I got a few things to suggest in no particular order:
It would probably be a bit difficult but would it be possible to link the fridge's inventory to the various cooking implements around the kitchen? I do enjoy the little mini game of cooking and such to maintain health and such but going back and forth through the different UI's to first check what ingredients + quantities I need, then going to the fridge to collect the ingredients, then going back to the cooking UI to cook the food is annoyingly lengthy to the point where I find myself just buying sandwiches from the store to avoid the system all together.
The drinking fountains at the school would be nice as a source of water.
Sound design wise I think in the dreamstate if you layered two audio tracks for ambience together and subtly pitched the volume up on the more energetic/percussion track as the player gets closer to waking would be a great way of dietetically informing the player of the their time slowly ticking down.
Removal of the time loss from reading notes in the forest would be nice. I like rechecking information and it feels like the game is punishing me for using the resources provided. This could also apply to any information giving aspect of the game since information is one of the most important things in a game like this it feels bad to be punished for rechecking it
Some kind of indicator that the computer in your bedroom is how you save. I spent four hours of gameplay without realizing it especially since during the opening segment of the story mode you are prevented from using the computer. I would honestly suggest potentially tagging in a short part at the beginning of the story mode where the player is directed to use their computer to check their journal (which would then also show thats where you save).
Discord?
The cooking mechanic is a little annoying by design. I guess my philosophy was to annoy the player into skipping food, but the “death” mechanic was so poorly implemented that it became more than just a nuisance. But if I simplify it that much, might as well remove it altogether, don’t you think? Anyway, Hunger/Thirst will be a lot more forgiving in the next update.
Will add a fountain, but again, Hunger/Thirst will be a lot more forgiving in the next update. You probably won’t need it.
Not a bad idea, but I don’t think it’s high on the priority list. There’s much much more pressing sound work that needs to be done first. Basic stuff like doors opening, fridges humming, tentacles squirming.
You’ve partially convinced me. I’ll remove stat loss from reading the journal. Though to be frank, minor stamina gain like that (time loss as you put it) is insignificant enough that it’s more of a red herring that obfuscates that there are bad/incorrect puzzle solutions or that some puzzles should be done on separate runs. You might save up 10 stamina points by optimizing which doors you open and don’t, but that doesn’t affect a ran at all in the grand scheme of things.
Probably a good idea. Not sure if I’ll add it in the next update though. I’m already running late for the updated and there’s still so much to fix.
Discord? Maybe. I don’t know the first thing about running a server. As you understand, everything consumes time.
I can help setting up a discord server (actually already started lol). Its not too hard to run a sever if its kept small especially given it'd be for your games. Also might help with bug reports and also just generally gauging interest in stuff! Here, this is a temp invite to the server I threw together. If you do hop in give me a ping, I'm Marionette https://discord.gg/FtucQWdJ
JFTR, I second the motion for an official Discord server. It could help bring together players from ITCH.io, Steam, and whatever other sites you're currently posting to.
Some channels I personally would suggest: idea submissions, community polls, bug reports, spoiler chats (new players ask vet players for help), and of course a general chat just for discussions.
Down side of course, would be that yes, it would take time to get setup. Additionally, it adds one more location where you will be receiving messages you may choose to read when not 'putting in the work'.
i understand that the time moves on when you read pages, but my bad memory and bad puzzle solving makes me just reload the save, or just take a screenshot of each info that i've gathered (this is exatly what i did). maybe time loss could occur the first time you read a note/page and after that be free?
Honestly, my short term memory sucks. I personally had to keep physical notes of my run unique data (passcodes, coordinates, firmware, etc.) and for the really complex stuff I mad a personal step-by-step (adjusting when things went as I intended) in a digital notebook. I remember one sequence that took an entire Cornell note sheet, before I managed to streamline with newly obtained information.