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Sadat's Journey to Jerusalem's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Graphics | #45 | 2.041 | 2.500 |
| Gameplay/Design | #46 | 2.041 | 2.500 |
| Fun | #48 | 2.041 | 2.500 |
| Overall | #51 | 1.939 | 2.375 |
| Audio | #57 | 1.633 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 2 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What would you like feedback on?
Is the tactical gameplay engaging? Is the story satisfactory?
What did you update?
See https://beseda.itch.io/interstellar-jam-9/devlog/1631645/2-post-jam-updates
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Comments
This is a really interesting concept. However in my opinion the tutorial here is really bad. After loading the game, explanations are thrown at you left and right, the game seems to try to teach all mechanics it has all at once. Which for me personally leads to lots of confusion.
Like I don't understand what's going on here, what are all of these screens for. And after "explaining" everything, I'm expected to get it, which unfortunately doesn't work like this.
I think you need to introduce mechanics one by one, only showing what's relevant right now. From most basic to more advanced.
Another issue I found is that the UI here doesn't really communicate well what parts of the interface are information to me, and what parts are buttons to be clicked/interacted with. When I hover on something that's interactive, it should light up or change to indicate to me, yes you can click/interact. Right now I was clicking everywhere like those old hidden object games in hopes of finding something I can interact with.
Also I'm not sure why, but these tutorial screens sometimes just skip pages and fast forward to the last section, without letting me actually read it. (Maybe because I'm using Firefox, IDK)
Thank you for this feedback.
I have put a lot of effort and made a few iterations on the tutorial. I understand it may be a lot to take - especially if you don't have much experience with the genre I'm basing it off of. I am curious - do you have experience with turn based tactics games?
For the next iteration of the system I am going to try harder to make the introduction smoother.
The tutorial screens save the progress by default - that is why they skip to the last step. I can disable that setting.
I wish you a bright day
Maybe it didn't work correctly for me, IDK. Because it seemed like the game was glitiching or broken when those tutorial screens appeared. A bit later I will try to read all tutorials again and see if any of it makes more sense.
Regarding experience with turn based games, I did play some games like that. For example games like XCOM, or baldur's gate 3, or even simple turn based card games. But I have never seen a game like yours.
Hey, no worries about replaying - by the end of the month I'm planning to release the next iteration which has a lot of changes - a different game.
So, you have a lot of experience then. Great. I'm trying to mimic it with a focus on dialog. Stay tuned!
Oh wow, I can really see how much work went into this game. It feels like a very in-depth game with some really complex systems in place. I think that’s both the game’s biggest strength and, at the moment, its biggest weakness.
I feel like I couldn’t fully enjoy the game because of its accessibility for new players. There are a lot of things to keep track of, and it feels like most of the mechanics are introduced all at once during the very first encounter. There’s the bar at the top, which I wasn’t sure what it did, the four different actions, the four buttons at the bottom whose purpose I didn’t get, and I also wasn’t entirely sure what the different actions actually did.
It’s a shame because I’m sure the game has a lot of potential, but I think it really needs to ease new players into its mechanics and introduce them more progressively. I would even suggest hiding a lot of the buttons at first and starting with the bare minimum.
For example, for the first encounter, you could make the interaction much more scripted. At first, maybe the player only has one option: “Assess.” Then the person you’re talking to does something, and the game introduces the next mechanic by saying something like, “Try using Attack.” The player uses it, another mechanic is introduced, and so on.
Then, in the second encounter, you could introduce the feelings of the person you’re talking to. Later, introduce another mechanic, and gradually build up the complexity as the player becomes more comfortable with the systems.
Obviously, just a suggestion, but in my opinion, making the introduction to the game more gradual should be the top priority. The underlying systems seem really interesting, but I think new players need more time to understand and appreciate them.
I’d definitely like to come back and test the game again later on!
Thank you. It's really valuable to hear the opinion of someone who plays for the first time. I thought the introduction is easy but I know the systems too well.
I'll think about making a smoother introduction.
I'm putting this project on hold because for the next 2 game jams I'm tweaking the custom game engine and it is already different (more complex for better / worse :D).
Coming from an Egyptian, the dedication for this project is very impressive! im generally not one thats too interested in things this political since it always comes with its fair share of controversy. i wont get into the narrative for this reason, ill only talk on it on a "Game-Based point of view" (I hope you understand, i dont want to spark some kind of debate).
The narrative is great, it clearly emphasized how important your role is as the player and how you must strategize your decisions before making them. combine it with the strategical gameplay and you get an engaging experience.
The gameplay does come with its drawbacks however. but its mainly a UI issue. i often found my self lost, and didnt really what i was doing. this could be a byproduct of the custom engine. Having a custom engine for you game is great i love it, and with some more work on the UI to make easier to read and navigate. it would take this game to a whole new level. the different tabs sometimes would overlap and animations got stuck (at least i think they did).
I think it would be better to have the game be played in sequential segments rather that have the player be able to jump from one to the other.
Overall i see some great potential here, with enough work this could become a really good game. id love to see what it could become in the future!
ps. i know this would sort of kill the games atmosphere a little, but i just thought having the games events and characters be that of real ones could be a rather risky thing to do? this is just a suggestion, if you as the developer feel like thats what you want to then you should absolutely go ahead and do it. But i personally wouldnt risk exposure to controversy. either way i think the game would still turn out Great!
Wow, what a coincidence that you're a native to the historical setting!
Noted about the story. I admit that as an outsider I probably know only a tiny bit. I didn't have much time to research either.
I do believe that basing the story on real world history is beneficial to myself and to players. I will be more careful in the future.
What do you mean by "played in sequential segments"?
Thank you!
I meant instead of having Tabs the player can navigate, you transport the player to those tabs sequentially. i.e the player negotiates, gains exp and gets to spend his skill points. then is transported to the board where you can pick the next person to negotiate with. Things like the inventory can remain as tabs, but for the "Main" scenes they should be rotated automatically. i know this gives less freedom for the player, but maybe youre giving them too much freedom?
in the end This is just an opinion, a game like this can easily go either way and be just as good. Good Luck With It!
I think I understand what you mean. Yes, I think the level up menu can appear automatically.
Thank you.