EraYachi

Ahahaha. Well, it does say 'old, empty lighter'. xD In the descrip, too. Here's a hint:

The process of getting my project topic moved to the Gaming Lounge has my head spinning. It says in the Gaming Room rules to report your game's topic to have it moved (and to NOT submit a duplicate topic), but in the Report section it gives you a strict warning to NOT use the Report method to communication with moderators for any reason except to report for questionable content. It's like being told to drive through an intersection only for traffic lights to stay red indefinitely. At the same time, in the rules + guidelines in the Submissions area, it says to specify the title of the game and 'Where to Move', i.e the Gaming Lounge or Masterpiece Theatre. Which is great! Except, I thought we weren't supposed to submit duplicate topics in Submissions just to have an existing game topic moved (instead we're supposed to report the topic or PM a moderator). Ultimately it seems like the best option is to just PM a moderator. I don't need my topic moved just yet, but it's gonna be very soon (likely before Monday). I feel the process of getting moved from The Showroom to Gaming Lounge (eventually Theatre) isn't clarified all that well. If reporting move requests is OK, perhaps adding an amendment to the Report function stating that move requests are exceptions? Or elaborate on the process of requesting a move in the Gaming Lounge rules?

@TheHarmp: Well! I rather enjoyed that! It would really suit a sci-fi game, but probably more of a title/credit song. The first 30 seconds or so make great map music, but the rest gets just a little too epic for a scene or map. Maybe an overworld theme? If you can make a version that's not as noisy (in a good way), it would definitely be more atmospheric. But it does make me want to dance. xD Anyway, here's an odd addition. No music for me, but I'm doing voice acting/voice manipulation for 1 of the characters in Inwards. The creepy little girl, to be precise. She's the only one with a voice (So far, and likely will be the only one with a voice for the entire game), namely because I can't afford to pay anyone but myself to voice act. Anyway! So this is a clip of Play talking to the main character, Liam, about Vincent, the tag-along teddy bear. It's me speaking into Audacity, cleaned up and altered to seem more young-girlish, naive + spooky. https://soundcloud.com/erayachi/voice-acting-sample-1-little Lemme know whatcha think. Too cheesy? Don't ask how I managed this. I make a good little girl apparently, something for which I am not...strictly proud of.

I'm not even gonna quote you, Corpy. That's a looooot of feedback. xD Man, learning all this from you guys has definitely given me lots of work with--I know how to improve and fix the game up now. Guess that's the point of a demo, right? I'm all giddy. xD Anyway. My response to the spoilerish-type stuff, so people don't get spoiled as to the puzzles and/or story. For anyone who's played the demo but isn't participating in discussion, feel free to read away And that concludes the spoilery discussion part of the spoilerish 45 minute demo. xD I'm going to change the first save option to just after the 20 second introduction to the controls, etc. That way, when people go poking around and die (most people do on that...certain dangerous thing...you know what I'm talking about), they only have to reload and continue, not wait through the unskippable commands. Whoo! Learning so much! I'M SO STOKED, MAN.

Vincent's not meant to be cute. He's meant to be funny, and a tad bit annoying. The real bonding between Vincent and 'the kid' starts right after this demo ends, actually, which is the point where the cuddly fuzzies start sinking in. It's too bad people won't get to see that part until full release. But really, you'd have to decide whether or not to trust Vincent--the entire game has toys going insane, after all. And yeah, I loved Ib. I took the 'instant death' inspiration from a few RPG horrors I've played/seen played, though I use a different item/puzzle solution mechanic. I truly loved the multiple ending idea from Ib as well, so I've got that too, but 5 instead of 2. There's one important moment in the game, a big decision that will impact the end, plus a lot of smaller built-in and optional choices (like looking at the Van Gogh painting in the lab) to make that affects the end as well. Gotta go with what people love. Yeah, that story in the library is kinda supposed to be a parallel to something else in the game...probably noticed. xD Thanks for that, though. Each chapter has a certain theme/story to it, and they get progressively darker, impact Liam's psyche as they go along...

