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Where The Goats Are

Where The Goats Are is a slow-paced, meditative game about life and raising goats. · By Memory of God

Suggestions

A topic by tamat created Sep 01, 2017 Views: 1,734 Replies: 15
Viewing posts 1 to 7

I copypaste the post I made you in reddit:

Hey, very interesting game. I just played till the end. Here is a list of tips:

  • The first day I sold one goat without knowing just by clicking to see what it was. So I started the game with just one goat, which I guess is not very important but made me feel frustrated. Maybe goat-selling shouldnt be allowed till later.
  • I guess you wanted to make the daily life routine, but I feel it lacks some variety on the days. It feels boring if everyday the chores are exactly the same.
  • Graphically the game is very beautiful, but at night the lights of the house are blue, I guess you are tinting the fullscreen using a postprocessing effect and thats why the windows do not shine orange. I would suggest to do not tint and use the ambient light to turn it blue.
  • I didnt want to read the letters because I felt it was stolen precious time from the game, but I guess time is paused when reading. My suggestion is to read the mails once at home automatically.
  • I dont like that the chickens die without any notice/representation. I feels random. Maybe if they die one by one every day...
  • Also after all the chickens die I still had lots of cheese but I guess she doesnt eat cheese...
  • Maybe some other camera angles would make it less repetitive. Like showing the inside of the house when she goes there.

Anyway, beautiful game, great work

Developer

Hi Tamat!

I saw the post on reddit but I'll reply here. Thanks a lot for playing and taking the time to send across your thoughts. I'll reply to each individually.

Sucks that you sold a goat! I know I could have put more work into the UI in general, to make things a bit more logical. Like you say losing a goat is not necessarily a disadvantage and definitely not the end of the world, but I can see the frustration if it's done without realising. I have made it so you can't sell your last goat though!

The daily routine is definitely part of the game, some people enjoy it and some people find it boring. It's a tricky one, as like you pointed out, the boring routine is kind of the point, but if the game gets boring then that's an issue. In attempt to combat that I added in more 'things' than you can reasonably get done in a day, but these are optional (or more optional) and I've noticed generally people not engaging with these as much as I would have liked. 

Yes the blue night is one of the biggest things I wish I could change! Problem is I added in the lights right at the last minute, but the post processing profiles I had set up were done in a way that didn't allow the colour through, and I had forgotten this. Also the way it is integrated means there is a lot of work to go in and try and change it. Hopefully at some point I can find the time though, as I really want to!

This is another tricky one, as again, this is the desired reaction but some people don't like it. I like the fact that you have to sacrifice your "working" time to read the letter, that you have to make a conscious decision to do so, even though it brings no tangible benefit. I am very interested in optional interactions, and what the player sees as the primary objective. It's funny how most people see the making of cheese as the main objective, even though that is not explicitly implied anywhere, although admittedly it is the most developed system. This game was very much an experiment in these kind of things, so great to hear what people think of them!

My thinking was that the chickens didn't die but ran away in the night :)

Hah, yes, good observation, maybe she doesn't like cheese ;)

Other camera angels would be nice,  however due to the scale of the project I had to limit the scope and chose to have a static camera and the story would be of a specific place which you can grow familiar with and see the environment change over time. Early on I deliberated different camera angles but I couldn't justify it from a gameplay perspective, it wasn't strictly necessary for what I wanted to do, so it got cut. This project was done in my spare time whilst working a full time job, so many design decisions had to be made on the basis of time investment.

But yes, thanks for your insights. Definitely agree on most of them, and there is a lot I would do differently if I were to do it all again now, but I suppose that is always the case, isn't it? :) At some point you have to accept it will never be perfect, get it out and move on to the next project, I guess.

Thanks again and all the best

Memory of God

Still, a good game with lots of good ideas. Keep the good work.

PS. the chickens couldnt escape, I closed the door every night!

Developer

Haha, really? Did you wait for all the chickens to get in before doing so? If so I bet you are literally the only person to have done that! ;)

(+2)

i wait for all my chickens to get inside because i want them to be safe! ;u;

Developer

You are a good person :)

(+1)

I was quite sure that if I didnt do it a wolf will come at night so yes! I did it every night!

(+1)

I do too! I use that time to read my letters :)

Developer

Good job! I'm glad to hear the chickens are in good hands.

Would be awesome if you offered a different version of the game. (Don't get me wrong, I love the original) But was looking forward to building my goat empire and making a lot of cheese and upgrading my stuff like more room for more milk that makes 2 cheeses or upgrading the chicken house to hold even more chickens ect. It would add a bit more playtime to the game and you've already got an amazing foundation for it. Just a thought. I'd pay good money to play. ~

Developer(+1)

Hi Aliz, 


Thanks for your thoughts! I totally hear you on this; there were 2 directions that this project could have gone, and i decided to go down the narrative route as it's more in line with my own sensibilities and the kind of game I'd like to see more of. However, the idea of a goat empire as you described is definitely an alluring one which I did toy with during development, and is something I'd love to explore should the opportunity present itself.


Stay tuned :)

I'd loved both directions but man, the history is too great, it fits just into my soul. Its the kind of history/world i would like to make someday. Im glad i find someone with similar ideas. Amazing job!

(2 edits)

  Hello!

First of all, I would like to congratulate you for this piece of art. As someone that has a very and personal relation with video games, I just can't explain how glad I feel to find titles like Where The Goats Are. Its pace reminded me the sensation I had when I watched Rams (2015) in theater.

As a Portuguese translator, I can't help offering to translate it into my native language. It would be great to make it closer to our culture!

What do you think about it? 

Anyway, best wishes for you and, again, congratulations for all the sensibility and beauty that your game has!

Developer

Hi MarcusVinicus,

Thanks very much for the kind words, and the film suggestion! I haven't seen Rams, I'll take a look. Looks great.

I very much appreciate your offer of Portuguese translation, and localisation is something I am looking into moving forward. I'll be in touch :)

Thanks again,

Memory of God

(1 edit)

  Oh, that's great!

  It's a very intense feelings movie. Its atmosphere and landscapes are simply gourgeous. I hope you enjoy it :))

  You are welcome, Memory of God! I am very glad for your interest in the localization. Just get in touch when you decide to and it will be a really pleasant work to do!

  Best regards,

  Marcus Vinicius

Loved the game, especially the visuals and the atmosphere near the end. I wish some things were made clearer though - maybe it's just because I'm not a gamer, but I had no idea that pressing H would do anything, and so missed the important bit about eating eggs before bed... And I admit I still don't know how to read the letters TT~TT

Maybe just a bit of text at the beginning saying Press H for Help? For noobs like me?