I have tried it on my CRT tv and it honestly looks good, the aspect ratio is a bit messed up because its 4:3 and not 16:9, but I made it worked. One day I will find a way to play it on my 14yr old CRT TV. One day.....
The shadow chase scene after going to the woods and talking about loneliness and the spark of hope flickering away is far, far too difficult. I've only gotten to the tar-water once or twice out of at least ten attempts, and never further. I understand that some games are difficult on purpose, which is part of their appeal, but I didn't expect a game like this to require frame-perfect key-smashing and navigation. I can't learn from the experience because it seems whether the hands grab you when they're close is random. I'm growing increasingly frustrated at what feels like an artificial roadblock that no amount of retries can fix.
I've tried running diagonally, continuously. I've tried running diagonally, in a twitchy, down then right, down then right, sort of way. I've tried walking, I've tried going in the opposite direction. I've tried boosting Charlie's mood prior to the sequence's start. If some method of running is slightly faster than the other, some NPC ought to tell the player as much.
For it to be fair, and not just a matter of luck, the hands need to be slightly slower or one method needs to be dependably faster. I'd rather play this as intended, and not just watch a playthrough, but if there's no way to get past those hands, I'll have to watch playthrough.
Hiya, this is problem of unaothrized apps for MACOS. People are reporting that each Mac may need other way to open Oddventure. Hopefully will upload the Mac version to Steam, too so this should remove the problem of MacOS being picky...
Okay... so this is insanely freaky. BTW I HAD AN INCREDIBLE BLAST PLAYING THE DEMO, but i got a big story. So I swear I've dreamt of this exact game more than two years ago, and ive gotten a massive shock if deja vu playing it. I remember vividly in my dream that the very mechanic of the battles were based around emotions and that mood affects your battles. I also remembered that one of the character's fighting was named Bonzo... and I swear it looked so much like the battle sequences. So yeah, i had to create an account just to share my story... thank you :]
Please use RPG Maker's control scheme for the keyboard controls. Placing Confirm, Cancel, and Menu so far apart is torture. An auto-run feature would also be appreciated.
I think it would be a good idea to get an English proofreader, if you don't have one already. I noticed a lot of grammar errors, some of which made the game very confusing.
As for the game itself, I like the concept of the battle system, but I felt I was thrown into it too quickly, even with the tutorial frog. You have to juggle multiple different resources all while considering how you want to approach each fight, and there's no free healing like in most RPGs, so I was really stressed out before I realized that dwarf berries respawned. Comfort being free to use but only in-battle also leads to the awkward strategy of stalling battles for as long as possible to cure everyone's mood.
I also think it'd be helpful to have a meter for HP as well as mood, as I'd often have characters get to very low health without noticing.
Overall, I like the idea of gameplay revolving around emotions and morale, as that's an interesting concept that a lot of games don't get into. In terms of the morality system, though, thus far I don't see any reason to be evil; unlike in UnderTale, you get the same rewards (if not more) from the peaceful option as from the violent one. The added option of "hurt their feelings but don't kill them" is an interesting middle ground, but again I don't see the incentive for it.
At the same time, I don't feel as intrinsically motivated to be nice as I did in UnderTale. The enemies don't have the same personality and depth of unique interaction, so I feel like I'm just going through the motions out of moral obligation than out of any true concern for them. Why exactly am I trying to comfort creatures that do nothing but attack me while I'm being nothing but nice to them? It's kind of hard to rationalize. Unless that's supposed to be the point...?
The art is excellent, though. I'm extremely impressed by the full animation on both enemies and allies, and the alternate sprites for happy and sad moods. Cynically, though, that makes me concerned that the dev time for the full game is going to take ages.
Just played your demo, I hope you don't mind me providing my feedback - I think feedback is a really important part of the game development process.
Things Done Well:
The art style is cute and vivid. It's hard to work with pixel art at such a high resolution (and v. time consuming!) but I think it has been very well executed.
The pacing of the story, provision of new gameplay elements and narrative was largely well done.
Humour is used with both the right level of quality and quantity.
The control scheme for Keyboard was logical and easy to use.
