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Thanks Bubbly! I've been so excited about folks getting to play this one :)

Thank you, I'm excited for folks to play!

Thank you! Track 2 introduces aggro status effects and management in combat, it's made for some interesting party dynamics in boss fights

Thank you so much! If you’re eager to meet (and/or fight) them, they are hiding out somewhere in the currently released episodes! 

Thank you so much for your kind words Ava! It's an honor to be the reason you created an itch account--I appreciate your support here and the wishlist on Steam! (It's coming with track 2! Getting a game there is much more complicated than itch)

I love hearing where folks find LIFELIKE, and I'm especially happy to hear that it stood out to you in the MOTHER direct :) MOTHER is an important series to me. I enjoy keeping the spirit of it in my development, so I am very happy to hear that you are finding all of the detail I added to the game! There is quite a bit hidden in what has already been released... enough to unravel some of the story, if you use a microscope.

You say that you are just one person leaving a message, but I am also one person running most of this game! I At the time of writing this, the sole artist and engineer (thankfully, I have a wonderful editor and composers to help while I'm developing). Messages like these make making games worth it. My goal is to make a meaningful game, and hearing from even one person that what they played meant something to them means that I'm reaching a goal I've worked towards for years. Thank you <3 

(And lastly, feedback is very important to me! Learning how players feel helps me decide what to improve in future tracks, and has already guided some much-needed combat quality of life updates in track 2. You are welcome to share your feedback in a reply to this thread, or email me at mantis@mntsstudio.com)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Mantis

Thank you Bubbly! I had a lot of fun with the radio tower, it's one of the few animations in engine that's done just through code :)

Thank you Bubbly! Personality is something I always try to show off in the Animates. I just wrapped up some of the largest Animate sprites yet, can't wait to show them off next log! 

Thank you so much! 

At the moment I don’t have a donation site set up, though I may poll to gauge interest. I want to make sure effort I put into maintaining it is justified. In the meantime, wishlisting on Steam and/or leaving a rating on the game on itch will be super helpful to me :) 

Here’s a link to Steam if you’re interested in checking the game out there: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1956560/LIFELIKE/

Thank you Bubbly. I'm happy to hear that LIFELIKE is a source of hope for you, working is very much helping me not think about the state of things right now. Take care of yourself, and thanks for your lovely comments as always, they give me hope too <3 

Thank you so, so much for your kind words Viola :) I can’t tell you how happy this made me, and it is an honor for LIFELIKE to be the reason you made an itch account! Making a game that resonates with others has always been a dream of mine and knowing that what I’ve done is accomplishing that means the world.

On OFF references: I wanted to pay homage to it, as it is one of the reasons LIFELIKE exists. While it isn’t a major inspiration in art or mechanics, the soundtrack inspired me to draft the first character designs for LIFELIKE. (I was in high school when I first conceptualized the cast! The game has changed quite a bit since then.) 

And finally, I can’t thank you enough for writing this and sharing the game with your friends. It’s immensely helpful to me, most of my marketing relies on word-of-mouth—not to mention your message being an incredible motivator for my own work. Thank you <3

-Mantis

Thank you, Bubbly! Plenty more where that came from :)

Thank you so much Bubbly! I'm very excited to start work, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I just need to get my brain out of break mode! 

I had a new sous chef/editor by my side to cook up this track's flavor text! I'm excited to see what you think :) 

Of course I remember you--it means a lot when folks stop to talk to me about my game! Thank you so much for the kind words once again :) 

Thank you so much Bubbly! I've always wanted to show off my work at camp; I'm glad to hear it's reaching them :)

Thank you Bubbly! <3 I'm excited for folks to play with the new combat additions, they were a popular request! 

Thank you Bubbly! as much as I've been going to town on LIFELIKE now that I'm out of school, I've been taking a lot of much needed down time too :) 

Thanks Bubbly! I always appreciate your kind comments :) I hope you have a restful holiday and new year as well! 

Thank you Bubbly! It's going to be so much fun in engine, this one ties to a unique ability instead of a single cutscene :) 

Thank YOU for all your wonderful comments! :) I'm very excited to get this build out, it's come so far from the launch version 

Hi Thorn! Thanks for reaching out. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the first track, thank you so much for your support!

