Incorrect In-Game Instruction (MINOR SPOILER)

[foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!)]

I’m wanting really badly to enjoy SATURNALIA, but almost right off the bat, that has been made a bit difficult.

At the mine door, Paul says that the mine map is near “the notice board”. Not “A notice board” (indicating there might be more than one notice board), but “THE notice board”, (indicating that there is only one.) So of course, I head straight off to search around the one and only item specifically identified so far in the game as NOTICE BOARD…the place politicians post their intentions.

Of course, having previously looked around the proper location (as I had tried to do with the entire town) without finding anything didn’t help.

Obviously, I found nothing around the item specifically identified as NOTICE BOARD. Nor on my next two games, since I presumed I had missed something and started over…two more times.

I only learned the truth through YouTube, which for me is the equivalent of acknowledging defeat for the entire game.

I suspect I’m not the only player to screw up by following the instructions precisely as given in the game. But I may be the only one willing to have the Wrath of Steam called down on me. which will be worthwhile if other players might be spared the frustration and wasted time that I encountered.

Developers, might this issue be corrected by having the actual location ALSO identified (and with a command “dot”) as a NOTICE BOARD, and Paul’s text changed from “…THE notice board” to “…A notice Board”? And of course, this likely would only be a concern for the English-language version.)

Sincere and grateful thanks.

[Santa Ragione]

Hey, very sorry for the misunderstanding, you are completely right. I think the change to "a notice board" would not work because... how would Paul not know which notice board he dropped the map by? But still, the problem is there, so I'll discuss with the team a way to convey that it's the notice board nearby. Maybe the "the mine's notice board"?

[foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!)]

Thank you for your considerate response.

Of course, i suppose he could point, or walk three steps and pick it up and hand it to her.

Maybe a combination of "a notice board" and pointing. I think the issue is that perhaps the other board should be called something else, such as "Politician's notice board", since the mine notice board is never referred to as a notice board, and that's not a common term in English. (Though I suppose with the internet, it never will be very common.)

Perhaps "the nearest notice board", or "nearby notice board".

[foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!)]

Is there any particular need for Paul to have dropped the map?

Couldn't he just eliminate all this by simply handing her the map? (That makes more sense than dropping something so near, then presumable being prepared to abandon it rather than walk 3 steps to pick it up, as it seems would have been the case if she hadn't shown up.)

On the plus side, even with the issue I describe, I didn't refund. I love the art and atmosphere of Saturnalia, and I really want to see where it goes!

[Santa Ragione]

Thank you! The reason for looking for the map is to introduce the "matches highlight interactive items" mechanic at that point in the intro. I agree that it's a bit gamey and awkward :D

[foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!)]

That makes sense.

Except that in my first game, I had already run out of matches by that point, and in subsequent games I didn't even bother with matches (except rare instances.) Maybe some matches could be found there, so even people with only those few might still use them?

Maybe even a bit of dialog from Paul to emphasize the issue? "Here are some matches. Light one and see if you can find the map on the ground near that Notice Board right there."

FWIW, I'm not trying to tell you what you should do. I just always try to offer something in exchange if I raise an issue.

I really wish you folks great success! I can tell you've worked really hard, and taken great risks with a special game to provide for your families. (Gaming has become a really tough indie market, so I really respect those who make the effort.)

[Santa Ragione]

Originally posted by foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!):

That makes sense.

Except that in my first game, I had already run out of matches by that point, and in subsequent games I didn't even bother with matches (except rare instances.) Maybe some matches could be found there, so even people with only those few might still use them?

Maybe even a bit of dialog from Paul to emphasize the issue? "Here are some matches. Light one and see if you can find the map on the ground near that Notice Board right there."

FWIW, I'm not trying to tell you what you should do. I just always try to offer something in exchange if I raise an issue.

I really wish you folks great success! I can tell you've worked really hard, and taken great risks with a special game to provide for your families. (Gaming has become a really tough indie market, so I really respect those who make the effort.)

That's a significant oversight, you are right! (getting to the tutorial without matches), I can't believe we didn't think about it ;____; At this point we cannot add new lines to the game (because of the many translations, testing them, etc), but it could be as easy as making paul repeat the dropped map line and giving you 5 matches automatically if you have 0. We'll look into patching that in, thank you for the feedback!

(PS Yeah the market is really tough right now, thank you for your support!)

[auxarc]

I also went straight back to the politician notice board and then wandered aimlessly for quite some time before coming back to yell at Paul for giving bad instructions. It was on the way back that I very luckily spotted the item off to the side 3 steps away from him.

[foofaraw and Chiquita(ARF!)]

auxarc,

I'm genuinely sorry this affected you, but I confess it's kinda nice not to be alone in this particular "state of confusion".

I had waited to return to the game in hopes this, and possibly other issues would quickly be resolved.

I guess I'll continue to wait at least a bit longer...

Best of luck, friend.