Post by ToMyself in 0.3 Release! comments

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Well... at least I was able to hold on to the positive message for about half an hour...

Aaaaah, what a wonderful introduction to a new version.

I am terribly sorry about that. I tried to figure out exactly why this happens, but I don't know for certain yet.

Regardless, I have implemented some failsafe statements at the beginning of the new entry, so they should override any strange behavior that may occur.

At the very least, I didn't encounter the issue myself while testing and jumping between several files from different points in time.

I will look into it properly once I am more rested. It is, let’s just say, far beyond my usual sleeping time, so I am definitely not working with my fullest brain power right now haha.

Again, I am sorry. Bugs that directly prevent progression are a serious issue and inexcusable.

Thank you for the report! I hope this temporary fix resolves it for now.

Me chan11 hours ago (2 edits)

Thank you for the fixes! I started getting sick that day, so I only managed to warn you about the bug, and then I had to log off. I'm still not feeling 100%, but I'm happy the message came across. I was able to play the new chapter twice, not counting loading some save slots to explore some choices... which led to a very interesting/funny experience with the new chapter that I'll mention more below. Do not worry, I'm aware that every piece of software, when it gets publicly released, has a certain amount of bugs. It is to be expected.

Before talking about the chapter itself, I wanted to mention some technical details/suggestions, since you did mention in the update post that we could give feedback so that the game gets better and better, so those are my initial ideas. If they match your vision, of course, I hope they are useful (either way, possible spoilers below, read at your own risk, everyone!):

- I think being able to name save pages would be very useful! Currently, save pages go until page 9, after that we can add more save slots, obviously, but they are not named.

Yes, we can see the pagination in the save files inside the saves folder, but I think it would be more accessible if we could name our save pages. I've seen that enabled in many VNs, so I believe it is not difficult. I say that because sometimes I like organizing my saves by name so that I can pick up from specific moments, since the story is getting longer!

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- This recommendation might not align with what you want for the story, feel free to skip it if it does not: skipping enabled (only for passages we have already read).

In many VNs, we have a skip setting that offers to skip read text or force skip. I believe force skip is outside your vision, but maybe read text skipping would be useful.

I say this because I had to replay the game, and although I can decrease the auto forward time so that the dialogue rolls quicker, it is still slower than skipping. (Again, it could allow for only skipping the already read text.) If it is something you don't feel matches the idea of the game, it is totally okay, though!

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Finally:

- Tweakable text size for the text box, it would increase accessibility. But if you feel it does not fit well with the text box, it is okay, it is kind of an extra point.

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Another point related to a problem I ran into:

Starting from when Myrddin gets his normal form back, every time I save in the middle of a conversation/interaction and load that specific save, I dont go back to that specific conversation: I go to the home interaction section in which I hadn't selected any interaction yet.

I believe someone was mentioning a save/load problem on the main page, but I'm not sure it is the same problem. This one kind of doesn't remember we were in the middle of an interaction (say, tic tac toe) and loads me into the home interaction section when Myrddin and the interaction options show up.

Anohte rpoint: possible typo below? Or maybe it is a normal English sentence, since I'm not an expert, I'll just report it here:

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(Possible spoilers below, read at your own risk, everyone!)

Regarding chapter 3: what an intriguing chapter!!

This is not going to be my comment related to theories yet, I plan on commenting on the main page about it, but I like the new update! I don't know what you were worried about, this is great work, developer.

Silly series of reactions of mine to some of the situations:

- We finally got the answer to the enigmatic sentence in the game description: "...and with every moment you spend together, he only ~~gets—~~ " And it was so obvious; I cant believe I didn't think of it... Great reveal! I thought, at that time, right before the reveal, he was going to say the game itself, the structure of it, but I digress. Myrddin's actions are looking very intriguing, to say the least, what with our interaction with him giving him power. But I'll leave my theories to another comment.

- While I was playing this update i got reminded of a song by Bo Burnham called: Look Who’s Inside Again. Although the song has a whole very interesting context inside the album and the movie/songs special, hah... the lyrics and the game situation got me, hah. In case you are curious, this is the song:

It reminded me of Myrddin and his situation. If you listened to it, I'm very curious to know what you thought of it in relation to Myrddin\the game.

