1.1 feedback

[freem]

Hello.
Just built and ran the game today using 22f70bf87ffb067c78a29f5b398340089d46485e.

First of all, translations didn't compile, so I disabled them. Then, I needed this patch:

{l Code}: {l Select All Code}

diff --git a/src/engine/system.cpp b/src/engine/system.cpp
index 6c71adf..e28b1b0 100644
--- a/src/engine/system.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/system.cpp
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ const char* gettext(const char *text)
 {
     return text;
 }
+
+const char* ngettext( const char *singular, const char *plural, unsigned long int number )
+{
+   return number > 1 ? plural : singular;
+}
 #endif
 
 std::string Translate(const std::string& text)


since ngettext was not defined. Except those small issues, no real problem building/playing.

The upgrade system works nice, but it could use a way to move faster across the "map".
The trade system is interesting, too, even I didn't understood how it worked at first (didn't thought the components dropped by monsters are the things to trade).
Moving around in the party menu could be made faster/easier, notably to cast spells (heal/buf): needing to validate each move with the "enter" seems extreme to me, simply moving down with the down key would be more intuitive imho.
In that menu, it could be nice to have a way to know which buffs/debuffs are affecting characters, maybe how many time before they fade away too. I think the icons are not telling much.
Finally, I would say that I could finish the chapter 1 without using any potions except to fight Arlequin. I had to use a lot of them on Kalya, but even if so, I still had a huge stock of those after. Don't even know where I got those. Except against him, potions were not needed since Kalya regenerates her SP and have a heal spell. About this SP regen, I think maybe it would force the player to use potions if it was instead a SP drain from monsters: thus, one would have to fight to regen SP, which implies taking risks. Just an idea, though.

Congrats for the release again.

[GunChleoc]

I'm wondering whether you ran into the problem that we're discussing in https://github.com/ValyriaTear/ValyriaTear/issues/341

That change was introduces after the release so https://github.com/ValyriaTear/ValyriaT ... /tag/1.1.0 should hopefully work out of the box regarding translations.

[Bertram]

Hey,

I indeed confirm that I shamelessly and stupidely broke the translation system right after release. You can use either the tag or the 1.1 release branch to have a stable experience.

I'll check also to include your patch for when translations are disabled.
Cheers,

[Wuzzy]

Hello, I recently played and finished VT v1.1 on normal difficulty.

I don't really know what to say, but it was fun to play an oldscool RPG again. I played the entire game in one sitting. Playing time: ca. 6-7 hours.
It's a relatively simple RPG but it has been nice fun anyway. There's nothing truly unique or special about this game, to be honest, but it does its job … although it feels incomplete.
The story is not very interesting IMO, and the characters feel quite “generic”; I don't feel attached to them.
The game was not too hard and not too easy. My strategy at the beginning was to return to the healing statue over and over again …
The skill tree system is pretty interesting, I notice it boosts your stats very fast, often every 1-3 fights.
The GUI is solid, the only thing I'm missing is an explanation of the status icons (but I eventually figured out. It's displayed in combat, but nowhere else).

I notice it was very linear. I was a little disappointed to learn at the end that this is not the full story, despite the 1.1 version number. How many episodes do you expect for the full story? The game includes systems that are not fully explored, especially the shop system, which is not very important. The shop at the starter point lets you trade in your items, but it's ultimately pointless because as soon you got the required items, you are forced to escape from town, and all other shops no longer allow trading. So yeah, I think this game needs more content in future, obviously.

I only found one tiny bug (but nothing else): When you're in the area of climbing up Mt. Elbrus (BEFORE the collapsing bridge), there are some stone tiles on the floor that are partially transparent, you can see the background through. Sadly, I have no screenshots, so you need to find it yourselves.

I was forced to play in English because the German translation was incomplete, and it's really driving me mad when German and English texts appear with 50% chance … So I have no review of the translation.

Thanks for making this.

[Bertram]

Thanks for honest review of it.

I must say that to know you finished it is already a personal satisfaction.

Most of the "untapped potential" of feature is supposed to be more used in what's next. I must say I'm mostly in front of the "world map" design/pixel art wall atm.
Depending on how the lock-down situation evolve for me, who knows, I might have more time for this.

Cheers,

[avram]

I'm not sure if this game is still actively developed. Also, I'm not sure if I'm helping by adding my feedback, or just piling on a bag of work, but just in case it's helpful, I'll say what I noticed while playing through. If I'm just adding noise, then I apologize in advance.

The game looked interesting, so I played it through to the end of the episode. It was cool, and it's relatively polished for something still under development like this. The game is legitimate. It looks nice. It plays smoothly. There are interesting aspects to the characters and the story. There is decent variability to the in-game puzzles. When I got to the end of the episode, I did regret that there we couldn't see the rest of the story yet. The system for combat and skills is fairly standard - it's fine for what it is, but there's always room for innovation (and many games over the years from which to pull inspiration).

