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Looking for feedback - 7 months, 0 replies, 1 sailfish on land

A topic by pinchlg created 19 days ago Views: 212 Replies: 8

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Find player or feedback

itch.io project link: https://pinchlg.itch.io/depletion-verge

Hi (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ, I'm Pinchlg, the developer of Depletion Verge.

7 months ago I made a prototype about a sailfish walking on land. No HUD. No goals. No tutorial. No health bar. No timer. Just a fish in an endless modern city.

I posted it on itch.io and got zero downloads, zero replies, zero feedback for 7 whole months.

So now I'm posting here in the community, hoping that at least one person can play for 1 minute and tell me two things:

First, is it boring? How long did you last before closing it? 30 seconds? 1 minute? Or did you not even want to open it?

Second, is it broken? It runs fine on my computer, but I don't know if it works on other people's computers. If you see a black screen, crash, lag, or anything wrong, please tell me.

What I don't need is "good luck" or "nice art" because right now there is basically no art. It's just a simple prototype.

What I do need is very simple: play for 1 minute or even just 30 seconds, then reply one short line like "boring, I closed it" or "it crashed when I tried to walk" or "it actually runs fine but I felt nothing".

That's it. That alone is already huge help for me.

About the game: you are a sailfish walking on land. Endless modern city. No goals. Controls are WASD to move.

Thank you for reading. Even just one reply means a lot to me.

System requirement:

Java 21 required (...) Yes, this fish needs Java 21 or higher to walk on land. Blame the Kool Engine + Kotlin + LWJGL combo. Download Java here if you don't have it: https://adoptium.net/

BUT I'm fixing my mistake: I'm already working on a web version with WebGPU + WASM. Soon™ you'll be able to play in browser, no Java, no download, no suffering.

Until then... sorry about the Java thing (￣▽￣)"

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pack en19 days ago (1 edit)

I actually downloaded your game a while ago — so it's not 0 downloads. Maybe itch.io didn’t count it properly. Anyway, here’s my feedback:

I did download your game before (so not 0 downloads — itch just didn’t track it).

To be honest, the game is pretty boring right now. I couldn’t even see my fish body, even though you said a sailfish is walking on land. That made it hard to feel connected.

However, I still support further development because the tech is unique. You're using a niche engine, and the infinite city generation with varying building heights — plus the chunk-based loading — really reminds me of Minecraft.

I also saw you're working on a web version. I'm genuinely looking forward to it. That might bring actual traffic.

Hope this helps...

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pinchlg19 days ago

Thanks! this is actually the first real feedback I've ever received. You have no idea how much this means to me.

About the "can't see my fish body" thing — yeah, that's on me. I forgot to mention in the post that you can press F5 to switch camera, and C to zoom in POV. So the fish is there... just hiding like a ninja.

But you're right — even if you see it, it's still pretty boring right now. No goal, no pressure, no reason to keep walking. A fish with nowhere to go.

Still, the fact that you mentioned the infinite city + chunk loading reminds you of Minecraft — that actually made my day. Maybe this weird fish thing has a pulse after all.

I'm already working on a web version (WebGPU + WASM), and I'll also try to add the dumbest, smallest goal possible. Like "find water" or "reach that weird building". Something. Anything.

If you ever feel like pressing F5 and C for 30 seconds just to confirm that yes, it's really a fish walking on land — I'd be forever grateful.

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polyspice18 days ago(+1)

I think there is some things that makes it so that few people have a hard time playing your game.

The first thing that you need to fix I think is that this does not have an exe file, so most people who do download it, will not be able to play it, unless they install Java Virtual machine.

Your page on itch is not really clear about what the game is about, and the video is not informative at all, and have nothing to do with the game.

I think that if you changed these two things then I believe that more people will play your game.

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pinchlg18 days ago(+1)

Thanks again for the detailed feedback — seriously, this is the most useful reply I've gotten.

You're right about the page being unclear. I want to update it to explain the game better, but that new version isn't ready yet. So I haven't changed the page — I don't want to promise something that doesn't exist in the current build.

Once the next version is ready (with a proper goal), I'll rewrite the page and replace the video.

Thanks for being patient and honest. It helps a lot.

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polyspice16 days ago

I always assume that when people is asking for feedback, they are looking for the truth, and not just nice words ;)

Other than that, once you have a playable exe file or something that will run on my windows machine, I will play your game and give some feedback.

On the "waiting for the next build" .. my advice here is to not wait.. it will never be done (and that is ok, no game is ever truly done :) )

Use the page to see if there is interest, that is the first step.

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pinchlg13 days ago(+1)

Thank you again. You're right — I've been thinking "I'll wait until the next build" for too long. I needed to hear that it never ends.

About the .exe: right now the game is built with Kool Engine + Kotlin, which runs on JVM. I don't have a standalone .exe at the moment. That's why I'm working on a web version (WebGPU + WASM) — so people can play without downloading anything or worrying about Java.

But you're right. I'll stop waiting. I'll keep the current version up, and keep working toward something that runs more easily.

Once the web version or a standalone build is ready, I'll let you know.

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WarpZone16 days ago

Honestly, I have a hard time getting anyone to play anything that's not HTML5 on this platform. Even then, you generally need to go out and find playtesters and direct them to your page, unless your game is something really special. (And the discoverability problem gets worse every year.)

Good luck.

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pinchlg13 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks for the honest reality check — I really appreciate it.

You're absolutely right about the HTML5 issue. That's why I'm already working on a web version (WebGPU + WASM) to remove the Java/download barrier. It's not ready yet, but it's my top priority.

Thanks again for the honest feedback.

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