itch.io

This game is so cool! I almost didn't beat it. 

Some feedback (with spoilers):

1. So, the UI on John Mullard's beta copy of the CTF makes it look like I can't click on the start game button. The text on the button is a really similar gray value to the button block, and the mouse doesn't change shape to indicate that the button is clickable. This sounds like a minor issue, except I spent way too long trying to make another stone because I thought that I needed another stone to make the game playable.

2. The game is really difficult and confusing to play. And on the one hand, that is fantastic. It is so satisfying to solve puzzles without any handholding. But on the other, some parts are really frustrating because there's almost no indication or feedback on what I'm supposed to be doing. For instance, when I was in the ocean with the snake monster, I fell in that ocean about 4 or 5 times before I tried finding help online for what I was supposed to do next (was I supposed to let the monster kill me? Was I supposed to kill the monster? Where was I supposed to go?). And the only help I got online was "capture ALL the blue flags." And that's when I finally noticed a really faint blue light coming from behind the monster that I was able to swim to (after, of course, trying to swim directly for the blue, flag-like monster). I understand if the intent is to make it difficult intentionally (because we're supposed to be playing as a snoop on someone else's computer, so if we can't be bothered to hunt for difficult things, then what's the point), but it'd be great if there was a little more help in the game. I don't know if it's possible to add any help to the game while still letting the player do pretty much everything on their own.

But really, truly, this game is so clever and strange and mysterious. I can't believe I waited so long to try it.

Thank you!

Thank you so much! Currently, I am focused on revising and adding on to the script, but I am very glad for your feedback on the characters' appearances.  Again, thank you for the video!

Thank you!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! Watching your video, I realized that there was a bug during the scene where you lick the knife. During that scene, your vitality is supposed to increase, but for some reason it didn't. I will update the game to fix that issue shortly. Again, thank you so much for giving my demo a shot! I enjoyed watching your video!

Thank you!

If you want to join a team, post progress shots, etc, here's the Discord for AestheticJam!

https://discord.gg/XEddFJTM7b

（抱歉我的中文不好。我正在使用谷歌翻译来回复）

非常感谢您的评论！我不得不使用谷歌翻译来阅读它，但通读它让我想起了我自己的“前夜”。  我最后一次考试的前一天晚上，我毕业的前一天晚上，我21岁生日的前一天晚上。  这样的时刻几乎是永恒的。

我很难准确地解释它，但你的评论对我来说意义重大，我真的很高兴你能够在这个故事中找到安慰。  谢谢你！

Thank you so much! Not sure when I'll start working on it, but I'm excited!

Thank you so much!  I had a lot of fun making Mr. Sunflower's eye.  As for the nature of everything, well, currently everything is up to interpretation, but hopefully later I'll get around to making a devlog about it (and maybe even a continuation of the story in another vn!)  

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!  Thanks for commenting!

Hello, jam hosts!

I'm not sure if you know or not, but it looks like there's a lot of spam submissions to this jam.  It feels like tattling almost, but it seems like something you guys would want to know so you can remove them.

Anyways, thank you guys for hosting the Weirdcore Jam! I love weirdcore, and I'm hoping I'll finish my game before the jam ends!

So Light.vn is a visual novel engine that lets you add a 3D environment with 3D movement.  If I create one 3D room (and only use that room), would that count as one background?  Or would it go against the spirit of the jam?

Thank you!

Thank you so much.  I wasn't sure whether to publish it or not, but I did anyways on the chance that it would help someone else.  I'm glad it had a positive impact on you.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for the comment!  (Sorry for the late reply, I've been really busy lately with finals.)  And also thank you so much for reading the devlogs.  I'm never sure if people actually read them all the way through or not, so it's really nice to know that people do.  (I really need to write another devlog about the flower language used throughout the game, but we'll see if I can get around to it lol).

