Hey, I played a bit of your game a while ago! Love the art, every location I've visited so far is very unique, and I found it to be a rather vast network of multiple links to other worlds! Usually one world leads to one or two more, but the Pumpkin Village had a lotta passageways! Very neat stuff!

I have yet to play much more of the game, it's like folks usually say, "so much to do, so much to see", but I'll be sure to check it all out! I dunno if you're planning on adding more content or an ending or so, but either way, fantastic job so far!

Yeah, same thing. From what I've heard, you oughta do these on a fresh new playthrough, on your first attempt of a world. Only then will it work. 

Hmm, that's weird... I assume you unzipped it properly, so that can't be the issue either... 

Hey, so, if you don't mind me asking, I'll leave the questions with spoilers here.

1) Who's the Harlequin? Is he the Clown from the story of the Yellow World? Did he kill the Ghost Kid?

2) Are we only supposed to be able to activate the secret switches on our first playthrough of the level? Because that seems to be the case... except for the Yellow World, for some reason. 

Really enjoyed the ARG with the links tho, very clever!

3) Uh, why do all the other characters disappear when we talk to the creator? I feel like it would've been nice if they were there still to keep us company. But, oh well. 

I may be wrong, but I feel like they're the steps you take in order to find these links or something. Like, you turn right after reading the first link, and select that painting, that sorta stuff.

Edit: just checked, yeah, they're exactly that. The final video is a guide on how to find the switches. Kinda sucks you'll have to find most a them on your first playthrough for it to work.

Are you clicking on the shortcut or the .exe file itself?

The style is simply gorgeous! Quite relaxing too! Would love to see this expanded into something a bit longer tho, if that's what you want to do of course.

This game is absolutely fantastic! I love the locations, the atmosphere, the characters...

...ok, maybe not the Orange World, that one's platforming was a little bit annoying, but I still liked it fine enough. Everything else was great!

Not sure if there's a bug related to the, uh, post game stuff tho. I left the details in the post for the spoiler stuff.

So... how is development goin'?

...I don't think this game is working properly, at least for me. I can't walk forward, my mouse always shows in the game, so I can't look around... and I think I even left the map on accident.

I do like the atmosphere tho.

How do you make these kinda images?? This is super interesting stuff!

Daniel, you've done it again! This game is fantastic! The platforming is simple but well designed, and the whole Stereogram thing makes it really special! While it's easy to see how you make things like the snowflakes and the rain fall down, the falling leaves were simply impressive. In fact, the whole game was impressive! How do you make one a these stereograms, and how do they work so well??

On a side note, some of the names of the rooms were really clever. The ones named "It's Dangerous" and "To Go Alone", and the one with the power up being named "Take This", were already a great nod... but then the next power up room, which is a lot further ahead, is called "And This". Perfect! Another favorite of mine is "fragmentation", simply with how you played with the layout of the letters, something we'd only notice if we unfocused from the screen, very nice!

One thing I have to note is how the very final rooms were a bit more straining to the eyes due to the screen shake up, but it still makes for a great finale, and a bit of a twist too! Other than that, the whole playthrough went very smoothly! The sound effects were very neat too!

While I usually have no issues with a hub world for the design, I feel like it was implemented in a pretty arbitrary way here. I mean, "ride down 5 elevators to activate final elevator" feels pretty weird. 

I have little against the sprinting, actually. I know the point is that you're in a strange place, taking in the sights and stuff, but depending on whether some areas are too big or small, it can be more or less useful. I still feel it's good to have it as an option tho. The jump definitely could use an improvement, and I don't find that idea of a climb to pull yourself up a ledge a bad idea either!

Something I am against is how the content of the beta was locked behind the biggest gate of tickets in the game, meaning it'll probably be the last of the 4 available rooms you'll explore... Despite the fact you entered the game through a pool area. What's more, it still feels like the most fleshed out area in the game, with the most commentary and panel puzzles of all areas. It also ends up making the Shadow Person feel like... a whole lotta nothing, at least in the context of this chapter. If they build up on it for the following chapters, then it's fine. I sometimes forget this isn't supposed to be a standalone game after all. I did like how they turned the progression in that area a bit more around it's head, but it still feels a little unpolished in some bits.

