I especially like the idea of magic as a kind of "language". You have to study it to know how it works in order to use it effectively. I guess that's the difference between sorcery and wizardry. The ancient civilisations might have used this language, and now only remnants can be found.
This is what I was trying to get it, though I probably shouldn't try to write while tired. (─ ‿ ─)
You put it really beautifully.
Yes, that would be incredibly helpful!
I'm not opposed to combat in games or anything, I mean, I've played a lot of Trepang2 recently!
But combat in these tends to feel 'floaty,' for lack of a better word.
And I think you could proooobably iron that out, but it feels like a very long term goal.
One that might involve fighting Luanti as much as making it work with you.
I'm divided on what else I'd do. Part of me thinks that gathering and uniting the various people, creatures, monsters into our world would be cool.
But I'm just a monster fan, I see a weird little goblin and I'm like, "come live in my terrible hut made from three twigs and some glowroot," ahaha... xD
For now, I think 'attacks generally have an arc or area to them' would really help. You're kind of at the mercy of worldgen -
I had to really struggle to find clay -
So you're going to run into enemies, more likely than not.
Anyway. I actually have a question for you, but only if you have time.
Does the mention of the various species have a greater impact on the world when we arrive -
Or is it mostly planned to be something that influences the ruins we find?
Also, I really like the design philosophy in the Design Doc.
If those are your plans for combat, I absolutely love the vague plan - even more, I love your thoughts on magic.
I've always felt it should feel 'different powerful.'
Maybe a staff creates a geyser that explodes every enemy around you... Once, and then does nothing (besides serve as a cane).
Maybe a ring creates three golden berries a day, but... You can't eat them, they're not made of real gold, and it never stops making them.
Maybe a small leaf creates a soothing musical cue at unpredictable times... And also explodes an overwhelmingly powerful enemy -
But you can't figure out how or why, let alone how to duplicate the effect.
Regardless, really like the design documentation and plans - I'll be coming back from time to time, for sure!
Also, it's surprising and very neat to have the dev, themselves, responding.
Hopefully my reviews were useful and never felt too arbitrary, themselves!
Anyway, since I've played this one a fair bit more, let me do my best to answer.
Partially, because there are certain level designs where you want to be doing...
I don't know if I'd call it 'parkour,' but making use of the environment geometry to explore.
Whether it's jumping down concrete stairs after a running start -
Or sprinting near the poolside because you aren't sure when you're going to have to wade through water.
But I appreciate it a bit more, having played farther; if I had to change anything about it, it'd be alternating the breathing a bit.
Having a few different kinds of wheezing that space themselves out to indicate strain, more.
That said, some of the areas really do benefit from it, especially on backtracking.
For a game where nothing is explicitly out to get you, the sensation that something could is really strong, here.
And when you're using the flashlight and sprinting... Yeah, it absolutely forced me to do a double-take, and start thinking.
I think it achieves your goals most when you make it through an alley or corridor, and find yourself in a surprisingly open area!
Naturally, these are only my thoughts. ^^ A lot of people are going to have different takes on what works and what doesn't -
Sticking to your plans is the most important thing. But I hope it helped provide food for thought!
(I really love area 84 and 167, by the way. Just an incredible sense of weight, while also feeling cosy.
There's an old adaption of There Will Come Soft Rains it reminded me of, while also feeling entirely it's own thing.
I believe you also intended to capture some of Shoujo no Shuumatsu Ryokou in 167, well, I felt it -
Again, without it feeling derivative. Uh, what else... Thank you for not adding almond water...
From the bottom of my heart... :P )
This is a beautiful, melancholic game.
I can only really complain that the combat threw me out of it, and isn't for me.
Some things are beautiful, finished or no. I knew instantly you were the author of the other piece I reviewed, ahaha.
Please continue to work at this, at your own pace, for however long the ideas interest you.
This feels, in the best way, like a dream simulator of the author that just happens to involve the Backrooms.
It reminds as much of LSD: The Dream Simulator and the various Yume Nikki fan-games as it does the above.
Comparing something to something else is the least useful praise anyone can give, though. So, here's why you might like it.
If you like wandering around and feeling lost, this may be for you.
And it may be for you if you aren't that interested in inventory management or puzzles, but are interested in urban exploration.
You might like it if you keep your own dream journal, and like reading those of others.
If you do like the Backrooms and how convoluted it is, you might also like this! Just go in understanding that it's not bound to every idea the thing has.
My only real regret is that the running speed feels anemic and there aren't too many sounds, but...
The protagonist does have a very limited, very repeated breathing sound that starts immediately on running.
Given that's my biggest complaint, I think that's a fine place to close on. I look forward to seeing what ideas the authors has in the future, too.
Posted here, because reviews have the same exhausting character limit as the rest of the site -
And I think breaking reviews into two separate chunks is probably worse form than long-form 'comments.'
Regardless, I'm not generally a Minecraft/clone player, often; some of the things I may notice may be a given, in these games.
