I made a video with gameplay/Lets Play and my feedback/commentary but I wanted to share my biggest gripes here for information-purposes, both for viewers and for the developers. First and mostly importantly is, the lack of transparency between Customer and Developer, this game that we pay for, is Not a complete game, or a completed story. It feels disingenuous that the store page does not advertise it as a 'Multi-part series'? There is no 'Ending', the 'game' ends with a 'To Be Continued' which rubs me the wrong way because you typically buy a game thinking it is Done/Complete/Wrapped up - this isn't the case for this game, it insinuates that we paid for a 'Part of a game' and not a whole experience and depending on the reason or intent, it'd mean 'if you want to know the full story, you'll have to wait for Part 2 and pay for that too' ? Or whether or not you'd update and finish the version of the game located here that we already paid for - and/or if its dependent on feedback/attention/time/energy on your own as the developer on whether or not it will continue or not.
The fact a Price is asked, but the Product isn't finished is, inherently Scummy unless you have an explanation or reason for it. Otherwise, it's not addressed or advertised in an honest way regarding this. It should be expected that you buy a product that has an ending or is wrapped up. Let me be clear though, I do not care about $2, I'm not asking for a refund, I'm just trying to discuss expectations of when a person buys a product, in which the store page doesn't even inform us, the customer or potential customer, that this isn't even a 'Finished product', since it ends with a 'To be continued' rather than an ending. We're paying for something that could have a Part 2 that costs people to buy if they want to 'finish the story', so to speak. It rubs me the wrong way, but again, it depends entirely on intent of the words 'To be Continued'. If it were Free, I'd not have this type of stance, its only because a transaction is present that I feel the expectation of a 'Completed product' is had, and game-wise? That it has an Ending, so to speak. Whenever I buy a game from lets say, Puppet Combo, I can expect that its either: A) Early Access and will be complete later, by buying it now I will eventually get the full experience later. B) It is Complete, and when I buy and play the game, it will have an Ending or multiple Endings to wrap up the Experience, this kind of consumer-expectation in this industry I'd imagine is the norm, and if it were AAA Devs doing this? Hell would break loose. The store page doesn't say Early access nor does it mention it being incomplete, its advertised as a Whole, Standalone Product, yet it Isn't. It's just $2 again, so I'm not complaining about losing money, you can keep it but I just wish for you to at least listen to this feedback and learn from it.
With that important thing noted, the other things I'd say is, since this is an Unreal Engine-based game, you must always keep these 2 things in mind. 1) There's a line of code that prompts SteamVR to turn on because Epic Games and the ones who create and manage UE are morons, and they have it so every UE Project has 'VR Enabled' by default rather than the other way around, meaning every single indie game that uses UE, MUST find that line of code and Disable VR, or else it means anyone who has SteamVR or owns a VR headset, will have Steam automatically launch SteamVR for Non-VR games. It's so stupid. and 2) UE-based games NEED a Framerate Cap/Limiter in the options or else for people like me, unsure what other rigs apply, but the game Demands ALL of my GPU's resources unless typically, the game in question has an option where I can tell UE to fuck off via limiting FPS to 60-120-240, etc. If UE presumes 'Frames = Unlimited', then it goes apeshit and takes as many resources as possible, basically turning anyones GPU into a sweating monster. My GPU was at 99-100% consumption, 80% of it to the game which clearly it doesn't need, and the rest to OBS Streamlabs and other Windows-related services. I have a 1080 Ti, so I know the game doesn't need that much juice. To fix this, you need to allow Framerate/Hz Limitations or by default have it locked at 60 if lazy.
Neco The Sergal
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Gave it some gameplay :p Fun times. My only complaint/suggestion is that I think you should be able to drop from platforms via Down+Jump, its what most games use control-wise, I was infact stuck at the start off-screen being like "How do I get out of the first puzzle, Down+Jump isn't working" since I've not really played many platformers that use 'Double-tap down'.
Happy to see a quick fix and the willingness, gave it another go - but have no idea what to do, I found one of the batteries at the start, but the Crowbar on the box can't be grabbed yet I assume it's meant to be taken? I presumed I needed to get the crowbar to break something to get a board to cross the Upstairs 'bridge'/plank that is transparent.
