[KICKSTARTER FUNDED! 11/20/14] Lovely Little Thieves

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PangoDango
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#46 Post by PangoDango »

Hey Philip, glad you enjoyed it so far! :D
philip wrote:Downloaded the demo, and have begun to work through it. One thing that struck me is that they are supposed to be driving from Rhode Island to Florida; that's North to South. Yet Randy points out the front of the windshield to the setting sun. Then the dialog says they are traveling westward. Hmmmm . . . are they going to Florida by way of California?
Well, you're thinking on a macro scale of travel. Shrink it down to a micro scale, and the observation makes sense. Roads that connect two places for hundreds of miles don't go in a straight line: they squiggle and wiggle back and forth. Currently, the gang was driving west, but they were still, overall, headed south as mountain roads are sort of roundabout and may take you side to side a lot to get all the way up or down a mountain you're crossing. So the *route* was headed south, on a macro scale, but the *road* was headed west, on a micro scale, because it's impossible to drive as the crow flies, so to speak. :)
There is one bothersome thing regarding navigation through the game; when a decision page is reached, the options bar along the right margin disappears, so it is not possible to do a save at that point, you must back up one screen to where the options bar reappears, then make your decision. I always like to be able to make my saves at a choice screen, so that I can get back to a decision point when wanting to go an a different path. Small point, don't know if it was done that way intentionally.
I see your point, and no, the UI disappearing when the choice box comes up was not intentional. I think that may be a default in ren'py that wasn't altered? I can see about changing it, I agree that it seems like a good idea. (For what it's worth, the game autosaves at choice boxes most of the time.) Thanks for noticing!

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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#47 Post by kitsubasa »

Wow, I just played through the demo, and it was great! I love the characters, but Randy, Jay and espeeecially Dani were my favourites at this point. I'm very excited for the full 2-hour demo, and seeing what'll happen once they make it to the mansion! I couldn't think of any major critiques I have at this point-- UI is cool, characters are visually appealing and well-written, story is engaging so far, and while I haven't done a second run picking other choices yet, I felt like the ones I went with were all working well and achieving roughly what I wanted them to.

As far as the longer demo and the full game go, I'm pretty curious to see how Russell and Jay play out when the horror starts happening. Jay's got my attention with his secretive behavior so far, but Russell is concerning me a lot with that temper of his. I'm interested to see if there are consequences to his anger issues down the line, because right now, I'm just waiting for him to end up as the guy that goes mad and turns on everyone, or something like that. Jay, on the other hand, I get the feeling that playing his route (or equivalent to a route) might give more answers re: what's happening than the other characters, since he seems like he might know... things~

Excited for more of this, it's super good so far, ahhh.
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#48 Post by bootsy »

It. Is. So. Good. I mean, damn. I really like it.

All the characters feel like definite corny tropes of your classic horror movie characters but with a twist on them. Not to mention that even already they all have a hook or a way to make them relatable or interesting.

Going through the demo and picking all of the options, I can't even pick a favorite. Really looking forward to the full release :D

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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#49 Post by Lyyli »

While I usually don't play modern day setting games, I just had to try the demo because I do love me some horror in otome games and I liked what I saw. I was not dissapointed.
I couldn't stop playing and got sad when it ended. I can't wait for the rest of the demo and the whole game!
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#50 Post by pickle131 »

Following this for updates, and to check it out more when I get a chance!!!
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#51 Post by xxmissarichanxx »

Just finished the demo!

It was a joy to play! (I was supposed to be doing homework, but I had to go back and finish it!) I can't wait for the full version to come out!

I really like your writing. Your word choice definitely brings all sorts of colors and images to mind, even without the visual representations.
The characters are also very interesting and unique. You can really tell who's who based on language. I really appreciate that. C:

Everything seems to be going smoothly and comes together nicely, and I can't think of anything I had a problem with off the top of my mind.

Good luck with the rest of the project! I'll be keeping major tabs on it. Cx

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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#52 Post by maddmouse »

Yup yup- I'm in love. * A *
In order (of character that usually get me in trouble in different ways~ *always likes the same types ahaa;;;*) Jay stole me away. Literally.
Like no really can I just take him home now? //shot

And I super adore Collin and Randy (minus the poof part bghfdj) but still loveable characters~~ e 7eb
Frickin Dani is adoreable god bless her. xD <3 (Fight for the company babe! /o/)

I just-- Randy is-- Ngh, idk main types generally don't pique my interest (even though I till usually thoroughly enjoy theri routes~) but yeah, he's just the 'nice guy' who- has anger issues. Even though he has pretty good reasons as to why~ v u v;;

Over all I loved the Panaorama car scene~~ * A *b The characters and their sprites are all nice and individual and the expressions~~ <3
And just over all really enjoyed the demo ; u ; Super excite to see how you guys work away on this~~
(If you ever just want to chat random ideas I'm terrible at just throwing things out at people so feel free to talk derp with me about it~~ |D)
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#53 Post by qirien »

This looks awesome! Definitely want to help you Kickstart. :-)