- Oh, I really liked the dynamic season change! [Even though it is not my real season, I liked the coded detail you added there. ;) ]

- The silhouette was mentioned by Myrddin! That was very interesting, to say the least. I like the beginnings of possible endings/branches with being straightforward with Myrddin or not.

- When the "book"\Outer(?) says day 5475, I thought: wait, what if it was the exact same number of books Myrddin said he read? Then all the numbers mentioned in the game would be related and--

I was spiraling, hahaga. Anyway, that scene was tense. The warnings are especially important now, just like you said in the previous update (so I was already aware this chapter woul have someting similar), so I hope everyone pays attention to the warnings before playing the game. And, well, I cannot deny that I felt for the guy.

The "book"/Outer did raise some interesting concerns. However, I raise a question to him: right at that moment, in front of us (the player), which entity is the torturer and which one is the torturee? Not denying any past sins committed by the torturee, nor some logical arguments from the torturer, though. Logically speaking, we are witnessing torture, no matter how it is spun. And, also logically speaking: Myrddin has omitted the truth multiple times. What I mean to say is: I like the concepts you are playing with in this chapter.

- Now, developer, I'm shocked, no, devastated, by how you treated your playerbase...

How can you call us out that way?!

Conspiracy theories? But whatever are you talking about?

Oh, I almost forgot to talk about my funny experience with the chapter: I played from the beginning after that bug situation in the new 0.3.1 version. Chapter three went by very quickly (I felt it was shorter than previous chapters), then I noticed I didn't get to the snow globe section at all, not even a new one about the deal story that I later found out. I think what happened was that I wasted too many interactions playing tic tac toe? Hahah, that was funny. Anyway, playing for a second time, I got the new story with Myrddin's beautiful handcrafted art pieces and was able to craft items with him.

Edit: extra comment here. I dont know if it was intentional (it probably was not, haha), but right after Myrddin screams (that was a very sad scene :\ ) there was a sound that reminded me of Deltarune/Undertale game sounds. That was very interesting! Anyway, the use of sound in this game is very good even with the limitations of free-to-use sound assets.

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Anyway, jokes aside, congratulations! It was a funny and intense chapter, which I theorize was what you wanted it to be. Additionally, I did find a very interesting song that needed some translating... Ebys... ?

ToMyself9 hours ago (2 edits) (+1)

Thank you for telling me despite your condition! Truly!

Please get completely well soon!

I know issues like this aren’t exactly uncommon. Nowadays, they are probably quite common, actually. But they still frustrate me a lot.

I tested the game multiple times, thought everything should be fine, and then it turns out that literally the beginning is bugged for those who load an older save…

Shame on me!

But I suppose this is the big disadvantage of being a novice. You have no idea how long it took me just to figure out how to move the textbox with Chibi Myrddin and add a small dissolve effect to it, haha.

And yes, please never hesitate to share suggestions or thoughts on how the game could be improved!

…

Unless the improvement is getting rid of Myrddin. That one would be a bit difficult.

Naming save files

Yes, I will look into that and see if I can get it done. I may have even disabled that myself all the way back when I was creating the UI, though I am not completely sure. Hopefully, it should be easy enough to restore or add.

Skipping

I had already been thinking about this before releasing the new update, and now I am thinking about it even more, especially considering how much I underestimated the whole save and load system.

Admittedly, I completely pushed aside the thought that changing existing code could obviously cause major issues. I was so focused on everything else that I only realized it a full day after release.

Because of that, I may add an option to unlock skipping once a playthrough has been completed. The main reason I don’t have skipping enabled by default is that certain things became a bit buggy when skipping was enabled. At the time, I was not confident enough to deal with that.

I am not exactly confident now either, lol, but I will look into it.

Text adjustment

This is something I have actually been thinking about since yesterday as well.

Not text size directly, but things like text color. I have not played many visual novels, so I am quite ignorant about what is considered standard, necessary, or expected, and what I should be paying attention to.

