Four Eyes [FULL GAME NOW AVAILABLE]

[Nexofficial 13]

Hi Whiona ! I liked the game even though it was short ! Your dialogues and general ambiance are really good ! I really liked the first puzzle (and how every item had an event page for each clue). The music was really catchy too ! I liked it ! I noticed a little bug though, on the planet just after the first cave, if you switch maps and go immediately left or right it'll switch maps again, might wanna fix this. It's as simple as putting a conditional branch that says : Character facing down or up depending on the context. Anyway, good luck with your game I'm sure the final version will be a blast ! :3

[PowerBurger 49]

@Whiona

 

Indeed, that complaint was immensely vitally crucial. I'm glad you acknowledged it, hehe. 

 

I'll go over your individual replies, albeit briefly if you don't mind. I don't want to hog the whole thread, after all. 

 

I ended up enjoying the talking beeps over time. While they broke the immersion at first, at the end of the game I could barely hear them. Perhaps they could be a little quieter? Just a little though, haha.

 

We are still trying to figure out parallax mapping on our end, and to be honest, we've decided to put it off for the time being. Too much work for our schedules to handle, and it's not completely necessary right now, so we'd rather focus our time on other things. Enough about our game though, I love the effect your parallax mapping has with the spaceship! It's smooth as heck!

 

Toa's definitely against his own race, he's made that much clear. Hmm... this could be good...

 

Yeah, you did a fantastic job of making Jett's better qualities his more subtle ones. His shining moments pop out more as the game progresses. They're visible almost right away, but you have to sort of look for them, as he's very much a dork. I suppose I'm sort of an analyst in that regard, haha.

 

Irene's sassiness is similar to a character of mine, actually. It's my own personal project that I really need to get back to, but can't bring myself to continue. 

 

I'm glad you enjoyed that little video I threw in there! As I was writing this thread, I just had the idea of, "I'M GONNA USE JONTRON, MEHEHE!!!" 

 

Admittedly, when I was younger, I was against homosexuality. It was the way I was brought up, you know? It's definitely a positive in our society when one can see an implied relationship between two men in a videogame and find it cute, rather than freaking out. You honestly did a great job characterizing their relationship without making it too obvious at first. Then, well, IRENE.   

 

Personally, I would have voted for Jett in the poll. Just sayin'.

 

Isn't that the bit where Jett tries to brute-force the rock and hurts himself? XD

 

And yup, Ib has a similar system later on in the game! The way that game does it is slightly more complex, but I'm sure you'll find a way. Honestly, your swap mechanic has serious potential. 

 

Ooh, that'd be a pretty nice role for Irene to get into. "What? You need my help AGAIN? Didn't they make you the captain for a reason, Jett?"

 

Yup. 1234. Because that's totally not an obvious passcode. 

 

Hmm... perhaps you could combine some elements of puzzles? Try adding in the time limit aspect to the rock-pushing, for example. 

 

By all means, feel free to ask me for any ideas! I'd need a little reference to what the characters are actually doing, of course. I enjoy creating puzzles, as they feel like puzzles to create! Most of the puzzles in Legacy, the ones that don't have a focus on dialogue, are my doing. That doesn't sound like much, admittedly, but I've been redesigning the dungeons in general. Trust me, they'll look much cleaner and developed. 

 

Truth be told, an actual critic would give you a 7 or a 7.5 I believe. That's still amazing in my book. Although now that I think about it... your game gets a 7.8/10. Too much Jett. ^-^

Edited August 16, 2016 by PowerBurger

[Whiona 310]

@NexOfficial: Thanks so much for your feedback and for catching that oversight! I'll be sure to fix those transfers. Glad you enjoyed the dialogue and atmosphere!

 

@PowerBurger: I'm feeling a bit too lazy right now to go through each of your individual responses, but basically I appreciate all of it! Thanks again for the detailed feedback! And I could see about making the talking bleeps a little quieter - you're right that they are a bit on the loud side.

[PowerBurger 49]

Want to know why it took me a full 2 days to make that response? Laziness as well. Anything less than a detailed response wouldn't sit right with me, and I just didn't feel like doing one at the time. Heck, I had to force myself to start it. =P

 

In no way did that affect the response though, everything I said is genuine. 

Edited August 16, 2016 by PowerBurger

[+ JuJu 73]

I finally had a day off work to play the demo and finish it, and I'm already ready for more! It's such a good game! I have to admit, the (3rd?) puzzle stumped me (with the arrows) for about ten minutes, until I realized all at once what I was supposed to do. It gave me something I hadn't felt in a long time: A thrill to have figured out the answer, along with a little chuckle at myself for being so clueless about it. I actually stopped and had a small thought about I don't get that from puzzles anymore. Most of them are either entirely too obvious or you get too many hints on how to beat it, so it's not as fun. I'm really happy that this game gave me a bit of brain work to do and gave me that feeling of reward when I figured it out. Kudos to you for that! 

 

Also, I think even though Toa is supposed to be mysterious, I relate to him the most. Sleeping, reading, stargazing? That sounds like my kind of alien! I do like Irene, too. She reminds me of one of my bosses, who's never seen without his faithful coffee cup. Hahaha. 

