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JohnDoeNews

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A member registered Jan 29, 2017 · View creator page →

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Ooooh... Oh no... I believe a downloaded version of your game is required. I'd quickly add it if I were you, ask if they will still accept it. But I'm if they stick to their rules, it might be too late. Fingers crossed. Your game was definitely one of my favorites, and the highest votes I gave out so far. Only a perfect game would be able to beat that score. 

It is true that the game is fast paced for a farming simulator. I did this on purpose, to make the whole game playable in an hour or so. If it wasn't for the jam, I would have made the wait for vegies to grow and fish to be captured longer. In fact, it was longer before, but I shortened it to make it fit the 1 hour limit. 

I am working on an update, where you can hire Wietse to maintain crops, after you completed all their quests. It is too late for the jam, but I will add that feature later for sure. Because it is indeed impossible to keep up with all crops at the same time. 

I am glad you enjoyed the game. I was gonna play yours in a response, but I already did. You playing my game was probably your response to it. 

Thanks for your feedback. 

This was pretty cool. I got stuck once, but other than that, it is a pretty cool game. 

Good old minesweeper!! Yeah, 5 stars for gameplay. I loved it.

Presentation... 1 star. It's not very pretty. (Sorry...)

However, this is one of those games where it doesn't matter what it looks like, it is just an enjoyable game. And you can always replace the RTP with something else.

One thing though... I do love a minesweeper game, if it becomes harder and harder. But tiles lying doesn't mean I have to think harder... It just means I can randomly fall for a boobytrap. If it was regular minesweeper with multiple levels, but without lying tiles, I would even come back when I'm bored, to clear a field or two.

Overall, a very enjoyable game. I loved playing it, specially the first round, which I cleared in 1 go, btw. :p  I hope to see a pretty version of it in the future. 

Absolutely awesome. I love the art, most of all. I love how you nailed the struggles of a game developer, and so  painfully accurate.

In the first week, I get invites to hang out with friends, but they stop after a while. Why? Is it cause I didn't shower? I started to take better care of myself, but my friends didn't come back. :p 

I assume this was just because they were only scripted in the first week, but in case it is because I didn't shower, or because I blew them off once, then that is awesome mechanics.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable game. At first I thought I was easily going to make the game in 30 days, because I was ahead at work, and ahead with the game and I was happy... But the more to you get into the month, the harder it is to keep up with everything. 

Well done. 

I didn't see a downloadable version though... Did I miss it somehow, or is there not one?

I played the game for a bit, and I liked it so far. 

The maps look great. Finally a dev who puts time in their maps. The tilesets need their settings checked though. I can go places I shouldn't be able to go, and my character is hidden behind stuff that should be behind the character. 

But that is really the only thing I can point out so far that really needs some attention. Other than that, it is a fun little game with a silly story. Well done. 

Oh, and I love the title screen. It gave me the idea it would be a dark, mysterious game but it turned out to be something completely different. 

I liked this game. I made a farming simulator myself, but this is not really a farming simulator, is it? :) If I would rate it as a farm simulator, I wouldn't rate it high. But as aan idle game, I would actually give it a B+.

The reason why I wouldn't just give it an A, is the visual part. Your maps are made with RTP, and your mapping isn't amazing. This feeling is enlarged by your title screen. Your title screen has such cute art, that I was kind-of dumped that your game was not made in the same style.  

If in the future you would replace RTP with cute art, and you improve your mapping, this could be an enjoyable game for a few hours.

Overall, I'd say it is a nice game, considering this was made within a time limit. 

I have seen this to many submissions. This is probably because devs just made an account only to join the jam, is what I suspect. I downloaded the game and it is just a jam submission. 

It is? Oh... I didn't get that at all. That is a risky move. I almost closed the game, because I thought it crashed... When it moved on after the error, I was surprised, but still thought it was a real bug.

Please don't let my harsh feedback discourage you to try again and again. Your idea is really good, but you do have a lot to learn. If you keep improving your game, it will become better. Just don't give up. 

While that package is unzipping, I can help you with the issue you mention about the unused files. Here is what you do:

Check all you plugins, one by one. Some of those will use sound files or graphics. 

Now make an event on a map the player will never see, and make all those files be triggered by this event. You can use "Change Actor Image" for all face files, character files and SV battlers. You can use "Show Picture" for loose pictures. And "Play BMG/BGS/ME/SE" for audio.

Now deploy "exclude unused files" and everything should be included. 

I want to give honest feedback, but I don't think you'd like what I have to say. I am going to tell you anyway, in the hope you will learn from it. 

