Too many interactions with unclear result (spoilers)

[lancelot]

Not sure if that's as intended that Case 1 can be completed without obtaining the fingerprint. Also, even if we obtain it, the fingerprint isn't actually used in any way, we just tell the police officer about it, and then it doesn't come up again at all.

I'd say there are too many actions for which we don't see any clear outcome. I don't know what the sauce, the tickets, the feathers and the rabbit leg in Case 1 are for. We can give the tickets to the chicken man and also show him the feathers, but does it affect anything? Why does Arthur not want to cut up the rabbit at first but then change his mind? I have no idea which action triggers it.

Also, trying to use some items by dragging them to the puzzle slot just gives the Look interaction for the item. I don't think that's helpful, especially if the Look interaction is lengthy, as with the botany book.

[apexchimps]

Hi @lancelot! Developer here!

Thank you so much for your comment! I can see that you are an Arthur & Susan "connoisseur"! I'll try to address your comments below.

---------- WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS ----------------

We tried different things while developing the game. It is our first full game, and it evolved during its development (you can see how different cases 1 and 2 are, for example). We somehow liked the uncertainty, just as someone would have in real life. But here is the plain truth.

The first thing we aimed for in case 1 was to provide multiple ways to solve it. You can reach the park either by interrogating witnesses or by letting Rufus follow the trail. Something similar happens with the fingerprint. You need either the fingerprint + the trail to the park or the ATM recording. It was interesting to observe during the alpha testing how people attempted to solve the case in various ways, so we included these options.

Regarding the unused objects:

- The feathers serve more as a tutorial element. They are one of the first clues you find, visible, usable with the Chicken Boy, suspicious, and misleading... Nothing more, but nothing less.
- The sauce was originally part of a sidequest including the Chicken Boy, Juanita, Pedro and a set of challenges for the Chicken Boy to demonstrate the worthiness of his love. It was discarded as the case was already too long and complex.
- The tickets, if given to the Chicken Boy, enable a scene after case 1 with Juanita and the Chicken Boy, right after the Mexican Billiards tournament.
- A rabbit's leg is an amulet that brings good luck to its owner in some cultures. It was originally intended to be one of the things that Juanita needed. We changed it, but cutting it remained somehow.

Regarding the use-look issue: That's a great point, and we will consider it. Initially, we thought it would be great to be able to use, combine, and examine every possible combination of objects, places, and characters, each with a different reaction in each case. However, we realized how complex that was and took some shortcuts. In the case of a book, using it and looking at it are essentially the same, so we assigned the same output for both actions.