That said, while trying to get a different one working, I stumbled on this and thought I'd try it 'for a laugh.'
Well, time passed and I wanted to share why I loved it.
No enemies exist here, there are no forced jumpscares, there is no combat.
You can choose to add in some survival elements, but they relate to the feeling of the author's intent...
Rather than existing because of increasingly convoluted worldbuilding, where one person suggested a monster or monsters -
And then others needed to introduce their anti-monster task force, and an increasing arms-race of elements that, frankly?
Just aren't for me. Instead...
There are corridors going nowhere; there are incredibly small alleyways that are a mistake to explore.
You can wonder around and find the 'right' path to another area, or it might not exist, or it might just take you somewhere else.
And there are recognisable places, but there also - far more importantly to me, many that feel personal to the author.
I often think of the Backrooms as the worst of collaborative fiction; something that has taken on so many ideas from so many authors, that...
In the end, it's become a soup, where even the elements that individually appeal feel burdened down by wikis and videos and pointless natter.
All (Parenthetical) sub-components of e.g. Roads, Technic
Basic Materials and Items (throws orange errors on EVERYTHING when loaded in)
Biome Info AP (seems more for mod development than player use, but might be useful for me later)
i3 (See basic materials/items, seems to conflict with everything; pity as it looks most functional as an inventory mod)
More Trees (Ibid, throws up huge amounts of errors which is a pity because making an arboretum sounded fun)
Pipeworks (Everything to do with basic materials seems cursed?)
Techage Modpack (I'm assuming this would play fine with Asuna if JUST Asuna and it were loaded.)
If everything is enabled, I get many errors mentiong XCompat and Basic Materials, but no user-readable way of figuring what or why.
With my current above +Enabled+ Loadout, I get a 'nil value' at stairsplus despite only having green notifications.
Fair, mod interplay can be that way.
Disabling more blocks (it is impossible to disable just stairsplus) then causes an error in Asuna's 'Carpets' module...
Which there is no way to disable.
I've tried disabling the on-load notifications in the options, but the error persists.
Removing just more blocks/stairs plus gives this error:
An Error Occurred in a Lua Script:
ModError: Failed to load and run script from C:\Games\Luanti\games\asuna\mods\carpets\init.lua:
C:\Games\Luanti\games\asuna\mods\carpets/api.lua:33: attempt to index local 'material_def' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
C:\Games\Luanti\games\asuna\mods\carpets/api.lua:33: in function 'register'
C:\Games\Luanti\games\asuna\mods\carpets\init.lua:24: in main chunk
Check debug.txt for details.
Hopefully this helps you or someone else figure the problem out down the line.
Thank you kindly for your time and hard work.
I gave in and downloaded Luanti just to try this; it looks amazing.
That said, I like my experiences as vast as possible, and I dislike adding mods or content packs after game start.
So, I went down the list of optional mods - some of which aren't even present on the site anymore -
Assuming I'd at least be able to load into the game.
Unfortunately, no dice!
Here, just for posterity's sake, are the mods I have currently enabled:
This is what I was trying to get it, though I probably shouldn't try to write while tired. (─ ‿ ─) You put it really beautifully.
Yes, that would be incredibly helpful! I'm not opposed to combat in games or anything, I mean, I've played a lot of Trepang2 recently!
But combat in these tends to feel 'floaty,' for lack of a better word.
And I think you could proooobably iron that out, but it feels like a very long term goal.
One that might involve fighting Luanti as much as making it work with you.
I'm divided on what else I'd do. Part of me thinks that gathering and uniting the various people, creatures, monsters into our world would be cool.
But I'm just a monster fan, I see a weird little goblin and I'm like, "come live in my terrible hut made from three twigs and some glowroot," ahaha... xD
For now, I think 'attacks generally have an arc or area to them' would really help. You're kind of at the mercy of worldgen - I had to really struggle to find clay - So you're going to run into enemies, more likely than not.
Anyway. I actually have a question for you, but only if you have time. Does the mention of the various species have a greater impact on the world when we arrive - Or is it mostly planned to be something that influences the ruins we find?
Also, I really like the design philosophy in the Design Doc.
If those are your plans for combat, I absolutely love the vague plan - even more, I love your thoughts on magic.
I've always felt it should feel 'different powerful.'
Maybe a staff creates a geyser that explodes every enemy around you... Once, and then does nothing (besides serve as a cane). Maybe a ring creates three golden berries a day, but... You can't eat them, they're not made of real gold, and it never stops making them.
Maybe a small leaf creates a soothing musical cue at unpredictable times... And also explodes an overwhelmingly powerful enemy - But you can't figure out how or why, let alone how to duplicate the effect.
Regardless, really like the design documentation and plans - I'll be coming back from time to time, for sure!
Ooooh, I see!
Also, it's surprising and very neat to have the dev, themselves, responding.
