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With regard to BowWow200, I feel as though this is an excellent retro-style point and click adventure with an immense amount of potential. I sent you a personal message since I felt it was a better medium for discussion. The big thing is that this game has room for more character and ways of instilling subtle hints by just using the dialogue prompts more creatively. You've absolutely got this, and I'm very interested in seeing Chapter 3, if there will be one!
Thanks. I got your messages, there was some really useful feedback so I appreciate you taking the time to do that. I've very nearly finished writing chapter 3!
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Overall I liked the game. I think the story is good and the puzzles weren't too difficult. However, I think the game could benefit from more direct indication that actions at one location have had some sort of effect elsewhere. There were a number of occasions in which I returned to a location to find a new path had opened up without really knowing why. Although this might have been because I played without sound.
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requires a lot of backtracking, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. some things were left unanswered, such as who was sobbing, whose eye was that looking back at you, and why someone was using the toilet for so long. but overall, i enjoyed it. 110 orbs btw.
Thanks. There's the map to make backtracking a bit quicker, but I'll add more locations on it in future. The owner was sobbing because of teh situation. The eye was just added for a little horror. And the toilet was occupied because I didn't want to give you room as a red herring.
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As far as the spirit orbs >100 thing goes -- I get the impression that interacting with some of the paintings can generate further ones sometimes. Could that be why some of the numbers are higher than anticipated?
Once a hidden orb has been found it shouldn't spawn again. To be honest I'm sure I just added too many to the game. I'm not going to remove them though, so everyone has the chance to find them all.
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I got fairly far in the game (I think) before getting stuck. I looked up a video on youtube and it shows to get rid of the gardener you need to set off his trucks alarm but his truck isnt in the parking lot. I think my game is bugged.
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This is great! I played your Episode 1 Grimoire game on Newgrounds, and this 2nd Episode is so much more fleshed-out and stunning! It's like the other game but in 1st-person, and I'm really enjoying the change in visual perspective.
I love the art, the colors, the music, and especially the ability to look at and read about everything I click. The hint system being specific to one page/scene is very creative and smart. I'm still in the middle of the game, but I just wanted to say thanks for sharing :D
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thanks for the tip about the computer @bowwow200 I finished the game with 103 orbs, I wonder what 6 I missed ^_^ I really like that the paintings have descriptions of what they look like even though they're just frames. Really nice game :)
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Is there a way to use inventory items with things in the scene? I know I need to do something with the keycard and the computer but I don't know how to get them to interact.
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Excellent game! Great mechanics and plot, for a short evening of spooky fun. I suppose your next challenge is graphics, though what you've done with pixel art is also impressive.
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The space bar key causes the window to scroll down. Need to capture the keypress. e.g. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22559830/html-prevent-space-bar-from-scrolling-page
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Clicking the music on/off button in the main menu doesn't actually do anything (using Chrome). The music still plays. The SFX button works though.
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i can´t get rid of the gardener. I watched a walkthrough video and learned that i need a green car in the car park. How can i make the green car appear?
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Was there anything we could do about the room with sobbing noises? The first page of the ending seemed to suggest that there was more I could have done to investigate.
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Thanks for messaging me about the new episode! You've come a long way in art and music while still keeping the original style :) I think you made the right choice to go the point-and-click route, it seems to have solved many of the issues with gameplay and things you seemed unsure of how to solve/which method to pick. Loved it, as always I hope to see more :D I liked the addition of orbs, something aimless to do while thinking about what to do next :)
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pt 2 of my previous comment
Once again, it was tiresome. I had to read the comment section to find out I have to drink tea to even start the game. Then I find out there's hints(but also sometimes there just isn't, also hints for solved puzzles are still active and using them counts towards final score). Then I find out that cleaning ze cog isn't possible with water, you have to use ze barrel. Then why can I even press the water under the valve thing? Why won't the character say "the water doesn't do much good against grease stains" or whatever?
I am not trying to be mean. I dabble a bit in design and I really see a potential, you just need to direct it better. For example the first game(the one before grimoire part 1) was much better than this one, even tho it was still a simple marathon. You should follow and try to improve that path.
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There is potential.
Lots and lots of wasted potential.
I haven't been this disappointed in a game in a long time. I just sat through both of those parts and the (seemingly) first part in the series.
