A jam submission

INeXITSView game page

In the future, those who are deemed useless are relocated to a place that slowly eats their time and existences

Submitted by BlankCat — 5 hours, 17 seconds before the deadline

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INeXITS's itch.io page

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous.

PRESENTATION
Graphics look to be custom with a lot of filters ran over the top to make them appear very distorted. They lend quite a unique look to the playable parts of the game. The character portraits, however, look very anime and stand out quite a bit in comparison. They don't fit the rest of the game that well, but they're not too distracting.

Mapping is okay, but due to the graphics being so distorted, it can be a but hard to figure out what is and isn't interactive without toggling tags on.

The sound is pretty decent. It'd be nice if there were more ambient sounds, but what was there fit in well with the Sci-Fi feel of the design.

Music was moody and ambient but it was also the same track playing over and again and did get a bit boring after a while.

Writing was stilted and had some grammatical and sentence structure issues. A lot of words were back to front (as in descriptor after subject) and it came off as difficult to understand.

Characters seemed quite similar, honestly, and there wasn't much to differentiate them bar the portraits.

The game needed a lot more instruction or hints as to what to do. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and I gather I had to escape in some way but I could never find out where to go or what to do in order to leave.

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay consisted of on-map interactions. There were no battles or puzzles (well, I guess you could say the game was one big puzzle).

You have 7 periods of time in which to do tasks to rack up points in order to escape.

The gameplay focussed on trying to figure out the best way to go about escaping. You had certain things occurring at certain times and some of it was random (such as who you met out in the hallway during the morning). Some things took the whole time block, others didn't. The aim of the game seemed to be collecting points in a particular stat in order to escape, however it would reset to zero if certain things were done (drinking from the tap, working, sleeping, etc)

This presented a problem as you also wanted to purchase pills that would boost your stats but you had no real ways to make money that didn't screw you over, stat-wise.

You could also purchase stat items. There was no save point (though I assume it had autosave.)

If, at the end of the day, you don't get enough points to escape, the game starts all over again and you have to go all the way through everything again and again in order to try and escape.

Also, you have to use the mouse to interact with on-map stuff. It doesn't tell you this, though.

ENGAGEMENT
The game started off interesting but quickly turned boring. Having to do the same day over and over again is annoying, especially when you don't keep any progress from the day before AND have to have everything explained to you again as though you don't know what they are.

If there'd been a skip text or fast forward text option (or just cutting out the explanation after you'd already had it explained to you before) then it might not have gotten so boring so fast.

Add in that there was some randomisation to what happened and what you could and could not do (for example, I thought bathing was a night-only thing but nope, at least twice it wouldn't allow me to use it during the night phase.) and you find yourself beating your head against a rock trying to figure out the why's and how's of the game.

Oh, and there's no instruction on what you're supposed to do and no hints on how to go forward and everything just reset each and every time you failed.

It could have helped to have everything be non-random, so that you knew what you were working with, exactly, and could use logic to predict what you needed to do, but the randomisation just messed things up.

And don't get me started on things that looked promising but ended up not being so. Or having your progress reset by things that didn't make sense (such as sleeping somehow exhausting you?!)

I just didn't really enjoy the repetitive experience.

THEME
You're trapped. You don't like being trapped. Escape. Yeah, it does really well in setting that up both mechanically and story-wise.

46/80

Team Members
BlankCat

Comments

XavierDD1st6 years ago

This is the most confusion but enjoyably game that I have ever played and I haven't got past FEB 25 - WED yet.

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago

Hi, I am pretty sorry for my late reply. Can't believe someone still play these despite the fact that the IGMC2017 has long passed. Thanks for giving it a try despite judge's low score lol.

I could give you some hints, but please you gonna need to tell me which girl greets you in the first room in your playthrough.

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XavierDD1st6 years ago

First run black haired girl. Second game run Blone

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claycr4neSubmitted6 years ago(+1)

I gave this game a try and I gotta say the game is made in very unique and personal way. I haven't seen similar games made with RPG Maker so this was a very surprising and positive experience.