So, other suggestions, otherwise I'm just not sure if its just incompletable at its state. There's that 'Pitfall' next to the crowbar you can't grab that looks important, unsure if at some point you're ever meant to cross it or not but maybe add lighting to inform a player that there's a giant pit of death there?
The 'things I notice when playing' Item/interaction wise is, Flashlight that needs 2 batteries, a Crowbar I can't pick up, an Electrical box that makes noise but can't be fixed or interacted with? A plank that needs to be found but none that I can find, a bunch of dead-ends via walls or gates and the One battery near the starting room. Otherwise, from that point on I feel as if no one can actually make progress in the game. I'd argue if I get stuck, or don't know how to get anywhere, then many other players will be in the same boat.
Also, I tried hiding in the locker on the 'upstairs locker' to wait for the guy to walk by towards the Non-existing-plank-bridge, but he got stuck in a weird way in his pathfinding while in the locker and he never resumed his patrol of going left back down the stairs, he just seemed to get stuck while I was in the locker, annoyingly. He bugs out if you're in that locker and he walks by? No idea. Otherwise, his pathfinding at the start probably makes it problematic for most players since if we HAVE to go up those long-winded stairs, its a linear path with no place to hide, if the start is X and the upstairs area we need to 'surpass' is point Z. Then we have to literally wait at Z or X for him to slowly go All the way up, then all the way back down to the start before we can run up - or vice versa, if we're upstairs, we have to wait for him to finish patrolling downstairs then make his way up - walk towards the incomplete-bridge/plank area before we rush downstairs - or else we risk bumping into him, then dying because we can't outrun him, he doesn't get tired, he runs as fast as you but we have limited stamina. It's either a Lot of waiting or a chase you can't win/escape from. Many things from this logic need to be fixed and balanced, but especially if you're going to have such a long-winded stairway thats a One-path thing, to add different rooms of importance inbetween the 'upstairs' and the starting-level, both so you can hide in any of those levels inbetween from his patrols, and to make X to Z not be so distant between 'presumed progress points'. Otherwise with those suggestions in mind, I still presume the game is broken or bugged in a way that doesn't allow progress, because in my mind, 'I need the crowbar to go forward, but I can't pick it up'. I can't imagine I missed anything else that's needed for progress unless there's some plank hidden in the darkness I simply walked past somehow.
Complaints/feedback before I even try to record anything for it. I'm happy there's a framerate lock options for 60/120, I complain about this not being in many indie games. Problems:
-Game is too dark in random areas, you can barely see, didn't find the batteries in the short duration I was playing.
-A and D in the WASD movement is broken, Rotation is too fast and doesn't work the way it should, unlike most 3rd-person/tank control type games, or, like most 3rd-person shooter-type games. The A/D rotation speed is so incredibly broken that the character can't even move Forward while pressing A or D to rotate. They have to halt movement while you spin rapidly counter-clockwise or clockwise. Make A and D rotation more logical and slower, more useful.
-Enemy doesn't seem to have attack animations? They just yell and bump into you.
-Tried playing with a controller (PS4) with and without DS4 Drivers running, with a PS4 controller plugged in it seems to just make the camera spazz by circling around my character as if a camera-rotation button or the thumbstick is being left left or right.
-The game needs Mouse Cursor Lock, as **All** games should, so those with multiple monitors don't have the mouse cursor trailing off on the other monitor, only for you to click and have the game minimize since the mouse cursor isn't locked to the game screen, which leads to the next and last for now-
-Allow Fullscreen, Windowed Mode and Borderless Fullscreen as options.
Gave it a Let's Play, had to wait because of the Copyright claim with the music you chose to use. I'd say the music fits though, so I'm not suggesting to remove it, though, as a result I donated to the musician who owns the music to get a license. Game-wise, the biggest complaint I'd say besides the Shooting feeling weak, and the guys aim being garbage when he's supposedly a 'trained pro' so to speak and killed countless times yet can't hold a pistol steady - is that the game feels like it has the potential to be 3-5x longer, yet it just sorta ends, a bit too abrupt, in my opinion.
Gave it a Let's Play, that was a long read, phew, my voice needs a break now. My only feedback is I'd say, more 'art' depictions of scenes are probably needed, like when you 'die for the first time', lets say, to avoid spoilers. How you die isn't shown, only explained? I'd say its a missed opportunity.