Yeah, it's really annoying but there's nothing I can do...
That's why I chose to leave the old version up, it has almost the exact same content and doesn't have this issue. Though there are also a couple workarounds in the README, did these not work for you?
I would like to translate the game in several languages in the future, but it will be a while before it happens...!
However, there is a walkthrough available (https://www.patreon.com/posts/119207938), you might have some luck translating it to Russian using a translate tool and figuring out what to do next by using that instead ^^
These are hidden among the diamond shape patterns on the walls! ^^ They can be found in both Biscotti and the Rietti forest. Look for a diamond shape with a horizontal seam across, and a vertical seam in the bottom half
There is one at the intersection close to the west entrance of Biscotti
These puzzles are a bit complex yeah... I'm thinking about improving the hints, or maybe even giving away more of the solution for these if you ask for a hint a second time, something like that
Aah, yeah that specific one doesn't yield any reward. I actually forgot the Auria shape drop was missable in the demo (though it's not particularly useful). It won't be in the full game, but I'll see what I can do about that in a future update!
The reward is a yellow version of the boomerang spell. It will be available in other ways in the full game, but it's the only way to get it in this demo!
You don't really need it though, everything's doable without it. Also, you can press Enter + Middle click to skip a minigame attempt if you want to retry / stop faster ^^
Ah, that fight does have a lot going on. The only way forward is to defeat it! The heart does regenerate, and the regeneration gets faster the more damage you took, so don't hesitate to stop shooting and focus on evading if needed! You can also spend an attempt or two just observing the patterns to better figure out how to dodge them, nothing wrong with that ^^
I am planning a bit of rebalancing / better difficulty settings in the future, but currently that's the only way...!
You'll get to go back later, nothing is permanently missable! You'll see what these pressure plates are for later :B It's just that there are some sequences of the game where you're confined to certain areas ^^
The Thunderhorn isn't required to continue! It's just a relic you might get if you're lucky enough. You can also refight every boss as many times as you want at the end of the demo, so it's not permanently missable!
The sign at the end of the game does mention the pod and being able to go back to Sablee / Auria ^^
I actually disagree about the clouds and bricks in Auria! The bricks are slightly discolored, but also shake when hovered upon ^^ The clouds are harder to think of, until you encounter these lines of clouds jumping in the background. Although, I'm planning on giving them a better SFX when clicked, and maybe making it so you don't have to click them 3 times to destroy them, that could help.
About the fights, you can always walk back the way you came from when you encounter one, so it's possible to skip them in that sense! Smash also lets you instantly destroy fights if you're 10 lvls or more above the enemy, but yeah that doesn't work on Shape fights, you'll need a Heart dummy for these ^^
That's odd, Itch.io doesn't really do anything like that, it just lets you download the files really. GameMaker specifies where the save files are located, but I've no idea why it would put it on a different user account... Maybe some obscure setting on your side?
In any case thank you very much! This is wild, I've never ever seen a save get borked like that, this definitely seems to be beyond repair sadly... The only solution for the game not to crash on the loading screen might be to remove your corrupted save file entirely...
I just tried crashing the game on purpose right as it's saving and even that couldn't replicate this issue, that blue screen must have really happened at the worst timing imaginable
I did consider adding a backup system before but that since I'd never seen corrupted / lost saves before, it didn't feel worth the effort. Since both you and someone else just had a save issue though, I'll work on adding that soon! It might be a bit primitive though, as in having to go in the save folder and replacing the files manually, but it's better than nothing
Oh that Sablee crash had an error! Damn, it really must have been a rare one then. I guess I've got some work ahead of me still...!
Sorry I couldn't get your save back, but also, thank you!
First of all, there is a Walkthrough available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/119207938 I guess it couldn't hurt to mention its existence in the intro screen... I'll keep that in mind!
If you went through every room of the Night dome and still didn't find the missing stars, even with the radar, you might be missing a secret room! One thing you can use to figure out where it is is the fact that this map is symmetrical ^^
I agree that some secrets are way too hard to find, I do plan at hinting at some of them in various ways in future builds. And, I also have plans to make fights skippable if you've beaten that enemy enough times! The encounter rate is an issue for sure currently.
One last thing, you can get every power orb without restarting! It's possible to go back to Auria and Sablee by using the pod in the top right of the Rietti plains once you've beaten the last boss of the demo ^^
Again, thank you! I appreciate the praises and the feedback!
Huh, that's a lot... Let's answer everything one by one!
I do plan on adding a fast travel system in the future, which will be unlocked later in the story! no worries there ^^
I definitely don't recommend renaming the files...! I'm kinda surprised it still worked after that. More info about the save files below!
The game does have some rare crashes that instantly close the game, without an error log... I'm still trying to figure this out, but these happening as you move into a new room correlates with other reports I've heard. Thank you, I'll see what I can do! I think it might either be a VRAM issue or a problem with GameMaker itself at this time.
Noted for the soul capture, thank you!
As for the bluescreen, I don't expect this was caused by the game since I've never heard of something like this before, but it could have been some real bad timing for sure which corrupted your save... So, the save files are located in "C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\BE_Witches" where XXX is your username. I assume you chose the first save slot, in which case your corrupted save should be named "Save file 0", if possible, do you think you could zip that folder and upload it on say, MEGA, and I can take a look at it? It might be useful to prevent this kind of save file corruption in the future, and with a bit of luck I might also be able to fix your save!