When I first tried the game, the storytelling together with all the dreamy audiovisual elements made me feel like I was watching a short film. At that time I didn't quite know what I was supposed to do so I tried to do a little bit of everything. It got me quite far but ultimately I failed - as you would expect. I tried again, multiple times, and little by little I began to understand the idea and gameplay better. Different terms started to make sense and I learned about some good and bad choices. The game gives you hints in a clever way, which you might not get the first time you play. I began to understand more every time I failed and got back to the beginning. I think failing has an important role in this game because it gives you more information about the core concept and basically guides your way through.

I think I tried the game about ten times but I still couldn't make it to the end even though I always did better (at least I think so). Sometimes when I was discovering new possibilities, I couldn't do much else than take naps because the main character was feeling "too tired" or was not in the mood to do anything. These times I knew that I did something wrong and that I needed to start over, and so I had to rush to the failure. I think a good add for situations like these would be to create some sort of option or mechanism in the game which takes you back to the morning and resets everything. It would be faster to try again.

I will try the game again to see if I can make it even further. This game has some depth and it definitely demands focus and thinking. For me the idea and the world felt so interesting that I certainly want to see how the story ends.

Oh and great job with the development, I didn't encounter any bugs. Good luck in the contest!

Submitted

The Sculptor

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago (2 edits) (+1)

Hi! I can't believe you give my game a try this soon! Most people get repealed by the time they look at my game cover lol.

And if I may know, which girl did you meet in the first room on your very first try? I could give you a clue, but it really depends on which girl you get in that room.

Ten tries? It is a lot! You are the first person to give it that many for my game! I had few people playing my game, and well....most if not all could not even get through the first day....I think I have made the first day too unnecessarily difficult....I should have toned it down.

I am happy that you could get some new experiences from my game, and I hope you are not too disappointed with my game's shortcomings. No bugs so far? Nice! But pretty sure you will find that I should have paid someone to proofread my game a bit - I just realized it has some wording errors during the dialog. I kinda overlooked them there .... >.<!

About your suggestion, the option/mechanism to restart from the first segment of the ongoing day, is pretty interesting, how did I not think of that!!? I hope I could find a way to implement that into my game after the results come out. I want every action, option, and feature in that game to have meaning that's connected to the main story. Guess I should start thinking about it now. Thanks!

As comrades in arms who love and use the same asset for our game (POP), best of luck for us in this contest!

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claycr4neSubmitted6 years ago

Which girl did I meet in the first room on my first try.. Well that is a very good question, haha. Next time I try I'll take some notes ;)

I actually like very much how your game provides challenge and requires thinking, it's also more interesting that way. Difficult, yeah maybe, but thanks to that your game has been in my mind since my last session. Your game is one of those which requires you to sit down, take a cup of coffee/tea and fully jump in. It's best when there are no distractions. I personally need more than 1 hour for completing your game but 1 hour also gives you plenty. I'm sure others agree, and maybe some can even finish it in one session.

Wording errors are fine, I bet almost all of these competetion games have them. No confusion this far!

I'm glad that I could give you an idea for improvement like you gave me. Have you, by the way, thought about making a mobile version of your game? It could work very nicely given the fact that your game requires only click/touch.

I'll get back to you after my next try!

PS. POP assets are great, you sure gave them a nice extra touch in your game; works perfectly in creating the atmosphere.

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago (1 edit)

So have you finally managed to reach the ending? I am pretty curious, which ending you get. ...but that would be spoiler lol.

Note:
The ending could be explained in 17 possibilities, and there are actually 5 different endings (HINT: especially if you try to enter the room beside yours). I had wanted to make it into 17 different endings with flashier displays, motions, pictures, etc, but due to time constraints, I was forced to make it much simpler....I hope it's not too confusing. I tried to make it as symbolic as it could.

I had thought about the possibility of putting this game into Android, but....there are problems with how this engine work. One of the most glaring problems is that if you click the back button (whether on purpose or by accident), the game will automatically kicks the player out of the game.., and I don't think they will fix this any sooner >.<.