Wow, thank you for the speedy feedback! I'm glad you told me about the save points. I made them glowy so people would investigate them, but I can definitely change it to a cutscene so people know to save. The insta-kills are only part of the game's death mechanic, the latter being a health mechanic which isn't implemented yet. Perhaps I should give warnings for when you're definitely gonna die, like in Ib? I tried to make it obvious as to when something is a BAD idea. A good example is the music boxes. You can avoid those deaths if you take the time to listen to the two music boxes in the girl's room and figure out the tunes, and what parts are missing (that's the puzzle part of the game). Instant death is your punishment for rushing decisions and not working through the problems, such as: So the instant deaths will stay, but I'll try to give a bit more warning. If you're stuck on the roped bottle part, you may not have *cough* read the books in the library and searched the room well enough. Yeah, I've found out what's wrong with that one room. The overlay for the parallax map didn't properly switch between the first and second rooms, so you're seeing the wrong overlay there. Sorry 'bout that. Easily fixed, though. I think I should've added a script to help with framerates. There are lag-reducing scripts out there--hard to test them though, with my good computer. >_> Sorry...

Added the first playable demo! I clocked in at around 25-30 minutes playtime, and I know all of the tricks/puzzles, so I breezed through it. New players should take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour unless you're a bonafide genius. Please provide feedback, and report any problems you're having, especially the technical ones. I'll help you if you get really stuck, but none of the actual puzzles so far are that difficult. For those afraid of horror games, I promise it's not too bad. If you like horror games, keep the volume up and turn off the lights. If you don't, then keep the lights on and keep the volume medium--or better yet, use speakers. The game is more creepy than it is horrifying.

Hmmmmm, okay. xD I'll just do that, then. Report the topic, I mean. Thanks Jonnie!

Not to pour water on your fire, but this is a common idea and it is completely possible to do through variables and eventing. I think it's a good system for any RPG, but it's bland if you just stick to 'Good saves the world, evil destroys it'. And good/bad decisions are all very subjective. I never did like the Fable alignment system as a result. It was just too black and white. If you use a mechanic like this, perhaps consider making it a reputation-based change? It would make more sense, unless your character is some kind of demi-god who can pick up a lifetime of new skills in the blink of an eye, just because they're 'good people'. For example, with a low reputation, the class changes to something that uses a lot of dirty dark magic and fighting techniques. High rep turns into something more paladin-type with white magic and shiny armour. Etc. Make two branches where the player can choose their new abilities at a certain part of the story, where the change becomes permanent.

Oi! Who're you calling a spoony bar---*looks over shoulder, sees a gaggle of bards playing music with spoons in the corner*--oh. Ahoy, there. Welcome! Seeya around. *rolls away*

Impressive! I do echo Allied, however, about the feet. The legs too, are very odd-shaped. It actually makes it look like her legs are on backwards. xD Additionally, her hands are quite small, even for the smallest-handed anime characters I've ever seen.So unless that's an artistic style uniform across all characters (Fire Emblem: Awakening tiny feet, anyone?), they're distractingly small. And finally, there's a very strange shaped gap under her left (our right) shoulder. I'd just eliminate the gap entirely. Love the colouring and shading work. Perhaps make a dark outline around the title text on the title screen? It's readable, but it looks kinda flat/bland/uninspiring. The picture is so full of contrasts, but the title is just...there. Bright red.

No, I was really happy to see such extensive feedback. I've taken some pretty hardcore art classes; half my electives in high school were art, and I graduated from College with an Art & Design Foundations certificate. If I haven't learned how to take constructive criticism by now, I'm a failure as an artists. My biggest hangup with this picture is trying to go from realism to anime/manga style. I'm not shabby at drawing the human figure ,but cartoony/anime proportions and body figure tend to fit a certain standard that I can't replicate; I'm pretty much just gonna give up on it and develop a more Dinsey-esque, western cartoony look since that conforms a little better to the anatomy lessons I've ingested regularly (if you see my avatar, that's something I did as a teenager; its' sentimental to me). I've never been able to really do crossed arms properly, so thanks for all the tips The real work for the cutscenes is yet to begin.... Yeah, that background really isn't meant to be permanent. I wanted black to make their contract 'pop', but a pure black background just made it seem to flat and depthless. The tiles are there to give it scene. If I choose to use the image, it'll get a new BG entirely or just be a promo image/no BG.

When I gotta de-stress, I crack out the ol' tablet and make some concept and/or game art based on my horror-adventure game's two main characters Drawing humans in any style isn't my stongest suit, but this's probably the most accurate one of Liam, the teen. Crosshatching is a style I'm just learning, but if ya haven't noticed, the entire style of Inwards is kinda scratchy/crosshatchy (crosshatch being a style of shading using crossed lines, for those who don't yet know). If you wanna know more about the game, check out my signature. Gonna need like 20 more of these for the promo and in-game art, but that's another day, another dollar. TO THE BAR! I mean, to the....yeah, the bar. Let's go. (Pick 'er apart, people,)