So adding a text size option is a great idea, though I would first have to look into how to implement it.

The only compromise would be that players should know it might not fit every scene perfectly, since the default option will likely remain the most optimized one.

Save problems

I will look into it!

Typo

Please. A typo? Me?

That would be an understandable mistake.

I missed two whole words, lol. It should be: “I may be able to advise you…”

Conclusion

Genuinely… seeing all of my mistakes, in a funny way, only strengthens my desire to do a complete overhaul of the game at some point.

With that approach, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about carrying everything forward step by step. There is also the benefit of already having a complete foundation to build upon, allowing me to refine and adjust it into a more exceptional and personal experience.

Spoilers for the Version 0.3!

I’m… always worried, haha.

This is the first time I have heard this song. I am not familiar with the artist or the context around it, so I am probably way off with my answer, but here is my impression.

I think it is obviously about isolation, but more specifically about being forced into it, not only by outside influences, but by oneself too? It feels like a place someone wants to escape from, yet keeps returning to because it has become the place they are most comfortable with. A sort of “I hate it, but I don’t want to be seperated from it” situation.

Though the lyrics themselves seem to mock that way of living a little. As if you are telling yourself you want to escape, but then take the very first excuse to return.

Perhaps there is also an implication of social anxiety, depression, or something along those lines.

That is my impression after listening to it.

And to compare it to Myrddin… hmm. Based on my impression, which could be completely wrong, meaning the comparison that follows might make no sense, I don’t think it mirrors Myrddin. There is no comfort in that room for him.

He does tell you that he likes staring at the wall, or that the clouds are relaxing, and things in that direction, but that is simply because there is nothing else to hold onto.

We also now know that the time he spent there was not only unpleasant because of the isolation, but also because of literal physical torture.

I have read some mentioning that they thought this chapter would introduce a scene or mention of Myrddin harming himself.

I would argue that, despite his comments about being alone, he has never actually shown signs of that kind of mental health struggle. Quite the opposite, really. He is rather optimistic, especially now that you are there.

Now I will place this part into its own window, since I’m not sure whether you would want to hear my perspective on it.

These thoughts go a little deeper into the matter. They are not spoilers, but I will leave it up to you to decide whether you want to read them or not, even if you have finished everything currently available in the game.

Thoughts

What do you even think his character is after your experience? (I am sure this will be tackled in your theory post, so these are rhetorical questions.)

What is actually real?

I remember you mentioning something along the lines of, and I am paraphrasing here, “Would he really let us read his diary? He seemed really angry about that.”

Now, given the latest information, there might be the actual possibility, not saying yes or no, that… hold on. Perhaps yes. Perhaps the book was placed there intentionally. You had all the time to read it, no? And conveniently, he was fine again once you finished reading it.

And despite being angry, the situation moved rather quickly into, “Well, you did something bad, right? Then now you have to do something for me.”

That could be one summary of the whole scene.

We know Myrddin can control those choice buttons. And in complete theory, wouldn’t it have much more impact on the mind to have the player directly, choice button after choice button, arrive at the final option of helping him by their own will?

But first, we have to be hesitant about that.

So, of course, we cannot put that burden onto you… unless you were the one who initiated it.

Did Myrddin ask you for help the very first time, or were you technically the one who offered it?

Anyway…

Oh… this is rather the tame version. Perhaps there is some good in not being completely free when it comes to resources, haha.

Not going beyond what is shown, the book does not justify the torture.

In fact, it is more like, “Hey, look. See this thing. I don’t care what you think about it, but this should convince you that there is a problem here.” And later, “I am the evil…”

There was never an act of presenting oneself as the hero, the good side, or anything similar. It is just a fact being stated, with the claim that no lies are being told. And then a final threat.

I don’t know what you are talking about. That is clearly written in a book by a stranger.

Wait, you didn’t get to the snow globe section? After the very first craft, the apple, Myrddin should not let you proceed with talking, for example, because he is too excited to craft something else too.

How… how did you manage to skip that?

Oh, you mean the little silly story Myrddin tells you about, where he also says he couldn’t decipher all of it?

Hm. Idk.

itch.io

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