The battle start sequence with the enemies 'rushing you' from off-screen is a great idea that stops the change between exploration and battle being too abrupt or cliche.
Areas for Improvement:
Despite the pacing being largely well managed, there was a big dump of mechanics just before you fight the toadstool. It was difficult to therefore work out which to use and what the respective impact was. I'll be honest in that I still don't really understand when to use which ability against a given enemy.
I thought the walk speed was a little slow, until I realised there was a run option (holding shift). I'm not sure at which stage this was introduced to the player (If it was, I may have missed it) but I think it is definitely worth reminding the player of this control at the beginning of the black and white chase sequence.
Narratively, I struggled to understand why Slippy follows you around. I know this is useful from a tutorial / meta game perspective but perhaps a clearer in-game motive would be useful?
The CRT screen effect is very love-it or hate-it. For me that graphics are not retro enough to warrant the justification. I read in the comments below that you intend to make this optional - I think this is a great idea. Perhaps ask the player outright at the beginning of the game which mode they prefer - rather than assuming a default with menu-digging afterwards to turn it on/off.
The biggest single issue for me was that the game crashed each time I selected restart after failing the black and white chase sequence. This seemed to happen only once I got as far as the water bit. Fails before this point resulted in me starting the room again (a pseudo autosave) but unfortunately this didn't get mapped to the main save file. As such, I was sent all the way back to the last save point on restarting the game. After this happened twice I had to sadly put down the game for good - A shame as I would have liked to have taken it to the end.
I hope the detailed feedback is useful, I am developing my own game so totally hope you take this in the manner it is intended - to help you make the best game possible!
The CRT filter will be optional, ribbit-ribbit! We released the game just before the summer holidays so we had to wait with Kickstarter. Now we think of starting the campaign next month, after the elections (because 35% of our followers are from US).
This game is so cool! I love the earthound/mother ness of it all, and love the music! However, I think the mushroom enemy needs to be nerfed. I was caught in an infinite stunlock that killed me from basically full health. Otherwise, it's a wonderful game!
I went into this game totally blind not knowing anything about the plot. I found the game through a post on Twitter and immediately went to go download it because I thought the art was really beautiful. I really thought this was going to be a quirky lighthearted RPG so when the prologue took a dark turn I gasped out loud. I also thought that Charlie was going to be another no-personality silent protagonist so when she started giving sass to everyone I was so surprised! This was a wonderful game and I really look forward to the Kickstarter!
Cool game dude I really like it honestly and the old style of the game is really cool, I wonder how it looks on a crt monitor maybe I could test since I have one...?
hello oddventure team my name is jesus i am a lover of pixelated RPGs i am mexican and i dont speak english (i am writing this from is the google translator) but his demo called me a lot the antencion and well i would like to play the game but for my lack of knowledge of the language I cannot understand it and I wanted to know, do you have planned (or at least considered) to translate the game into Spanish? I do not say that they translate it immediately, but little by little when they finish developing it, I cannot enjoy a masterpiece if I do not understand it, I await your response
Hi! Some of our LATAM fans wanted to help us with translations. I will be asking them soon :) Thanks for the kind words! I hope you will be able to enjoy it in your native language ^^
First, try it on the XBox One. If it works, then at least you know the controller is operational. It could be the USB port you're using on the PC...
If you're using a Linux distribution, then the default XPad driver doesn't respond well (or at all) to newer XBox controllers. There are drivers you can download for support. The same solution applies if you have an off-brand controller.
For Windows, it could be the off-brand controller issue mentioned previously. But Microsoft is pretty good about supporting off-brand controllers (If it runs on the XBox One, then it runs on Windows). I'm not very-well experienced with fixing Windows controller issues. The best course of action is to check a different controller and see if it works (even a 360 controller).
Not yet. I think it'll be up in August. I can't run campaign from my country so it takes some time to make it possible. ^^ Also we want to make a good one!
Oh yeah i got it. I suggest you may want to put slippy a little closer to the player when doing that puzzle, so the player knows they are on the right way (sry for bad english)
Hiya. Unfortunately when I borrowed Mac for tests it didn't happen for me. Also noone reported me this so far. How many times have you tried to get through this part?
