itch.io

Grim Beard's latest video introduced me to this game. I love detective games, so I played the demo on Steam and thought I'd give my thoughts here.

I'm very picky with detective games, but I really liked this demo! Before I began playing it, the visual style made me think of 2001's The Diamond Mystery of Rosemond Valley (despite me only ever having watched other people play that older game) in a good way. Bringing me back to a nostalgic, dreamlike feeling of being alone in a giant--almost overwhelmingly large--world to explore as I solve a mystery.

Playing the game itself, I like that the player character has companions to talk to and bounce ideas off of. It feels like I have someone to turn to for help, but solving things are still left up to me. I feel unnerved walking around, like I'm being watched, or that something unexpected could happen at any moment, but not so scared that I can't play the game myself. It's a good vibe.

The demo requires a lot of methodical thinking to make deductions, which I really like. The notebook lets me type in my own notes, and I feel like not enough detective games let me do that.

Plus, you have a cute tracking dog you can hand objects to to sniff! I love that. This game is now on my Steam Wishlist, and I'll be looking forward to its release.

Hi there! Congrats on your visual novel project's progress. Yes, please please purchase Disco Framework and send me a copy of the game once it's out. Thank you for your interest in this framework!

You're never too young to support your fellow artist! >U<

Sure! Buy me a breakfast and I'll throw in this framework pro bono.

I played through the demo last night and really enjoyed it! As a Nancy Drew fan, I felt right at home. I also really liked the detail that dialogue options look different if you can go back to ask them later, versus you can only pick between one option. I wish more games did that.

Thank you for the clarification. Since the issue is persisting, I would recommend starting with the framework's script setup and adding (pasting in) your visual novel's custom scripts around it, rather than the other way around. This would help to avoid missing any lines of script that are being left out through the transfer.

No worries! It's working now?

You mean your project that you're using the framework for also has the script.rpy file for the DiscoFramework? Or you only copied over the screens.rpy and nvl_faded transform script into your project, as you wrote in your first comment?

Hi there! If I recall correctly, the other dialogue in the additional dialogue will not display if the nvl value is set to True in the game's script.rpy file. Example of the line you can search for in this framework's script.rpy:

menu (nvl=True):

Thank you for the kind words!

Hello, sorry that I didn't have my message box set up for Bluesky properly. I've now opened it. Please send me a message there so we can have a conversation about this.

Dear Jackie,

Thanks for reaching out to me. Yes, we can talk further about this. Would using Discord be okay with you for discussing the details? (My Discord is katy133 )

-Katy133

It should be a line somewhere in the script that uses the tag "alpha" in relation to dialogue text. You can quickly search through the script using Ctrl+F, and typing in "alpha" in the search box. Alpha control's an element's opacity.

If the game is given an update, I will do my best to add clipboard voicing for accessing the quick/save menu, and removing clipboard/voicing issues to the History screen.

In the meantime, for history, would a possible workaround be to use self voicing/clipboard for the text box and using Rollback (mouse wheel or the Back interface button) to go back to previous text if it?

Additionally, what would immediately (meaning, without updating the game) be helpful for me to tell you for accessing the quick/save menu? If my memory is right, the button selections to access the save menu in-game is: Menu, then Save, then the save lot in the Save screen popup. then selecting the confirm load popup. 

Thank you for reaching out to me. If the game receives a future update, I will do my best to add self/clipboard voicing to the minigames.

Thank you. Your comment brightened my day.

These look great, I love the pink and blue colour motif. Thank you for making this!

A great tool as an offline alternative to Trello and other organisation tools. I've been using this and I love the simple and compact layout, fast loading speed, and ability to customise the theme.

I'm glad you found the framework useful! Thank you for showing me your game's page, I'll link to it on Disco Framework's page to showcase it.

Thank you, I'm glad to hear that the framework has been useful!

Because the framework is designed for users new to programming, the character's names are written within the dialogue. While it is still possible to use Ren'Py's built-in definitions, extra steps would need to be taken to reformat the nametags so that they are placed correctly, as well as changing the indentation of the dialogue text. While I don't have the script that would make these needed changes, more information on indentation and nametags can be found in Ren'Py's documentation.

Thank you. Yes, it is in theory possible to make any image element in the framework be animated or have a transition, since Ren'Py is python-based. I don't know what the script would be to add this in, but asking in Ren'Py-focused communities on Discord, forums, etc. should help you get info on how to accomplish the transition you want.

Thank you for your feedback. I'll add that to a list for a potential update. In the meantime, an option to make the text more readable whilst playing through the framework is using the Accessibility options (which includes Font Override options, Text Size Scaling, and--if you are using the downloaded version of the framework in Ren'Py's Launcher, instead of the browser version--a High Contrast Text mode as well) in Ren'Py by pressing the hotkey "A" while the framework is running.

Not out of the box, no. For a mobile build, you would need to copy GUI image assets from the "gui" folder (and sub-folders) to the "phone" folder, as well as edit programming in the script files for a mobile version of the GUI.

Thank you very much. At the moment, I currently don't have a clear plan on making (besides through my Patreon, which gives patrons access to an RSS feed for listening on platforms), as these platforms require monthly/yearly subscriptions for episodes to stay up. YouTube also causes issues, as the platform sometimes auto-blocks uploads due to audio clips used (I learnt this while making YouTube video essays back in 2018 and found the process of editing, re-rendering, and re-uploading essays very frustrating). Looking at the media player on both Patreon and Scritch Editor, you're right, neither have a control to change the speed for audio. I apologise for this missing feature. I'll keep my eye on both Patreon and Scritch--hopefully, one or both of them will add a speed control in the future.

A very enjoyable, immersive experience. The little details like the typewriter sounds and animation of the keys really adds to the feeling of being there. Thank you for making this!

I just finished playing this, and wow, the artwork and animation is gorgeous! The dynamic camera angles in various shots of this visual novel, and the amount of hand-painted animation is a breath of fresh air and looks amazing. Excellent work, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Carrot: Pancakes and Waffles.

Thank you! ^^

Thank you so much for playing Dear Devere! <3

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like Mori (he was fun to write) and that you enjoyed the game. <3

Thank you so much, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. ^^

That's awesome to hear!! I'd love to see it. <3

Thank you so much! Yeah, I took a break and felt right as rain afterwards, I just needed to rest. Thank you again for fixing the sound issue so quickly!

SOUND WARNING for those who decide to play this game. Once the game first loads, a LOUD gong sound plays immediately, peaking your sound system. It caused physical pain in my ears for a few minutes because I was using earbuds (on a low volume level). Have your sound system turned OFF when you first load it, and then turn it on when the first level appears.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! >W<

I've been going back and replaying this game to relax. I really love the art and the different dice rules (hollow dice, etc). Thank you so much for making this! <3

I eventually won the game, and was really happy I was able to make it to the end:

I enjoyed playing through this. I love the artwork. I love the soft, muted colour choice, and the lineart of the characters. Brilliant work. <3

I really enjoyed this. I like that the user interface is so different from Ren'Py default quickmenu, and the artwork looks great! I like the use of shades of blue, with black that makes the bits of red pop. Great work.