I didn't get the VHS reference there must be something I missed but this menu just ended up being distracting. I found myself only seeing the insert VHS message and the menus other than the text I actually had to read. Maybe you should consider a better place to have the menus or if the VHS message has a gameplay value, then it should only be visible at the time it can be used. Other than that not bad...
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REC/REW's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | #9 | 2.828 | 4.000 |
| Overall | #13 | 2.475 | 3.500 |
| Visuals(Graphics) | #13 | 2.828 | 4.000 |
| Fun | #16 | 1.768 | 2.500 |
| Sound/Audio | #19 | 1.414 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 2 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
DevLog Link
https://justanothernick.itch.io/recrew/devlog/533611/recrew-dev-update-12
Comments
Not 100% sure I got what you mean. My guess is, you're referring to the fact the UI in the web version leaps to the eye more than the actual game text... that's likely related to the web version being downsized to better fit the screen. Had planned to mitigate the issue at a later stage (I'm presently focusing on rolling out the full second chapter), since however I could easily get rid of it by tweaking a few things here & there... well, I might give priority to that point. A distracting UI is a bad UI after all.
Other than that: the VHS reference is (sort of) a pun to the fact, if you end up with a bad ending (ie. the MC dies) you *might* get a hint on how to avoid such unfortunate conclusion, and that would come in the form of a VHS recording. Should you ever get there & should you happen to be a fan of Dick's novels you may also possibly guess a major source of inspiration for the whole project, uh.
I really like the lore and all the artwork + transitions! Little details like turning the TV on and then off when you decide to leave at the start really feel polished.
I know you have italicised the stream of conciousness / exposition parts of the MC but perhaps they could be even more obvious, like different background and/or different color text just to make it even clearer?
Also I know its a VN so I guess the MC will be appearing in various shots, but I am casting my vote to make the gender customisable :) I can make an exception for other games that are 3rd person RPGs but it feels weird playing text driven narrative as the opposite gender. Also love interest gender being customisable probably also should be a consideration for you?
I guess you can ignore the above if you are not intending on commercialising this or there really are loads of scenes where swapping out the graphics would be an issue.. Personally I think its a barrier for me to purchase a VN/IF without that customisation though and I know its the case with others.
Submitted
Betrayed Earth v0.1Thank your for your comments & suggestions!
Yeah, the stream of consciousness still requires some... streamlining, uh. I guess you played the web version which was not in the scope of the gamejam because of... well, reasons (read - at least partially: lazyness). Something in the lines of what you proposed has been implemented when it comes to the main character going with his own thoughs as other people talks around him. For all the other cases I've been thinking about a bunch of things (such as turning the whole screen to b&w to give a sense of "suspension"... yeah, sort of ^_^;). Might try out them with the next release.
MC gender costomization... well that's a way more delicate matter. And not because of the amount of work it requires, because, due how the plot is going to develop, I might just swap roles between the present main character and his love interest. That, and a bunch of tweaking to the script, would pretty much made it. And, I do understand your point - I have the same issue when it comes to visual novels with a female main character, it's really hard for me to get into the part and I end up giving up - I think I could count the ones I actually read to the end on the fingers of a single hand, and I would not even have use all fingers!
The point here is, I've been writing the story with a certain personal goal and a specific plot in mind... an *extremely* personal goal and a rather personal plot, both of which *might* become a bit clearer by the time the full chapter #2 is released. A female main character would made getting into the story quite difficult *for me*, and ultimately betray the reason why I've started writing it. So... well, I regret to inform you this is a "can't do, sorry =\".
It's a shame this might make my project less appealing to you. Still, just getting your comment already is more than I could ask for, so... yeah, thanks again ^^
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