Working on a game similar to this, and I may or may not use some inspiration! Like the spooky void hand scene looked real cool, maybe something like that could fit somewhere in my game, who knows! Have a Lagreat day, fellow developer! =D
However, there are issues with the English localization. This isn't a line by line analysis, just the basics:
There are a number of jokes that involve the possibility that children are being touched inappropriately by adults. In general, these won't go over well in the states, particularly in the preexisting English-primary-speaker Motherlike fanbase, which has a downright rabid fear of creators turning out to be child predators...
"Determination" is used in a thematically significant way 3 times. 1 time is a cute nod to an inspiration; more than that risks overassociating your game with Undertale, where that word plays a crucial role in the game's text and motifs.
General janky wording, especially in long dialogues towards the end of the demo.
Basically: you need a native English speaker to edit the English localization after translation to make things sound good, retain emotional tenor, and prevent culture-based marketing issues.
← Return to Oddventure
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I'm so fan of this game ! I can't wait for it's release !
The cgase part is impossible i cant beat it
I have tried it on my CRT tv and it honestly looks good, the aspect ratio is a bit messed up because its 4:3 and not 16:9, but I made it worked. One day I will find a way to play it on my 14yr old CRT TV. One day.....
The shadow chase scene after going to the woods and talking about loneliness and the spark of hope flickering away is far, far too difficult. I've only gotten to the tar-water once or twice out of at least ten attempts, and never further. I understand that some games are difficult on purpose, which is part of their appeal, but I didn't expect a game like this to require frame-perfect key-smashing and navigation. I can't learn from the experience because it seems whether the hands grab you when they're close is random. I'm growing increasingly frustrated at what feels like an artificial roadblock that no amount of retries can fix.
I've tried running diagonally, continuously. I've tried running diagonally, in a twitchy, down then right, down then right, sort of way. I've tried walking, I've tried going in the opposite direction. I've tried boosting Charlie's mood prior to the sequence's start. If some method of running is slightly faster than the other, some NPC ought to tell the player as much.
For it to be fair, and not just a matter of luck, the hands need to be slightly slower or one method needs to be dependably faster. I'd rather play this as intended, and not just watch a playthrough, but if there's no way to get past those hands, I'll have to watch playthrough.
Great demo! Are you able to name yourself in the full version?
If you mean your name appearing in the credits - then yes - all Kickstarter backers will be mentioned. ^^
I believe they meant whether Charlotte could be renamed, which I'm guessing no :)
very excited for the full release! awesome art. i really like the mood mechanics, an expansion on undertale's "ACT" ability imo.
Ayeee! Thanks! ^^
Amazing demo, I kinda wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt.
Thanks! Unfortunately demos have to end somewhere. But hey, we'r working on thw full game now ^^
:D lovely very lovely indeed
Linux demo please!
Check soon, very soon! :D
Check the files now :D!
Got to the Dwarf fight, but I can't seem to actually interact with any of the buttons - can't attack or anything. Seems like a bug?
Edit: turns out it's a gamepad bug. Spacebar works fine, but you can't interact with the battle UI with a gamepad action button.
Thanks for sharing this with us. We'll check it!
It's a nice foundation for the game but maybe explain the mood system a bit better.
And please cut down on the rape jokes. They're not funny, just uncomfortable and off-putting.
CRT is hard on the eyes, text speed is very slow.
We're making the CRT filter optionable. Check for update soon!
Even when I control click 'Open' on Mac it still just says 'The application can't be opened'
Hiya, this is problem of unaothrized apps for MACOS. People are reporting that each Mac may need other way to open Oddventure. Hopefully will upload the Mac version to Steam, too so this should remove the problem of MacOS being picky...