You’ll want to download the respective file for the demo depending on your operating system. Here’s where they are located on the landing page. It may look a bit different for you (I am not able to view the page as a player who has purchased the game) but the file names are the same.

In the future, you will be able to play all episodes (including the demo) from the same build. I plan to release this soon, it is currently being playtested. You will receive an email when it releases. 

Please let me know if you have any other questions or feedback! 

Thanks,

Mantis 

Thank you for your kind words Bubbly! 

So far, daily goal setting is very helpful for me, I've knocked out a lot more than I would have otherwise. My trouble is the other end where I assign too much in a day and am way too harsh on myself when I can't get everything done. It's a fine balance! I'm working on tactics to not let perfectionism stifle me. Thanks for sharing your strategies and experience with managing this, it's comforting to hear :) 

Thank you! I'm very proud of how textboxes evolved, it's already much easier for me to find and correct issues in the writing itself. Text effects are a nice bonus of switching too, it makes everything a bit more expressive. I owe those to FriendlyCosmonaut! I can't wait for people to see what's been changed!

Thank you! That video was a lot of fun to make :) I'm glad to hear you enjoy the updates too! I was a bit worried they could be bothering people if the logs send out notifications but so far nobody has asked me to stop... so I'll keep going! 

I appreciate all of your comments as well, they're super motivating! 

Thank you so much! The toaster party will be happening soon, it was a lot of fun to film! 

Thank you so much! I'm starting to get into the nitty gritty of writing where I have to really consider gameplay so the words are coming a bit slower. Your kind words have been very motivational during all of this tricky work!

Thank you so much! This made my day to see :) I'm really trying to get through these fixes fast and make sure there are nice meaningful additions for players to make this work worth it. I can't wait for you to see more too! 

Hi! Just following up:

The demo has been patched with a "quit game" menu accessible by pausing. You can both save and quit, or immediately quit the game. 

Thanks again for your input!

Mantis 

Hey there!

Let me preface this by saying I welcome constructive feedback, hearing thoughts from players helps me make the game even better! (And thank you VERY much for your purchase. It means the world to me!) 

These are all great thoughts and I really appreciate that you’re sharing them with me. Animation and writing are both things that I spend a lot of time on and I’m glad they’re paying off! (Not to say the rest of the game isn’t something I spend a massive amount of time on as well haha) 

When it comes to your combat concerns, I definitely see where you’re coming from and it’s nice to hear previous feedback expanded upon with shield point balancing. Recharging faster on a missed turn is a great idea. Another variation of that I’m considering is a character with less than a quarter HP recovering SP much faster. I have seen players absolutely fly through the game with no difficulty in combat, so striking a balance between making fights difficult for those who fly through the game but not impossible for less experienced players is something I’m looking to improve in future episodes. 

Thank you for sharing and your kind words, they made my day!

Mantis 

Thank you so much for your feedback! 

Combat is an ongoing thing for me that I am aware of, it's most certainly something I want to shape up in the future. Multi party combat, party member buffing status effects, critical hits, magic strength selection, and enemy aggro are implemented into the first episode, and I would like to diversify it from there in later episodes. If there's anything specific you'd be interested in, let me know! 

No enemy health bars was a conscious choice. I can't guarantee anything there, as it's a lower priority change compared to other more serious things that need help, but would a toggle on/off for those be something of interest?

Exiting the game can be done from the pause menu in the first episode though I should patch that into the demo. Again, thanks for the reminder there, shouldn't have let that get through to the release version.

Thanks for playing and offering your thoughts, CaptainKraken!

Mantis 

(edit, I should also say I am very glad that you enjoy the story! :)  )

I'm planning on it, though I can't give any concrete dates for when it will happen! Purchasing here on itch is far more helpful to myself and the development of the game. Following the Twitter account for LIFELIKE is the best way to know when that will happen, as it's where I make most major announcements.

Thanks for asking!

Mantis

The demo is not available yet, but it will be available for both Windows and Mac at launch.

That's interesting, I'll look into it and have it fixed before anything downloadable is available. Thank you for pointing it out and taking the effort to get here!

Update: It appears this is a measure used to keep pages with no downloadable content from clogging searches, or the page is so new that it is not in the system yet. Seems it will be available through search once a game is attached. Again, thanks for pointing it out!