Some feedback for a great Game

[Wolfen]

Hi.
First off i adore this Game. I bought it on GOG and it really hits directly into my Horror Niche.
It was so cool that we could even ride some of the Rides in the Amusement Park.
Also, it really starts good with this Haunted House and all the Puppets in it, and really love the details. All in all it has so many interesting ideas in it.

But the more i went into the Game, the more i noticed so many Bugs. I am aware that you are a One Man Developer, yet telling you about the Bugs might be helpful.
So here we go:

- First off, some Settings won´t get saved. For example "Post-Processing" and "Effects" always get´s their default Settings whenever i restart the Game. Also i could be wrong here, but i don´t see any changes ingame when i change these settings.

- "Texture" Settings seem to don´t do anything, at least i didn´t noticed any changes ingame, the textures looking the same regardless the setting (maybe i just don´t see it).

- I remapped the Inventory to the "Tab" Key since i didn´t like the default Key "I" for it. This however placed two Inventory Screens over each other. So i leaved it at default. However, leaving it at default the "Tab" Key also works for the Inventory, despite the Settings says it´s configured to the "I" Key. Maybe both keys are configured to showing the Inventory? But then again the Settings seems to not show it right then.

- In the Gameplay Settings, the Setting for "Hold Run" seems to be inverted. It´s marked, but how i understand it now i should hold the Key to run. But the Run Key is actually a Toggle Key now.

- Speaking of the Inventory, pressing the same Key again for the Inventory instead of clicking the "Close" Button to close it would feel much more natural. Maybe leave it optional, so the Player can decide if he either clicks the "Close" Button or alternative pressing the Inventory Key to close the Inventory.

- The "Delete Game" and "New Game" Setting is kind of stupid to place right beside the "Load Game". It didn´t happened to me yet, but one wrong click and all is gone!
I noticed that other Users reported that also.

- I don´t know if you´re the Voice Actor for all the Character´s Voices, or someone else did it. But please let us silent this Guy. I know voicing him might had to be a lot of work, but how the Character speaks often kills the Atmosphere.
The Game already shows subtitles, so there´s no need that my Character also talks.
Please give us a setting to mute the Main Character, but only him, so we can still hear the Enemies noises.

- The Flashlight, while probably designed be it that way it is to help to give this "spooky" vibe, was mostly garbage. Changing it so it lights much more would be much better. Sorry, but this is not how Flashlights work.

- I think that every Game should be manageable without taking any damage. This also stands if you´re trying to speedrun a Game or something.
So i have to say, the Spider Boss really was kind of unfair. If i didn´t found any Medikits beforehand, this Monster would have destroyed me. It was impossible to beat this Boss without taking damage, and i tried it multiple Times. Maybe changing the Movement a little bit to better avoid attacks from the enemies? I noticed that a lot that i just couldn´t outrun some enemies while reloading. With the Spider Boss i only had the Shotgun, and this takes long reloading. How am i supposed to beat this without taking damage? Maybe faster movement?

- The Crouching Movement is way too slow.

- Let the Player switch Weapons while running. Right now he stops.

- Highlighting Items like other Users already requested might be a good idea, HOWEVER i didn´t had that hard time to find items. Also finding items without any highlights encourages the Player more to explore every Level or Room in and out. Maybe make an optional Setting for this?

- In Glitch City the first Weapon after the Train wasn´t really good to see. Maybe placing it more clearly on a different place for the player.

- Another time in Glitch City after the first enemy´s spawned i died and the "Load Game" Menu didn´t showed up. I had to restart the Game.

- In the Western City right after you leave the Ferris Wheel i noticed the FPS drops a lot. But not much settings changed that thou. Lowering the Shadows helped, but then you are missing the cool Fog Effect. So this is what i said in the beginning. Maybe lowering "Textures", "Post-Processing" or "Effects" could have helped here?

- Also in the Western City, once i entered the Saloon, my Character didn´t want to shoot my Guns for whatever reason. Maybe the Doors glitched out?

- In the Rides where you just sit i have 2 complaints.
First you cannot pause it. The Pirate Ride for example was really long, and i couldn´t pause it, which i don´t get, since i was still ingame, so why wouldn´t it not work?
Secondly, there is somewhat of a strange Mouse Filter going on while riding, since i noticed a strange behavior when looking around with my Mouse.
This also got me very dizzy, but i don´t know why. Did it also changed the FOV?

- Also in these Rides where you just sitting there were missing sounds.
I guess it´s hard to find free Sound Effects to use there, but still. Sounds do fill a lot when something feels empty. I noticed that a lot in the Pirate Ride.