HELL YESS!!!!! <3
hello, this game is made with OpenGL 2.0? my pc does not support OpenGL 3.0
Okay... so this is insanely freaky. BTW I HAD AN INCREDIBLE BLAST PLAYING THE DEMO, but i got a big story. So I swear I've dreamt of this exact game more than two years ago, and ive gotten a massive shock if deja vu playing it. I remember vividly in my dream that the very mechanic of the battles were based around emotions and that mood affects your battles. I also remembered that one of the character's fighting was named Bonzo... and I swear it looked so much like the battle sequences. So yeah, i had to create an account just to share my story... thank you :]
Please use RPG Maker's control scheme for the keyboard controls. Placing Confirm, Cancel, and Menu so far apart is torture. An auto-run feature would also be appreciated.
I think it would be a good idea to get an English proofreader, if you don't have one already. I noticed a lot of grammar errors, some of which made the game very confusing.
As for the game itself, I like the concept of the battle system, but I felt I was thrown into it too quickly, even with the tutorial frog. You have to juggle multiple different resources all while considering how you want to approach each fight, and there's no free healing like in most RPGs, so I was really stressed out before I realized that dwarf berries respawned. Comfort being free to use but only in-battle also leads to the awkward strategy of stalling battles for as long as possible to cure everyone's mood.
I also think it'd be helpful to have a meter for HP as well as mood, as I'd often have characters get to very low health without noticing.
Overall, I like the idea of gameplay revolving around emotions and morale, as that's an interesting concept that a lot of games don't get into. In terms of the morality system, though, thus far I don't see any reason to be evil; unlike in UnderTale, you get the same rewards (if not more) from the peaceful option as from the violent one. The added option of "hurt their feelings but don't kill them" is an interesting middle ground, but again I don't see the incentive for it.
At the same time, I don't feel as intrinsically motivated to be nice as I did in UnderTale. The enemies don't have the same personality and depth of unique interaction, so I feel like I'm just going through the motions out of moral obligation than out of any true concern for them. Why exactly am I trying to comfort creatures that do nothing but attack me while I'm being nothing but nice to them? It's kind of hard to rationalize. Unless that's supposed to be the point...?
The art is excellent, though. I'm extremely impressed by the full animation on both enemies and allies, and the alternate sprites for happy and sad moods. Cynically, though, that makes me concerned that the dev time for the full game is going to take ages.
the game does not run me, I imagine because my pc is old and I do not run gles 3.0, I would really love to try the game, it looks visually beautiful
pd: i don't speak english and i'm using translator
Unfortunatelly it's most likely the case :(
Hi InfamousRabbit,
Just played your demo, I hope you don't mind me providing my feedback - I think feedback is a really important part of the game development process.
Things Done Well:
Areas for Improvement:
The biggest single issue for me was that the game crashed each time I selected restart after failing the black and white chase sequence. This seemed to happen only once I got as far as the water bit. Fails before this point resulted in me starting the room again (a pseudo autosave) but unfortunately this didn't get mapped to the main save file. As such, I was sent all the way back to the last save point on restarting the game. After this happened twice I had to sadly put down the game for good - A shame as I would have liked to have taken it to the end.
I hope the detailed feedback is useful, I am developing my own game so totally hope you take this in the manner it is intended - to help you make the best game possible!
Ben
odd is an understatement *laugh track*
The CRT filter will be optional, ribbit-ribbit! We released the game just before the summer holidays so we had to wait with Kickstarter. Now we think of starting the campaign next month, after the elections (because 35% of our followers are from US).
This game is so cool! I love the earthound/mother ness of it all, and love the music! However, I think the mushroom enemy needs to be nerfed. I was caught in an infinite stunlock that killed me from basically full health. Otherwise, it's a wonderful game!
I went into this game totally blind not knowing anything about the plot. I found the game through a post on Twitter and immediately went to go download it because I thought the art was really beautiful. I really thought this was going to be a quirky lighthearted RPG so when the prologue took a dark turn I gasped out loud. I also thought that Charlie was going to be another no-personality silent protagonist so when she started giving sass to everyone I was so surprised! This was a wonderful game and I really look forward to the Kickstarter!
A wacky yet wonderful experience! Made a shorter edited gameplay video but will be uploading my full demo playthrough in a few days! Good job!
