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Fix the body part assembly puzzle, add checkpoints, polish etc

A topic by CtCuzz created 66 days ago Views: 220 Replies: 5
Viewing posts 1 to 3
(+1)

From my gameplay and from what i've seen, game needs some more time to cook and iron out some bumps. Adding more indicators or soft guidance to some puzzles, for instance again the body part assembly, if you really don't wanna make it too obvious then just make it so the player loops repeatedly before the lights go out. At least then we're not stumbling about at a elderly persons pace in the pitch black holding a body part. Or add a wire mannequin the player can just stick body parts to. Seen gameplay of someone losing essentially an hour of progress to the monster towards the end of the game because there's no indicators to it being there and I can easily see someone dropping the game after that, I would. I could nitpick further but I do want to say I enjoy the bits of creepiness and some lowkey jumpscares. Just keep at it and I can see it being a fun game.

Developer(+1)

Hi. Thanks for playing and for the comment.

I probably won't be adding any more "hints" or whatever, since I feel it's pretty easy to know what to do if you pay attention to some stuff. The body stuff is in no way a difficult "puzzle". I mean.. you have a torso and several dismembered bodyparts. What else are you expected to do with them in a game? Also I did warn you in the description that there's no hand-holding.

The thing about looping repeatedly before the lights go out was a thing before some patches, I just removed it because I thought it would make it more challenging and thus more fun. Was I wrong? Maybe. I thought people liked challenging games. 

I'll most likely won't be releasing new patches for the demo, as I'm focused on finishing the full game. I'll see what I can do about the subway chapter in the full build.

I am very aware the game has bugs and oversights hahah. It's really hard "testing" a game when you know everything you're supposed to do. That's why I need your feedback. I appreciate any and all constructive criticism. I'd wager it's way more important than praise, as I want to make this the best game I can make, within my limitations.

In any case, thank you again for giving the game a try and for sending some feedback my way, I really appreciate that. I'll probably go with your idea and put back the infinite looping before the lights go out. I don't know.

God bless.

(1 edit)

I'd love to add to this discussion

Well yes, it is true that people like "challenging" games. I would know because I am a person who does.

Yet, there is a fine line and a difference between "challenging" and "frustrating". It's why so many of the so called "Soulslike" Games completely fall flat on their face.  It's a topic thats been talked about for years now and just having a discussion about what makes games "hard" and what makes them "challenging" would take a lot of hours. 

A base explanation I can give is, for example: Call of Duty's "Veteran" difficulty is just making the enemies into bulletsponges with laser like precision and you yourself die in like 2 hits. It's hard for the sake of being hard. It's not fairly or even remotely balanced. "Ready or Not" on the other hand is also a game where you will die in a few hits, but the damage system for the player is balanced in a way that you get a bit more breathing room since you can get hit on different parts of the body. You will die in 2 or 3 good hits to the chest. but if those hits are spread out to different body parts you can take many more. Like 1 or 2 to the right leg, 1 or 2 to the left arm. 1 to the chest. And other variations. It's perfectly balanced and thus challenging. 

The idea of looping before being sent into the "other-world train" as a failsafe was really good. That's definitely something you can roll back. It sends the player a message without screaming into their face what they need to do. It's, dare I say, challenging. 

Stumbling through the other-world train because you picked up a limb without the torso even being spawned cost me about an hour of my life since I couldn't figure out if it was a bug that I couldn't equip my gun with the flashlight anymore or if it was intended. Again that could also be fixed with a simple inventory system and the TV not despawning when entering the "Dark Train". At least I couldn't find one on the "Other World Train". 

(I don't know how hard it is to implement an inventory system. Have only ever been a normal player without any game development background except for like... crappy lunar magic SMW Rom Hacks back in 2010 or so lol)

Developer

I did say in the "hints" poster you need to complete the body before proceeding to the ending :D

But you're right, I will most likely revert to the previous iteration with the infinite loop. One of the reasons of why I removed that was because it sometimes bugged out, not unlocking the door when it was supposed to. I have no idea why and I've never gotten any error or warning messages while building. But I'll find a way to make it possible. There was one time where I literally put a gate in front of the door, letting you know you clearly have something to do before proceeding, yet people STILL tried to push the limbs through the gate... 

Anyway, I really do appreciate the feedback guys. At least you  made good points and didn't go on in a frustrated and nonsensical rant. So thank you.

God bless.

(+1)

Oh shit, okay. I even got footage of me looking at every damn poster because I loved the little jokes and story hints but that little detail seems to have slipped my mind completely hahaha. I'll just blame it on ADHD (which I dont really have lol). 

The Gate Thingy was before my playthrough then lol. I mean, I knew I had to do something, since I just kept looping in the pitch black train with no changes but since I didn't even have a light source I could not for the life of me figure out what to do hahaha. I think I ran into a pole for a solid 2 minutes before I realized that I didn't even move forward lmao.

Ah and no problem. I really see a lot of potential in this project and just complaining and moaning instead of offering solutions or actual criticism won't help making this game the best it can be. I really hope to see a full steam release some day!

Developer

I hope so too, brother, and by the grace of God, it's gonna happen.

Thanks so much for being positive and offering actual constructive criticism instead of shitty insults masked as "criticism".

You're awesome, God bless <3