Changelog:
- This week there was some serious work on the save system overhaul. We discovered that adding new scenes would render our old checkpoint system useless because it was hard to extract the data and use it to transfer the character and all his achievements in the next scene. The good news is that it is finally complete and working as intended (as far as we could test it with our limited time).
Leaving aside the not-so-good news, next up are some awesome news.
- The next level is complete. Right now, if you know the puzzles perfectly and you know exactly where to go, you can complete both levels in 45 minutes (the new level adds about 30 minutes). We are aiming for the third level to add another 25-30 minutes, in the end stopping at 6 levels (130 minutes of gameplay) for the first Act. Remember, 130 minutes if you know the game perfectly (basically, at a second or third playthrough)
We are very pleasantly surprised to discover how inventive and resourceful our players are. Some of them complete puzzles or platforms in ways we never thought that could be possible, which makes us very happy!
- Fixed a bunch of issue, one of those being the fact that the blood splatters weren't showing.
This is how it should look now:
Now for the marketing part of the news, if you like the game and wish to track it's development, there are now multiple locations where you can do this, besides IndieDB:
And the games site of course: www.blindingdark.com
You can download the demo from the Downloads section or from the following links:
Thanks a lot for joining in this week and don't forget to track the game if you like it:
Okay so I am going to give you my honest feedback on the game and before I start critisizing, I am gonna say that I REALLY like what you have so far, this is just some feedback I thought might come in handy. Also, the mechanics are all pretty decent, this is more general feedback:
- I know you didnt go for atmosphere in this demo, but its absolutely necessary. The game just doesnt feel right without it and your ocean sounds don't deliver. Try going for some scary strings or pads, that would already be a major improvement
- The games pace is too fast. A lot of games have too much boring dialogue, but you could develop a great story here. Give the character more to say, especially at the beginning, maybe make him grasp for the mask or something (I would not have known about the mask if not for the journal...this is a key element of the story and not everyone playing the game will look at the journal!)
- The level design is good, but pretty linear. This bothered me especially during the first enemy encounter, as it seemed very clonky. I would also allow the player to collect journal entries which tell more about the story of the mansion or find hidden secrets to encourage exploration
- I would not include very long platforming sessions in a horror game, or at least add some variation to the platforms (the stones all look the same and dont do anything, which can get annoying). The jumping is really good, although a bit glitchy at times
- Time distortion is an interesting idea and so are the puzzles, but I find it weird that the character doesnt question it once, along with many other things in the game. Don't be afraid to use dialogue in your game (I am repeating myself, sorry)!
I hope this was useful. Good luck with your work, I am super excited for the final release!
Hi Borzi and thank you very much for the open and detailed feedback.
I understand what you said and noted down the possible ways to fix this, I have only one question regarding your third point. You said that level design felt clonky and pretty linear. Could you detail a bit, maybe offer a comparison?
I tought at creating the level simpler for the firs part of the game, so that the player doesn't miss on the exploration part because he must first accommodate with the game's systems.
Well that makes sense of course. I did not say that the levels felt clonky, only at the first encounter with the enemy where you had to avoid him in a narrow hallway. It only really bothered me then, because there wasn't really many ways that you could approach the situation (for example sneaking past the monster) and trying to avoid the enemy in the hallway was kinda hard. What I think would have made things a bit better would be if you spawned the enemy behind the player (with warning, of course) so that he doesnt have to dodge him and create kind of a hunting sequence. Alternatively, you could create a larger environment and implement stealth, with which you could sneak past the enemy. That would create some tension and suspense which is really important in a horror game or at least increase the level of skill required to beat the games challenges. I hope this made sense.