 

Anyway, it's a great game and I can't wait until the full version so that I can sit and play it more! 

[Whiona 310]

Oh wow, thank you so much!! I'm really glad that you had that experience with my puzzles, because I mostly had no idea what I was doing. :'D

 

It's nice to see some love for Toa! He seems to be the least popular character for now - but that makes sense, since you don't really get to know him that well in the demo. I did try to give him some relatable qualities to make him seem more approachable to Jett despite his mysteriousness, so I'm glad that came across.

 

Once again, thank you! I'm working away and hope to have the full version out by the end of the month, if all goes well.

[Whiona 310]

Hi all! While the full version unfortunately isn't finished yet like I had wanted, I've done a few things over the course of this month:

• Designing and eventing the steps necessary to achieve the secret ending
• Endgame cutscene eventing
• NPC dialogue and eventing
• CG art – as it stands, an endgame cutscene I’m working on just has some colouring left to go
• Minor fixes, like repositioning Irene’s bust in some events

Sorry for the short bullet point update. The stuff I've been doing is mainly in spoiler territory, so as much as I’d love to show some more screenshots, I kinda can’t.

[Whiona 310]

Hey guys! Apologies for my absence as of late! I am still working hard on this game and wanted to share my October progress with you all. Also, sorry in advance for the slightly ginormous screenshots; my laptop screen is set to 200% zoom and I was too lazy to adjust it before taking these, haha. I'll pop them under spoilers so as to not stretch the page too much.

 

The major thing that I've made headway on this month is the hint system. You may or may not have noticed in the demo that, after crashing the escape shuttle, Jett receives a comm transmitter. This didn’t do anything in the demo, but now, selecting it from the item menu…

 

 

 

 

 

 

…will allow Jett to call Irene and ask for guidance on the current puzzle. An invisible value tracks the player’s progress in the game so that Irene will display the correct dialogue for whatever point they happen to have reached. Jett also explains to her what it is he’s trying to do before she offers her advice, just in case the player steps away from the game for a while and forgets what they were doing last time. For that reason, I decided to get rid of the journal system; a couple of lines of dialogue from Jett can serve as a refresher for what you were up to, so there’s no point in me spending all the time and effort necessary to flesh out the journal.

 

Sometimes, Irene will be friendly when helping you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and other times, in true Irene fashion, she’ll insult Jett for needing her help - particularly when the player isn't actually in the middle of a puzzle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for my other progress, I also finished that CG I mentioned last time, and I’m working on the final couple of puzzles. Both are planned out at this point and one of them is partway through eventing. There’s an unexpected twist to one of them that I hope players will enjoy! It makes use of the character-switching system in a different way. Once those are done, I’ll have one more sprite to make, plus the epilogues for both the normal and secret endings.

 

This game has taken me far longer than I had hoped to finish it, but the end is within sight. As always, I appreciate everyone's patience and support!

Edited November 3, 2016 by Whiona

[Rinoazelda 287]

Nice to see this game is still being worked on. I will record another LP of this (remember my last one had no sound  and crashed and I've been busy with my game).

Edited November 3, 2016 by Kirimash ♪

[Tsarmina 2,612]

The last screenshot killed me HAHA. Gotta love ireneeee~ I need to play this game!! As soon as break comes around this is on the top of my list Whiona I'm sure I'll love itttt.

[Whiona 310]

Thank you both for your support!! I look forward to hearing what you think!

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Whiona!! I got around to playing the demo, and I'm sooo glad I did!!! *w* Definitely one of the best demos I've EVER played. The characters interactions are all super interesting and full of flavour--each character has such a distinct personality! Toa is so cute, haha. Jett x Toa is OTP goals. I love it when Irene calls, too. She's the best XD 

 

Puzzle games are my favorite games since I kind of suck at battling, so this was perfect for me! Nothing was too hard, but it wasn't too easy, either. Even the first puzzle already got my brain working! You're such a natural at developing and balancing these sorts of things. ^w^ The switching system is also perfect. I always wanted to make a game like that, and seeing such a great example of it makes me scream. hahaa ^u^

 

I can't wait for the full! The art is super cute, the characters are absolutely wonderful, the plot begins to thicken, the gameplay is just the right level, and the musssssicccc I love the Nightingale song XD 

[raymi100 291]

Hi, Whiona! I finally got around to checking out your demo. I have to say, I really, really loved it It was tons of fun, although the puzzles were a bit frustrating at first XD Here's a list of my pros and cons:

 

PROS

- Stunning artwork

- Interesting storyline

- Unique characters with their own distinct personalities

- Great soundtrack

- Unique and interesting puzzles (That first one really had me stumped! It took me ages to figure it out!)