In fact, while I'm not against the idea of tickets and the capitalistic consumerism message it brings with it, it also feels somewhat unnecessary. I like how Anemoiapolis was supposed to be a place folks were supposed to live in, with currency and room for businesses and stuff, but at the same time, part of me wishes that was never clear at all. The purpose of Liminal Spaces is either purely ambiguous to us , or downright non-existent, and we'll never be sure of it. I always like to describe them as "AI generated rooms that try to replicate human spaces", and while the movies in the theater imply that as well, I feel like the attempt of creating a space for humans played a part as well. I'll respect it if that was the intention tho, this is merely my perspective on Liminal Spaces after all.

Speaking of the Movie Theatre, I didn't like how it ended. Felt a little too surrealist/weirdcore to me. Like, a white void in a cinema screen, with a bridge of giant tickets that lead to a floating elevator door? Now that feels like a dream, but a lot more separated from the somewhat realistic feels of liminal rooms in my opinion. 

Also the final area you visit is pretty lame. It's randomly generated, and you can very easily find an exit. It's short, has very little impact, and it's a big letdown, given how the game was leading up to it as "the mysterious fifth area that wasn't there before". The messages you get when you open the doors to "go to the next level" or "replay the intro" make it feel a little too video game-y, and the animations of the water in the bathroom taps just... stop when you clos the tap. It feels a bit unpolished, given how it's a very early area in the game.

At the end of the day, it feels like, instead of further expanding from the sizeable meal they had in the beta... they added a bunch of side dishes, and relegated the previous main dish to be yet another side dish, and one you usually eat late into the meal, despite being the most well cooked one. And then for desert, you get a brick, and the promise of another meal in the future, hopefully a better one too. 

Those rants aside, I feel like they could've kept the hub world, but instead of making the locks feel so arbitrary, and relegating the pools to be just another world (and a late one at that), they could've made the mall area you stumble into after leaving the pools the hub world itself, with each area you visit being another "store" in the area. Instead of tickets, you'd either just enter the area through the doors, find a way around to get inside it (like the In n' Out that's in the game), or you'd need to find a key to open the locked door. Maybe the way to leave the mall would be through a locked door that leads to maintenance tunnels, with you needing to look around to find a spare key for those. It's a lot more natural feeling than arbitrary paywalls for tickets or used elevators. 

And think about other areas they could have, like arcades, the aforementioned maintenance tunnels, somewhat more furnished office rooms, underground parking lots, storage warehouses Ikea-style, playrooms for kids, food courts, empty supermarket shelves and halls, maybe even flooded hallways and decayed versions of these rooms as well, with broken walls and ceiling lights, and electric wires falling from the ceiling. It's a few suggestions that I'm sure they're saving for the next chapters, but it remains to be seen if folks are willing to pay more for further chapters of this series.

Very nice! I'm playing through it now! If you don't mind, I'll be leaving my thoughts here as we keep going.

First off, we's got options, sweet, my potato computer can finally run this game more smoothly! So yeah, my game's graphics are on low, so keep that in mind for the review, maybe it'll affect something. The title screen animation's neat too. Kinda weird we don't get to listen to the call between the dude and his wife, I felt that gave more context for why we are there.

In terms of controls, YES, we can run now! Thank you! Other than that, yeah, it all feels good.

In terms of graphics and interface, I love the camera filter, and the new font is really cool, though I'm not fond of how it labels doorways into the next area as "go to the next level", that kinda breaks the immersion a bit. Maybe just "open door" or so would be better. I also find it odd how you can try some of the doors that don't open, and some don't say anything, some say "locked", and some don't even let you try to open before saying "locked". A little inconsistent I guess, but very minor. 

