Topic: Bury Me in the Sand

[Mandle]

Just my personal opinion:

Sorry, but I so much prefer the original title screen over the new one.

The new one is too busy for my liking and, if I hadn't played the game before, I would probably have no idea what it was conveying.

A beach scene is what you want IMO, with the beach itself being the star of the show and a few lonely items being the supporting cast, and the original does it so well, but in the new version the supporting cast obscures like 50% of the scene and the beach is pushed back behind them.

For me, at least, the few lonely items lost in the sand of the expansive beach was a much better visual.

[Cassiebsg]

I thought I was the only one!

+1 what Mandle says.

[Funkpanzer]

@Pilchard Glad you dig the vibe!

Thanks for the feedback, I too felt like something was wrong but pushed forward anyways! I'm glad to see some of you liked the original.

I centered the text and moved everything away from the middle:


- and with the buttons visible:


I need to take a couple of days away from it but I'm thinking something in between the two designs would work better; maybe dropping the lifeguard hut, making the radio smaller, and moving the chair further out? There is also a very big part of me that wants to make the intro screen a short panning animation that has the hut to the left of the chair so it's not a problem anymore...

@Mandle: In the first version clicking "New Game" and it cutting to the big empty beach felt really redundant. You saw the chair in the menu already so it just felt like it moved over a few pixels. I wanted to establish how isolated Andre is by cutting from a busy, forced perspective collage with upbeat music to this flat shot of him reading.

@selmiak: It could look good with a straight up gothic font.

[Blondbraid]

I'm not sure why, but for some reason the guy in the last sketch makes me think about Elton John.

[eri0o]

Hey! I think maybe the clouds could work scrolling slowly in the background.

Spoiler: ShowHide

[Funkpanzer]

I've spent the last while adding a new room and puzzle to the game. In the MAGS version the player is tasked with retrieving a toy from the vending machines for Ernie with change they obtain from inside a conch shell (woof). In it's place, you will be sent on a quest to write them a personalized love poem!

Here's my WIP of Jocelyn's apartment, where the bulk of the poem segment takes place :



I've repurposed the vending machines though—I couldn't imaging parting with the silly backstories for all the Hoppy Pals and Creepazoid figures I've spent so much time on already.

[KyriakosCH]

Animations look really stylish!

[Blondbraid]

Looks great!

[Funkpanzer]

I was really hoping to have the beta out by the end of last year but a really persistent audio bug has kept me from being able to move forward for about four months now. After crying it out in the shower for the umpteenth time I've decided to gut all the audio scripts, ambient tracks, and music from the game and slowly re-introduce them, hopefully avoiding the problem altogether!

I know this isn't exactly an "update" but I am posting my plan to force myself to actually do it!

See you on the other side.

e. oh god... what have I done

[SilverSpook]

Looks excellent! I'll be keeping an eye out for this on Itch, or for potential Steam Wishlisting.

[AnasAbdin]

I love your art style
It's just so lovely even a crime scene would look lovely
I also super love the sketches! Please post more!

[selmiak]

I love all these little details in the bathroom and on the left in the distance, the beachhut and gilda's car And the fridge totally has style! 
Keep us posted on the audio bug, best of luck and logic fixing it!

[Funkpanzer]

Tiny update! Finished the apartment from my last post!



I also worked out the audio "problem" by starting all the panning and volume scripts from scratch and now I can get back to all the other things! The hardest part now is getting the poetry puzzle to make sense while still being fun.

[selmiak]

looking great!
How many more rooms will you add?
Did you finish and release this months mags game by any chance? I want to play that too 

[Blondbraid]

Looks beautiful, but unfortunately the font for the poem looks a bit hard to read.