Post by IndigoGalaxi in Closest Inhabited Planet comments

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I enjoyed the first run a lot. The visuals of the clothes disappearing, the slime covering the body, then the full transformation were all great and flying around in zero gravity was was absolutely very fun. My first run I wasn't all too concerned with removing the goo and finished fully transformed and I had a lot of fun, but when I tried going for an untransformed run it became a lot more frustrating.

It felt like there was too much goo directly in the way, with not enough boxes to maneuver around unless I got lucky and a box came flying by. The box thing really felt like a problem when I got to the areas covered in slime walls, specifically the start of the maze area and the zigzag area at the end. It felt like I had to be either flawless everywhere else or flawless in these areas. I would try to zoom past what feels like way too many of the moving slimes at the start of the maze to not get completely covered, only to start slamming into the walls and get covered anyways. The zigzag area makes it feel like I have to utilize every box that I have perfectly, and even one mistake is a reset back to beginning. Also, I don't know if I'm just crazy or if there is some sort of hidden mechanic that causes the transformation to go faster, but it ended up feeling like the transformation would become too fast to remove the goo in time, even with only one layer of goo and a lot left to transform.

All of that combined into an experience that felt frustrating and sometimes boring to me, as I felt like I could never get the speed quite right. I would either slam straight into some goo or I would fuck up with a box and would be left slowly floating until another box came floating by, unless I missed that box in which case I would have to keep waiting for another. I might try it again at some point and see if I can get a successful untransformed run, but not right now.

inopagames18 days ago(+1)

Aaw dang, sorry to hear the second run was such a bad experience. I was so fixated on making sure that the first run is always full transform that I overtuned it. I’ll see if I can make it more fun by adding some boxes and tweaking the goo placements. The transformation shouldn’t speed up, I’ll investigate. Thanks for the thorough feedback! Hope you give it another shot after I’ve adjusted the level.

IndigoGalaxi18 days ago

Then I'll definitely try again once it's updated. I honestly feel like most people are going to get fully transformed on their first run in a game like this, even if they try not to. The best runs are going to be won by knowing the layout of the map and the placement of obstacles, as that knowledge will be what allows the player to take the proper routes and be hit as few obstacles as possible. I would probably be able to get through easily if I spent a bunch of time memorizing the map and plotting a route, even if it would still take a few attempts due to the uncontrollable factor of when boxes fly past; however, I'll probably wait for that balance patch before doing anything like that.

inopagames18 days ago(+1)

Hmm you’re probably right, people probably take the first run pretty mellow. Balance is a bit hard to get right when testing alone. Honestly should have seen this coming when I couldn’t do a no hit run on my own game ahah. But working on it, I’ll update today/tomorrow.

IndigoGalaxi18 days ago

Balance can be difficult to get right period, and how difficult it is depends on the game.

I just realized I've never actually confirmed how much you play test your own games; although, it sounds like you're quite a pro when it comes to playing games, especially since I feel like the difficulty of a lot of your games tend lean on the more challenging side, at least compared to other NSFW games. I'll certainly be sure to check back in on this game soon and give a "successful" run another try.

inopagames18 days ago(+1)

Aaw yeah, I tend to playtest quite a lot, depending on the game. This one I kinda half assed since it’s so random and a bit janky. Figured the fight back mechanic would patch up the level design errors.

Have been gaming my whole life, and at one point took competition quite seriously. Nowadays more interested in creating games and art. Pretty washed up skill-wise compared to my friends nowadays. But yeah, still want to offer a bit of a challenge, even if it’s just a porn game. But I tend to make the lewd stuff easy to access and then give something extra for people who want a challenge. Also I’d like people to spend a bit more time on a project I’ve spent a lot of time making, difficulty adds some playtime. But I do understand that frustration really kills the mood ahah. Dunno how big the audience for hard porn games is, but foremost I need to make stuff that makes me happy.

rahisauce18 days ago(+1)

perhaps part of the problem is that you have played it so much that you overestimate how easy it is for a new player? That said, i do love an "inescapable doom" kind of kink scenario where escape is technically possible just to keep you wondering :D

inopagames18 days ago(+1)

Oh yeah, absolutely, really hard to estimate the new player experience when you’ve played it so much yourself. Ahah glad that it can be a kink too <3

IndigoGalaxi17 days ago (1 edit)

Well now I know a fun fact about you. I try not to take competitive games too seriously, but sometimes I just really like winning.

I can respect that. Not every developer is going to have the same mindset, and the great thing about that is that it means there something out there for practically any audience.

The genuinely challenging gameplay does tend to get me out of the mood one way or another, but a gallery feature of some kind might work, especially for the games where the only scenes are at the end. That way the player still has to put in the time and effort to obtain the reward, but they keep the reward instead of having to work for it every single time and always kill the mood before getting there.

Thinking about it now, while I'm assuming it is I wanted to ask if Godot is capable of a gallery mechanic like that. I've never worked with it before so I wouldn't know.

inopagames17 days ago(+1)

Aaw yeah I think Godot can handle that, though I’m not sure about if you mean like unlocking the gallery and after reloading the page it’s still unlocked. Haven’t experiemented with saving like that, but in Hypnothick I showed how to unlock a cheat mode in the ending, I think that’s a pretty good roundabout way to implement that kind of function. I’ll keep this in mind if I make a tougher game again and maybe add a gallery to this one.

IndigoGalaxi17 days ago

You could do a password menu system, where each ending gives a password that can be input to view it again. That way the player can still view the endings they've earned while still needing the work for the ones they haven't gotten yet.

inopagames17 days ago(+1)

Aaw yeah that sounds great, though a bit more work than just having some secret spot to click on or other specific input. But I could see a password system working on like a multilevel platformer game for level select too, to have the system serve another purpose.

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