TrickxTreat! (A Magical BxG game) DEMO UP

[netravelr]

I don't see how I missed this before. It looks awesome. Downloading the demo now, will leave feedback when I finish (may be a bit though, starting to get sleepy )

Edit: Just finished it and I was really happy with it! The characters seemed interesting and the writing flowed really well.

Bea turning into the witch kinda reminded me of a regeneration from Doctor Who, but that may be what you were going for.

Very interested in seeing where the story goes!

[DaFool]

Is the demo really the first half of the game? It seemed like the story was only getting started!

[PyTom]

So, gave this demo a playthough, despite it being nearly (US) Thanksgiving.

It's visually quite pleasant too look at, and the mix of the drawn characters and the filtered backgrounds works fine here - there isn't a lot of clashing.

I liked where the story was going, and I thought

Bea being taken away at the moment of the confession

has fairly decent potential, as it means that the POV character has to

deal with the new character in her body.

I hope that the finshed game explores this in some detail, rather than going down an action-oriented path.

The game felt shorter than it was - I echo DaFool's concern that trying to finish this story in double this length - especially with a pair of endings - might lead to it feeling rushed. Take your time, especially now that there's no deadline.

Three nitpicks:

(1) There are some typos, combined words, and so on. So it could use a proofreading.

(2) The menus are hard to read, mostly as a function of the background image. I assume that will be changed before release, so no big deal.

(3) The text is harder to read than it should be, since it's very wide - on one screen, I counted 24 words per line. Maybe some designers can give their input here, but I seem to recall that 12 words per line is about optimal for readability - and you do have the vertical room in the textbox to make that change, just by putting margins to the left and right of the text.

I look forward to reading a finished version.

[Fawn]

Wow, so much feedback!! Thank you guys, I really appreciate it!

@netravelr: Haha, you're right, it does... I didn't really intend that, I just made it orange for obvious reasons

@DaFool: You're right, It's really the first 1/3 of the game now that I've gotten farther in the script. I'll change the description.

@Pytom: Thank you Don't worry, It'll be explored!

In fact the rest of the game deals with Ben trying to keep Bea's body safe while Jacquelyn (the witch) is using her.

As for the menus, I'm having trouble with them, since I'm used to the older Ren'py. I will most likely need some help in that area because I have no clue how to code those things properly ^^; All I really want is semi-transparent dark brown textbox with matching menus and a little pumpkin animation at the bottom when the text is done.

Sorry about all the typos, I still need to install the spell checker into J-edit (meep!)


However, I want to be honest with everyone... I may not release this game till next fall for a few reasons... Since the season is quickly fading and Christmas is about to hit, I've kind of lost motivation (not for game making but just in general, all I want to do is sleep and eat cookies, which is definitely not good for my health ). I have other projects as well that don't correspond to the seasons that I would like to work on first.
Possibly I'll release a longer demo with sketch-cgs once I finalize the script once I stop eating cookies and drawing cat girls... Thanks for all your support!

[leon]

Is there a source available for this? I have an obsolete PowerPC Mac and I can't start it, but I think it would work, if I would compile it myself...

[Fawn]

Er, source? D: I'm really sorry, I don't know how to do that...

[leon]

Sorry. With 'source' I meant the entire folder with the game files in it. If you right-click on the folder, you will probably have some option to turn it onto rar or zip. I just hope it won't be too large to upload...

[PyTom]

leon, if you download renpy-ppc, unzip it, and copy in the app, it will likely work.

[leon]

@PyTom:
I got the launcher working. I keep forgetting about the "show package contents" option... Anyhow, I found the game files inside and got it running. Thanks.

@Fawn:
It gets very interesting at the end. I can't wait to see what happens next. I hope you finish it one day.

[Auro-Cyanide]

(3) The text is harder to read than it should be, since it's very wide - on one screen, I counted 24 words per line. Maybe some designers can give their input here, but I seem to recall that 12 words per line is about optimal for readability - and you do have the vertical room in the textbox to make that change, just by putting margins to the left and right of the text.

That is correct, around 12 words per line is ideal for on screen reading. Humans are a bit more tolearant with paper though. The idea is based on how much you can see without moving your eye much. Too much tracking due to line length will slow down reading and cause people to have trouble keeping track of where they are. This is also effected by what typeface you are using and the leading of the sentences (more leading can make longer sentences easier to read because the line are more distinct).

[kara24601]

Can't wait to play finished game. Looking forward to it.

[gekiganwing]

I finally got around to reading the demo. I know, I'm rather late.

As others have said, this is a cute collection of scenes, which seem to be leading into a longer story. I've enjoyed the art and writing so far.

Fawn has set up a story about a shy boy who almost confesses to a girl his age. Now that a witch is using her body, what will happen? Has her personality completely gone dormant? Will he have to win the witch's heart, or just put up with her antics for a while?

If the main character can talk to both girls, or if they end up in two bodies, then this could be a worksafe, happy love triangle story. I don't think it would benefit from any harem elements.

If the project is stalled, then consider getting assistance, or handing it over to another person.

[Fawn]

Thanks for more feedback! I have to be honest I haven't worked on this project for awhile. I'm hoping to re-do some of the art and make a more meaty story than before if I begin working on it again.

It's mostly being stalled because of its holiday theme- I've been working on other games (mostly not my own, artwork for others) and I've been kind of slacking on this because it's Halloween-centric ^^;

[gekiganwing]

I recall that this project was put on hold last fall. I don't know if there's a possibility that it could be revived.

It's only August, but while at the mall earlier today, I saw the first Halloween decorations of 2012. Just under three months left until the end of October... So if there's a chance that Trick x Treat could become a full game, then perhaps this is the best time to bring it back.

[CheeryMoya]

Fawn's been gone awhile now, hasn't she? I remember she used to be a mod, but her name isn't golden anymore...