Post by alpacalord in Dead Meat 3D comments

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Listen here, tiping house, just because it's free doesn't make it immune to critique. I didn't go into it with "preconditioned notions" of anything, I was initially fine with just running away from the same assets until I died the first time from getting cornered in the staircase leading up by guys I agro'd from a floor under them and realized you put the point total on the death screen. YOU gave us points! YOU made the objective to escape while gaining points! I had no preconceived idea about what the game was until YOU indirectly told me to gain points by putting a point counter on the screen, and then directly telling me by spelling it out on the death screen.

You're literally not reading anything I'm writing, which is fine! You don't have to respond to criticism! You don't owe me an explanation, or even a comment back! You made a thing, uploaded it for people to play freely, then I played it, and gave my thoughts and opinions about it. The game, on a fundamental level, is fine. It works. The concept of an arcade escape game in which you play a telekinetic lamb is fun. The aesthetic is metal as hell, and was the initial hook for me. Ultimately, not explaining everything about the game before it starts is even forgivable, since you're apparently trying for a more exploratory vibe.

Catching people's attention a floor above you is an abysmal feeling. It feels unfair that my run can end without me being able to do anything about it, or even know it's coming.

From a subjective, artistic perspective, it's fine. From an objective, game design perspective, it's rough around the edges, and needs a sizable amount of polish. In terms of designing a video game, you could have done better. Preconceived notions of what games should entail for the player didn't make the game bad, by any means. A lack of clarification, and one minor oversight left an odd taste in my mouth, but the way you've responded to my criticism (with deflection, doubling down on subjectivity as an excuse, and the real lynchpin of not even paying attention to what I've complained about) has made the taste bitter.

Tripping House15 hours ago(-1)

Now we’re getting somewhere, I never once said that this free game Dead Meat 3D on itch.io was immune to criticism. Nor have I once disagreed with your previous critiques (besides the Veal/Hyper-Jungle technicality), in fact I’ve only been appreciatively upvoting your remarks. Perhaps it is YOU who is not deeply reading anything I’m writing. Which is also fine!

Any other itch.io horror game with typical cheap jump scares in a pre-programmed and directly spelled-out list of player tasks can scare YES, but ultimately that is low hanging fruit to my eyes. The ambiguity of purpose, the systemic unfairness, the dreadful realization that your situation was doomed from the start all serve to deepen the lasting Existential Horror. Think back to your first playthrough, if YOU were a real lamb running through a real slaughterhouse, do you think the slaughterhouse workers would go easy on you and tell you how to escape? Could they possibly hear your “hoove-steps” even from a floor above and ambush you at the stairwells? Even with the additions of psychic powers and a flashlight (dim, but a flashlight nonetheless), do you even have what it takes to escape?

Now this is for you apacalord, is the objective of the game truly point accumulation for accumulation sake? What happens for you as a player when the point counter goes up? Do you move faster to complete a goal sooner? Do you get closer to a possible exit? Do your psychic powers help clear stairwells if you learn how to use them or is it all just for fun?