Would prefer if the game cut to the chase immediately. I clicked through all the beginning dialouge for 5 straight minutes because I'm used to nothing happening for the first 20 minutes of many visual novels and unfortunately this did not improve my cynicism on the matter. I think all the beginning needs is: walking home and then a bat with a letter showed up, teleport to castle and tell player its a masquerade, place looks lovely, player notices all the romance options in the room - all this could be MAX 5 boxes of text, not including the romance options
I understood most of what Greer says now and the voice acting helped. Not sure if Greer is on the map after you first talk to her or not but I do know that Ali is very hard to see on the map on the web version as she's almost off of the side of the screen. I talked to everyone else before finding Ali as I remembered seeing her but couldn't find her till I moused over the edge of the screen.
Hihi, I love playing visual novel like games, so I decided to check this one out! I like the designs and how conveniently a bat with an invite shown up. Very cute and to the point, also like the explanation on why we would go to the party.
-----
Upon arriving and meeting the first character, I must say, the dialogue and actions are a bit difficult to tell apart. I can't quite understand when it is the character (ours or theirs) is speaking unless the VA pops up, then I'm like "Oh, they're speaking now- okok, cool."
I feel like, maybe if the difference was more apparent it'd work a lot better, maybe like more emphasis, bolding, italicizing, or more usage of quotations on dialogue, or things like- 'sure,' to highlight inner dialogue rather than spoken, or if sarcasm is being used. Another easy way could be putting inner thoughts, rather than spoken outwardly in parenthesis, it's a clear indicator. Sorry if this isn't a big deal, I just have small issues with the identifiers here, is all. This practically was my only real critique. I'd like to play more and see all the options, however it's really hard to get through it with being confused on the usage of the ", as well as when they aren't there (again, this is my only real form of criticism). I hope this makes sense-
---
As for everything else, I do still enjoy the setup, the backgrounds too they don't distract me or make the cast feel out of place. I also like their designs and masks feeling different which is always enjoyable to see! Everyone stood out in their own ways. I also like how there's a skip option in case you messed up- you can always just start over and get to the preferred part. I'd also like to say, like Grey. They seem cool and neat, and with that all being said- I'd be interested in playing more or hearing more updates for this or other projects in the future! <33
This is super promising so far, love the art and music! Looking forward to playing more and getting to know a certain death of the party a little better c:
I normally don't play demos/unfinished projects, haven't played one in about a decade, so it kind of stunned me to see this was not finished while I was playing and just getting immersed into the story. Just a PSA that this is just a demo to anyone reading since there's no mention of this in the synopsis whatsoever, and the status of this game on here says "released". Really beautiful game design with intrigue and characters that I can tell have a lot of depth, but... demos make me disappointed more than they actually make me excited for the game; I end up seeing the game as something that'll probably never be completed, so I don't bother getting hype or looking into it. Which is exactly why I don't play them anymore. I just wished you guys gave people a heads up about the status. I will add this to my list of hundreds of other games not yet finished but may be finished one day. That being said, it does seem very interesting and clearly a lot of work was put into this game.
P.s: a save/load function would work wonders in the full project.
Wow. That'd be real fast... Then I'll be adding your game to my 'list of hundreds of other games not yet finished but may be finished one day' too, in midichats' words xD If you really finish it by then I'll definitely come back for this game!
Oh, lemme re-word that, actually I'll come back simply if you finish it whenever ;-;
Haha, I understand your worries. We do appreciate the feedback on that though so we could change what we are presenting, though I'm happy we managed to snag you into our vampire clutches. (mwaha)
Keep in mind that we made all of this first half in just one month for the Annual Spooktober Game Jam! So it was a challenge for our team that was uploaded to enter the contest. However, we are super excited to finish it and create something fun for you to come back to.
Even if we don't hit the January deadline we set for ourselves, I'll personally let you know when we finish it. <3 Thank you for playing what we have so far, and we look forward to breaking this demo curse for you!
Only just started the game, but I wanted to give some constructive feedback while Im thinking about it. I wanted to let you know that my brain is having some issues with the font. The commas are only slightly larger than the periods, so my brain has been reading them as periods. XD It made for some very interesting sentences, and at first I thought you just made weird grammar choices.
It is a small thing, but one you might want to look at changing if you make any updates in the future.