Hopefully my reviews were useful and never felt too arbitrary, themselves! Anyway, since I've played this one a fair bit more, let me do my best to answer.
Partially, because there are certain level designs where you want to be doing... I don't know if I'd call it 'parkour,' but making use of the environment geometry to explore.
Whether it's jumping down concrete stairs after a running start -
Or sprinting near the poolside because you aren't sure when you're going to have to wade through water.
But I appreciate it a bit more, having played farther; if I had to change anything about it, it'd be alternating the breathing a bit.
Having a few different kinds of wheezing that space themselves out to indicate strain, more.
That said, some of the areas really do benefit from it, especially on backtracking.
For a game where nothing is explicitly out to get you, the sensation that something could is really strong, here. And when you're using the flashlight and sprinting... Yeah, it absolutely forced me to do a double-take, and start thinking.
I think it achieves your goals most when you make it through an alley or corridor, and find yourself in a surprisingly open area!
Naturally, these are only my thoughts. ^^ A lot of people are going to have different takes on what works and what doesn't - Sticking to your plans is the most important thing. But I hope it helped provide food for thought!
(I really love area 84 and 167, by the way. Just an incredible sense of weight, while also feeling cosy. There's an old adaption of There Will Come Soft Rains it reminded me of, while also feeling entirely it's own thing.
I believe you also intended to capture some of Shoujo no Shuumatsu Ryokou in 167, well, I felt it - Again, without it feeling derivative. Uh, what else... Thank you for not adding almond water...
From the bottom of my heart... :P )
Again, not a habitual Minecrafttester.
This is a beautiful, melancholic game.
I can only really complain that the combat threw me out of it, and isn't for me.
Some things are beautiful, finished or no. I knew instantly you were the author of the other piece I reviewed, ahaha. Please continue to work at this, at your own pace, for however long the ideas interest you.
The music is quite nice, too. Cheers!..
This feels, in the best way, like a dream simulator of the author that just happens to involve the Backrooms.
It reminds as much of LSD: The Dream Simulator and the various Yume Nikki fan-games as it does the above.
Comparing something to something else is the least useful praise anyone can give, though. So, here's why you might like it.
If you like wandering around and feeling lost, this may be for you.
And it may be for you if you aren't that interested in inventory management or puzzles, but are interested in urban exploration.
You might like it if you keep your own dream journal, and like reading those of others.
If you do like the Backrooms and how convoluted it is, you might also like this! Just go in understanding that it's not bound to every idea the thing has.
My only real regret is that the running speed feels anemic and there aren't too many sounds, but... The protagonist does have a very limited, very repeated breathing sound that starts immediately on running.
Given that's my biggest complaint, I think that's a fine place to close on. I look forward to seeing what ideas the authors has in the future, too.
Posted here, because reviews have the same exhausting character limit as the rest of the site - And I think breaking reviews into two separate chunks is probably worse form than long-form 'comments.'
Regardless, I'm not generally a Minecraft/clone player, often; some of the things I may notice may be a given, in these games.
That said, while trying to get a different one working, I stumbled on this and thought I'd try it 'for a laugh.'
Well, time passed and I wanted to share why I loved it.
No enemies exist here, there are no forced jumpscares, there is no combat.
You can choose to add in some survival elements, but they relate to the feeling of the author's intent...
Rather than existing because of increasingly convoluted worldbuilding, where one person suggested a monster or monsters -
And then others needed to introduce their anti-monster task force, and an increasing arms-race of elements that, frankly? Just aren't for me. Instead...
There are corridors going nowhere; there are incredibly small alleyways that are a mistake to explore.
You can wonder around and find the 'right' path to another area, or it might not exist, or it might just take you somewhere else.
And there are recognisable places, but there also - far more importantly to me, many that feel personal to the author.
I often think of the Backrooms as the worst of collaborative fiction; something that has taken on so many ideas from so many authors, that...
In the end, it's become a soup, where even the elements that individually appeal feel burdened down by wikis and videos and pointless natter.
What I have installed but not enabled:
If everything is enabled, I get many errors mentiong XCompat and Basic Materials, but no user-readable way of figuring what or why. With my current above +Enabled+ Loadout, I get a 'nil value' at stairsplus despite only having green notifications.
Fair, mod interplay can be that way.
Disabling more blocks (it is impossible to disable just stairsplus) then causes an error in Asuna's 'Carpets' module... Which there is no way to disable.
I've tried disabling the on-load notifications in the options, but the error persists.
Removing just more blocks/stairs plus gives this error:
Hopefully this helps you or someone else figure the problem out down the line. Thank you kindly for your time and hard work.
I gave in and downloaded Luanti just to try this; it looks amazing. That said, I like my experiences as vast as possible, and I dislike adding mods or content packs after game start.
So, I went down the list of optional mods - some of which aren't even present on the site anymore - Assuming I'd at least be able to load into the game.
Unfortunately, no dice!
Here, just for posterity's sake, are the mods I have currently enabled:
More below the cut.