Leather & Madness
Game Development Update - Progress and Player Preferences
Greetings, fellow gamers!
It's time for another update on the development of our game. I apologize for the slightly slower progress this week, as my real-life job has kept me quite busy. However, I managed to make some headway in the development of the third day, and I'm excited to share a sneak peek with you all.
In the upcoming update, one of the early scenes of the third day will have a stronger focus on puzzle-solving. Rest assured, these puzzles will be relatively simple, but they will add an extra layer of challenge and engagement. What's interesting about one particular puzzle is that the assistance you receive to solve it will depend on the character(s) you have by your side. By default, you'll have two possible companions, but depending on the choices you've made thus far, a third character may appear.
At this juncture, I'd like to ask for your feedback. Do you enjoy the inclusion of puzzles or mini-games within the story? Or would you prefer if I placed more emphasis on the Necronomicon storyline and the relationships with other characters? Your input is vital in shaping the direction of the game, so please don't hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments.
On another note, I'm curious to know: Who is your favorite character so far? Whether it's their personality, backstory, or unique traits, I'd love to hear which character resonates with you the most. Your feedback will help me further develop and refine their role in the game.
As always, your support and engagement mean the world to me. Thank you for being patient during this busy period, and rest assured that I'm doing my best to deliver an exceptional gaming experience.
Stay tuned for more updates, exciting developments, and further opportunities for you to shape the game's future.
Happy gaming, and I look forward to reading your comments!
Best regards, Smaugpuppy
Comments
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More complex puzzles can be complex to implement. If you are comfortable with the coding, go ahead but otherwise they could eat a disproportionate amount of dev time for the gameplay they will offer.
Thanks for your comment. Not planning to do big things, the church enigma is a good example. What I'm sure is I'll not add games that run out of the novel and then brings you back. At least until I finish the game. Anyways there are other experiments that I would rather like to test after finishing the game like using Live 2D or similar things.
Both are fine with me, because I enjoy both.
I would say do what *you* want to do — what keeps *you* interested in continuing to make the game. As bsgbsm1 wrote below, we don't want you to burn out!
Also, in case you are not aware of it (and I have no idea if it is a place you can get to), there is a Lovecraftian convention called NecronomiCon Providence:
https://necronomicon-providence.com/enter/
It's held every 2 years and this is the off-year, so the next one won't be until 2024. (The biennial (every 2 years) was my idea so as not to burn out the organizers (and thus my concern for you) and to make the convention as bit more special and accessible to those attending.)
It is LGBT-friendly as I was one of its co-founders and organizers for the first 5 ones. Gamers and game-makers were always part of it, so I suspect the current organizers might be interested in you as a possible program participant. (I'm no longer involved in the running of it.) Just something to keep in mind when 2024 comes around.
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Thank you for your words!
I've been checking the website and it seems very interesting :) As you can imagine I'm a big fan of CoC and many other Lovecraft related things. About going there, it would be a bit difficult. I'm from very very far away, there's a full ocean between the convention and me. But , hey , who knows.
I'd give the same advice I always give to indie devs - play it safe. So many games the dev want to add a feature or do something cool, underestimate how much work it is, and then its a year later and they're burnt out.
I think puzzles are a good idea for a lovecraft game. But I'd say keep them simple mechanically. Stuff like dialogue cues in convos having info to a question, branched choices for an important scene. The game in the church is about as complex as I'd go. And keep it limited to when its most important to have them.
Don't spend a bunch of time coding or trying to make a unique minigame, ui, etc. You can always add more to the game, more scenes, features, updated art/ui, etc after the game's main content is complete. Its a good idea to save any major coding projectings or overhauls until then and apply it to the next game.
Mmmm for me the game in the church had an easy solution. You could think about it or just try guessing. Everytime you guess it, the option disappears and when you fail it resets . So there's a very limited number of combinations.
I'm not talking about the difficulty of the solution/player, but the gameplay mechanics for the puzzle that you have to code.
For example, I've seen a lot of indie devs get burnt out trying to add things like a basic combat system, or a minigame puzzle mechanic, point-and-click mechanics, etc. The time stretches on of them learning, redoing, etc and they lose motivation in their game.
My recommendation is to keep it similar to the church puzzle - dialogue clues and a choice tree. A lot of devs get caught up in trying to add new and unique mechanics and it burns them out because its more work then expected.
Ah no don't worry about that :) In any case I have a lot of experience on computer programming (my real work is related to that) :) I started with my spectrum long long time ago. I'm and old pervert hahaha. Not planning to do complicated things. Mostly flavor things. So don't worry about expending lot of time on that :)
Personally, I'm not all that interested in mini games or puzzles. I think it takes away time from developers, time they could better use on coding and writing, and while most people incorporate these aspects in an attempt to make their VN stand out amongst the rest, I'm more interested in plot twists, character arcs, and good pacing :) but 1nce again, that's just me :p
My favourite is Darius ^^_ I like his amiable personality and find his burly build very sex~ n///n but Antonio has also drawn my curiosity. Though... I'm not too sure what to make of him yet :/
In my case, the doubt comes with the thematic of the game: Cthulhu. This one always comes with mysteries and puzzles, but I don't want to make the players lose lots of time. That's why I'm wondering what the limit should be.
Ah, I love Darius also hahahaha. I hope you have been able to find his night scene at the club during the second day. It's a very good way to discover what Darius likes.
If in doubt, always follow xour gut~ ^^_ sometimes the best thing to do is create something xou enjoy, share it with the world, and hope that like-minded people take an interest UwU
Thank you for your comment :)