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claycr4neSubmitted6 years ago (1 edit)

Nope, I haven't reached the ending yet. I had my second playing session this morning and I player your game for about an hour. Six tries this time ;)

*SPOILERS*
Today I started the game right from the beginning and this time the game started with a blonde girl with curly hair and blue eyes. She said something about flirting and the main character was thinking whether she can read minds. I tried my best to get through the first day but this time I couldn't. I took notes everytime I tried and failed just to see if I could find the correct choices. If I'm correct I need to get as much xistence as possible, right? Otherwise the day fails almost immediately after the lift. The best I could do this time was to have 3 xistence when I entered the lift, and it allowed me to open a couple doors from there. There are always three doors with different colors that I can open, I'm not sure yet whether only one of them is a correct one or if every door leads to the same place.

Like I said I took notes of my stats (xistence, affinity, psinergy) after every choice I made and one thing is confusing me. Two of my tries went like this (choice / stats after):
1) Lift / 313 -> Laundro / 251 -> Neighbour Sugar Pill + Shop Sugar Pill / 451 -> Work / 300 ... etc.
2) Lift / 313 -> Laundro / 271 -> Neighbour Sugar Pill + Shop Sugar Pill / 571 -> Work / 400 ... etc.

See, I did the exact same choices but the second time I got 6 affinity from the Laundro and 3 xistence from two Sugar Pills. Are those numbers somehow randomized or is there a reason for me getting more the second time I tried?

When I went to the lift with not much xistence, the blonde girl said something about the room and me not visiting there before. When I had 3 xistence (I saved Sugar Pills and used them before the lift), I saw some prisoner after the lift twice and then the blonde girl was in a different room and said something about 83 %.

The sixth time I tried was when I got those extra points from Laundro and Sugar Pills, and that time the View-choice showed me that bright-picture as well. This was the first time I got that picture. Still, I went through the Imagine-choice, took a nap, had stats of 290 and ultimately failed.

Could you give me some hints at this point, like how much do I need xistence or does the different colored doors have some meaning? I had 6 xistence on my sixth try but as I have to spend the day in some way the points get easily spent.

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

OMG, I can't believe you give it that much tries. I thought you have moved on to other games lol. If I may know, what makes you keep trying the game? I feel bad...I think I have made the first day too hard to pass....>.<

Okay, now, about the hints:
1. Which girl you meet at the first room, matters, a lot. The girl's dialog hints you on how your story will be affected. Some stats gains will be affected as well, as you may have already found out...nothing is 100% random in this game....there is always a minimum and maximum on everything. This is the biggest hint I have dropped in my entire comment lol.
2. About the color of the doors, it will matter, pretty much later in the game. Just choose your favorite color, for now :D.
3. You are right about xistence: you gotta get as much xistence as possible to pass thru the FLOORS.
4. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/how-long... go read the first paragraph. It's important and quite personal for me lol. I put "that" feature on the game, but looking at how many players are confused by this, makes me feel that I have been making the game too punishing... or may be it's just that I don't put enough hint in the game...>.<

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claycr4neSubmitted6 years ago

Well I like to play others' games the same way I'd like others to play my games, and your game has such depth that it interests me a lot :)

Thanks for the hints! I'll keep them in my mind the next time I play. I've been quite busy these past few days so I haven't had much time to play anything. But I will. It seems that the judges have also given their comments to all the games now... Very interesting reading.

Have you, by the way, made any other games or is this your first game?

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago (1 edit)

Looking at the judge's comment for my game, I guess I should have put more hints in my game >.<! (But then I don't think it will make much difference as that's the nature of the game ; one big puzzle). I think you are the only player who plays my game for more than five times lol.

I see that your game makes it to top 10, though it is a shame that it's not making it into top 3. You should put Beth into good "use", I am expecting harder puzzle now that I have two minds working together to escape that island :D.

I made 1-2 games before, but it's never as serious as this one. Right now, I don't really know if I should forget this project and move on, or if I should just continue and make this game even bigger.

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claycr4neSubmitted6 years ago

Hi!

Sorry that it's been so long since my last reply; I have been on a holiday trip abroad. Staying away from all kinds of technology.. haha. Back in business now.

I read that review you got from the judge(s). I personally would have given your game a higher score, but then again, a review is just a justified opinion. I liked your game very much audiovisually, and in my opinion, for example, your character portraits fit the game perfectly. The anime style gives the game the contrast it needs between the world and all the people in it. It makes it feel more alive.

