[MAGS November 2015] Scylla and Charybdis: A Grecian Ship From Olympus U

Mandle · Sat 05/12/2015 08:21:59

Working fine now

Mandle · Sat 05/12/2015 13:40:54

I've been trying to play the game for over an hour now...

I might just be an idiot but I cannot for the life of me figure out how the inventoty interface works:

I think if I click on the main character some icons come up...

The game keeps telling me to LEFT CLICK and HOLD...I have tried...I really have...But I don't know what I'm supposed to left-click on...I'm not sure what I'm supposed to hold...I think it means I should drag items onto stuff but that doesn't work...

There is a brown circle that pops up here and there....I've tried clicking it, dragging stuff onto it...But nothing!

I must be missing something really obvious...Tunnel vision and all that...

I'm pretty sure that:

Spoiler

I need to bash the sea monster over the head with the heavy pot...but I have not discovered how to do so...

[close]

HEEEEELP!!!

Chicky · Sat 05/12/2015 13:43:19

Wow Eggie... This is freakin' awesome, the animations are so dang lovely I don't even... Did you ever leave the house last month?

I'm totally hitting you up for personal message secret animation talks.

---

Mandle: Left click interacts, this does pretty much everything. If you have an item it will show when you hold left click on a hotspot, keep holding and release your click when hovering over one of the inventory items you have picked up (these will show alongside the brown circle).

Mandle · Sat 05/12/2015 14:02:01

Quote from: Chicky on Sat 05/12/2015 13:43:19
Mandle: Left click interacts, this does pretty much everything. If you have an item it will show when you hold left click on a hotspot, keep holding and release your click when hovering over one of the inventory items you have picked up (these will show alongside the brown circle).

You have saved my life!!!

I now know how to use the interface...kinda...

Nice inovative interface (inovative for me at least)...I'm gonna go back and start from the beginning.

And I agree that the animations are AMAZING!!!

It's a bit of a pity though that my attention is constantly dragged down to the bottom of the screen to read the text and I rarely get to appreciate the animation of the main character's emotions at the same time that they are saying stuff in a tiny font.

Anyways: Back to restart and play the game properly...

EDIT: I just spent some time thinking I was talking to a pink monster when I was actually talking to:

Spoiler

The guy in the cage right next to me...Having to read the text at the bottom of the screen is really breaking immersion for me, and I'm only saying so because I'm getting frustrated that I cannot seem to get immersed in such a great game...I would suggest text closer to the characters' onscreen location in future builds...

[close]

I will try again tomorrow and see if I can follow the story a little better...I really want to as I think this might be my pick of the bunch...

Eggie · Sat 05/12/2015 15:53:29

Thanks so much for the kind words guys.
I am so sorry about that inventory, it seemed like such a smart idea at the time but it obviously needs a shit-tonne more clarity. Also the game needs a readme at least, I'd say about 50% of people who play this end up coming to me saying they can't figure out how items work D:

That criticism about the subtitle-style speech text is interesting. That's something I really wanted in the first game because my weird sprite dimensions were making the text appear all over the place. I guess it wouldn't be too hard to put the Gui with the text back over characters heads I'd be able have control over how far above them it appeared which was my main problem in game 1.

Quote from: Chicky on Sat 05/12/2015 13:43:19
I'm totally hitting you up for personal message secret animation talks.

Y'know it diiiid occur to me as I was playing yours that we might have a certain compatibility there! We should swapped notes about motion-tweened monster limb articulation!

Creamy · Sat 05/12/2015 18:18:20

Finished it and enjoyed it as much as Somnamulizer.
The animations are stunning and the story follows on seamlessly from where you left it off.
The characters are lovely despite their monstrosity.
It's an amazing achievement given the time / subject constraints.
Bravo!

QuoteIt's a bit of a pity though that my attention is constantly dragged down to the bottom of the screen to read the text and I rarely get to appreciate the animation of the main character's emotions at the same time that they are saying stuff in a tiny font.

+1

QuoteI just spent some time thinking I was talking to a pink monster when I was actually talking to Nyx

At first, I thought I was talking to the puppy too

Eggie, why did you choose this version of Paint it black?