  • Your mapping seems off.  There is a counter in the middle of the room, and book cases in the middle of a bedroom. It seems to me that there should be a wall there. That was the very first thing I noticed, before I even took my first step in game.
  • Your dialogue... You don't always use punctuation. And somethings you use the wrong punctuation. Questions end on a question mark(?). You're ending them on an exclamation mark(!). And sometimes you show only half sentences. When I activate the piano, you say: "The only thing that keeps me sane" and then it stops. No period, but even when with a period, this line seems off. This could have been "This piano is the only thing that keeps me sane." or "The only thing that keeps me sane is playing my piano." Or something like that. The fact that there is no period only fuels this. The piano is just one example. 
    Dialogue is a large part of an RPG. Meaning, your players have to read a lot. When the reading becomes a challenge, then it is hard to become invested in the story. 
  • Your events trigger weird. I think you use a below character event to activate an object that is at the same level. In result, I can stand with my back to the shelves and still activate it, when I am trying to activate the table I am facing. For a second I thought they both just said the same thing, but when I look the other way, left or right, I can still activate it. For items on the same level as the character, you best use events on that same level too.
  • Dead space. I can leave the kitchen to the east and I find 2 bedrooms. Nothing at all is interactive. Nothing happens. It seems like unfinished area to me.
  • When I activate the oven, my "friend" appears. He comes from the east, where I just found 2 empty bedrooms. There is no exit or entree there, so where did he come from? Small detail, but I thought it was worth noticing. 
  • Errors (but surprisingly no crash after). When I leave the kitchen to the south I get an error. The well known yellow warning with a white error on a black screen, that made me almost close the game. because I hardly ever see that not result in a crash. I did restart the game to see if the error appears again, and it does. But the game continues. 

The next part I actually like. The idea at least... You have an item that teleports between 2 similar maps, on the same coordinates. The road in blocked in one map and not on the other. 

However... 

  • If you use the item on the coordinates that are the same as a blockade on the other map, you get stuck. It looks like you're in some kind of void. I felt like it should have instantly killed me, or otherwise not be possible. 
  • Also having to open the menu and do 3 or 4 actions to use the item, every few steps get annoying real quick. That is why I didn't get far in the maze.

I love what you try to do, but I think you have a lot of work to do, before this becomes an enjoyable game. 

I am sorry that I don't have more nice things to say. I just hope you'll take it as advice and learn from it. 

I did. But reading instructions isn't the same as understanding what to do. :p 
Maybe when we fail a minigame, give us the chance to retry. I wasn't going to restart the whole game just to redo a minigame.

I did equit the hoe and the seeds 9n the bar like you said, but then I can press 1 or 2 and the action button as much as I like, nothing happens.

I didn't get far. I couldn't figure out how to do anything. How do I plant crops?

I guess this is more a VN than an RPG, or this is the first RPG maker game with a longer intro than skyrim. :p The graphics are pretty. The mini games are confusing, though. Some were over before I had any idea what to do. Funny little game though

Great game! I love the music, I love the art (on the map more than during battle) 

I just noticed that whatever I try to catch, even at full health, I will always catch it, even during challenges when I am not supposed to catch the honey bear. Which I did, at full health and at the first try. Maybe you've set that to 100% for test purposes, and forgot to set it back?

Other than that, I didn't find any bugs or glitches so far. 

Engagement could be improved. There isn't much to it (now) than farming and fishing. I agree. But how long did it take for you to get bored? I mean, if you've played for an hour, then I get it. You've reached the end, of what may seem an endless game. If you were bored before that, than I did something wrong. :p 

That is very useful feedback. Specially the message boxes being annoying is something to take to the drawing table. 

I want to reply to a few of your statements:

  • Hoeing, watering and fertilizing does increase the output. Each action puts +1 in the output of the plant. You can do 4 actions per plant, meaning +4 if you did them all. You will harvest 5 fruits per plant. If you wear the lucky undies AND you have your bunny rabbit bonus, which both doubles the output, you harvest 20 fruits per plant per round.
  • Animals felt meh? Yeah, you're right. Animals were kind of there at first to make it more of a farm. To have something to buy. I mean, you need a reason to make money, right? You say it's nice they don't need any upkeep, but I didn't even think about that! That is a great idea. :p 
  • Recipes interface in weird. Actually all the menu stuff looks weird. That is mainly because items and equipment are natively meant for battle purposes. Not for farming. I don't use any state or something, but windows like the shop window is designed to show those stats. 
  • Yes you find any fish in any pool. You do have to move spots though, because you run out of fish. 
  • Yes there is a notification saying your rod breaks. And it is twice in the store, because you can either pay for it with 120 gold, or 1 golden carp. 
  • The animal cooldown... Now that's a tough one. The animal cooldown is calculated at the moment you interact with it. I can however redesign it to work like the pishing ponds, but that would mean more parallel events running on the map at the same time. The problem is that when you have a full farm, all the activity at once is causing lag. Even though most events just run a single check every few seconds, it would mean the game freezes a moment every few seconds, if I have to many of those running at the same time.  I've heard this complaint before and I am thinking of a solution.
  • Pace of interaction is great feedback. I'll look into it.

