I don't think I have been in serious situation like that but maybe I misunderstood your post. Though I did encounter serious bug with my new concept but fortunately managed to solve it. Now, I'm thinking on what to do next with this concept.
As for pushing forward or reconsider it, well since I'm used to with gamejams, I am used to going with the former to save time. Instead of failing my submission, I rather push forward with whatever concept I had in mind when working on my submission. I know that I'm going to enjoy the implemented concept so it's worth the risk.
a gaming experience where surprise and unpredictability are at the center.
I honestly wonder who would be interested with those.
We need financial and moral support
I'm puzzled here. You're not making games yourselves IOW other devs make the games yet you ask for financial support. Why do you need the support anyways? and who are we ?
I prefer having multiple save locations spread across the map. This could encourage exploration knowing that there would save spots to find and save progress.
Hard to say cause it really depends on what actions player could take in the game. In a game in which player can only choose between multiple choices to progress and to play the game versus a game in which player have big freedom in their actions, the balancing would be different.
How important is narrative to you when playing a game?
Not really important. If the gameplay is great, I could ignore missing narrative and imagine the narrative myself.
Do you enjoy reading dialogue, notes, journals, or lore if it’s well written?
Only if they are not too long and easy to grasp.
At what point does “story” become too much for you?
When story dictates and even overrides gameplay, it is too much. Gameplay should define story not the other way around.
Do you prefer environmental storytelling and subtle hints over explicit text?
Yes. Explicit texts are only needed if it's too hard to explain narrative with environments.
Are there games where the narrative really elevated the experience for you?
Of course there are. Short narrative telling me that I'm invading enemy's headquarter elevated my experience, for example. Without the narrative, I'm not sure why I'm at this headquarter or worse I won't even know that the place is a headquarter.
TBH that short is very uninspiring. People want to see game preview not some random person talking about his ideas.
Speaking of ideas, do you know why game sites such as this have tags and genres to find games? it's because people want to play certain games. They don't want to pick a game randomly and have fun with whatever it might be, no sir, that's not how it works.
Besides, how are you going to make those games anyways?
Wait....
Let’s bring this project to life together.
What do you mean with that? do you want other people to work on your concept?
Considering the number of jobs which might be available in a city, this could be too complex for player. I can't imagine switching from mayor, baker, fisherman, tailor, alchemist etc just to ensure their business survives.
My second concern is depth of each job. How deep do you want each job to be? I'm afraid you might ended up making shallow experience for each job.
it spoils so much of the experience, so I took a couple random ones to give you some idea without ruining the experience.
I've viewed the shots and none of them inspire me to play. You really need to show shots which show the gameplay. If you're afraid for spoilers then what you should do is make screenshots which evokes curiosity instead. It's not easy but you should try.
That being said, it's really hard to get people to play your games lately. You really need to share it in multiple places.
Ask yourself this: what is the purpose of making games? if the answer is to get attention or plays, get ready to be disappointed cause it's so hard to get noticed.
OTOH if the answer is because you love making games, you'll get motivation from those games.
Mechanical character progression matters to me and most players simply because the game accepts it. Higher levels, stats and more upgrades make the game easier and thus making achieving goal easier also. Then in higher level/stage/map/world, there are more stuffs, more XP etc which is easier to gain with higher stats which creates the basic game loop.
So yeah, this simple loop gives motivation for players to keep playing.
As for satisfying game without levels/stats/whatever, well it depends on the focus of the game. If the game focuses uncovering more areas and it could be done without levels/stats/etc, exploration could be satisfying.
Is there a advice you would give to a complete beginner?
You know, you have mentioned 2 different goals you want to achieve. Each has requirements.
If you want to become a game dev, you need to have patience and tenacity. You can't stop just because you're bored or progress is slow. You have to deal with that.
If you want to become a freelancer, you need to show people what you can do and offer.
I imagine the pangolin wearing karate gi while wielding rapier and musket. Maybe it would be funny to some people but for me, the pangolin needs more than that.
But my biggest concern is the dual HP + soul mechanic which sounds complex and not small team friendly. Especially if enemies could have alternate attack mode. I think you need to choose either this idea is going to be simple and small team friendly or big but for experienced dev team only.
I've read the concept and the premise looks good. I hope there would be enough time for player to get connected to each passenger so when one is missing the feeling would be real.
However, the key in any good mystery lies in what the actual mystery is, how it is investigated and how it is solved.