You could be new here, or an old-timer, but wouldn't it be nice to elaborate on that little "RM Skill" section under your avatar? Let people to get to know you a little better as a game designer. You could have skills that no one knows about, but everyone has at least one area 'under construction'. In the theory side of things, I was thinking of throwing an idea out there--what about a topic where people (who volunteer their info) list their strength and weak spots, like a Granny's List for skills? Then people can reference the list to see who needs help in their 'weak' areas, and those who are exceptionally skilled. That 'RM Skill' tag is incredibly vague, after all. It can also help slingshot newcomers to a place where they get to know other members, at least on a skill-by-skill basis. Anyway, that's food for thought. I'll start with myself, though I'm about as mysterious as a hungry seagull. StrengthI want to say art direction. I do; I'm good at developing my own artistic style and I'm a decent artist. That includes parallax mapping. In fact, it's almost even with my top strength. But realistically, my greatest strength is creative writing. Narrative, to be exact, and directing the flow of a fictional environment from its 'hard-to-not-love-them' characters to its unique placement in a fantastical setting. Story pacing, plot twists--let's not list it all; suffice to say I can make a scene. And that covers just about any genre, except romance. I'm the George Lucas of romance. It goes right over my head. I break peoples' hearts when I try. Weakness-sigh- Mechanics. Specifically, battle mechanics and stats. The dry work, with formulas and numbers, and all that jazz. This actually includes scripting. I'm good at eventing, but I'm of the one-touch-type breed when it comes to scripting. It is, and forever will be, my ultimate weakness. I'm capable of incorporating other users' scripts into my game and executing the instructions, but that's as far as I get. If you want brilliant boss battles and nitpicked combat systems, you shouldn't ask me. I break peoples' hearts when I try. So, got anything to share? It's all right to admit you're good, and all right to admit you suck at something. If you think you're not good at anything, re-evaluate. There are TONS of skills you might not think apply. Even if you can tell a crappy episode of Bones apart from a good one, then you possess knowledge of story direction you may not be aware of.

(cough)I was offering it to The Doctor(cough) I mean, uh...um.... Tea? *pours tea for Kaz* Don't ban me please. I am full of love and music.

*politely applauds* 'Tis a fine name, sir. Crumpet?

Thanks for the critique, guys. :3 As for Liam's head, Laki, I'm toast at drawing anime style hair unless I'm using at least 5 references. I think several different manga characters' hair styles went into that monstrosity. Been practicing digital painting with limited success, so here's an unfinished (probably won't ever have a complete background) coloured version. Haven't gotten around to fixing all of the suggested areas of improvement, but it's a workin progress. Enough work, and this could be the 'cover' of the game, so-to-speak. Pretty happy with Vincent's progress, Liam's driving me nuts.

I vote "The Sound Stage" or "The Sound Lounge", because it's a place for sounds as well as music. Anything that would fit in the audio folder of a project, basically, yes?

YES! YES, that GAME. The Longest Journey was an amazing game except for some of its silliest puzzles that made no sense. I had to get a guide after figuring out only half that puzzle. Anyway.... Adventure games use the inventory system as a chunk of its backbone; it's actually what kind of defines an adventure game. The key, like you said, is to be inventive with the puzzles and items and don't make it completely inconspicuous as to what needs to be done. For that reason, I have an optional 'hint' mechanism in Inwards, via a certain talking teddy bear.I'm playing a mobile game right now called "Escape" or something, which is a pretty shabby 'look for items and use them to escape' game, and 75% of the time, it makes no sense. "I have to use a screwdriver to open up the bread?" "Really!?" Generic Switch Flipping Flip Switches A + B + C in the right order, but one switch turns off two others, and another turns on a third! These kinds of puzzles are impressive in its own way, because it takes a fairly skilled eventer to make a complex one, but the fact that they're in pretty much every single RPG I've ever played is just...tedious. I don't feel challenged solving one of these switch puzzles, especially when there's no sound reason for it being there. Okay, a very old temple guarding something...might have some kinda Indiana Jones-like puzzle like this to solve it, but if you're gonna use one, don't put it on the front gate of somebody's mansion...or as a way to enter some top-secret high security lab. Or don't use 'em at all, or use 'em but spice it up a bit by combining this kinda puzzle with another.

You can also just edit them in GIMP or photoshop. Scale the 128x128 portraits down to fit a 96x96 grid and then re-import them to the Faces graphic folder, so you get the full head + shoulders in the restricted 96x96 slot. Probably can do it in just regular paint, too, but I imagine it would be less easy without a grid and/or 'snap to grid' option.