My game is a calming, hang-out game. I have many things added already such as:
Here is the game’s screenshots (all taken in Studio):
Although it looks good, it still just feels empty. Like I should add more things. But I can’t seem to get it out of my head. The creativity’s jammed. What else could I add?
Usually whenever games like these need to fill space, they add boardgames. (connect four, chess, etc). It’s too hard to judge based on a few screenshots on what the game is missing
Should I make a placeholder game just for testing?
I’d say that you should, I’d join it to look around and give feedback
Alright, give me a few minutes as I’m fixing some stuff around the game.
I feel like adding some sort of water feature would be nice and relaxing as well, I don’t know if the islands already have water around them since that’s what normally surrounds islands, but in my opinion, having a river or a pond with trees and places to sit would be nice to see.
I’d also like to add that if you haven’t already, ambient sound really does make a difference in a game. Try it out! Just add some birds chirping or cicadas buzzing and it will really make an impact on the way your game feels.
For that first suggestion, I forgot to mention but the islands are floating woooooooah.
For the second, that’s actually one of the things that was kinda stuck on my brain, so thank you for making me remember!
Here’s the testing place, please tell me your responses and suggestions!
bumping this thread (!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!)
Are you meant to be able to leave the house?
Sorry for taking so long, something got in the way. Anyways, I think the issue with the game is the fact the house is so crammed together. It’s also far too dark in the house for me to really see much of any detail, and I think it’d be better if it was just a bit brighter and sunnier. A bit of a nitpick as well, but the music should have a volume button (to make it lower) or just be lower in general; It makes the game feel a bit obnoxious to me. It was hard at first for me to solve the whole floating islands puzzle because of the fact I kept trying to click on something below the bookshelf, because I just couldn’t see if there was anything under it(could just be me though who’d think to do that!); There should be another way to find the code, as the developer console isn’t available on mobile (and it’s one of the biggest audiences for Roblox in general). The floating islands are just a bit too locked off for what they are, and it feels less interesting than the house due to the lack of anything on them. Even a simple sword fight area would add a lot to it/be engaging (although I understand that might not fit into what you’re going for!), or maybe a shop could be there for miscellaneous items, and a currency you get a certain amount of per minute. The game also just feels very gloomy and while I get the stylistic choice of it, it just doesn’t bode well with a hangout game in my opinion. I also think the benches on the floating islands would be a great spot for little minigames/board games to be (even something as little as a coin flip game would be nice!). I think the main reason for your game feeling empty, all things considered, is how it tries to be gloomy, and it succeeds. I don’t think you should change the entire style or aesthetic, I just think it should feel more lively. Also, I know it doesn’t really fit into the whole hangout “genre”, but some sort of strange-looking NPC (even the most basic, which just spouts out random phrases in a chat bubble) would be a nice addition to the floating islands. To end my whole ramble, I just think the lack of a gimmick/thing to pass time is what makes the game feel how it feels. This game depends fully on the fact you need to meet interesting people to stay, but games like Write A Letter have an interesting gimmick that keeps people playing regardless of other players. I can’t really suggest what you need to change aside from what I’ve already said, but I will say that some insane, wacky gimmick isn’t necessary.
I hope I didn’t repeat myself too much, I just really wanted to expand my thoughts as much as possible to help! I hope you could find anything of value in what I said. Best wishes to you and your game, man!
Yes, but there is a secret way.
Thank you for giving the time to write down your suggestions! Sorry if I was a bit late with my reply.
I do have difficulties with coding, as I only has about 1.5 years of experience, but I will take a look into the mini-games. I’ll also add a light source from the main base of the house and just expand it a little as it is meant to be a small wooden house. As for the developer console hint, you can access it by typing in chat “/console”, although it may not be available for all devices if thats what you’re implying? I will definitely add more to the game if I plan to release and keep updating it.
Another note, could you give me an example on how Write a Letter makes itself captivating? Not to say that it’s bad, I need ideas.
The reason Write A Letter is engaging is because of its gimmick, which is in the title: writing letters which can be given to other players or stuck on to walls, and saved into a player’s journal. Simple gimmicks like that give the game a lot of feeling of purpose, and alongside the gimmick, is a constantly changing map with slight secret paths in it (although the secret paths are easy to find, and require just a tiny bit of looking around). I don’t think it’s popular just because of the gimmick, I think it’s popular because of that and the fact the map doesn’t feel too tiny, as well as the atmosphere. I’m sorry if my description of it doesn’t trigger any inspiration, but that is my understanding of why is it an engaging game. I hope this is all any help to you!!! (also, I said the console thing because I didn’t know about the chat command). All in all, like I’ve already said, I think the biggest thing that’s important to these hangout games is some type of unique premise/gimmick, something that makes the game have some level of fun above just basic interacting with other people through chat.
There is a bit of a gimmick in my game, although you need to have patience. It’s like a countdown type thing, you’ll have to wait. But I will expand my game to have more profound ‘meaning’ (can’t find the right word).