- Now something good!
I really like all the details in the "Phantom Mansion". I bet you´re a fan of the Haunted Mansion & Phantom Manor from Disney? The Story for "Isabella" reminded me of the Bride for Phantom Manor. Really like the stuff you added there like the Skeleton Mirror Scene and the dancing Ghosts.
You have a good taste in creating Theme Parks. Really shows were are you coming from. Did you worked on something similar in other Games before, like for example "Planet Coaster"?

- I didn´t expect that the Giant Puppet was actually the final Boss, but okay. It was kind of missing something. Maybe more lore behind it all? I mean, it started really strong with this House in the beginning and the Wife who is still kept alive, but after that the story kind of went nowhere.
Don´t get me wrong, the Levels are all awesome, but the buildup that the Giant Puppet is the final Boss, that the Arena is the last Level, was simply not .. there. I don´t know how to explain it better.

- After you beat the Game, add some extras to the Game. Maybe adding a Level Selector (with disabled Achievements of course). Maybe a Survival Mode. Or just maybe some "Making Of" or something. Anything!
I just don´t like it when there are Games where you beat the last Boss (you basically accomplished the highest thing in the Game), only then to return to the Menu and your last save is before the last Boss. It feels like you accomplished nothing.

So far that´s all. I know that´s a lot, but i still really like this Game.
But these bugs often destroyed the otherwise great Atmosphere.
Please tell me if you didn´t understood something and i will gladly help.
Good luck for the future.

[inFranundo]

Hi Wolfen, I am writing on behalf of TonyDev, as he is out of town and can't access steam right now. He passed me the following message:

“Hi Wolfen! I thank you very much for the thorough analysis of the game, I will be happy to give a few turns to the bugs you mention, although I consider that some of the things you say are not bugs, but design decisions in which you can agree or disagree (such as speed when crouching, passing the game in speedrun mode, level selector, etc.). Keep in mind that making a post with a title like this can damage the image of an indie developer quite a bit if it's misunderstood. Thanks for the feedback!!!”

[Wolfen]

Originally posted by inFranundo:

Hi Wolfen, I am writing on behalf of TonyDev, as he is out of town and can't access steam right now. He passed me the following message:

“Hi Wolfen! I thank you very much for the thorough analysis of the game, I will be happy to give a few turns to the bugs you mention, although I consider that some of the things you say are not bugs, but design decisions in which you can agree or disagree (such as speed when crouching, passing the game in speedrun mode, level selector, etc.). Keep in mind that making a post with a title like this can damage the image of an indie developer quite a bit if it's misunderstood. Thanks for the feedback!!!”

Thanks for the response.
I will change the title to something more appreciate.
I still hope you can answer some of my points in a more detailed answer in the future, since i kind of made sure to give you a good feedback while playing your Game.

[inFranundo]

Originally posted by Wolfen:

Originally posted by inFranundo:

Hi Wolfen, I am writing on behalf of TonyDev, as he is out of town and can't access steam right now. He passed me the following message:

“Hi Wolfen! I thank you very much for the thorough analysis of the game, I will be happy to give a few turns to the bugs you mention, although I consider that some of the things you say are not bugs, but design decisions in which you can agree or disagree (such as speed when crouching, passing the game in speedrun mode, level selector, etc.). Keep in mind that making a post with a title like this can damage the image of an indie developer quite a bit if it's misunderstood. Thanks for the feedback!!!”

Thanks for the response.
I will change the title to something more appreciate.
I still hope you can answer some of my points in a more detailed answer in the future, since i kind of made sure to give you a good feedback while playing your Game.

Tonydev says this: “Of course I will, count on it, I'll be back home in December ;) ”

It's just that he's on a trip in Japan, and they tried to steal his account a few days ago, so Steam blocked it as a precaution and until he comes back from Japan he can't fix the Steam problem!

[Wolfen]

Originally posted by inFranundo:

Tonydev says this: “Of course I will, count on it, I'll be back home in December ;) ”

It's just that he's on a trip in Japan, and they tried to steal his account a few days ago, so Steam blocked it as a precaution and until he comes back from Japan he can't fix the Steam problem!

Yeah, no problem, enjoy your time there.
Also thanks to inFranundo to work kind as of Tonydev´s "secretary" by the meantime. :)

[RockStar360]

Originally posted by Wolfen:

Originally posted by inFranundo:

Tonydev says this: “Of course I will, count on it, I'll be back home in December ;) ”

It's just that he's on a trip in Japan, and they tried to steal his account a few days ago, so Steam blocked it as a precaution and until he comes back from Japan he can't fix the Steam problem!

Yeah, no problem, enjoy your time there.
Also thanks to inFranundo to work kind as of Tonydev´s "secretary" by the meantime. :)

Hello Wolfen! I thank you personally for the detailed analysis. As you rightly say the game needs certain things that would make it better. As an indie developer I will try to improve as much as I can my games!. Even if it is difficult, as some changes can affect the game too much and a 5h long game to test thoroughly! :)