By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

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OliveBug
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By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#1 Post by OliveBug »

coverpage.png
The Game
By Proxy is a Visual Novel set in space, specifically on an "abandoned" spaceship, where you play as an Unnamed protagonist awoken in the middle of the night by a mysterious alarm. A close friend has left a message for you to come find him, but you quickly realise that things are never quite as straightforward as they seem. Creatures lurk on this ship, creatures that are most likely not at all that friendly. You're going to need in order to survive.
FIBBLELEG CONCEPT.png
I created the game to be somewhat challenging. I wanted the choices you make to have an emotional effect on the player and so, as a result, you can die. In fact, so can people you care about.
General
30+ mins long
point-and-click based adventure
quick-time events
nekked aliens
Backgrounds
roomthree.png
hallway.png
bedroom.png
Other

Since this was a one man job there may still be a few bugs and issues lurking about. If so, please let me know as soon as possible and I'll try and fix it. I also should point out the game is silent, so don't worry, your speakers aren't broken.

Itchio Link:
Where you can play my game for free!
https://olivebug.itch.io/by-proxy

Tumblr Link:

(It's very empty right now, but I'm hoping to start updating on a new project very soon.)
https://olivebugart.tumblr.com/
PLEASE ENJOY!!!!

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Milkymalk
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#2 Post by Milkymalk »

First thought:
"Eww... that's disturbing. Will play it when it's out, I like horror and games that scare me have become scarce."

Second thought:
"Wait, this IS the completed games forum!" *download*

Do you want a (more or less, depending on how I feel about it) detailed review later?
Crappy White Wings (currently quite inactive)
Working on: KANPEKI!
(On Hold: New Eden, Imperial Sea, Pure Light)

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OliveBug
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#3 Post by OliveBug »

Milkymalk wrote:First thought:
"Eww... that's disturbing. Will play it when it's out, I like horror and games that scare me have become scarce."

Second thought:
"Wait, this IS the completed games forum!" *download*

Do you want a (more or less, depending on how I feel about it) detailed review later?
Disturbing was definitely the vibe I was going for haha.
Reviews are always welcome and I'd love to read what you have to say about the game!

I hope you enjoy playing. :)

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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#4 Post by andalusian »

i have the gun and blue key and i think ive clicked on everything in all rooms. what do i do now?
it is confusing how some of the identical looking doors can be clicked upon, but others cannot. how about coloring the unclickable doors red or something?

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OliveBug
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#5 Post by OliveBug »

andalusian wrote:
i have the gun and blue key and i think ive clicked on everything in all rooms. what do i do now?
it is confusing how some of the identical looking doors can be clicked upon, but others cannot. how about coloring the unclickable doors red or something?
SPOILERS:
Check the elevator vent. :) There's something hidden there that can be used to get to the next level of the ship.

I can definitely see how it could feel a bit confusing with all the doors. I'll have a think about implementing something visual in the game to make it less confusing and more obvious what you have to do.

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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#6 Post by andalusian »

OliveBug wrote:
Check the elevator vent. :) There's something hidden there that can be used to get to the next level of the ship.
the elevator vent just says "There's an emergency hatch up there." "Except there's not much point going up there as it'd just lead to a dead end."

using version 1.1 from itch.io.

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OliveBug
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#7 Post by OliveBug »

andalusian wrote:
OliveBug wrote:
Check the elevator vent. :) There's something hidden there that can be used to get to the next level of the ship.
the elevator vent just says "There's an emergency hatch up there." "Except there's not much point going up there as it'd just lead to a dead end."

using version 1.1 from itch.io.
SPOILERS:
There's some vents below the hatch, closer to the floor. They sort of just look like line details in the wall.
I think I'll try and update it so it's slightly more obvious in the future.

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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#8 Post by andalusian »

OliveBug wrote:SPOILERS:
There's some vents below the hatch, closer to the floor. They sort of just look like line details in the wall.
I think I'll try and update it so it's slightly more obvious in the future.
thank you! indeed i thought they are just scifi wall detail.

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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#9 Post by andalusian »

finished!
the game crashes shortly after the "i forgive you / you did nothing wrong" dialogue, both with blue and green chip:

Code: Select all

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
  File "game/script.rpy", line 3031, in script
    $ renpy.pause(1.0, hard=true)
  File "game/script.rpy", line 3031, in <module>
    $ renpy.pause(1.0, hard=true)
NameError: name 'true' is not defined

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
  File "game/script.rpy", line 3031, in script
    $ renpy.pause(1.0, hard=true)
  File "D:\RENPY\BYPROXY-1.1-all\renpy\ast.py", line 806, in execute
    renpy.python.py_exec_bytecode(self.code.bytecode, self.hide, store=self.store)
  File "D:\RENPY\BYPROXY-1.1-all\renpy\python.py", line 1577, in py_exec_bytecode
    exec bytecode in globals, locals
  File "game/script.rpy", line 3031, in <module>
    $ renpy.pause(1.0, hard=true)
NameError: name 'true' is not defined

Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 6.99.10.1227
BYPROXY 0.0
also, in case your pet monster dies during the battle, the dialogue gets stuck in an endless loop.

