So far only have the prototype out (made it public just so both me and other people can get the feel of the game) hoping to get the demo out before summer ends
LINK TO DEMO: https://lumasrock.itch.io/maniaphobia
#MANIAPHOBIA - Horror Visual Novel/RPG
loud fox
loud fox
rahhh idk which style i like D: also respriting literally EVERYTHING because it’s all AWFUL and RUSHED
loud fox
and because im bed bound and cannot get up to go to my pc heres what i plan on working on
loud fox
planning on actually coding tomorrow and work on the sprites some more yay
pastel turret
I commented this same stuff on Ich.io, but I'll put it here too. I read how you say things are in the air and low effort. This seems like a good start the project, the art is the best part I think. This seems promising.
I almost couldn't figure out how to get out of the house lol, at the end of a blank hallway. Met the characters in the mansion, searched the rooms on the left for minigames, but I walked towards a drawer in the middle of the mansion, and the screen blanked out. I got stuck here, it was unresponsive.
The second time I walked to the rooms on the right and got stuck was on this chair in the screenshot. From what little I saw, the writing seems casual but nice. I kinda relate with the characters being kinda annoyed at things.
No idea what's happening, but that's my second playthrough. Got stuck both times, that's enough for me right now.
loud fox
I commented this same stuff on Ich.io, but I'll put it here too. I read how you ...
sorry about that, i made this game with the (very little) coding i know how to do so the transitions basically run off of one line of code. To get out the house you simply talk to everyone and it should transition you to the next form of dialogue then the minigame.
thank you for telling me this! In the future ill be sure to fix the bugs with collisions and make the goal more obvious as to defer confusion.
pastel turret
sorry about that, i made this game with the (very little) coding i know how to d...
Ah, sure. I kinda talked to everyone, but I had to reset the game right? I know this is lame, but yeah goals would help dummies like me not get lost.
loud fox
yeah ima do that lol add like objectives
pastel turret
yeah ima do that lol add like objectives
I got to the hide and seek part, but I kept getting kicked out of cupboards and getting blocked by random people appearing in them, so I couldn't get through it. I just tried waiting around, running and entering cupboards when the head appeared. Lowest time I got was 2:30. I tried 5 times, so this is where I'm giving up. This seems completely arbitrary when the cupboards are blocked, so the lack of control and slow timer was confusing. It works alright though, I was tense and a little spooked. The characters seem interesting.
loud fox
Okay, my friend also complained about the difficulty of the hide and seek (i completed it a few times) so for now ill get rid of the people interfering with you hiding until i can polish it thank you for telling me this!
Or i could just lower the time to abt 3:00 since that seems to be where all of my friends and i end up getting to before dying
Ill see when i get home!
pastel turret
Yeah, sure! It seems this is a problem in testing. I think if the head was slower and could be run past, or if you could stay in the cupboard longer, at least the player could have some more moves to avoid it. Maybe more rhythm game or dexterity challenge, it would feel more skilful rather than randomly waiting to be killed or blocked.
This is as much as I'm playing in these days, so I have followed. Hope your game dev goes well! Polishing things is a hard but important part.
loud fox
Yes it is, im glad your giving me this feedback as i've been stuck looking at my godot project either too scared to continue because of how wonky it is and too scared to fix it because i dont know where to start.
But your feedback is helping a lot thank you for taking time to play this game (even through all the bugs) ;w;
pastel turret
Sure thing mate : ) Balancing is lots of work, as solo dev.
I believe in you as an artist. If things grow out of hand, maybe cut it down. Getting lost in projects is a scary feeling. Being nice is very needed for wonky stages.
I'm glad to chat with you, will follow. I've less experience than you, so I'm going for a tiny text game, I just posted a short animation for now. Good luck!
loud fox
Unfortunately with work i cant really work on it anymore but i did make some progress:
• Made a new rhythm game/skillcheck for hide and seek, also new gameplay
• Debuffed Maw for Hide and Seek + Extended hide time
Heres what I need to get done:
• Start writing new dialogue (also started to work on lore)
• Working on portrait sprites
• Working on fixing and making all the code not a mess...
I am accepting help so if you have advice/want to help (mainly about coding) DM me or message me in this thread
loud fox
made a border to go around the gameplay (i cant decide how big i want it 😭 )
pastel turret
Hello, I know nothing about code but I've studied some design. I hope my responses help?
This border seems wacky and claustrophobic. I think it's cool but confusing
I wonder if it's decorative or has some purpose? I recall Persona 4 had a thin black frame for TV channel symbolism, and Cruelty Squad had a massive gross one to make people feel bad. It's a framing, or being intentionally terrible for gameplay
I remember it was a little hard to see the paths when walking around, so having it there would make the rooms harder to see. It's the same color as the environment, it's very busy. It's worse clarity
Removing like a third of the screen space is a lot, so perhaps you could shrink it to your purposes? Or zoom the view out so we can see more of the environment?
loud fox
Hello, I know nothing about code but I've studied some design. I hope my respons...
The border just a concept, i an basing it off of Persona menus and etc. I'll try turning up the saturation on the border and maybe making it a square broder with some elements sticking out and having the actual gameplay stay the same size while increasing screen size to fit the border? This was my thought process literally right after posting these photos lol 😭
pastel turret
Yeah, this is tricky lol. Persona is very cool. Good to know your progress too, its interesting.
It seems that making the environment look better should also be a priority, this border UI is an addition on top of that. As long the border is necessary, it fits the story I think?
loud fox
Yeah im focusing on making the overall game look better. Because i feel like what makes the gameplay kinda "dry" is the lack of uhm pizazz (ik theres a term for it but i forgot it...)