Post by Sanguine-Oni in 🔴REC comments

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Lots of issues with this so far. Only made it to the end of night one and already too frustrated to try longer.

First, the story has holes in it. During the conversation with Kan, he states he heard about the loss of the student funding program. How? The main character read it in a letter he had LITERALLY just received. Unless Kan has telepathy, he wouldn't have known. Also, in the same conversation, the main character asks if Kan ordered a camera. It is a stupid question considering he just read the long-ass letter that states the camera was a gift, as well as the website that also stated the camera was part of the program. He knows full well Kan had nothing to do with the camera's presence.

Secondly, the mini games. Not very easy or fun on a laptop that has no external mouse on it. The fly is impossible. Hiding doesn't work because the on-screen arrow pointing down does nothing when clicked and neither of the up or down buttons on the left help either as they seem useless, and navigating the tiny square maze is hit or miss. Game definitely needs a tutorial for each minigame and some timing fixes (where I slap with the fly swatter has a huge delay before the slap actually happens, making the fly impossible unless I got lucky enough to guess where it would be. Also, it makes no sense. I'd be slapping her body even if I got it. that would wake her 100%, whereas a fly landing on her or buzzing in real life would probably not wake her at all. If the main character opening that squeaky-ass door didn't wake her, sure as hell a fly's buzzing wouldn't. If moving her blanket and arms didn't wake her, a fly landing on her wouldn't. The fly is an illogical obstacle.)

Also, not sure if there is anything on the bottom of the screen under the down arrow because the game's frame/ border is missing down there due to what appears to be improper scaling for the default screen size with no way to configure the game's border.

Edit: Gave the game a second try to check the hide button and see if I was wrong... the night began with the minigame for moving the arm before I could do anything. IE: the slide bar gauge at the top of the screen was waiting for me to time the pause (which also is massively off-timed from when I press 'stop' and when it actually does) before I could even opt to move the blanket to even see her arms.

I like the concept of the somnophile thing, but I just can't stomach any of these controls as they are now, sorry.

moondev37 days ago(+1)

Thank you for your input! I'll look to getting some of those bugs fixed in the next release. I'll also look into adjusting some of your other items on the list as well.

cipollo36 days ago

Can't speak to touchpad controls, and the game registering clicks before the night screen is actually loaded is definitely a bug, but it's pretty damn reasonable to suspect Kan. Not to say that the writing couldn't do with some polish, but:

X knows the MC is using the financial aid program.
X probably knows the MC personally, to consider him a good enough candidate to receive the Fancy Camera.
X tells the MC that he has lost access to the financial aid program.
Kan, with knowledge of (3), shows up promptly after the MC gets the package.
We have no actual confirmation outside X's letter that MC did in fact lose his financial support, except...
Kan shows up to collect the rent. (Though not after rewinding the week, for some reason. Not complaining on that score, but it seems odd.)

If the loss of the financial support is real, Kan knowing about it (as dorm supervisor and rent collector) is not entirely implausible, but the timing of his visit and the Extremely Unofficial Message on what looks like official letterhead, which he would likely have access to in his position? Quite suspect. And if the MC didn't in fact lose his financial support, the whole thing is basically Kan making money off pushing the MC into making porn. With some bizarre future tech.

Also, Kan is weird and goes into people's dorms at night to watch them sleep. =P

Sanguine-Oni36 days ago

Kan showed up literally after the MC read the letter that Kan never did, and the MC never mentioned what was written in it. Kan would have ZERO idea of the loss of funds unless it was announced on news and media, in which case the MC would have already known prior to receiving the letter. For all he knows, even if he sees the seal (despite that not being stated) to Kan, the information in the letter could be anything related to the schooling; from a letter about grades or test scores, extracurricular activities, or even tardiness issues. If you were my roomy and I saw you holding a letter and there was an envelope on the table with your bank's logo on it I wouldn't know if it were a letter about you owing money, a change of policy update, a credit card offer, or just a monthly statement. Seeing a logo doesn't make someone 'all knowing', know what I mean? The odds Kan could say he knows, rather than asking and inquiring upon an assumption... no... zero. Not unless, as I said, it were announced on news, in which case the MC would have been aware and expecting the letter and not as shocked upon reading it.

cipollo35 days ago (1 edit)

Okay, to spell it out - I think Kan is likely the one who sent the package in the first place. Hence him knowing about what's in the letter, as he'd be the one who wrote it.

Sanguine-Oni35 days ago (1 edit)

Go back and reread the letter. X states "We regret to inform you that you no longer qualify for the student subsidy program". The "we" being the operative word that implies the writer, X, is part of the board that oversees student income and the letter was originally intended to be a formal letter of resignation from the funding program. The MC describes Kan as "he is the manager of the apartment". A landlord. Nothing more. Has no tie to the academy. Had the letter been from him, he would have chosen "I" in place of "we". As I live with and help out a property owner in real life I can say for certain that just because we rent to college students and live by the colleges does not make me/us affiliated with any of the surrounding three colleges near me.

cipollo35 days ago(+1)

And I'm sure he would have signed it "Your buddy Kan" too, because the letter writer's intent is clearly to avoid any ambiguity or confusion regarding their identity. Do take another look at the postscript to that letter before you build out your theory much more based on the "we" in the beginning. And let us know how many of those three colleges near you are likely to include "BTW, here's some highly experimental equipment free of charge and a link to a voyeur porn site, GLHF =)" on their official communications.

I did make a mistake on (5) in my list earlier, though - the letter mentions that the assistance payments were getting deposited into MC's account, rather than going directly towards rent, so their absence would confirm this change for the MC independently of the letter. I also assumed "subsidized apartment" meant campus housing with Kan as RA or something like that, which I suppose is not necessarily the case.

moondev36 days ago(+1)

I can't believe y'all theorycrafting about this already 😭. I was going to keep my mouth shut about this since it's soft spoilers for the future story, but there's actually a specific reason why Kan knows what he knows.

itch.io

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