TIGSource Forums

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/612292

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/Chrysiridia/screen1.png)

Aufeis is a short game (like, really short) about a dog in a snowstorm that I'm working on in Stencyl for a class.

(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/Chrysiridia/screen2.png)

Feedback in general would be much appreciated, particularly things that could make the experience more meaningful and whether anything was really confusing.

More specific concerns:

• Desaturating the colors. The game still looks a little too ... happy? So I'm thinking of draining the color from all of it a bit.
• Adding footprints to the dog. Being as Stencyl-illiterate as I am, I've been trying to do this using a Footprint actor type, but I'm thinking that I might just have to suck it up and edit all the animations for the dog to incorporate the footprints.
• Adding additional details to explain how you got where you are at the start of the game in the first place. I don't actually know yet what this would entail, just throwing this out there.
• I've had a few people say that they kept looking for an "interact" button. I'm pretty tempted to add one that does nothing, just to emphasize the futility of it.

So yeah, lemme know what you think!

Simple and complete, I like it.

I didn't mind the dog looking happy-ish. You can still emphasize a darker mood with saturated, happy-looking graphics.

I also tried to find an interact button, but I blame myself for that, and it's part of a long-conditioned habit. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Nice job.

I have a couple of small feedback items for you.  The start and restart prompts tell you to hit enter, but I keep reaching for space.  You might want to consider making space work as well.

Also, I want to be able to move at a 45 degree angle when I hold a horizontal and vertical direction simultaneously.  You don't need art that explicitly supports it, just move the character.

I think footprints will add to this nicely.

I like how tragedy emerges here from explicit limitations: the dog can't read the signs and the graphical fidelity is low enough that the player can't either, so you're acting on incomplete information. A codependent relationship between dog and human shattered before the game even begins. Although this structure only emerges through multiple plays. There's not really time enough to discover that there are multiple paths out, the player will probably just pick the first exit she arrives at. The text on the sign at the end could use some visual contrast: black on brown doesn't really stick out for such an important element of the game.

Totally missing some sad dog voices. If you wanted to add an interaction, it could maybe make the dog whimper/whine. Or cry (http://www.freeindiegam.es/2012/04/a-sad-tale-lurk/). Or maybe the dog can try slowly dragging his owner away, but automatically drop him at a certain blizzard intensity?

I like the idea of footprints. Even if the dog doesn't leave them dynamically, you can still use them for a bit of worldbuilding by showing the owner's last few steps fading away at the start.

Right now, the characters are pretty flat, archetypal, defined mostly by the situation they're in. I don't think this needs dialogue or a narrator, but whatever you can place in the world to give the owner more character could help. Was he lost? Could he have dropped a map, that's now fluttering around the clearing? Could he have been trying to get a GPS signal? Was he trying to accomplish a specific objective in the woods (hunting, building a fire, delivering a package) that might have left a trace on the world?

Thanks all for the feedback! Finally got around to changing around some stuff - took a lot longer than it should have, but at least it's at a state where I can more or less say I'm done with it. Changes should be reflected in the NG link in the original post.

If future feedback warrants it, I might go back and tweak it some more, but for now, these were the changes made:

-Interact button added.
-Other small details added.
-Added a separate credits page.
-Lengthened time to 2 minutes.
-Footprints added! From movement before start of game, but also while dog moves.
-Child can be pushed.
-Sad doggy noises added.
-Sign text changed to white for easier reading.
-Increased density of snowstorm. (Strictly cosmetic.)

So yay, I finished my first game! (Ignore the quality!) (Actually don't ignore the quality, I do want to get better at this.)