Post by HeyMarmalade in Procrastination comments

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I have to say, I liked the edition of the small font. My eyes aren't as they use to be, and it's been years since I played a game like this. I tried out both versions, and I have to say I'm liking the way the small font looks more. I had a issue with the music disappearing on me during the breakfast scene, but I couldn't replicate the issue so I'm thinking it was on my side.

I did run into another small issue:
A picture flashed of the teacher for a few seconds, and went black. This is day 2, Tuesday. English class. I was on this screen for a few minutes because I was writing down a note for the review. It's not something that is game breaking or even noticeable on usual game play, but all the same I felt I should tell you just in case it does become something.

I was honestly very surprised you did this in ren'py, it never crossed my mind it was possible to do old school games in that program, but I'm impressed. It shows experience in redoing the UI and front end.

It reminded me a lot about school. Freddie is just focusing on the day to day, and working with the different relationships around him. The disappointment of bad grades, not being able to reach someone, and the uncertainty of not know what to do.

(I tell you, I failed most of the questions off the bat, it made me slow down more and reread everything)

I really enjoyed it, I'm still playing it, trying out all the options and routes. I really want to see everyone's backstory and make Freddie do good. The fact you had all these options done, and this much different scenes is impressive.

My last suggestion is that the icons were hard to tell what they were. It took me awhile to realize it was a S and L, and that there was a options button, I just kept clicking esc key. I would set up a tutorial in the description or in game if you don't want to change your icons. Press right click to save, etc, etc.

Wonderful job though! I look forward to seeing what else you do!

HardLuck3 years ago (2 edits) (+1)

I originally set the font at 14 which looked a lot similar to 12 than 16 does and I loved it so I agree that 12 looks better. I am keeping 16 up because that's what I entered it as but I hear the small text mode love which is why I made it and kept it.

I tried about 4 times but couldn't replicate the teacher pop on day 2 English. The reason I left it black on that screenshot was so I could remember when designing it that everything hid itself as a scene so it wouldn't do exactly what you are saying. The only thing I can think of is a weird delay with computer processing it or the base Renpy loading it slow (which is why it actually popped) because it should definitely be hidden before the question is even asked. What platform are you working with? I'm running windows so I have no idea if that's the cause.

As for the S L etc... It would have helped if I included the Help.txt file I created 3 weeks ago to put in to the folder when I made the distributions, wouldn't it? Thanks for reminding me to throw that in there. I've updated the game files with the help file that I should have remembered to put in there. I had a tricky time making the UI buttons the way I wanted them to look (the Options gear really does look like a snowflake) with the pixel style. I'll need to work more on making a better button configuration on the next game.

Thanks for the feedback.

HeyMarmalade3 years ago(+1)

Ooo, I didn't even think to look for a help.txt, so that one was on me for not checking.

It's possible that it was just on my side or Ren'py doing its own thing. I'm playing on windows, and I forgot that I did click out of the screen, so that could've caused the flash. I've seen weirder things happen when I minimize. But, I'm glad to see that it was just a issue on my end.

Honestly, I should've mentioned this with the review, but the fact that you got everything looking that cleanly was amazing. This type of pixel style( I wish I remembered how to call it.. 8 bit?) doesn't give you a huge amount of space to work with from experience, plus with only two colors you are under a harsher limit. The characters even had movement and emotions to them, which added to the appeal of seeing how they act.

The only last suggestions I have for the icons is to give them 1 or 2 more pixel space if possible. That way you can keep the original shapes, but the letters won't be attached and they won't be attached to the bottom. Or change them to simpler icons, though I would hate for you to have to do that because they do look pretty cool now that I know what they are.

Either way, now that players have the help guide, if you decide to keep them the same, they won't give the same trouble that I did.

I feel like I was the "user error" play-tester.

I appreciate you reading over the feedback and giving it some thought, even if you decide not to use any of it. Plus, I liked the feedback you gave me so I wanted to give the same respect back.

HardLuck3 years ago(+1)

Feedbacks necessary at this stage of the game. I don't have a team to bounce stuff off of, it's just me and the kid who is pretty amazed at everything. We're all just doing our best in these jams to make an idea. I had some issues around day 4 with the pixel art until I implemented a few lines of code as Renpy doesn't work well with pixel art since it actually renders 3 screens (window, fullscreen and default). It kept coming out blurry until that happened. Next game I'll definitely look at a different button layout not just because of your suggestion, but I made the framework to be more flexible so I can change things around in the future.

This one worked and looked ok so I was content, but it really was a now let's move on kind of situation.

Again, thanks for the feedback as it helps me figure out where I need to improve. One of these days I want to get good enough to write the games I want to write (instead of working off meta concepts for these game jams). The only way I do that is by teaching myself new things and tackling new challenges so every bit of feedback really helps me figure out where the flaws are. Like I said, I had a help file that was supposed to be in there that I forgot about until you told me.

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