One thing I also found odd was how the protagonist calls for help, he says the short "hello?" after the long "helloooo?" I know this is EXTREMELY nitpicky, but given how they sound, I don't think I've ever heard a single person say it like that. 

Also, I find the ambience noise in the area with the short pools and the electric door a bit... grating? Maybe that was on purpose, but it felt like someone left a really loud ventilator in there. Edit: same goes for the Pool area before the Lazy River, apparently.

As for the new bathroom after the electric door (really like it btw), I realized it's not lagging at all when I keep the graphics at a balanced level! Even on high it runs well! Not sure why it lags so much on the first two areas... too open? Too many objects with physics? i dunno how this works, I'm genuinely curious. Either way, I'll be keeping it at high for now. 

Oh, I like how we can turn on the faucets... but when we close them, the animation for them just... stops. Like, the water suddenly disappears. So that's kinda funky XD The water's light reflections also are hella blinding if you stand right in front of the faucets, but I know that's probably related to the engine. Same thing with how only the lockers that are sheltered from the lights are reflective, I bet.

I know I may be sounding harsh, but fear not, I adore this game. I love the new area, the atmosphere, it's so good. These are all rather minor things, but I feel like a game like this kinda thrives on the details, as folks always feel immersed in games like these, especially one about liminal spaces. I know I certainly do! So that's why I'm taking notes about the things I notice.

Ah, now the showers' water streams are all good! I'm loving the addition of new areas to the early part of the game, it keeps things fresh for folks who got the Beta like me! I guess the Lazy River is coming up a bit later then! The lobby after the showers is... unnerving with how big it feels, I really dig it. 

Also, the tickets that everyone was talking about! Folks were mentioning some issues about those, but I only started playing after the patch, so I dunno the differences, they seem to work good. I like how they appear at the top corner too! The elevator was done really well too, but part of me wonders if you could avoid the fade to black, to make the transition more smooth.

I'm gonna stop for now, don't want to spoil anything past this. I'll only mention some details I may notice after this, but so far, I'm really loving all this! 

Ok, I love how every location feels so different from each other... though I feel like they're a little lacking in commentary by the protagonist, minus in the areas that were already in the beta. The Movie Theatre was also an odd one: I wasn't sure I was climbing through where I needed to in the first room, or if I was abusing the game's collision and geometry. Also, its ending definitely leans more on surrealism and dreamcore, thought I'd leave that here, hehehe! But yeah, it's been quite the fun experience!

What else... oh, there were some floating tickets in the Conference Center (close to the small red room), the cost of the elevators seems to default to 10 after you use them, even if you can't ride them back up, and the slide button was the best addition in the game. It's kinda weird how the most expensive area in the game, the one folks may leave for last, also ends up being the one with the most commentary, all old commentary too (we comment on how the Lazy River may have an exit, despite the fact we already know of an elevator that will lead us to the surface back in the hub), and easier haywire puzzles. Speaking of which, I only found, like, one more of these outside of the beta areas... The control panel was surprisingly detailed compared to the others tho, and It was definitely more complex, but I would've liked to have seen a few more of these more consistently. 

Also, the final area was... rather short. Like, it's huge, yes, but I feel like you could either be wandering around in there for a long time... or find a way out almost immediately. The latter happened to me. It had some great build up before you go down there tho.

Finished the game! Well, the chapter that is. Despite these minor things I've mentioned above, I really enjoyed this game, and I can't wait to see what other ideas you have in stock for Chapter 2!

Oh, sweet! I did get the beta when it released, so... how does that work? Does the option appear here on itch.io or something like that?

Well, fear not, I know the name of the place now: it's quite literally just a sunken temple below the Custard Sea. You's gotta reset to a checkpoint to leave, there's no other way to escape the area I think.

Spoilers Below:

Dry Dry Beach is just the name given to the beach area that isn't Jimbly's Beach (the area with the Worlds.com building). Clawed Cove, on the other hand, is the cove at the exit of the canyon with the small planet you can blow up.

