions for all three girls is a bit tedious. I had planned to have it be a setting where decisions would be 1) manual for all three girls, 2) manual only for Lisa/Endaleus (the player character) while the other two are automatic, or 3) automatic for all three girls. In the interest of time, though, I only implemented the all manual option. I definitely plan on adding that setting in for the next (hopefully full) release, with option #2 set as the default.
Being able to customize the girls’ names and pronouns is also something I programmed for but didn’t get a chance to fully implement, so that will hopefully be included in the next release as well.
And yes, the poor game really does need some good music and sound effects. I decided to leave that until after the jam in the interest of time (even though I had already picked out some nice dice rolling sound effects), but it’s amazing what a difference sound design - or the lack thereof - can make! I’ll keep in mind to prioritize it higher for future game jams.
I do plan on developing this game further. I think there’s a good foundation there, both programmatically and thematically, and I’d like to see where it could go if I gave it a little more time and love.
Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to not only play my game, but also leaving some awesome feedback, encouraging novice creators, and spreading positive vibes. I appreciate you. <3
My pleasure!! I'm glad these notes help (and it's really great that you were already aware and working on some of them, like the dice rolling sound!) Also clever possibility with having the player choose between controlling all three girls or just one!
I'm sure this game's next update will take it to a whole other level! Can't wait to check it out and see how it all turns out!
If you have time, would you like to check out our SuNoFes game as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! :)
-Sasha