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Milkymalk
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#10 Post by Milkymalk »

Okay, I'm done for now and think I can give a fair review ;)

These are my personal opinions and thoughts that came spontaneously while playing, so while it may sometimes be nitpicking, it's honest feedback from a player's perspective.

I started the game and saw the bedroom, very obviously hand drawn. The color choices for the backgrounds are in general very atmospheric, but I would have prefered the lines to be a little more straight since it is a technical environment. It didn't strike my eye that much later so I guess you did the bedroom first and took more care with that as you made more images.
Other than that, the game was visually stunning!

I noticed that you put each sentence into its own line, even several short ones that come one after another. The text box appeared vast and empty as a result and checking options again to see if anything had changed became somewhat tedious. You are allowed to put several sentences in the same dialogue line, especially if they are the same train of thought.

Because I have a long experience with point&click-adventures, I didn't have much trouble with most hotspots.
I didn't find a gun though (I was sure I searched EVERYTHING, and only clicked the vent of the elevator by accident.
Hiding one correct reaction in a lot of "panic" choices was a nice idea, but it stood out too much. Make the panic choices different from each other to REALLY induce panic and randomize the order, in case you didn't already.
The game being silent is a bummer, you can do so much with sound. There are a lot of free CC sound libaries that you can use. Ambient humming, elevator sound, breathing...

I ultimately stopped playing because I think I found a bugged endless loop:
I found my friend, had my proxy with me and had saved before. Getting the monster's attention lets my proxy hit it,
but then the choices reappear (did this 10 times in a row and nothing changed). Running makes the monster bite me and recoil, do it too often and I die. Trying to get my friend out (however that is going to work, he looks like he is melded) makes the monster attack my proxy, do it too often and the proxy dies with the sequence repeating over and over and over.
The strangeness of the society where this takes place is only hinted at, but was done well.
The proxy is ugly, but I felt some kind of pity for it.
Overall, the game got a lot of emotional reactions from me.

Some doors not being clickable irritated me, as was already said you could make them a different color or at least give the player feedback when he tries to open them.

That's all I can think of now :)
Crappy White Wings (currently quite inactive)
Working on: KANPEKI!
(On Hold: New Eden, Imperial Sea, Pure Light)

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schivafrecce
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#11 Post by schivafrecce »

Oh boy, I'm conflicted:
I have to play this. I'm too curious and this looks so cool.
But I'm a wuss
and I'm in a dark room and it's already night here.
In all probability, I'll have an heart attack.
--but SPACE! AND NEKKED ALIENZ!1!!1
**clicks download**


see you in the afterlife
Image

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OliveBug
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#12 Post by OliveBug »

Thank you to everyone who's played and left any reviews and comments! It really means a lot and anything I can learn from this will help me in any future projects.

I've just released an updated version which I think has fixed the endless looping during the final battle. I'm also planning to have another update in the next few weeks with some art and dialogue changes. Nothing major, just to make the whole experience a bit smoother and not so frustrating (the doors haha.)

Again thank you so much :)

***EDIT: I think I accidentally uploaded the wrong new file haha. I was doing it very late last night. I'm hoping with all my fingers crossed it's working now!***
Last edited by OliveBug on Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:04 am, edited 2 times in total.

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schivafrecce
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Re: By Proxy [Sci-fi, Horror] [Free]

#13 Post by schivafrecce »

I'm stuck at the beginning but I'm really liking the game so far (and yes, no heart attack -- yet :) ).
I like the atmosphere and the coloring, but I agree with Milkymalk on what he/she said about music and sounds: it would have really added to the experience in therms of immersion and scariness.
If it helps, for my game I used free sound effects from
https://freesound.org/,
https://www.soundjay.com/
and Music from https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html.
I would have also suggested to highlight the clickable objects when hovering them with the mouse, but I see you're already planning to do that.
Anyway, it's a really cool game and you did a great job :wink:

EDIT:
Finished!
at first I thought I was stuck in the loop of the final battle, but then I realised I needed the weapon in order to win, ah ah
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