It displays and runs fine on mobile browsers until you need to enter text. nothing I do can seem to prompt the keyboard to pop up and can't proceed without a name.
Though, reading at the comments here, admitedly it's similar to what myuninny was already saying. First, that the [player] input doesn't always work. I thought it was me that pressed the wrong thing, but later Grey addressed me in my chosen name. Meaning all previous times, the [PLAYER] tag appearance has to be a problem with the code.
Second: Same as myuhinny, I also found it strage that when the text says a character dropped their mask, the sprite doesn't change. This happened speaking to Grey too. Like with wereworlf girl (Greer? Oh yes, of course I know she's a wereperson. Not my first rodeo~), his sprite remains the same during most of the conversation, with the mask on, but it then happens even after being described as beautiful. It does eventually come off and sprites variations come up, but it feels a bit off.
Also, I don't know if an actual thing or I'm too dumb but, after I pressed the log button, I couldn't find the way to close that window. (The html version)
Lastly, "I have a map of the castle and can tell you exactly why their finest treasure is." I think the "why" is a typo? It should be "where", right?
But enough with the picky commentary. I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed and dig how charming this game is. I especially love the character designs in this. I had a hard time chosing a favorite, and that's saying something.
Even though every character is surprisingly nice and the prologue devoid of any upfront conflict (I seem to have chosen all the right choices, nice~), the story left me with a lot of anxious tense feelings. Maybe because I can see where this is going and how every route seems like it's going towards incompatible paths (or maybe I shouldn't have said yes to the pirate? lol)
Speaking off. "Scourge of the Camarilla"--Waaait, a masquerade... I already can see the influence of Vampire the Masquerade in this lol. Some of the plot was easy to figure out. Werewolf girl is obviously werewolf girl.
Plotwise, if I am to give feedback, it would be that the game has a bit too much text. It's a pity this is just the prologue demo and I was thinking, if you could keep things more to the point, then you get more time to fleshen out the characters and events for the actual plot.
The MC does come off a bit dumb, but this could be a problem with overexposure. Again, less text could make things better.
It also reads as too convenient to me that the MC just happens to be a star enthusiast out of the blue. Maybe that should come up in the text earlier on.
And lastly... Greer's talk is too hard to figure out XD To be brutally honest, it made me want to not talk to her any more.
Kudos for the game! And sorry for the long rambly post. Looking fowards to the finished thing!
Hey Qinjah the composer for the game here, thank you for the feedback on the bugs and the detailed post, we really appreciate that. As a note, I was responsible for the "Scourge of the Camarilla" line. Glad someone appreciated it.
Thank you for your feedback! Ramble away, it helps us to know the thoughts of our players.
We are looking into these bugs now, the player tag seems to be a repeat issue, so we will work on that! Same for the masks and typos.
As for plot concerns:
Our current plans for the MC will be some dialogue edits and more choices to influence what the player does or doesn't know, like the stars or basic opinions on things. Those options were cut for time, but we agree that there should be more context there! Maybe even a personality option in the beginning.
(I'm super glad you had a hard time choosing a favorite, I did too while drawing them and I hoped others might feel the same.)
For incompatible paths, no worries, by the second act, you will choose a date with one of those you had a successful introduction with. Only one path to follow based on your choice at the dance.
You did notice something interesting about Greer's costume! but there is even more, she is another type of enemy for Vampires, good sleuthing!
We have heard multiple things about Greer's dialogue, as she is speaking in Doric Scots and is from Aberdeen. It is a dialect usually hard to understand for primarily English speakers. There's no harm in having your preferences! Perhaps we might tone down her idioms for Act I since players will have the option in Act II to choose who you interact with for the rest of the game, so no one will feel forced to interact with characters they didn't like talking to, and she can have her culture loud and proud when they choose to speak with her more.
Thank you again for your feedback! it is super helpful and important to us. <3
Oho! Of course the werewolf came here to slaughter vampires! What else could she be doing in a vampire ball?
No, seriously, the designs! So beautiful >_< And yeah, I just meant it as maybe tonning it down. I'm not an English native speaker and it may be a bigger issue for someone like me than with most people. Well... I did eventually learn how to "fluently" read jaggermonster in the webcomic Agatha Heterodyne: Girl Genius. But it did take me months.
