Post by black_and_noir in Their Eyes comments

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I've enjoyed your playthroughs quite a lot, so far!
I definitely hope to see more.
Your theories are pretty interesting, but I won't comment on that: as you delve deeper into this game, I'm sure you will collect quite a few other pieces of the jigsaw.

A couple of remarks.
You toggled off the tutorials almost immediately: I understand that the very first popups about how to walk and stuff can be bothering; by doing so, though, you've also deactivated the explanation on how to use a new item you've found down in the village: the lockpick!
My suggestion is to leave the tutorials enabled, they are not so frequent and in some cases can make the difference.
Also, I'm aware that dive straight into the action is sometimes more entertaining than talking to npcs: most of them are there for a reason, though, and if you pay attention they will provide you with precious hints on the lore and, most important, on how to deal with enemies and things in general. Also, dialogues change over time, depending on your deeds; so it's always useful to have a chat with someone who isn't apparently going to kill you. :)

At some point, talking about the aiming - shooting - reloading mechanic, you state that you're not used to such a layout of controls.
Since I'm not very experienced in playing action(ish) games with mouse and keyboard, I did some thinking (and some researches) about this topic; but I'm far from satisfied.
And now I'm developing my second game, so the question becomes crucial in order to build a better experience: which layout do you think would have been the best one?
Which the most handy, or at least the most common one, for such a game?

A final tip: the version you played was 1.1.4, but from 1.1.5 on the game features also a "casual mode" - which is not that casual as the name might suggest, instead a slightly tweaked version meant to prevent frustration. :D
Basically you get a little more health at the beginning, ammo packs contains four bullets instead of three, and so on.
Check it out, if you are interested.
In any case, newer versions come with bugfixes too.

In conclusion, thanks a lot for playing my game and making great videos! :)

Sawyer2 years ago

Thank you for this exciting title, as well as your EXTREMELY helpful tips. I managed my way to one of the endings but I definitely want to take a little break and try again for another!

Thank you for telling me about the tutorial bits, I can't believe I turned it off so soon, I could've sworn in one of the replays I had gotten that far and just assumed the tutorial tips were no longer needed.

As for the aiming, I guess "traditionally" the only difference would be reloading would be a keypress and I guess the cursor would always be visible, so a mouse click would then just fire. Though to be honest, as I played more I began to like it. It is a little different to what I'm used to, but then again I haven't played many shooter games so what do I know haha, but now it honestly felt like my mouse was my gun. With all the mechanics built into the one device it really did immerse me a little more. I think from time to time it was a little tricky, like when I'm unsure if there's a bullet loaded or occasionally when I'm panicking and fumbling over my keys, but that kinda helped me feel more in line with this mysterious world I'm trying to survive in. In this world I would always be panicked and checking if my gun is loaded, or always be screwing up the reload/fire mechanisms when I'm being pursued. Also this occasional difficulty with my main weapon (added to the lack of bullets) meant having to find other ways to fight, such as leading enemies to the totems.

I can't wait to go into this again. The ending I walked into left me with a lot of questions, and doing the northern isle house doors out of order meant I couldn't read the journal entries. I'm very curious what the other 3 endings are, and just how I can survive the night otherwise.

So if you reply, I don't mind any more tips you may have, but no spoilers please. Thank you again for such in incredible experience!

black_and_noir2 years ago

That was another great video!
It's really rewarding to have such players, taking their task as seriously as you do. :)

I found very nice, and very interesting, what you say about the gun/mouse device.
Although there is an alternate key (Ctrl) for reloading (even because, as a Mac user, I'm very aware that not every mouse has the third button! :D) I think you got the point.
As I first designed the gun, my idea was to provide the player from the very beginning with a quite powerful weapon, able to put down in one shot most of the opponents (as long as they're still unaware of your presence); but also a clumsy one, noisy and slow to reload, in order to boost the empathy with the protagonist of this unsettling adventure.
I'm thinking to add, just in the casual mode, some kind of icon always on screen to check at first glance wether the rifle is loaded or not, without pulling out the weapon and looking for the small rectangle that appears on it.
Not everybody like my design choice, but at least I'm not the only one who like it! :D

About the old lady's potion, it "simply" doubles your stamina.
This is not a spoiler, since you're supposed to feel the effect inside your body; but the only immediate feedback is the stamina bar that suddenly empties before filling up again (the total length of the bar stays the same, unlike what happens in Dark Souls - for instance), and the old lady's words ("this potion will make you stronger") are a bit vague.
I will make them more explicit in the next release, because a lot of players have been wondering about the effects of the potion without ever figuring them out.

Eventually, I can only recommend - once again - to talk with people in order to understand how to deal with the giant and where to find some oil for the lantern.

No more tips.
I guess at this point you're experienced enough to make it to the next ending! :D

itch.io

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