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[Jordgubben]

Finally I something that I find good enough for playtesting. The "plot" is mostly bonkers right now as I intend to rewrite it quite a lot in upcoming releases.

http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/

New and noteworthy:

• New time mechanic (wait)
• Integration with Calq
• Level up
• Tweak UI and Mechanics
• Separate Protagonist from other targets
• Mooks: Old Shrews and Sailors
• Shorter (silly) intro
• Much larger town
• Goal: Must talk to Pirate Captain Pauletta MacGuffin, then leave town.

Progress is still moving "backwards". This is mainly caused bu uncovering new challenges as I understand the design problem better. Figuring out a mechanic that is both intuitive and interesting has proven much harder than I imagined.

Aesthetics	10%
Story	0%
Mechanics	40%
Technology	90%
Average	35%

[Jordgubben]

A test player found two bugs. To bad minifiication makes the traces a bit unnhelpfull. 

Code:

TypeError: Cannot read property 'getDisputeTopic' of undefined at b.<anonymous> (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:131367)
	 at b.<anonymous> (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:14620)
	 at Array.every (native) at b.allowPassage (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:14586)
	 at b.moveActor (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:14785)
	 at w.preform (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:13913)
	 at o.preformAction (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:10887)
	 at S.selectAction (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:19692)
	 at Object.selectAction 

Code:

TypeError: r is not a function at o.n.gainCredibility (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:47937)
	 at p.nextTurn (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:116259)
	 at http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:43424
	 at Array.reduce (native) at o.e.nextStatusEffectTurn (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:43355)
	 at o.e.nextTurn (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:43515)
	 at http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:20725 
	 at Array.forEach (native) at S.nextTurn (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r7/scripts/main.js:61:20701)
	 at S.passTime (http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels

 

[Jordgubben]

Looking trough a first Funnel in Calq is a sobering experience. Of the 14 times someone started the game, only 4 got into a dispute. Of those two I can only see that 2 got out of it (but my tracking points are very primitive so I can not tell if they won, lost or just dodged out).

Step Number	Step Name	Users	Mean Duration	Perc Step	Perc Total
1	Page View	20		100.00	100.00
2	Start new game	14	7373	70.00	70.00
3	Take action: DisputeArgumentAction	4	80	28.57	20.00
4	Take action: MoveThroughExitAction	2	99	50.00	10.00

There clearly needs more of a really early incentive to continue playing. There is no point in improving the dispute mechanic further if most players don't even reach it.

[Jordgubben]

The new GUI based on Ractive.js is finally in place. It will be in the next release and I'm also planing to use it in LD37 (afaik. the rules allow reusing pre-existing code).

The biggest difference to the old GUI (based on Knockout) is the ability to create context specific modes. I the future I plan to use this feature to  give  disputes more a look and feel that is clearly different from exploration. Perhaps something that looks a bit more like a fighting-game.

[Jordgubben]

This is a relatively small release. The only big change is that the new and (hopefully) improved UI is in place.

http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r8/

New and noteworthy:

• New GUI

Most obviously missing

• Engaging storyline

Progress is like the movement of a crab, mostly sideways.

Aesthetics	10%
Story	0%
Mechanics	40%
Technology	90%
Average	35%

I think it's good to get something out of the door now and then, even if the change is quite small. It's always tempting to hide, avoiding feedback, until the release is "big enough".

[Jordgubben]

In the week that has passed since I uploaded the above release, I've been working on a new gui mode for the disputes.



This should do a lot help a players tell the difference between disputing and exploration.

It will also make some of the mechanics that would otherwise be to taxing on player memory.

[Jordgubben]

Of the (9) people who've tried the latest release, only one gotten through a whole dispute. Almost half of players did not even get into one.

Step Number	Step Name	Users	Mean Duration	Perc Step	Perc Total
1	Init Ractive Gui	9		100.00	100.00
2	Present segment: StartDisputeNarative	5	54	55.56	55.56
3	Take action: DisputeArgumentAction	5	8	100.00	55.56
4	Take action: DisputeArgumentAction	3	99940	60.00	33.33
5	Present segment: EndDisputeNarative	1	41	33.33	11.11

The fall of is really steep, even when only looking at movement. Most players only walk a few rooms.

Step Number	Step Name	Users	Mean Duration	Perc Step	Perc Total
1	Present segment: ActingSituation	8	100.00	100.00
2	Take action: MoveThroughExitAction	7	13	87.50	87.50
3	Present segment: ActingSituation	6	3	85.71	75.00
4	Take action: MoveThroughExitAction	5	3	83.33	62.50
5	Present segment: ActingSituation	5	0	100.00	62.50
6	Take action: MoveThroughExitAction	4	11	80.00	50.00
7	Present segment: ActingSituation	3	0	75.00	37.50

The small amount of qualitative feedback I have been able to collect indicates that navigation is fairly confusing. So most people probably get lost on the way and give up. The presentation is also sort of dry. There is barely any illustrations and no sound what so ever.