- Entertaining dialogue 

- Beautiful choice of tilesets

- Beautiful mapping

 

CONS

- I really only had one con, and it's that some of the puzzles seemed too easy. I'd elaborate, but I don't want to risk spoiling something for people who haven't played it You can shoot me a PM if you'd like more details, though  

 

OVERALL

- The game was great. I loved nearly everything about it, and I can tell you put a lot of hard work into it. Let me just say, it definitely paid off I look forward to the full version! Keep up the good work

[Whiona 310]

 

Hi everybody!! This project is still alive and the full version will release this Valentine's Day! Sorry it took me so much longer than expected, and thanks for your patience.

 

And now for my uber-delayed replies...SORRY GUYS...

 

Tsarmina: Yay, I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the demo! <3 It's really flattering to hear that it's one of the best you've played - thank you so much! I'm especially glad that the characters grabbed your interest, since they were the focus for me as I worked on this. Haha, Irene's calls were a little polarizing...most people liked her, but there were a couple of LPers who didn't LOL. She has an expanded role in the full version, though. I love the Nightingale music, too!! It's by Joel Steudler, so all credit goes to him.

 

Raymi: Thank you so much for all of the feedback, Raymi, and I'm so glad you liked the game!! I've never had my artwork described as "stunning" before, so that feels really great. ;v; I definitely flubbed up by having the first puzzle be the hardest one in the demo, whoops...designing puzzles turned out to be way harder than I expected. I'll be sure to shoot you a PM for more specific puzzle feedback. Hopefully I can apply some of your thoughts in the time I have left before the full version comes out! (Now I'm really kicking myself for leaving the forums for so long.)

[Whiona 310]

Four Eyes full version now available on itch.io!
 

 

Well...it's here. I'm an absolute bundle of nerves right now, but the game is done and out there.

To everyone who cheered me on as I (slowly) completed my first-ever full release, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Making games has been a longtime dream of mine, and it means so much to me that people are supporting me now that I'm putting my work out there.

I sincerely hope you all enjoy the full version! Please let me know what you think. I hope this is only the first of many full games to come for Opal Starlight. I might make a longer post with more thoughts about it later, but for now I just want to go calm down, haha.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! Have a wonderful day with the people you care about. â¤

Edited February 14, 2017 by Whiona

[Tsarmina 2,612]

Congrats on a full release, Whiona!!!! >w<  This is really something that deserves praise, especially for such a beautiful and well-rounded game!! \o/ 

[lonequeso 1,921]

*sigh* I'm going to have to find time to play this now...  

[Whiona 310]

Congrats on a full release, Whiona!!!! >w<  This is really something that deserves praise, especially for such a beautiful and well-rounded game!! \o/ 

 

Thank you so much, Tsarmina!! You're too sweet. <3 I can't wait to see releases from you in the future!

 

*sigh* I'm going to have to find time to play this now...  

 

Hahaha, only if you want to! Either way, I appreciate you lending your support.

[Tsarmina 2,612]

 

Thank you so much, Tsarmina!! You're too sweet. <3 I can't wait to see releases from you in the future!

 

 Ha...haha....;w; Don't expect one anytime soon! XD

[Whiona 310]

 

 

Thank you so much, Tsarmina!! You're too sweet. <3 I can't wait to see releases from you in the future!

 

 Ha...haha....;w; Don't expect one anytime soon! XD

 

 

Haha, don't worry, I completely understand. Games are REALLY hard work!! Four Eyes is only two and a half hours on average and it took me half a year. But whenever you do finish one, or even put a demo out, I'll be first in line to download it, believe me. <3

[PowerBurger 49]

Is that the full version of Four Eyes I see?!

 

...

 

Someone might be downloading it this weekend.

 

That someone may or may not be PowerBurger. 

 

It's probably him. Might be me, you never know.

 

im so excited!!!

[Whiona 310]

Is that the full version of Four Eyes I see?!

 

...

 

Someone might be downloading it this weekend.

 

That someone may or may not be PowerBurger. 

 

It's probably him. Might be me, you never know.

 

im so excited!!!

 

Yay!!! I sincerely hope you enjoy it!!

[lonequeso 1,921]

Downloading this! 

 

I played the first little level. I really like the way you write dialogue. Your character's have interesting and entertaining personalities, and the text effects really help bring out emotion. That 1st puzzle was clever, too.

 

I'm looking forward to playing this through 

 

I donated some monies, too. I hope a lot more people do. Or just one more, but they donate a million dollars. 

Edited February 16, 2017 by lonequeso

[Whiona 310]

Downloading this! 

 

I played the first little level. I really like the way you write dialogue. Your character's have interesting and entertaining personalities, and the text effects really help bring out emotion. That 1st puzzle was clever, too.

 

I'm looking forward to playing this through 

 

I donated some monies, too. I hope a lot more people do. Or just one more, but they donate a million dollars. 

 

AW WHAT THE HECK, THANK YOU FOR THE DONATION!! :')))) That's so nice of you!!! I didn't have the donation feature set up at first but somebody requested that I turn it on and I'm kind of astounded that kind folks like you are actually using it...

 

I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying the game so far! Thanks for your feedback!! Dialogue is my absolute favourite thing to write, so I'm really, really glad that you like it. <3

[lonequeso 1,921]

I like writing dialogue, too. If there's going to be a lot of talking, you'd better be able to make it interesting.