It hurt. It felt like a chore. Yet I had to do this because once I see a point'n'click adventure game I can't go to sleep until I play it.
First the good: The sound, music - all fits well with the game style. The graphics itself pretty nice, clearly trying to go back to the good ol times. The idea itself was a pass. Definitely writes in story design but I would give it a pass.
The bad: tiresome puzzles, sometimes very stupid and arbitrary ways to solve them and the character doesn't hint us with a way to solve them the way the author intends. This way you end up trying everything which just gets frustrating extremally fast. It would be less jarring if you could use keyboard to move between locations.
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The screen transition locking mouse position visually makes it feel kinda clunky. Might want to find a way to keep the cursor responsive while transitioning screens.
The sound design is great even though there's not much to design in this style of a game. The music is really pleasant, though loopy it never gets annoying or noticeable unless you're listening for it which is a huge achievement when working on background music :D
Coming from "use any item on all things" in almost all other adventure/point and clicks, it took me quite a while to realize I just needed to just interact with stuff and the items were used appropriately. This is such a huge step forward when it comes to this small of a game. It adds to the 'short-and-sweet' feel of it and deviating from the norm shows you know this and chose this consciously.
Overall, 4.5/5 from me (which is a 5 :D). Good luck working on your next game (if you are).
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Great game, but some simple feedback: If the user clicks to place something, don't make them immediately click it again to make something happen. I spent WAY too much time looking for what to do next when clicking the statuette after placing it seemed unnecessary. Also the extra step with the punchcard seemed blah to me. Like, why even bother? When I tried to use the reader prior to adjusting the card, it doesn't tell me to do anything. At the very least, give a little something to denote that the card can have more done to it (on pick up or hover) to give the player some direction.
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Nice puzzle game really liked it. For contructive feedback, was stuck two times, first at the begining for the password. C'mon you supposed to get some items and solve some puzzles befor entering any passwords, this one was bit "too" obvious". Another time i got stuck was with the kog. Tryed every waterspot i could find... Also mystery of the toilet still bugs me out, cook leaves the kitchen when you cut the water off, but the person in toilet just keeps doing whatever you do in toilet. Dunno if the other rooms or the flys at the lamps are interactable through some easter eggy shennanigans, but so far havent found any way to interact with them.
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Thanks for the help although it seemed to only make me realize that I was stuck on something different instead. I didn't interact with the drink. The drink caused time to pass, getting rid of the owner, granting access to the office, that got me the keycard, etc. Before then the only thing that seemed doable was the orangery so I thought the code was some strange logic or something. If I hadn't been told the password was in a room I couldn't enter yet, I would probably still be searching for that clue... Other than that *facepalm* the only other issue I had with the game was I feel it made things WAY too obvious in places however I did still find it quite enjoyable. 4/5 for fun. Also I can't fully express my gratitude in words for a Dev actually responding to and helping a player. Sorry in advance for double posting, the length of the post and my rubbish socialization ability caused by my Asperger's. Note to other players: Don't miss the drink. ;)
No worries. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the game. It's hard trying to tread the line between difficult and hand-holding, but yeah, the drink puzzle is probably a bit obscure. Thanks for your feedback though, it's all useful.
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nice game, i went crazy trying to wipe that cog, tried the dishwasher, the water outlet, the leeves at the riverbank, would not have guessed i needed chemicals. Oh, and it says i used 0 hints during the game, were there any?
Thanks. The cog puzzle stumped a few people. Hints are available from the pause menu. I hid them there to prevent the temptation to keep checking for hints.
EDIT: Using the cog in the dishwasher is inspired. Perhaps I'll add something like it in a future episode!
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Ok, I'm stuck. I have the carpet roll, bamboo cane, pendant, toy boat and telescope. I found the portal, as well as how to destroy the spell. I haven't figured out how to interact with the spirits, and the grandfather clock in the lobby is still broken. What do I do?
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I can't open the door in the crypt (West). I have the carpet roll, Bamboo Cane, Pendant, Toy Boat, Dirty Cog, and Telescope. Anyone have an idea?
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Good game. Stuck for a long time until I found that i need to click the statue again after put it on the fireplace. And I wonder who is the person staring from the diningroom.
Thanks!. I agree that bit is maybe a bit difficult. The dining room thing was just added for a bit of horror/mystery. Perhaps I should have worked into the story somehow.