Then there might also be the fact that this game probably does not work very well on smartphones. But neither does the TIGSource forum. Most page views come from 'Mac OS X' and 'Windows NT 4.0' computers.

[oahda]

Hey, I never noticed you have a devlog going! Only web game I've ever played a little is Kingdom of Loathing. Is it anything like that, gameplay wise, even if the story appears more serious? Interesting to see the interface in this game now, since my first encounter with it was in your LD game instead.

I'm not all too much into the RPG genre and turn-based battles (or really battles in general) personally, but it's always fun to see a twist like this on it. I'm sure you've already heard this to the point where you're tired of it, but there's a bit of an Undertale vibe there of course.

The writing honestly reminds me a little bit of how I imagine "true" roleplaying (again, not something I'm into, so I'm not too savvy) works in general, of course especially in text.

EDIT:
Noticed the signature link to the actual game now, so took a little look. Have a better idea of it now! c:

[Jordgubben]

I'm not all too much into the RPG genre and turn-based battles (or really battles in general) personally, but it's always fun to see a twist like this on it. I'm sure you've already heard this to the point where you're tired of it, but there's a bit of an Undertale vibe there of course.

Actually, I think you are the first one to make a direct comparison to Undertale. It's in my steam-library, but I haven't even played it yet. I really should, shouldn't I.

RPG:s (of the Asian flavour) was my go to genre growing up. But the genocidal amount of killing has gradually turned me away from the genre in recent years. So that is why I want to "port" the mechanics into contexts outside of battle.

The writing honestly reminds me a little bit of how I imagine "true" roleplaying (again, not something I'm into, so I'm not too savvy) works in general, of course especially in text. 

The current writing is mostly a forth wall joke to try out UX, setting and mechanics. I haven't really settled on a specific writing tone yet. Can't be to serious, because even I'd get bored. There is inescapable dark humour in the witch hunts, like the concept of "Trial by ordeal" (short version: torture suspects without asking any questions, they will survive if they are innocent).

But LucasArst-style humour is not where I want to take this. Even though the premise is frankly bizarre, I don't feel that subject can be handled in a too goofy manner either. Hiding between the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, there is a lot of exciting drama in these times. The truth about human nature (especially in large groups) is not always pretty, and I want to catch that in some way.

[Jordgubben]

Filed under 'Research'.

Just a side note. Which Witch is is a Norwegian Rock-opera-musical-thing about the witch hunts and some of the songs are all out Ham and Bananas.

[Jordgubben]

Engine development moves forward, even though a lot of new todo work is uncovered  in the process.

Story development on the other hand has never really gotten any further than a setting.
Traditionally JRPGs are very linear in nature, though that is not the same as to say that linearity is essential to their nature.
A more bite sized approach, with multiple small intermingling story crumbs, could definitely be worth trying out.

[Jordgubben]

Very interesting. Perhaps even a bit more off genre than the last one.





Having some sort of urban area social simulation mechanic trigger who gets accused of witchcraft by who (and how and when) is an interesting alternative to the traditional random encounter mechanic.

[Jordgubben]

Filed under 'Research'.

Kotaku has an article on The Ten Commandments Of Video Game Collectables. This may be relevant since this in a more free exploring (if not all out open world) approach to makro-mechanics.

[Jordgubben]

This release focuses on UI improvements.

http://superattack.se/games/nom-rels/nom-r9/

Using the same engine in LD38 provided a lot of feedback on top of the one from this forum. Most of it revolves around how navigation is confusing and how some core concepts (actions and targets) are very hard to understand.

The feedback has been the basis of most of the improvements in this release.

New and noteworthy
 - Actions (can) have icons
 - Exits may have directions
 - Backgrounds on dispute arguments
 - Slimmed gui layout
 - Background music (using Howler)
 - New dipute UI
 - Map overview
 - Restructured (simplified) harbour area

New internals
 - Track leaving page (Calq)
 - Track UI with Heap analytics
 - Cleaner separation between Anticlimax and game


I'm slowly beginning to accept that the "engine" Technology still needs a lot of work.
It works, but it does not work in a way that can be easily expressed to the player.

Aesthetics	10%
Story	0%
Mechanics	40%
Technology	70%
Average	30%

(edit: fix link)

[Jordgubben]