Of course, the best choice would be to have actual voice acting~ For the Scottish and the British character both and especially, that would be nice~ If you did, the written text it would need to be switched to normal English and work as sort of subtitles lol. But ~ Imagine pirateboy literally calling you "My pet". Mmh-hmm!
Alright, that's it for me. I hope you finish this! Looking forwards the finished thing (and being able to play it~)
Seems pretty good though I started ignoring what Greer was saying as I stopped trying to figure out what they were trying to say as many of their lines I just couldn't understand. I also saw two mistakes in the browser version.
One when you are asked what your name is by Greer and you enter a name and tell them your name she says her name is playername instead of the name I chose.
Two when it says that Ali removes her mask she doesn't actually remove her mask at all. Not sure if there are other mistakes with the other characters or not with the browser version as I wasn't really interested in the male characters.
Thank you for your feedback, Greer's Doric Scots is considered generally hard to understand, and we have multiple people saying she was annoying to them, we can possibly compromise making that more present during her date phase instead of her introduction for those who enjoy Scottish culture and choose to see more of it.
Also, we are looking into those bugs mentioned, thank you for your suggestions!
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Would prefer if the game cut to the chase immediately. I clicked through all the beginning dialouge for 5 straight minutes because I'm used to nothing happening for the first 20 minutes of many visual novels and unfortunately this did not improve my cynicism on the matter. I think all the beginning needs is: walking home and then a bat with a letter showed up, teleport to castle and tell player its a masquerade, place looks lovely, player notices all the romance options in the room - all this could be MAX 5 boxes of text, not including the romance options
I understood most of what Greer says now and the voice acting helped. Not sure if Greer is on the map after you first talk to her or not but I do know that Ali is very hard to see on the map on the web version as she's almost off of the side of the screen. I talked to everyone else before finding Ali as I remembered seeing her but couldn't find her till I moused over the edge of the screen.
Um, will there be a mac version? The game sounds so good but I have a mac T-T
Thanks for taking interest!
Unfortunately to make a mac version we need to own a mac to build the game on, or pay for a service to build for us, which we intend to eventually do.
Hihi, I love playing visual novel like games, so I decided to check this one out! I like the designs and how conveniently a bat with an invite shown up. Very cute and to the point, also like the explanation on why we would go to the party.
-----
Upon arriving and meeting the first character, I must say, the dialogue and actions are a bit difficult to tell apart. I can't quite understand when it is the character (ours or theirs) is speaking unless the VA pops up, then I'm like "Oh, they're speaking now- okok, cool."
I feel like, maybe if the difference was more apparent it'd work a lot better, maybe like more emphasis, bolding, italicizing, or more usage of quotations on dialogue, or things like- 'sure,' to highlight inner dialogue rather than spoken, or if sarcasm is being used. Another easy way could be putting inner thoughts, rather than spoken outwardly in parenthesis, it's a clear indicator. Sorry if this isn't a big deal, I just have small issues with the identifiers here, is all. This practically was my only real critique. I'd like to play more and see all the options, however it's really hard to get through it with being confused on the usage of the ", as well as when they aren't there (again, this is my only real form of criticism). I hope this makes sense-
---
As for everything else, I do still enjoy the setup, the backgrounds too they don't distract me or make the cast feel out of place. I also like their designs and masks feeling different which is always enjoyable to see! Everyone stood out in their own ways. I also like how there's a skip option in case you messed up- you can always just start over and get to the preferred part. I'd also like to say, like Grey. They seem cool and neat, and with that all being said- I'd be interested in playing more or hearing more updates for this or other projects in the future! <33
Thanks so much for playing and the comments!
Yeah, emphasis on who's talking and inner dialogue is a good idea.
sus
New Save System!
Is... Broken?
You cannot remove the Saves from the Screen making you Restart the Game Fully, it won't track player Input.
Thanks for the bug report. We'll fix that one in the next patch.
Just hot fixed it (I think), thanks for the heads up!
So excited for when the game is complete! All the characters are so fun and have interesting personalities.
Fingers crossed for an ending where you can befriend all of them.
Can't wait for the full game! All of the five characters are captivating in their own way, I don't know who to choose to dance the night away.
I'm definitely not biased but you should pick Alli. Seriously though, thanks for checking out the game.
looking forward to the finished vn. the characters are all very intriguing, curious to see where their routes lead.