A few suggestions/comments:
  • I don't know if this is something you did, or if it's a Ren'Py issue, but I had to set executable permissions on the lib/linux-x86_64/* and on the .sh file under linux. It worked fine after that, though. I think that comes from unpacking and then repacking the files Ren'Py makes.
  • Russel's profile with the grin looks really weird, because his grin is on one side, but the outline of his lips at the front from the serious expression is still there... does that make sense?
  • Shift-S does not actually take a screenshot; it pulls up the Save menu.
  • Typo: "I stay up all night" instead of "stayed up all night"
  • The car interior background and and sprites look really, really good. I love how you did the layers and expressions and panning!
  • Not sure if there's something complex going on, or if my computer's being slow, but sometimes it takes a reeaaally long time from when I click, to when the next screen shows. Maybe related to dynamically resizing images or something? It happens even with transitions turned off or while skipping, so I think it must be graphics-related (or archive related?).
  • The characters are great! While they started as standard-horror-movie archetypes, you've put a lot of detail and humanity into each of them, so that they all are likable (except maybe Colin, but he's certainly interesting, which is just as good). I wonder who will die first? :twisted:
  • I love the GUI work. Simple, intuitive, fits the mood of the story.
  • At first I wondered about the early 90's setting, but then I realized the story wouldn't really work if there were cell phones, so that makes sense. Plus it's nice and nostalgic, for me anyway... (Ahhh, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Eurhythmics... ;) )
  • You have a nice multilayered plot, with interesting questions for each person that we hope to have answered in addition to the suspense with the nightmares and finding safety for the night.
Looking forward to seeing this finished! I'd be happy to beta test/proofread if you would like. :)
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Re: [DEMO UP! 9/10/14]Lovely Little Thieves [Horror/Romance]

#54 Post by Katy133 »

I've finished playing the released demo, and I enjoyed it very much. I love the writing in it (you make it very clear how each of the characters are different, through their dialogue, right from the beginning). I like how choice-heavy this visual novel is. This is amazing work.

My favourite character so far is Colin, with Jay being a close second. I guess I like Colin because I like his brutally-honest, grumpy attitude (which is always fun to read; I've always liked "snarky" characters). And I like Jay's politeness (it strangely made me think back to polite British characters from my childhood, like Paddington and Mumfie). I haven't seen a "polite" character like this in a recent work in long time. It was nice and refreshing to see.

I studied that "Kaam, Moh, Lobh..." image you released in July, and it really intrigues me how you may use that concept (I had to wiki the names to understand their meaning) in the story later on.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the game. :)
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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#55 Post by PangoDango »

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THE WAIT IS OVER!

LOVELY LITTLE THIEVES FINAL DEMO IS READY TO PLAY AND THE KICKSTARTER IS LIVE! The demo has 3-4 hours of gameplay and over 40 choices! That’s like a whole free visual novel right there!

Download the demo by clicking here!

If you like what you see so far, please visit the kickstarter page and support us so the full game can be made!

Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoy it! :D Please leave feedback and spread the project around if you're enjoying it!

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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#56 Post by gekiganwing »

Thanks for updating with information about the crowdfunding effort. However, when I searched projects on Kickstarter.com with the phrase "visual novel," your work-in-progress did not appear in the results. If you are able to do anything to correct this, then I believe that you will benefit.

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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#57 Post by PangoDango »

Thanks for the heads up, I added "visual novel game" into the title, hope that helps?

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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#58 Post by octacon100 »

This looks awesome! Good luck on your kickstarter! I'll have to try this out tonight.
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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#59 Post by Alphonse »

I'm still getting through the demo but so far I like the writing! There was one inconsistency I noticed though. In the first scene, when Russell asks "Shouldn't you be wearing your seatbelt?" Russell isn't wearing his seatbelt either.

I also kinda have a few critiques about the art. Russell's arms seem a little short to me--I think he's supposed to be bending them slightly but that isn't really clear from the lack of shading and wrinkles at the elbow and such. The shoulders of some sprites look uneven. Particularly Randy's--his are kind of asymmetrical. The way the belt and bottom of the shirt sits on Dani doesn't really match the contours of her body, either, and the way her skirt is shaded makes her look rather flat. Given that Colin is (presumably) supposed to be small and more childlike in stature, his neck seems a little too thick, as well. And this is just a personal thing about style, but I'm not a huge fan of the coloring. Using the exact same color except lighter/darker for the shadows/highlights tends to look really boring. Art looks less flat when you use a different huefor highlights and shadows. (I kinda think the lineart color could be a slightly different hue too.) Those links are what I'm talking about but of course they're just people's opinions. I think it's worth considering though. And I do like the style besides that. is an art-ish person, sorry

http://wick-y.deviantart.com/art/Common ... -340853404
http://appleseries.deviantart.com/art/G ... -281369787

Was the text speed set to be near the minimum? It was hard going through the very first part of the game because I couldn't go to options and change it. I changed it at the first opportunity I got though.

The music is unexpectedly good so far, as is the writing. If I remember, I'll come back and edit my post and talk more about the writing and such.
Last edited by Alphonse on Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: [KICKSTARTER AND DEMO UP! 10/21/14]Lovely Little Thieves

#60 Post by Fenrir34 »

This game looks awesome and I'd really love to play, but mediafire isn't working for me. Could you maybe have another link to download from?

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