I really enjoyed reading your interpretation, especially the part about the TV because it's not something I considered.  When I wrote about the TV, I intended it as a way of making it ambiguous whether the events on the TV were really happening or not.  But it is absolutely true that spending so much of your time watching the news can feed into your fears and anxiety.  The news is such a strange thing because on the one hand, watching it all the time can ramp up your anxiety, but on the other hand sometimes you feel guilty for not keeping up with what's going on the world.

It's also very true that when you're a kid, the days pass so slowly.  And then your parents try to convince you to wait until tomorrow to do something, but tomorrow is just so far away.

I'm really glad you liked the friendship between Echo and MC because it is central to the story.  In every iteration, they are friends.  They have an eternal bond.  It makes me feel anxious when friends fight, so even though MC initially blames Echo during Day 4, it was very important to me to make sure that that anger did not last.

It is totally cool that you rambled in your comment.  I love to read people's ramblings about things they enjoy.  But I am especially glad that this game impacted you so much :)  Thank you for sharing.

Thank you!

Can we work on our games before the jam starts? Or can we only work on them during the jam time?

Also, if we later want the game to be paid, should we set the game to have a 100%-off sale during the jam time, or should we set the game as free to download and then change it to paid only after the jam?  Sorry if this is an odd question, I've just heard from other people that if you set the game to 100%-off that it doesn't show up under the free category.

Thank you!

Wow! This is really well done. Also, this story resonated with me: being uninterested in seeing pictures of my friends' boyfriends, not having a mental image of my ideal partner, to more serious things like not being sure I understand the difference feeling-wise between romantic love and friendly love. The quote on this page, "I want someone to hold me, but not the way he wants to," especially struck me. 

Your story was also kinda scary for me because of the red flags the boyfriend kept giving off that the MC didn't pick up on. I wanted to reach through the screen so many times and tell the MC not to meet this boy, that he's not interested in the kind of relationship she wants, that she needs to leave and go home.

The art is great, the font is delicious, and the music goes so hard. 

Spoilers:

I would like to ask that you add content warnings for unwelcome touching and kissing. While the narrative does hint that it's going to happen, I wasn't mentally prepared for it because there wasn't an explicit warning. I'm not mad, and I don't blame you, so please don't worry about it :).

I love how the characters at the beginning don't have eyes, and then you get to the boyfriend, and you see his eyes but they're staring right at you, and then you get to the end with your friend and now there's colors and you can see his eyes but he's looking at you gently.

Overall, really amazing, great work! Thank you for making this vn.

I am extremely normal about this game and about Noah (jump cut to me losing my mind in a good way).  I love the dialogue so much, the way he sounds like a tired introvert who just wants to sleep in the privacy of his own room but MC keeps knocking on the door, trying to talk to him and get inside.  I also like that you made the dialogue smaller to show that he's mumbling to himself.  I love that he always sounds quiet; even when he gets mad and his font goes into boldface, it never feels like he raises his voice, which is just *chef's kiss* so cool.

I love how you show his emotions through subtle shifts in his facial expressions.  Literally just  lowering his eyebrows makes him feel so menacing because it feels like he's very careful at controlling his expressions, which makes me feel that he's a lot angrier than he looks.  Oh my gosh, and the CG where he's standing over you, head tilted, right shoulder slightly up is SO menacing.

Oh oh, and that sound effect of his bedroom door opening sent chills up my spine every time!  

I have some questions about the full game, but I'll ask them on your Tumblr since that's where you asked to have them sent.  (I would also love to draw some fanart for you if I can get around to it lol.)

All this to say, you did a fantastic job at characterizing Noah, at making this world so immersive, and at setting up the foundation for so many fascinating mysteries.  Thank you for making such a delicious yandere game.

Thank you!  And yeah, that sounds like a great idea!

Because I think it'd be a great idea to have that, for people who write books and comics and also for people who want to get recommendations for books and comics.

Thank you so much for your lovely comment!  Sorry for not responding earlier.

There are more weirdcore and dreamcore games on this site that you should absolutely check out if you haven't already.  I really enjoyed playing Eurydice--it's a very short VN with two endings.

