Hey back again and playing the new update. the update wiped my save, which im not mad about but you might wanna check that. The ritual info boxes are way too big, and cut off the text. i think you shouldn't be able to look at rituals you cant access yet, which would reduce the clutter thats starting to accumulate on the left side. The walking dead ritual is awsome tho, and the system seems really fun. There are times when bodies will fall through the pile in front, and land at the bottom of the pit a layer in front of the pile. not sure what thats about but it doesnt affect anything just a visual bug. also, the fog looks awsome, but when you zoom out, you can see the cart just sitting there which is kinda wonky so maybe adjust the zoom or where he stays? some sort of indicator for the lamp on when it'll go out and when it'll come back would be nice, maybe with how high the flame inside it is? The everburning upgrade works great, but honestly im still not in love with the mechanic. the pit lamps are awsome, but then they get burried and kinda become pointless. I think maybe move the pit lamps up to the surface, just spaced out. or you could make them some other decorative thing that has the same purpose. In line with that, i was thinking maybe the lamps could be reworked a bit. I was thinking a soul bonfire or something, that fuels all the lamps. as you collect souls, you use them to fuel the fire, so it kinda works with how the bodies make mass and souls, the souls give you themselves, but also fuel the lamps. you could tie the timer into how much ash is in the fire so as it burns longer the ash builds up till you have to clear the bonfire so it can burn again. Then you relight it and grow it by collecting new souls. That way, late game souls still have a sorta event that forces you to pay attention and click stuff, but its a quicker thing and if you are active in collecting souls then you get back to max range faster. Also, now that it unlocks when you fill the pit, consecration is kinda redundant now until we get smth after the pit. It might be a lot of work idk, but having something happen in between each consecration could help. Maybe seasons change or its a new year or whatever. Just something that makes it feel more impactful to consecrate. The little cutscenes for the new depth and the info boxes are good for a first play, but maybe tie them to the tutorial, so if someone skips it they skip those too? or a toggle. gonna keep playing now ive consecrated and add anything else later. Sorry for the essay haha. again, cant wait to see where you go with this its a super fun idea. Maybe make a discord for feedback? the in game form is good in theory, but not rly useful in practice. one last thing, are you planning on making this available for apple or eventually making the full game available to play in browser?
On my replay now, i think the crows should fly around their tree instead of the lantern, cause after the lantern gets big enough, they don't really catch the far souls fast enough. Also, the lantern feels kinda useless until you get two radius upgrades. because we only unlock it at the catacombs, its starting radius is super small compared to the width the souls can spawn in. not quite sure how to fix that but maybe unlock it sooner? a way to automate emptying the pile in late game would be nice, because now the limit is how fast you can toss bodies in. the new cart upgrades are perfect, but now the pile fills up fast and can only toss them in so fast. so maybe a apprentice guy that you can upgrade that stands next to you and tosses bodies too?
Good call on the crows - in v0.34 they circle near their tree once you have the lantern, so they're not fighting it for the middle anymore. My crow employees finally got their own territory :D
The lantern feeling weak at the start is fair. The new cemetery lanterns should help a bit with the souls far to the sides, but I'll keep an eye on the starting radius and when it unlocks.
An apprentice that tosses bodies is a fun idea, especially now that the carts bring so much. I've added it to my list, let's see how the pile feels with the new update first.
Hey again :) And no need to apologise for the essay, this is exactly the kind of feedback that helps the most.
You were right about the save. Renaming the itch page changed where your browser keeps the game, so the old save got left behind. That one's on me, sorry! v0.34 adds Save to code / Load from code in Settings, so you can keep a backup of your cemetery and it won't happen again.
A lot of your notes are already in v0.34:
- ritual info boxes are smaller and fit on the screen now
- the demo only shows the rituals you can actually use
- the cart doesn't sit in the fog anymore when you zoom out
- there's a small gauge next to the lamp showing when it will dim and when it comes back
- and the pit lamps are gone - I took your idea and moved them to the surface. Now there are small lanterns on posts beside the cemetery, and souls from the sides drift towards them :D
The bodies falling through the front of the pile is on my list, thanks for spotting it.
I really like the soul bonfire idea, especially clearing the ash as a small late-game event. I want to see how the new lanterns play first, but it's written down. Same with something changing between consecrations - for now The Pit is the end of the demo, but in the full version you keep digging, so consecration will matter more there. A toggle for the cutscenes and info boxes makes sense too.
And yes, there's a Discord now :) https://discord.gg/VEWe2Tqr2f - you'd be more than welcome there.
As for Apple and the full game in the browser - not right now. The full version is coming to Windows first, but I'll let you know if that changes.