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Author Topic: Free Demo with game elements from Dwarf Fortress  (Read 693 times)

dreaddagorath

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Free Demo with game elements from Dwarf Fortress
« on: June 04, 2022, 07:37:34 am »


I've released a free demo for my game, which includes game play elements from Dwarf Fortress. For example, the stress mechanic for NPCs is similar to DF, as well as the geologic layering of levels for mining.

Please check it out:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1642630/The_Isle_of_Elanor/

I'm working on releasing the Linux free demo today.
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vjek

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Re: Free Demo with game elements from Dwarf Fortress
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2022, 01:17:16 pm »

This looks really good, thanks for posting about it.

One question about the Demo time limit.  You mention 16 hours. 
Does that means the demo stops after you've played for 16 actual real-life hours of real-time passing, or 16 hours of in-game time in the game world passing ?
I'm only asking because it's not clear if this is time when time is passing in-game, or some other timer, or if it applies when the game is paused, or not, and given the inability to save (apparently?) at arbitrary times, nor by sleeping, knowing some details surrounding the time limit would be ideal. ( This is answered below, the demo lasts ~10 minutes of RL time and then forcibly ends. )

EDIT:
Some feedback regarding Character Creation:
-Adjustment of stats, attributes, abilities, when clicking + or - , often, mouse clicks are not counted.  If you click quickly, it ignores some mouse clicks when trying to increase/decrease them.
-After you set Attributes, you can't seem to edit Skills?  The blue Edit button for Skills doesn't do anything or you can't click on it.  Additionally, you can't hover over or click the skills and get a description of them (the sword, the flame, and the leaf).
-If you press the TAB key while on the Preset screen, the cursor toggles between two invisible fields.  These fields are present in the screen where you type your name, but the second field is oddly indented/offset.
-When typing a name in the name field, characters are missed.  It seems like the input function is either timing based, or not event based, or not scan-code/key based, or something else, coding/function/module/library-wise, is between or interfering with or delaying the time between the keypress and the display of the key pressed.  Also seems to be affect mouse clicks, globally, during character creation.
-The Home Type and Difficulty dropdowns cannot be clicked on or changed.  If that's part of the demo restrictions, all good, it just gives the impression it's bugged at the moment, otherwise.
--
Character Dialogue interactions:
- Once a particular dialogue option has run its course, it would be nice, even optionally to have the conversation return to the top/beginning options.  Currently, the conversation ends and you have to restart with the NPC, which is fine, but it's a bit atypical and gives the impression that there's no more conversation to be had, when there is.
- Similarly, once a particular dialogue choice as been selected once, a visual indicator of any kind that it has been previously explored or selected would be nice.  Not a big deal, just a common feature of similar games.
--
Saves:
After saving and loading, it appears that saving is not done at the time of exiting the game, or is only done at certain points that are not inside/outside transition.  This is unlikely to be a popular distinguishing features. :)  I would highly recommend saving being permitted at any time, out of combat.
--
Mechanics:
Having both a weight limit and a slot limit is generally not a positive end user or customer experience, with respect to Inventory.  Right now it's both.
Day/Night.  While it's certainly punitively dark inside the cave, and dark inside the house after 8pm, it does leave the player with nothing to do.  You can't go outside, and sitting inside just watches the clock go by.  Certainly, if the goal was "Make a torch" great, that would be reasonable, but the player doesn't really know where to get sap from, unless they're supposed to cut down trees, without being told that.  Shaking the trees does produce some items, but not sap, at least, not readily.
-Hunger/Thirst.  The player says it should eat, but there's no bar, meter, or similar to indicate they're not hungry.  I ate, and stayed hungry, no matter how much I ate.  Are there consequences for being hungry?

Ok, so it's 16 hours in-game and the demo is over.  I'll just say this, then.  That's not enough time. :)  At 38 seconds per hour, and only 16 in-game hours, that means the "demo" lasts 10 minutes and 8 seconds, exactly.

If you are trying to solicit feedback, the demo is too short.  It should either be 16 unpaused Real-life hours, or a few months, in game, if your intention is to gather feedback regarding what has been put in the game thus far.
On the other hand, if none of the sleeping, saving/loading, farming, animal taming, combat, or similar loops/mechanics are in the game?  Change nothing, because it's evidently not ready for feedback on those systems.  Or if you're not interested in soliciting meaningful feedback at this point of development, again, change nothing.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2022, 04:29:42 pm by vjek »
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