Hello, I am creating one of those single player short narrative story games with different endings; although this one is a bit of a sub-genre, I’d like some criticism on just the gameplay and if it’s too boring! Just tell me what you’d suggest to spice up the gameplay because I feel like the tasks don’t have much lamb sauce
This is the 3rd day of development, I’m trying to create it as fast as I can but I need some heavy criticism of the actual gameplay; I think the story I have is pretty good though
Pretty basic. Not much to criticize because there really isn’t much to the game and I doubt what is currently in-game will make it through to release one thing I can say I liked was the actual construction of the boat was a very nice touch, the cutscenes were flawless and smooth, over all not bad for what it is now, maybe I’ll check back in a few days see the progress and we can go much more in depth than!
Yes this is exactly what I wanted to hear, I think the gameplay of just getting the parts honestly is too basic… but then again there is this game which is sitting at 5K active and the gameplay is pretty much just interacting with stuff too but of course different things
I know you said it’s pretty basic and you seem like a proficient developer so what can I do to make it not basic, I’d love to hear really anything
So… Dying resets the dialog scene which is bad and I can fall off the map and the fact that the map is small and there isnt much going on it and the fact that there are circles in the water due to the studed part. Maybe remove that or make your own water wave system.
I am nitpicky so I worry about useless things like myself sometimes haha anyways gameplay wise its quite boring. There isn’t much adventure to it and its generally really fast paced. It would be nice if the island is bigger and so there can be wild animals which we have to fend off and cut wood to make our… questionable boat and build the boat ourselves by hammering in nails and bla bla bla.
The cutscene system is nice, tweening may make it better but I wouldn’t know. Beyond the cutscene system everything else is cut dry and bland. I don’t know if that’s a stylistic approach and intentional, but if it isn’t I’d really recommend improving it. The UI for the dialogue and tasks are inconsistent too and the task UI doesn’t scale nicely for smaller viewports. The building/collection portion can also be much more in depth I feel.
Overall very simple idea, pretty much nothing to say about it because it’s too far from completion.
Talking to the captain have so many bugs like I randomly can’t even talk to him and have to quit the whole game and restart from the start, can’t even progress.
I reset my character or die and that action seemingly breaks the whole game, can’t talk to the captain, camera bugs out and more character cloned into the game. I also remember spamming the dialogue and something when wrong but that hard to replicate or maybe because you haven’t finished the part after collecting upper decks?
Yeah dont worry about when you die because when the game is done you wont be able to die and if you die I’ll just make you rejoin the game, and yeah the upper deck mightve not been finished; thank you your feedback and time!
I have checked your game and the one you mentioned and have to say that those can’t be compared at all, it’s like comparing apples with bananas. Your game is super basic and has not much functionality. The mentioned game made me laugh because there are small sub details in the gameplay (like the dog image right at the beginning, the actual feeling of the heat, the tasks and just generally the “stupid humour” of the game). What I found quiet annoying in your game is the water, like mostly the top layer (if it’s called like that) because it kind of feels like ice when “diving” and the camera goes under water. Also, coming out of the water back onto land can be complicated, I would make the terrain more round-ish so that the player does not need to jump back on land. But I liked the cut scene. I am generally not really a big fan of such games, but the one you mentioned catched my attention and I actually played it through. Make some more unexpected stuff into your game and also add more features than just collecting stuff and giving it back. Maybe make the captain run around? Actually show a ship/whatever when the player collects stuff, add easter eggs and generally add features. So far it’s basic so you’ll most likely get basic answers. Keep going, good luck!
Thank you for the criticism but when was comparing them I was was talking about the task oriented approach were you just interact with stuff, of course in my game your only interacting and donig the same thing and in the other game its different thins your interacting with like lights, bathtub, eating breakfast, putting something in the microwave, shutting the windows; but down to its core your just interacting with something
I was more concerned about what I could do to actually make the getting the parts not so mundane and boring, what exactly do you think need more heat does with its basic task system that my game doesnt, or well how would i improve mine?
Well but “down to its core” then all games would be the same. Obviously you have way less features and that’s what you have to work on. Of course, both are mostly clicking and in the heat game you also mostly just run back to father to not go to school. But eve n mentioning this already shows what is different, it’s just plain stupid. Makes no sense. And that’s why it’s funny . As said, firstly just add more features to make it more entertaining. It’s difficult for me to say more on this as it’s not my game and not even really my genre. But maybe you understand why the heat game is entertaining and can add similar features. It’s hard to judge if there’s barely anything to judge. I think what catched me in the heat game is that it was unexpected what came next. Maybe you can add “surprise” elements, too.
Hmmmm, I see but could you tell me what would make interacting with the parts more fun? What would make it not mundane and boring? I think the narrative is fine, its just the tasks right now that need that bit of “spice” if you kno what I mean, probably just some sort of unique mechanic or something… I just really can’t think of what
I don’t think that the interacting part really is a problem (as of now), just the missing variations of the task (thinking about it, you may add skipping/continuing in dialogs via enter key/wasd etc.). As you pointed out, the heat game is also “just” dialogs etc. So you see yourself that that part may not be the big issue but actually putting in the creativity in to the game, or, as you called it, the spice.
. As said, firstly just add more features to make it more entertaining. It’s difficult for me to say more on this as it’s not my game and not even really my genre. But maybe you understand why the heat game is entertaining and can add similar features. It’s hard to judge if there’s barely anything to judge. I think what catched me in the heat game is that it was unexpected what came next. Maybe you can add “surprise” elements, too.