Well, this game is being a lotta fun so far! I believe I found most of the new areas as well! There's a village on the cliff by Shrancey's Swamp that I don't know how to get to tho... any tips you can give me? Oh, and I found a place through Merlin that's beneath all that Tubby Custard... Is that Dry Dry Beach, or Clawed Cove? 

Fantastic!!! I can't wait to play it!

Oh, right, that one, got it! I thought it was the dark area with the Totinos.

Ah, I see! Thanks for clearing those things up! And sorry for the late reply, I've been way too busy this whole week.

Lemme guess, The upsidedown is a reference to Stranger Things? 

What about the beehive, and the clown ball pit? And the weird geometric land on your way to Luigi? And the place inside the Goblin's pot too, now that I think about it...

I'm also going to assume the AV House, Clawed Cove and Dry Dry Beach are new spots? 

Ok, that's... that's a lot more than I expected. Damn.

The areas have names?? Sweet!

...now I feel compelled to make a map. What other areas do have names (besides Cheese Land, that's the only one I knew)?

This was a really fun game! Even the Bonus Levels were only half as annoying as I thought they would be! Can't wait for the new update, and to check out the Quantum series! 

Ah, one thing, the message talking about the first Bonus Level doesn't appear. Is that intended?

Oh, uh, btw, there's one teeny tiny thing I figured I'd mention. You know the large pit right at the start, close to where Mummy is? Well... for some reason, I thought falling down there and landing on either side was the intended way to go... so, uh, oops :P 

I guess the pit looked wide enough for me to think I could jump over it, but then I fell on the step, and after a leap of faith into the middle of the onion pizza, I saw the safe landings by the spike pit.

Indeed... Say, are you working on any new projects now? 

I know this game was made like two years ago, but i remember playing it during the confinement and, well, it's one of the coolest, most fun games I've played! I love the artstyle, the writing was chill and hilarious, the platforming was on point, and the music was pretty good too

https://youtu.be/eUA1jYYToL8

Here's the channel, GS Studios. However, they haven't done new stuff for a while... Lemme try to reach to them for a bit.

Ah, you're one of the backers?? There's a guy on YouTube that started to work on a full recreation of the game, to make justice to the guys that were tricked into that scheme! GS Studios, look him up. Try to see if you can pass the word to the other backers, they may want to know this.

There's a guy that wants to recreate the whole game, properly! Check out on YouTube, GS Studios!

Era tudo um esquema infelizmente, mas há um tipo que quer recriar o jogo todo e fazer justiça aos que gastaram o seu dinheiro a investir numa farsa!

Such a weird game... For Ludum Dare 28, where the theme was "You Only Get One". There's absolutely no way for anyone to get every treasure in the map, not even half of them.

I have played this game quite a while ago, and I absolutely loved it. After deciding to revisit it, I come across... a Steam Page? Huh, neat. I go check it out and...

...Early Access? Wait, it's unfinished? It's gonna cost money, and there's gonna be more stuff? What sorta stuff... More characters? More... weapons?? TIME TRAVELLING AND NEW DIMENSIONS????

I... is this real?? I gotta know, this is looking bonkers!

The name of the developing team is some Peace World, and it appears as their only game, with no demo or anything. Is that the name of your company, or is someone here doing some trickery with your game??

Now that would be cool. And who knows, maybe that's being saved for the second part of the game! It does fit the aesthetic of that place more than the poolrooms.

Yeah, I can agree with the first rooms feeling a bit more clunky, but it was only really the first area, and even then, a pool room near a spa-like area, close to a lazy river area that leads into a staff only "reservoir", leading into the slide area which starts off from the shower and locker rooms... It does feel pretty natural to me.

I wholeheartedly agree with wanting more abilities, there was that underwater vent, calling for me, and even though I was kinda relieved that I didn't need to go into it, I was still curious about what was on the other side.