If you're looking to improve, here are some of the things that stuck out the most as out of place as I played through:

Gameplay

• Too few save points
  • At the least, it would be nice to be able to save soon after completing major plot points/boss battles
  • Otherwise, you can't simply stop playing and go do something else once you've succeeded
• The first forest area is too perfect of a grinding zone
  • It has a save point, a healing statue, a respawning mob, and a shop right around the corner
  • At the start, there are some useful basic spells/equipment (esp. healing and armor) that are just out of reach, so there is incentive to stay and work towards it
  • Enemy difficulty ramps up quickly as you move past the first screen, so there is disincentive to move onward
  • There is no plot-related or gameplay urgency to incentivize moving on quickly
  • Nothing wrong with a grinding zone, but if you get stuck in one so early, it tends to slog the game down
• It's too easy to get stuck in a helpless situation
  • If you've used up all of your items and cast all of your healing magic, but you are far away from a healing shrine, you're essentially dead
  • Unless you over-level, it's easy to get into that situation because you often don't know in advance how difficult the mobs will be in a new zone
  • Give players a chance by having some way to recoup HP/MP
    • Example: (very slow) HP/MP regen, at least on normal or lower difficulty settings
    • Example: minor HP/MP recovery after winning a battle, so that the players can strategize
    • Example: partial HP/MP recovery on level up, so that the players can strategize
• The shop won't buy staring armor, so we're stuck with it in our inventory
• Sophia only lets you trade right at the beginning
  • You can only trade with her when you have no money and no purpose
    
  • Once you actively start exploring/fighting and it's useful to trade, the option is gone
• The stamina bar seems to disappear when the minimap is not available, but the stamina bar is important

Bugs

• The information in some windows does not update in a timely way
  • Example: after equipping, the inventory window does not update immediately
  • Example: when improving skills after winning a battle, the skill points on the main screen does not update to reflect points used
• Movement animations are unnatural when using the keyboard to move while joystick is enabled
  • Joystick is enabled by default, even if a vanilla laptop configuration wouldn't use a joystick
• I saw one segfault-on-exit
  • It happened when using the Quit option from in game after pressing the esc key
  • Unfortunately I have not been able to reproduce it

Interface Wishlist

• Add the ability to use the cancel button as an alternative to the confirm button in some situations
  • Example: instead of clicking confirm on End Battle, it should also be possible to simply click cancel
  • Example: when navigating a conversation dialog and there are no questions asked, both confirm or cancel should have the same effect
• Use fewer button clicks to navigate the menus
  • Example: in the Party menu, as long as the cursor is on View, it should not be necessary to actually press View in order to move up/down from one character to the other
  • Example: in the Skills menu, if the cursor is on Use, it should be possible to move up/down between characters without actually having to press Use
    • Once the character is selected, it should not be necessary to press All/Field/Battle before moving up/down the list
  • Example: in the Inventory menu, it should not be necessary to actually press Equip/Remove in order to move up/down between characters
    • The Equip menu could show an abbreviated list of available alternatives (in the bottom box) for the current slot, even before clicking on it
    • In the Items menu, it should be possible to scroll up and down the list without pressing the category to select it
    • Selecting a piece of equippable gear should present the option to equip it
• Color-categorize items, especially equippable items, quest items, or "useless" items
• On any of the roster screens (in-game menu or post-battle), highlight a character whenever they have enough skill points for at least one improvement
• Colorize the world map as new areas are visited

Story/Characters

• The plot trope where the parents hide a fundamental secret from their child is kind of annoying
  • The open source community likes the idea that important information should be shared freely, so it does kind of make Bronann's family a little less endearing
  • This idea doesn't have to be dropped, but it could improve if rewritten more delicately
• The simpleness of some of the initial quests (e.g. finding a pen or catching chickens) is jarring when the town eventually gets ransacked
  • Did those quests even matter at all? There could be better literary ties to the story
    • Example: maybe the pen or chicken feathers can provide a clue later in the game
    • Example: maybe one or the other represents a deeper motif which recurs throughout the game
      • Grandma has seen it all, but she still cares what happens to her chickens
      • Georges has many beautiful ideas, but still needs his pen to set the free
    • Example: maybe the jarring dissonance is intentional, but then maybe the later events could be foreshadowed better while first doing the quests
• There are plenty of opportunities for more depth to the characters and conversations
  • Example: more backstory on the minor characters. Like, what's Olivia's story? She's strong enough to guard the gate, and has no qualms with sending you into danger fighting rats, so why can't she help you more on the quest?
  • Example: do the gossiping ladies have any snarky comments to make once Kalya and Bronann are together in the party?
  • Example: are there any more details about Kalya's and Bronann's personal strengths and personal challenges? This is decently done, but there's always room for more