What?! Aw fuck, I'm sorry... I don't expect it but did you fiddle with the save files by chance? Or did you maybe try loading a different version of the game and save in there?
The save files are located in "C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\BE_Witches" where XXX is your username, what do you see if you access that folder? Surely they didn't fully disappear, maybe it got misnamed through some bug or something and the game can't find it for that reason...?
Thank you very much, I'm glad you both like it! ^^
I'll consider alchemy hints. I think it'd be fine if you had to pay for them, either in magis or in shards... We'll see!
Ah, I've been made aware of the Rietti forest puzzle cheese lol. It's actually possible to kinda cheese he one after that too, but I think I'll leave these in, it's kinda like a fun secret ^^
To be fair the + and - aren't very clearly explained, I'm planning to introduce that feature a bit better in a future build of the game!
Thank you so much! And I appreciate the feedback too ^^
1. I guess it couldn't hurt! I'd need to be careful and make it so it won't cause issues if you press M while typing a note for example, but yeah, can do, I'm taking note 2. Aah, that's been brought up a few times before. It's fair especially given this is a BE game, but essentially while I'm not against it, my focus is somewhere else currently! If I do end up doing this, it'll be closer to the end of development ^^
1 bar: random minor power up 2 bars: health (half a heart or a full heart if you're lucky) 3 bars: +1 drop after the fight 4 bars: random major power up
decisionmaking is shifted from perfection to reaction and everything feels more like a fight. As soon as I got my mind away from "solving a puzzle" to "a battle with shapes and fei" it became immediately more fun.
That's a really good way to put it actually. This has always seemed obvious to me, so I never even considered that some might still see the fights as a puzzle where you need to figure out the perfect solution, which would cause frustration. Thank you, I might actually use that in a tuto page in the game!
Clarity during the fights has always been an issue, and yeah as you said being aware of what spell your enemy is going to cast next is currently one of the main problems with the fights I have to solve. Since a big announcement in the middle of the screen would get in the way, I've been thinking about adding an SFX that would change depending on the spell category (attack, heal, buff, debuff, special), which would trigger when the spell starts being cast and when it's close to being launched. Maybe change the board's background color could help too... That'll be among the changes I work on for the next version, along with a bunch of QoL more generally ^^
I'm glad you weren't afraid to experiment with the various Heartpowers as well! Each has strengths and weaknesses as you said. Most people have some trouble with the Yoyo and the Mines actually ^^ The Swatter though, that one got improved some time ago but I agree that it still needs more. Actually, just right now, I realized that making the Swatter and Fly follow the Heart might help a lot! It would be a lot easier to track their movement and trigger the splat at the right time if you know to do it when they reach the Heart, which you'll already be looking at, rather than having to keep an eye somewhere else on the screen. Definitely worth experimenting with! Thank ye :B
Sorry, having to click the spells is an integral part of the gameplay, so I won't add shortcuts...!
I do plan on reworking he encounter rate / system a bit though, possibly by making it so fights can be skipped if you've already beaten that enemy enough times. There is currently a way to insta destroy lower lvl fights by using the ability obtained in the second town if said enemy is 10 lvl or more below your highest lvl party member (I might lower this to 5 lvl in the future). There are also consumable items with that effect ^^
Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! The composers put a lot of effort into the OST, so this means a lot ^^
I see what you mean about the star radar. I'll consider it, or alternatives, but no promises...! I do have plans for fast travel between save rooms, this will become available later in the story ^^ And I also have plans for fast XP grinding to catch up low level Witches! Their level currently depends on your highest level Witch at the time they're revived, but that will probably change later in development. But yeah, no worries there! ^^
- About the fights, I suppose that's subjective! I could smplify the match 3 part, but it would lose a lot of what makes them interesting. I love the feeling of being overwhelmed and having to figure out the best course of action as fast as possible, as well as buttons having multiple uses. So these will stay as they are, though I do plan on adding some difficulties option, including potentially one that would make the whole thing somewhat more of a turn based system!
- Having the combo spells trigger automatically would be too strong, and potentially a negative in some cases. For ther same reasons as above and because it's also more tactical, I want them to be triggered by the player! It's not impossible that some spells would be combo only, but no promises there
- The forest boss (and the forest in general) are definitely too tough this early in the game, I agree! The difficulty will be rebalanced in the next major update ^^
- Aw shoot, I've been having reports of mysterious crashes for some people, which might either be a memory issue or because of Game Maker itself. These have been very difficult to identify, I'll do my best to figure these out...!
The segfault issue is very strange, that one I hadn't heard of... I'll keep an eye out but I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything about it for the time being.
In any case, thank you very much for reporting these!
- And yes, there will be a fast travel option later which will work exactly as you described! It will be unlocked later in the story ^^
Again, thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts, it means a lot!
This is an incompatibility issue that will occur when loading a save from the previous demo with the new demo! You'll need to start a new save with the new demo to avoid this.
Alternatively, you might be able to load that save by launching the old demo (also available in itchio), loading this save there and doing this alchemy in it, saving and turning it off, then loading that save again in the newer build once you're done. It's not ideal but I believe this should work if you don't want to start from the beginning!