And this:

  • I understand that you finally feel like you've seen it all and stopped playing. The targeted time was 1 hour for me. I, who know exactly how to go to the next stage the quickest, exploiting all the glitches, take an hour to complete all the farming quests (not the fishing quests though...) So, if you've played over an hour, you've probably have seen everything. I'm glad you've enjoyed it for so long. I will def. see what I can do to make more game play after the first hour. 
  • Yeah, I didn't think of giving mom a bed. But it is FarmBOY, not Farmman, so that totally justifies l iving with his mom, I guess. :p And if you live with your mom, she washes your undies. :p 

Thank you so much for your inclusive feedback. It's very useful and I always enjoy hearing people enjoyed my games. I'm glad you didn't find any mayor bug, other than annoyances with the dialogue and the HUD.

I love this kind of game. Graphics are alwo amazing. However, I got stuck between a house and a garage and there was no way to break out... This was within the first few minutes of the game. 

I tried a double jump with a dash to go from the house to the garage, right before I got stuck. It was clear instantly, that this was not supposed to happen.

Maybe Mom told me how to go from the house to the garage, but honestly I skipped it because there was just too much dialogue for an action game. But that is just personal preference. 

Do judges start playing entrees before the end of the period? 

I just fixed a quite important (visual) bug, and hope the judges will see the updated version, instead of the bugged one.

Yeah, I realized too late that it was a stupid question. :p How is anyone going to check if anyone made this game within the jam if they can't access the files. But it is good to know I can upload both, so that is what I will do. Thank you very much, and have a great jam.

It says a windows compatible version is required... 

Does this mean a downloadable windows versions,
or is a HTML5 game that can be played on windows also allowed? 

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Does that mean I can't write plugins specially for my game? I like to make plugins for formulas which I otherwise would do with script calls. I'm happy to share them as soon as I wrote them, but most if them would be useless for any other project.

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With the last update, I added a little function that allows you to use a switch to pause auto-lightning. 

This allows you to use "Tint Screen" functions, which are otherwise overwritten by the plugin. 


Don't forget to select a switch, in the plugin parameters!

Actually, I do not. The thing is that the engine is not complete. It can't recognize Check-Mate just yet. And at the moment I don't have time to solve that. And that needs to be solved before I can teach others how to do it right. 

Thanks for trying out my project though.

Yes, it can. But with a side note: You do need to open the demo in MZ, then you need to copy the plugin command over to MZ, since MZ has no default way to create those plugin commands.

This is a work in progress, right? More blocks are disappearing than only the ones touching. Other than that, it seems to work well. 

Haha.

For now, the time-based system I made, has multiple main features in 1 plugin:

  • It has a clock and a calendar
  • It has a day-night cycle
  • It has a hunger/thirst/fatigue

To make it easier on the user and on myself, I will split this plugin up in 2 plugins. One for the clock and calendar, including the day/night cycle, and one for the survival states. This will make it easier to make the plugins even more customizable. 

When those new plugins get uploaded, you can simply replace the old clock-core with the new one, and add the survival one. In the clock core, you will have to set 1 parameter from False to True, if you want to use both plugins. In the survival plugin you will have to select your states again, and then you're ready to go.

The plugins are finished, but I still need to rewrite the help sections on the plugins. Hopefully this will be done before the weekend is over. Otherwise it will have to wait till next week. But it is coming!

(Oh and thank you al for the many downloads. That is the motivation I need to keep doing this.)

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For those who do not want to learn how to do this, or just feel like it is easier to have it all automated, I wrote a plugin that does everything the workshop does. 

You can find the plugin here: 
https://johndoenews.itch.io/clock-and-calendar-plugin

Yes. Sorry for the late reply, but the assets used are the Pop!Horror City and Pop!Slasher Forrest sets by Vexed Enigma a.k.a Malibu Darby.

This was made in MV and can't be opened in MZ. But this method once learned in MV can be used in MZ. 

Thanks for trying the system. 

The demo indeed freezes when you talk to John outside in winter. This is an error in the demo though, this should not effect your project at all. I should fix this some time. :p 

The time is not shared in between save files.  It is based on the players play-time, so that should not be possible.

You could show the time trough a hud, but there is a big downside to that: The time only changes when you run the common event. So if you want the time to update every second, the common event has to run every second. This can cause lag. 

Freezing time when the menu is open or during cuts cenes is also a hard knocker, because the time is based on the players play-time. 

Waking up at 6am should be perfectly possible. Just calculate how many hours are left between the time they go to bed and 6am, and let that be the amount of hours they sleep.

I'm happy you like the system. :) 

Oh, and happy new year!

Cool. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Oh... The last part, about the 100% discount, is not related to the rewards, right? That was confusing.
I've been looking for that bar, to set the discount, but I couldn't find it. 

Also it tells me the price I put in is too low. This goes away when I click save.
I think there is a little mistake in there.

Haha. Nee, steam kost geld! :p 

Good news! The full game will be a downloadable version. Only the first chapter will be playable as HTML game.

Thanks for trying my game! Did you enjoy it so far?