I can't choose between Grey and Greer help-
This is super promising so far, love the art and music! Looking forward to playing more and getting to know a certain death of the party a little better c:
Hey I'm Qinjah the composer, thank you very much for the feedback. I had a lot of fun working on the game.
I normally don't play demos/unfinished projects, haven't played one in about a decade, so it kind of stunned me to see this was not finished while I was playing and just getting immersed into the story. Just a PSA that this is just a demo to anyone reading since there's no mention of this in the synopsis whatsoever, and the status of this game on here says "released". Really beautiful game design with intrigue and characters that I can tell have a lot of depth, but... demos make me disappointed more than they actually make me excited for the game; I end up seeing the game as something that'll probably never be completed, so I don't bother getting hype or looking into it. Which is exactly why I don't play them anymore. I just wished you guys gave people a heads up about the status. I will add this to my list of hundreds of other games not yet finished but may be finished one day. That being said, it does seem very interesting and clearly a lot of work was put into this game.
P.s: a save/load function would work wonders in the full project.
Sorry about that (－‸ლ)
We've changed the status to "In Development". We hope you get a chance to play it again when we finish it! (Hoping for end of Q1
January)Wow. That'd be real fast... Then I'll be adding your game to my 'list of hundreds of other games not yet finished but may be finished one day' too, in midichats' words xD If you really finish it by then I'll definitely come back for this game!
Oh, lemme re-word that, actually I'll come back simply if you finish it whenever ;-;
We will be so happy to have you back to finish it! Thank you for commenting as well and lighting the fire for us!!! <3
-Emily
Haha, I understand your worries. We do appreciate the feedback on that though so we could change what we are presenting, though I'm happy we managed to snag you into our vampire clutches. (mwaha)
Keep in mind that we made all of this first half in just one month for the Annual Spooktober Game Jam! So it was a challenge for our team that was uploaded to enter the contest. However, we are super excited to finish it and create something fun for you to come back to.
Even if we don't hit the January deadline we set for ourselves, I'll personally let you know when we finish it. <3 Thank you for playing what we have so far, and we look forward to breaking this demo curse for you!
-Emily
Only just started the game, but I wanted to give some constructive feedback while Im thinking about it. I wanted to let you know that my brain is having some issues with the font. The commas are only slightly larger than the periods, so my brain has been reading them as periods. XD It made for some very interesting sentences, and at first I thought you just made weird grammar choices.
It is a small thing, but one you might want to look at changing if you make any updates in the future.
I love the characters, the art is amazing, the music is amazing, the writing is amazing! The only bad thing about this is that there isnt more lol
Thank you, as an artist this is honestly such high praise, and I am thrilled you enjoyed it!
-Emily
Hey I'm Qinjah the composer, your praise is very much appreciated.
I love it! The art is amazing and I'm alredy in love with the characters, omg
I'm really excited to play more of it
I'm excited to finish it for all of you!!
-Emily
possibly a thing you can fix?
It displays and runs fine on mobile browsers until you need to enter text. nothing I do can seem to prompt the keyboard to pop up and can't proceed without a name.
Thanks for the informing us! We'll see what we can do about that for the next update.
Howdy! Here to report a few helpful things~
Though, reading at the comments here, admitedly it's similar to what myuninny was already saying. First, that the [player] input doesn't always work. I thought it was me that pressed the wrong thing, but later Grey addressed me in my chosen name. Meaning all previous times, the [PLAYER] tag appearance has to be a problem with the code.
Second: Same as myuhinny, I also found it strage that when the text says a character dropped their mask, the sprite doesn't change. This happened speaking to Grey too. Like with wereworlf girl (Greer? Oh yes, of course I know she's a wereperson. Not my first rodeo~), his sprite remains the same during most of the conversation, with the mask on, but it then happens even after being described as beautiful. It does eventually come off and sprites variations come up, but it feels a bit off.
Also, I don't know if an actual thing or I'm too dumb but, after I pressed the log button, I couldn't find the way to close that window. (The html version)
Lastly, "I have a map of the castle and can tell you exactly why their finest treasure is." I think the "why" is a typo? It should be "where", right?
But enough with the picky commentary. I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed and dig how charming this game is. I especially love the character designs in this. I had a hard time chosing a favorite, and that's saying something.