Cool game dude I really like it honestly and the old style of the game is really cool, I wonder how it looks on a crt monitor maybe I could test since I have one...?
Would be cool! Consider posting a photo here :D
Would do so but the problem is getting my pc to display on my crt moniter/tv
I done it! Looked cool, but didn't take a photo at the time. Will see if I can do it again.
This game looks very promising! When did you start working on it?
Thanks! We were working for about a year on the demo. Plus I was working about a year on a lore, characters, story, etc. :)
hello oddventure team my name is jesus i am a lover of pixelated RPGs i am mexican and i dont speak english (i am writing this from is the google translator) but his demo called me a lot the antencion and well i would like to play the game but for my lack of knowledge of the language I cannot understand it and I wanted to know, do you have planned (or at least considered) to translate the game into Spanish? I do not say that they translate it immediately, but little by little when they finish developing it, I cannot enjoy a masterpiece if I do not understand it, I await your response
Hi! Some of our LATAM fans wanted to help us with translations. I will be asking them soon :) Thanks for the kind words! I hope you will be able to enjoy it in your native language ^^
Thank you! :)
I had the same concern
:) I really like the art style, it reminds me of Mother 3.
I think it's probably partly inspired by the mother series.
Wow, I like the art style and undertale referennce lol, I'm curious as to what game engine was this made?
Thanks! The game was made with GODOT.
I'm also curious, thank you for the information.
My XBox One controller is connected by USB to my PC and is on but the game seems not to respond to the controller input, any idea to submit feedback?
First, try it on the XBox One. If it works, then at least you know the controller is operational. It could be the USB port you're using on the PC...
If you're using a Linux distribution, then the default XPad driver doesn't respond well (or at all) to newer XBox controllers. There are drivers you can download for support. The same solution applies if you have an off-brand controller.
For Windows, it could be the off-brand controller issue mentioned previously. But Microsoft is pretty good about supporting off-brand controllers (If it runs on the XBox One, then it runs on Windows). I'm not very-well experienced with fixing Windows controller issues. The best course of action is to check a different controller and see if it works (even a 360 controller).
The demo is brilliant!, is the Kickstarter campaign live yet?
Not yet. I think it'll be up in August. I can't run campaign from my country so it takes some time to make it possible. ^^ Also we want to make a good one!
Awesome will definitely support you!
Great game! Looking forward to buy it! Just one question: Is the part with the dwarfs the end of the demo or?
You need go back to Jack Grimm. But listen carefully to Bonzo, as you may be interested in saving the dwarf asap ;)
Oh yeah i got it. I suggest you may want to put slippy a little closer to the player when doing that puzzle, so the player knows they are on the right way (sry for bad english)
Cool demo, but the Mac version crashes every time I finish the cutscene after the battle with Mr Duck.
Hiya. Unfortunately when I borrowed Mac for tests it didn't happen for me. Also noone reported me this so far. How many times have you tried to get through this part?
Loved the demo! I can't wait for the full release!
Streamed this on Twitch last night. I loved the dwarf butt. 😂
Thanks! I saw that the stream is going on, but unfortunately I couldn't join. So I watched it today on Twitch ;D Glad you liked the demo!
will this game come out on steam
Yeah, the full version will be avialble on Steam :)
Checking the demo out on my channel this weekend and I had a great time playing! Absolutely love the art style, humour, and gameplay.
Added to my wishlist for when this comes out - keep up the good work devs.
Thanks! Looking forward to see p2! :D
Can't wait for it to release!
Me too! :D
Working on a game similar to this, and I may or may not use some inspiration! Like the spooky void hand scene looked real cool, maybe something like that could fit somewhere in my game, who knows! Have a Lagreat day, fellow developer! =D
Very cool game, is this a solo project?
Hiya! We're making this as 3 ppl core team + composer.
This is really cool.
Thanks :) Hop you enjoyed the demo!
Cute and has a great deal of promise!
However, there are issues with the English localization. This isn't a line by line analysis, just the basics:
Basically: you need a native English speaker to edit the English localization after translation to make things sound good, retain emotional tenor, and prevent culture-based marketing issues.