About the amount of instruction in the game I partly agree with the judge(s). That is however, a difficult aspect in terms of game design because one of the main points in the game was to find out the path yourself. Like you said, one big puzzle. I bet some players need more instructions and some people only want the minimum. A save point or some kind of a skip option would be a good add like I have also said earlier, then it would save the player some time if they end up failing. Maybe a little less randomness as well; it also got me confused at one point. I also got stucked in the way that I couldn't figure out how to get enough xistence because all the other things I did consumed my stats even more. The best I could do was to have ~3 xistence when going to the elevator, I think. Any hints on getting more?

And yeah, I made it to the top 10 and it was a huge surprise to me, I'm very glad about that. It gives me motivation to go on developing :) I, however, got four different reviews and two of them were not so great experiences. I wonder why you only got one review?

I'm still thinking about whether I should continue developing The Sculptor or leave it as it is. Making the game longer would possibly require much additional design work as well.. And then it wouldn't be a "one-month-game" anymore. Have you, by the way, continued developing your game like you were thinking? If not, have you started any other projects? If you're on Twitter, give me a follow and I'll follow you back, I'd like to hear more about your future progress on gamedev. There seems to be lot of other gamejams here on itch as well, maybe we should participate in another some time!

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago (1 edit)

Ah you were on a pretty long vacation, no wonder. Back to the nature ? (camping, hiking, etc?). I thought there will be no more reply once the jam is over, especially after this long, but turns out I was wrong!

About audiovisual: I am glad you liked it. I would have wanted the background sound to be at least better than what I ended up putting in my game..sadly I don't have many background sounds to choose from my library, and I was not willing to pay extra for the soundtrack (since it's just a jam lol).

About hints: are you still stuck on the first day? does your xistence point keep going down every time you hit the next segment of the day? If yes, then you should really drink the water from the tap water, or buy that H2O pill. Drinking water if not compulsory, later in the game, you might not want to drink it, so I don't think it's right for me to push people to drink the water everyday >.<.

About one review vs many reviews: it's kinda long to explain but you could check this https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?posts/807646/ Short version: if your entry happens to be in the same -judge- pool with other "great entries", then your chance to jump into the next elimination phase is significantly diminished.

About The Sculptor future: if you want my opinion: if you enter top 3, for sure I will tell you to develop it even further. For top 10 - 20...well...I guess it's all about how much money and time are you willing to throw for this game, especially if you are aiming for commercial release....The potential is certainly there, I mean, even I want to escape from that island together with the girlfriend! :D

About InExits future: after some thinking, I guess I will put it off for now and work on another project. Right now I am making another game. I will be back to this game for sure, but I think I will change the story a lot by then haha. I will certainly tell you once I have the game ready.

About entering another game jam: I am not sure if there is another "low level entry jam/ RM entry jam" that's more "professional" than this game jam though...... do you have any jam in particular in mind?

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RAMADORGSubmitted6 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

The art, music, and story all work together very nicely. I just wish I knew how to play it. There's very little direction to explain the absolutely strange world we're left in. I don't know if all the clues went over my head, but I don't know how to progress. Of course, that seems like the point. I guess it's all about finding an exit, and I can't seem to find it for the life of me. However, for those who do, I'm sure this game could be a number one contender! (Zombie doll scared me more than it should have...)

I liked playing your game and I hope you try mine too. It's not as well put together like yours, but I put a lot of effort into it. Either way, I hope us the best!

Submitted

The Blame Game

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BlankCatDeveloper6 years ago

Hi,

First of all, thanks for giving me feedback. As you can see, there is only you commenting on my humble entries in this page for now, lol.

And then the part about you don't know how to progress, could you please explain me what happened? Guess I should have made the game easier or at least not as confusing as it already is.....

About the number one contender, well..there are so many games that look better than mine, seriously lol.

Now about your game:
I think for a game that's made within 5 days, it does have an interesting dialog and story there. But the plot is certainly lacking . And I think the room is too big for 4 suspect and 1 corpse..if I were you I would rather have a smaller room with more details there.

PS: I choose to let them all die btw:D.

I am sorry for my late reply, thing has been busy here. I kinda feel bad to leave you such a bad review for your game while you leave a pretty good review for my game >.<

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Indie Game Maker Contest 2017

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