I'm really glad you liked the story.  One of my goals when writing it was to make sure that it didn't come off as preachy, which is an easy trap to fall into, so I decided that when the player asks the adults for help, the adults should give them real answers, answers that they believe in, not watered down answers because they're "just a child."  

There's something really beautiful about good endings.  There's this sense to me that friendship is eternal.  The story may end, but the relationships continue.

I also struggle with mental health.  In fact, it has just occurred to me that I have had mental health problems for longer than not.  I am glad that this game was a comfort to you.

This one is permanent, so it won't expire.  

This discord is for all AestheticJam jams, not just Frutiger Aero.

https://discord.gg/eEF9my5fn9

Hey, guys!  I'm starting a new series of game jams called AestheticJam, where each jam focuses on a different aesthetic!  For this first jam, that aesthetic will be Frutiger Aero.

Frutiger Aero is characterized by: glossy textures, lens flare, futuristic technology, water, grass, bubbles, tropical fish, and auroras.  Windows 7 graphics (including the PowerPoint themes) are a significant part of Frutiger Aero.

All submissions must evoke a sense of Frutiger Aero, whether it is just through the visuals or through its themes.

It is a ranked jam, but there are no prizes, only bragging rights.  Games can be made by teams or individuals.  No AI content.

The jam lasts from March 14th 2024 to March 25th 2024.

Link to the jam page: https://itch.io/jam/aestheticjam-frutiger-aero

Link to the discord: https://discord.gg/cQycNTfS

Thank you! Originally, I had it say, "I don't remember this part? Do you?" But I later decided to use that idea for the mystery door and redid the hallway's phrase.

I like to imagine that the person speaking to you in the hallway is standing right behind you.

Thanks!

Excellent game. The music, the visuals, the friends--everything is top-notch.

I'm so glad you liked it!  Thank you for commenting!

Thank you very much! And I'm not offended at all. It was my first time working with Ren'py, so I definitely faced a lot of challenges, but I'm glad that the game turned out well.

Thank you so much!!

AAAHHHH, thank you so much!  I really enjoyed watching your playthrough! Concerning the rejected names, I think the game kept rejecting the shorter names because the conditional statement was only looking at the letters of your names in order, so it rejected the shorter versions of your name while accepting the longer ones, if that makes sense.

I liked listening to your different theories about what was really going on.  I might explain my own interpretation of it in a devlog later, but it might be more fun to let everyone have their own interpretations of it.  For me, the reason why there is no explanation in-game is because I've discovered that some of the eeriest experiences I've had in gaming have been from games that never explained the mystery in full.  The game just drops you in the middle and expects you to find your way on your own.  That's what I wanted to do with this game.  Which version of the apocalypse is the true one?  How much does everyone remember from their past lives?  Where is Echo?  That's never explained, so you have to find your own way through.  

Again, thanks so much!

My favorite kind of fuel.

(Glad you liked it!)

You have no idea how excited I was when I saw that someone made a video out of my strange game!  Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I went with a child's perspective for this for two reasons. One, weirdcore and dreamcore rely heavily on nostalgic and childish imagery. Two, I felt like telling the story from a child's point of view would let the player take the apocalypse for granted.  As in, of course the world is ending today, of course we will celebrate it.  What else would we do for the apocalypse?

Once again, thanks so much!

Very surprising twist. Also, I really appreciate the use of flower language in the ending names.

Really enjoyed the story! It would be really cool if you included an ending guide. I played through it twice, but I got the normal ending both times. I really like the music and art style as well.

I really enjoyed this! He's so dorky and considerate and cute. Also, I really like the dark academia background music you chose. I got the normal ending, though I'd like to try getting the other endings, too.

Arthur: ...

Arthur: Thank you.

(Glad you like him!)

I love liminal spaces, too!  For me, they give me a sense of comfort rather than fear.  Glad you liked it!

I used Twine, specifically the Harlowe 3.2.3 format and the Harlowe Audio Library to get the music to play.