(Bonus Art Courtesy of Goop-Sinpai, commissioned by Klaysee)
That’s right, String Tyrant is out! You can get it from this itch.io page, or by becoming a 5$ patron. See this (patron-restricted) post for details.
Wondering what String Tyrant is? Check this page.
So now that the game is out, we’re going to be having a team meeting. I still need to make a Steam API integration for the Steam release, and possibly fix bugs. After that’s done, I begin work on the Big Balance Patch.
Feedback Poll
What, did you forget about that? Yep, last week I asked patrons who played Prototype 5 what they thought. Here’s the results.
It should be noted that the new turn-based combat system was added after this poll was created, explicitly as a response to the feedback. Thanks for kicking me in the ass so I put it in.
There will be a 5$ patron poll… sometime after the next team meeting. There will also be a public feedback poll for the game. More updates as they happen.
Let’s get to the questions
Obviously, a self-selected group of enthusiasts is going to rate the game highly. This is about as expected.
This was a “Pick the most appropriate” answer. We still have a strong kink audience here, but at least a few people would say it’s appropriate for horror/everyone, so that’s good.
Koops says “Thanks everyone!”. Urimas/Hund/Chicken/CocoMint could not be reached for comment.
Because google forms kinda sucks, I have modified the image to make it a little easier to read. It still gets cut off the edges.
Hopefully the new turn-based combat gets better approval ratings. For those of you who liked the action-combat, it’s still there as a menu option.
Generally positive response. I was surprised by how many people found it exciting, but maybe exciting is being used in… more than one sense.
Seems we had quite a few converts from the not-doll-fans crowd. This is a pretty good hit-rate for a self-selected group.
Very positive response when it comes to claygirls. Woo!
I was actually expecting a very negative response to the petrification stuff, but we have a positive result set here. Petrification is usually a very different, not monster-ish sort of TF, but this heavy mind-control aspect seems to have stuck.
A much more mixed response here, with a larger cluster of no-strong-feelings. I personally liked the writing on both, but maybe they just aren’t developed or interesting enough. Either way, lesson learned.
Good job, Sinpai. People like them rubbers.
This is about where I want it to be, though I was not particularly happy with the Strange House trap, and might rework it in the future. Still, the traps should be a little tricky but not brain-benders.
(Tip to the first custom result response: The ‘Scissors’ items you find in the manor give you free mess-ups and can be sharpened after use)
I’m happy that the ‘change of pace’ aspect is what made an impression. Some of the new mechanics are going to be a little confusing, but not too many people got stuck it seems. I wanted to put in something other than combat and exploration, and the traps served that purpose.
Also they were a good excuse to shove in some more unique bad-ends.
Speaking of, this is a generally good response. Unfortunately 27% didn’t feel strongly about any of them, but I hope there’s enough in the rest of the game to keep their interest.
In retrospect, I should have included a “I did not see any” option, which is likely what some of those who picked that option would have taken.
Inky did a great job! I’m glad it didn’t conflict with the style too much. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the kind of budget needed to do the rest of the art for the Grand Archives in that style, but I think it’s great.
A somewhat more mixed response, more people thought it conflicted with the style. Once again, for budget reasons (and others), we couldn’t get Koops to do it. So it’s either this or nothing, and I’m happy with how it turned out.
As expected, most players got all the way through or fairly far along.
As expected, big Kink component in the self-selected response group. Luckily, people enjoyed the other aspects of the game. I hope they enjoy the new combat to bring it up to standard.
Pandemonium is and always will be free. Luckily, itch.io allows a “tip” option so you can pay more if you can afford it.
So to help with this one: A mechanical sequel borrows the same mechanics (combat, exploration, TFs, hunting your friends) but has a new setting and characters, and often a new theme.
A thematic sequel aims to capture the same tone of the game. A thematic sequel might even be in a different engine, but would try to be atmospheric, oppressive, and mysterious.
A story sequel is a continuation of the same story, but may be of a different tone or use different mechanics.
A direct sequel is all three of the above: Same engine, same mechanics, same tone, continuation of the story.
And a crossover with Pandemonium might feature Talia helping Mary – or becoming one of her dolls…
Anyway, it seems that a crossover or thematic sequel are very popular. If the game does well, we might produce one next year.
So the public likes dolls and rubbery goops (yay!) but possessive mask is very popular. Meanwhile, 1st place goes to “Start as a doll, battle to remain human”, which opens a lot of interesting ideas.
Please note that these are just suggestions if we decide to continue the series. But please enjoy the Mask-Possessed Kitsune Mary teaser above!
This is a very large long-form response image. Some of these are already implemented in the final game, some I can put on my to-do list for a later patch. And some are good suggestions that might make their ways into a sequel.
I may do a more individual response to some of these at a later date. If you’d like to discuss it in detail, we now have a forum thread.
Curious Catte
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