Also, what's the deal with the door hidden behind the Lazy River sign?

Ok, so... I've been seeing others' sugestions, and yeah, while a slightly better jump and maybe being able to run would be nice, I honestly couldn't believe we couldn't slide on the, er, slides. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined (jk). 

Now, let's see... Really like the premise, the fact we're just a dude stumbling in there due to our job, how the empty lots already look like those liminal images of hills and way-too-neatly-put-together houses, but without the houses (imagine if that's the ending, leaving the underground into a city that looks just like that, huh), the looks of the locations, how the fact so many of these rooms would serve no real purpose or just be completely out of place or built in a completely anomalous way in our regular reality... The fact you went out of your way to mention the water was warm was a nice touch.

The control panels were a neat little distraction, I do like how they look quite a bit, hopefully they get more complicated as you advance through the game... Those puzzles that did not include the control panels, but rather usage of the environment, either by interacting with it or through platforming, were great! I really would like that to be a constant throughout the remainder of the game, especially the former! 

Lazy River was the first part that really got me, by that point I was already immersed into the whole ordeal... Took me quite a bit to find that big kiddie park, I was going cuckoo when walking down the path, in a good way!  

The Reservoir and the Slides were the second parts with the most tension for me. Seeing how the floors interconnect, the seemingly meaningless rooms, the unnecessarily deep pool right below a hole on the ceiling, the rectangular vent under the water (which I was dreading having to get into, not gonna lie), the reservoirs themselves looking like regular indoors pools but with sunken walkways, divided by actual spa pools ...it makes the whole place almost make some sense, and yet it doesn't in the slightest! But then there's the signs advising not to dive, the jacuzzi, the look of the slides themselves... These look perfectly normal on their own, just absolutely out of place, and I love it!

The Locker Room was the most memorable bit to me. The eeriness of the surrounding darkness set the mood, the interactivity with all the faucets, lockers and showers, the dread of many rooms being similar, almost impossible to regularly navigate, the message on the mirror, the panic I started feeling as things started making noises behind me, it felt real! I was feeling a bit panicked, scrambling my way out of these now claustrophobic rooms and hallways of lockers and darkness! I didn't know what was chasing me, and I didn't want to! Genius idea to have Exit signs guide us, such a simple impulse done very well! 

Amd as it turns out, it wasn't just a Spa! It was a complex of, possibly, many commodities, a mall even! Don't know what's an "In and Outlet", but I can't wait to see how they'll look like.

One last question... Will we ever get an explanation as to why this place exists, or how, or if it even does exist at all? Or will Anemoiapolis remain as one of those unexplainable mysteries of our reality? 

There was that moment where I wanted to open the door to the lazy river, right at the end of the first area, but I was too close to the door, so I got crushed into the void. No loading screen, no visuals, but I could still hear the sounds of running water and such. Can't remember if I was hearing my footsteps, so I can't confirm if I was still able to move or not.

...just realized how much this kinda sounds like someone no-clipping into the Backrooms, huh.

Finally played the demo! I've been saving myself from spoilers to play it! And it was totally worth it. It was a really unique experience, exploring these odd, somewhat nonsensical rooms that are still grounded enoughly into reality, the feeling of dread and helplessness in some areas as well, the panic I felt in THAT area (you know the one), I'm just so glad I got to experience this for myself.

One thing that I found a bit more annoying was the first jump. I kept falling a little too many times than I would like to admit. I dunno, part of me feels the jump's arc doesn't reach far enough, or that there's not much room for mistake. I know we're just a regular dude and not Mario, but a leap of about 2 feet is kinda pathetic 😅 especially when that's the only leap of that kind in the game, I think.

Also, I noticed the lack of a run button. Definitely not necessary in most areas, but in others, I felt like I wasn't moving fast enough. It was only at the beginning though, on the first area.

Everything else was great, even the voice acting!

Planning your wedding?? Good show, man! Happy marriage! And hey, take all the time you need! I'll be getting this demo...