Post by John Groot in Gameplay Discussion

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hoho here he comes.

Whenever I get into a menu my brain tells me to navigate with the dpad on a ps4 controller (which doesn't work in seed selection). Would also be nice to back out of the seed selection menu with the O Button, tho it is Arguably not a problem b/c forcing selection of a seed isn't bad and reduces buttons used, etc.
#BringBackMyEmojis.
1. When will we get to put sick EmojiSprays on the Mount?
  1. the PSHT sound effect would work well.
  2. In that vein, this game is kinda like one long grind rail sesh in Tony Hawk Pro Skater X. Could you add some sparkies to the branch that would be dope.
2. IN all seriousness, the new text gets the point across but removes a lot of the mystery in the game. Part of what I like the most about TS is the mindfulness and care it evokes through different aspects of its systems. For example, Branch movement is best controlled slowly/carefully, monsters are best dealt with through careful timing / reading of their behaviors, etc.
3. I know that the emoji system caused confusion w/ people but it also creates a dialog between players.
  1. "I got the star seed and it makes you invincible!" says Tumbler #1 to Tumbler #2, "I bet I can get through all those crazy holes in the desert if I roll it in my next run". "Yeah but holes still gitcha!" says Tumbler #2. Tumbler #1 looks sad but understands.
4. It also taps into the mystique of emojis. Their meaning is symbolic and have the potential to express complex ideas.
5. I'm sure y'all have talked about all of this and have weighed pros/cons. that's just why I'm a Fan of that. At a minimum, the full text in seed descriptions make me use abilities less b/c I already feel like I know what they do so I'm not as inclined to experiment when I find something new.
Sometimes Landing on an enemy after being Plopped up by them is rly frustrating. Would be cool if certain seeds were heavier and would smoosh enemies when they land back on the Branch. Or if it didn't happen at all but that's Too Easy.

In that vein, this game is kinda like one long grind rail sesh in Tony Hawk Pro Skater X. Could you add some sparkies to the branch that would be dope.

COMING IN THE NEXT PATCH

IN all seriousness, the new text gets the point across but removes a lot of the mystery in the game. Part of what I like the most about TS is the mindfulness and care it evokes through different aspects of its systems. For example, Branch movement is best controlled slowly/carefully, monsters are best dealt with through careful timing / reading of their behaviors, etc.

Yeah, I definitely do miss the emoji to some extent. There were just way too many people bouncing off the game way too hard because they just had no idea whatsoever what was going on. The other thing about text is that right now we just went completely overboard to figure out "are emoji why people don't understand this game and bounce off of it and don't care about it?". Sadly, the answer was "yes" to a significant extent. So, right now we're at the other end of the text extreme, and we are definitely going to try to minimize the text as much as possible in the game. But, I think it will be hard to completely do away with at this point :( As you mentioned, suit descriptions are one of the most extreme cases of this, and is the case that we are already discussing alternatives to.

Would be cool if certain seeds were heavier and would smoosh enemies when they land back on the Branch. Or if it didn't happen at all but that's Too Easy.

There's definitely a problem when an enemy knocks you into a wall above you and you get multi-hit, which we will add some kind of temporary-invincibility to solve eventually, but otherwise falling on the enemy is kinda part of the game. HOWEVER I freaking love the super-smash-bros-kirby-smash suit idea!!

Thanks Johnny-boy! Your notes are as good as your restaurant ideas – and by that I mean they're great!

mike schneider7 years ago

I also miss the emoji, but this makes sense. Have you considered something like Hyper Light Drifter, using gif-like animations to describe what suits do instead of words?

benedictfritz7 years ago

Yeah, our current plan is to try essentially capturing in-game "footage" (or, like, simulating the game off in a corner) or what a seed does

itch.io

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