Even though every character is surprisingly nice and the prologue devoid of any upfront conflict (I seem to have chosen all the right choices, nice~), the story left me with a lot of anxious tense feelings. Maybe because I can see where this is going and how every route seems like it's going towards incompatible paths (or maybe I shouldn't have said yes to the pirate? lol)
Speaking off. "Scourge of the Camarilla"--Waaait, a masquerade... I already can see the influence of Vampire the Masquerade in this lol. Some of the plot was easy to figure out. Werewolf girl is obviously werewolf girl.
Plotwise, if I am to give feedback, it would be that the game has a bit too much text. It's a pity this is just the prologue demo and I was thinking, if you could keep things more to the point, then you get more time to fleshen out the characters and events for the actual plot.
The MC does come off a bit dumb, but this could be a problem with overexposure. Again, less text could make things better.
It also reads as too convenient to me that the MC just happens to be a star enthusiast out of the blue. Maybe that should come up in the text earlier on.
And lastly... Greer's talk is too hard to figure out XD To be brutally honest, it made me want to not talk to her any more.
Kudos for the game! And sorry for the long rambly post. Looking fowards to the finished thing!
Hey Qinjah the composer for the game here, thank you for the feedback on the bugs and the detailed post, we really appreciate that. As a note, I was responsible for the "Scourge of the Camarilla" line. Glad someone appreciated it.
Thank you for your feedback! Ramble away, it helps us to know the thoughts of our players.
We are looking into these bugs now, the player tag seems to be a repeat issue, so we will work on that! Same for the masks and typos.
As for plot concerns:
Our current plans for the MC will be some dialogue edits and more choices to influence what the player does or doesn't know, like the stars or basic opinions on things. Those options were cut for time, but we agree that there should be more context there! Maybe even a personality option in the beginning.
(I'm super glad you had a hard time choosing a favorite, I did too while drawing them and I hoped others might feel the same.)
For incompatible paths, no worries, by the second act, you will choose a date with one of those you had a successful introduction with. Only one path to follow based on your choice at the dance.
You did notice something interesting about Greer's costume! but there is even more, she is another type of enemy for Vampires, good sleuthing!
We have heard multiple things about Greer's dialogue, as she is speaking in Doric Scots and is from Aberdeen. It is a dialect usually hard to understand for primarily English speakers. There's no harm in having your preferences! Perhaps we might tone down her idioms for Act I since players will have the option in Act II to choose who you interact with for the rest of the game, so no one will feel forced to interact with characters they didn't like talking to, and she can have her culture loud and proud when they choose to speak with her more.
Thank you again for your feedback! it is super helpful and important to us. <3
- Emily
Oho! Of course the werewolf came here to slaughter vampires! What else could she be doing in a vampire ball?
No, seriously, the designs! So beautiful >_< And yeah, I just meant it as maybe tonning it down. I'm not an English native speaker and it may be a bigger issue for someone like me than with most people. Well... I did eventually learn how to "fluently" read jaggermonster in the webcomic Agatha Heterodyne: Girl Genius. But it did take me months.
Of course, the best choice would be to have actual voice acting~ For the Scottish and the British character both and especially, that would be nice~ If you did, the written text it would need to be switched to normal English and work as sort of subtitles lol. But ~ Imagine pirateboy literally calling you "My pet". Mmh-hmm!
Alright, that's it for me. I hope you finish this! Looking forwards the finished thing (and being able to play it~)
Seems pretty good though I started ignoring what Greer was saying as I stopped trying to figure out what they were trying to say as many of their lines I just couldn't understand. I also saw two mistakes in the browser version.
One when you are asked what your name is by Greer and you enter a name and tell them your name she says her name is playername instead of the name I chose.
Two when it says that Ali removes her mask she doesn't actually remove her mask at all. Not sure if there are other mistakes with the other characters or not with the browser version as I wasn't really interested in the male characters.
Thank you for your feedback, Greer's Doric Scots is considered generally hard to understand, and we have multiple people saying she was annoying to them, we can possibly compromise making that more present during her date phase instead of her introduction for those who enjoy Scottish culture and choose to see more of it.
Also, we are looking into those bugs mentioned, thank you for your suggestions!
-Emily
Hey Qinjah the composer for the game here, thank you for the feedback on the bugs. We'll make sure to look into the bugs you mentioned.
Love it