Eggie · Sat 05/12/2015 18:58:04

@Creamy :
Uhhhhh, cos it's rad

Thanks for all the input guuuys!

cat · Sat 05/12/2015 20:33:14

Is there a save function? I'm tired and would like to continue playing tomorrow.

Quote from: Eggie on Sat 05/12/2015 15:53:29
Also the game needs a readme at least, I'd say about 50% of people who play this end up coming to me saying they can't figure out how items work D:

Yes, add me to the 50%. If it wasn't for this thread, I would not have been able to solve even the first puzzle.

Cassiebsg · Sat 05/12/2015 20:49:47

I also had some trouble figuring out how to use the inventory items, but once I saw the "click and hold" message wasn't a problem anymore. Rather like it even.

I managed to save it, but think it does it automatically.... I was hitting keys looking for the save when I ended up on the Menu and there was this "continue"... hope it saved. Would hate for have to start over.

cat · Sat 05/12/2015 20:53:08

Ah, yes, it worked, thanks!

Eggie · Sat 05/12/2015 23:57:40

Been working on addressing some of the big issues that have come up this evening.

New look for the inventory plus a feature I've wanted since the first game but kept having to prioritise other stuff over: highighting inventory cursors. I'm hoping this makes it a bit more intuative.

Somewhat ugly looking new GUI for when you ESC out of the game which should help with the ambiguity about this game autosaving

New optional way of displaying speech

New settings menu for enabling said option now with added pipe-dream voice acting options just in case

What do you guys think? Once the voting period's over I'll upload whatever changes get figured out and Future Generations Will Not Suffer As You Fine People Have

Mandle · Sun 06/12/2015 07:44:05

LOVIN' THIS GAME!!!

I have found a bug though:

Spoiler

I've gotten the bird into the 3-headed-monster's lair and distracted the dogs. Then I tried talking to the monster and the bird flew away. Now the bird is nowhere to be found, but when I go back to the cave the game still thinks the bird is there: The monster comments on it distracting the dogs, but when I talk to middle-head about the rhyme the dogs start eating again...I'm not sure yet if this is game-breaking or not...

[close]

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/12/2015 08:13:17

Eggie, that looks awesome improving features!

I was thinking just that, that the inventory would be better around the mouse cursor.

Uhm... you have an item I don't have (yet didn't I picked that up at the start? Was actually thinking where it went).

Uhm... if Mandle has stumble into a a bug, then so did I. I started experiencing all sort of weird bugs after that (like the text disappearing right after showing up, so just "flashing"). And then I quit cause it was bed time. $:-\$ Hope the save didn't save the bugs along.

Mandle · Sun 06/12/2015 12:32:45

The bird thing has fixed itself after a reload but:

Spoiler

I found that I can bash the sea monster on the head with the jug all over again even after she is out cold and the game wakes her back up and replays the bashing...

[close]

EDIT:

I just finished the game and I will just say this: I KNOW MY VOTE HANDS DOWN FOR THIS MAGS...Incredible game! And to be produced in just a month...Mind-boggling!

Without knowing it I saved the best for last, out of a slew of great entries!

Thanks for the fun and the unforgettable characters...

(Now I have to play the first DANG GAME!)

sergiocornaga · Sun 06/12/2015 13:48:13

It's great to know an update is planned, Eggie! I'll hold off on bloggin' until around the 15th, unless you feel like putting an updated version up somewhere before then... I guess you might prefer to just use that extra time to work on it, though. I'm overly proud of the GIF I made already, so feel free to check that out now if you want.

Also Mandle, I'm afraid all the bugs you've mentioned so far were part of my giganto-list from back on page one. But definitely play the first game too, it's super good!

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/12/2015 13:54:30

Uhm, seems like I need to start over, my save game is still full of bugs that I can't play it any more.

Eggie · Sun 06/12/2015 16:21:16

That really sucks to hear, I'm so sorry

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/12/2015 16:44:38

I've now backed up the the savegame files, let me know if you want the files to try and look for the errors.

Eggie · Sun 06/12/2015 16:46:09

Thanks yeah! Maybe if I see it in action I'll have a flash of inspiration about what might have caused it

Cassiebsg · Sun 06/12/2015 22:05:51

Finished it now!

Nice one, but the end... when can we expect the sequel?