Completed Scotophobia

Nandthesword · Aug 11, 2022

Holy hell this game was good! Despite it being really short, the game just felt really nice to play.

I absolutely loved the short little game made by Dr. Fuji! The horror segment in the mansion reflecting the game was really cool because of it!

Honestly, I'd love to see a longer game like this because of how nice it felt to play in general! This was so polished! Congrats to both of you!

Elle · Aug 12, 2022

Nandthesword said:
Holy hell this game was good! Despite it being really short, the game just felt really nice to play.

I absolutely loved the short little game made by Dr. Fuji! The horror segment in the mansion reflecting the game was really cool because of it!

Honestly, I'd love to see a longer game like this because of how nice it felt to play in general! This was so polished! Congrats to both of you!

Thank you for playing, I'm glad you liked it!

Maybe one day I will, I'm still getting used to making the events work properly. :)

Tomix9tomix · Aug 12, 2022

Aaaaaaaa I really enjoyed this. Very well made and a big pat on the back for you!
Some thoughts in detail:

Aesthetically/atmospherically, really well done. The graphics hit such a good vibe for the game. And omg the sound design. Just hearing random creeks and ambient sounds aaaaaa It's great. I was shocked that you actually went and included voice acting, that's so crazy and it was such a cool moment.

The "Digital World" or whatever you want to call it in the arcade was really cool, I loved how it actually felt like a separate game. But then you went and tied it into the main game by making it the map to get through the mansion!!!!!! aaaaaa!!!!!

I was streaming it, and I really enjoyed the secret hunt of finding the numbers of mew. It took me a while, but finding the book on the iceberg of secrets gave me the final clue I needed. Really nice stuff. Such a good experience. I loved the design of that thing in the secret ending. Really good job elle, you knocked it out of the park.

Elle · Aug 17, 2022

Tomix9tomix said:
Aaaaaaaa I really enjoyed this. Very well made and a big pat on the back for you!
Some thoughts in detail:

Aesthetically/atmospherically, really well done. The graphics hit such a good vibe for the game. And omg the sound design. Just hearing random creeks and ambient sounds aaaaaa It's great. I was shocked that you actually went and included voice acting, that's so crazy and it was such a cool moment.

The "Digital World" or whatever you want to call it in the arcade was really cool, I loved how it actually felt like a separate game. But then you went and tied it into the main game by making it the map to get through the mansion!!!!!! aaaaaa!!!!!

I was streaming it, and I really enjoyed the secret hunt of finding the numbers of mew. It took me a while, but finding the book on the iceberg of secrets gave me the final clue I needed. Really nice stuff. Such a good experience. I loved the design of that thing in the secret ending. Really good job elle, you knocked it out of the park.

Aaaaaaa thank you!

Thank you, with such a small amount of content, it was especially important to make it very atmospheric with the sound design. As for the PQ world, I'm glad I was able to make it feel separate enough from the main game. It's a little easier with different generations of graphics, but still needs extra work. As for the minimap, the game is quite linear, so I think doubling back to search for the game and have it reward you is a great way to add a bit of mystery. In future projects, I hope to try and make even more arcade games, as I really enjoyed the fun and challenge of making minigames. And what's an elle-game without a bit of secrets and great job for finding them all! Thank you again for your comments and compliments and I look forward to seeing you again when I finish more projects!

AenaonDogsky · Aug 17, 2022

This is the first game from you I got to play, here's a review:

Uh, interesting books.
Sound design is great. Especially the climaxing of the track in the game room in the lab, and how it fades its creepiness out.
Animations and lighting (its either parallax or psdk lights) is also great
Flavor text is pretty well done
I love how the fog gets deeper the further you go on the shores
LOL I wasnt expecting VA! That was cool.

- The transition from the word-explaining part to the start of the game feels a bit abrupt, perhaps make it fade in more slowly?

- When I first got in the PQ game I interacted with the candles, but I got flavor text instead of getting to blow them out. The ability to do so activated after getting to one of the statues (or talking to the npc?). This can be slightly incosistent as far as certain playstyles are concerned, especially; you are getting into a zelda-esque environment with a big map and slow-ish movement, and after exploring a bit you don't get immediate feedback from your actions. The player might be tempted to leave thinking "there's nothing here". EDIT: I don't know if the ability to interact with them activated after the first flavor-text interaction.

- Seems like I didnt get any indication as to the appearance of scytheboi, despite being warned about it, a slightly dimmed screen or an SFX would have been cool

- You should be getting the prompt to re-interact with the mew door since your first interaction gives the impression that the door isnt interactable until something in the game has been activated.

- It doesnt feel like the game is hinting at an alternate ending, and clicking on everything as a prerequirement for this might seem a bit strange. Note that this is the first game I've played from you and I assume from the comments and your presentation that people might be coming in with certain expectations, so my perspective is that of a first timer.

- After reading those two books in the lab room, (which is one of the two little tiles I never interacted with, having interacted with literally everything else xD) I can see how to get the pass for the room.

- That said... this kind of layering system might be very intriguing, but only to a very small amount of players. I can understand the allure from a designer's standpoint too, but it's hit or miss with give or take the majority of players. Admittedly, I'm also guilty of things like that but at one point I had to consider the scope (or layer depth in your case) of such a structure. And the deeper you go the more "meta" (as in the case of external hints) it all becomes. This can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand those few people will really appreciate something like that, on the other many people nowadays have very little time to spend on secret hunting. The sweet spot between ingame hinting and the consistency and expectation of how the ingame world works, is what worked best in my case.

- I definitely did not get into the game with Metal Gear gameplay assumptions in mind, though, lol!

Also, you might want to mention, that, it is the in-game credits you are referring to when it comes to that particular hint.

- I can see my reflection in the pokecenter at the beginning if I hug the southern walls, particularly the corners

- That said, the map isn't centered, unless its deliberate, since it seems to be a staple of most maps

- You can walk through the PC desk on the screen part, unless deliberate to show sitting on the stool

- I can walk towards the stairs from this angle, and the character shows on top. Also, reflection thing on this floors southern walls again (see image)

- Mart map suffers from same reflection issue

- Scott has a Trainer Card. With Lucas sprite on it.

- "The perplexed Pokemaniac seems lost in thought" line is accompanied by the maniac turning as if he'd talk to you. Perhaps direction fix would be better in that case

- The old man/ janitors walking sprite in the Lab, when moving to the LEFT shows a couple of black pixels
Reflection in lab again. EDIT: Just read the note in the thread

- I think the irritated lab scientist who is in desperate need of ear plugs said "in tact" rather than "intact". Could be mistaken and I cant see that dialogue again.

- Iceburg and not Iceberg? Is there a reference I'm missing here? It should be "iceberg".

- Not really a bug, but number input is kinda cluncky as it doesnt allow you to put in a 0 before having moved to the next line

The atmoshpere of the game and the art is great.
I cannot really say anything on the story as that is very subjective, but I couldn't really tell that the protag was the bad guy based on earlier signs. Unless you count what he said right when he got into the mansion. I wonder what I missed.

It did feel like it was more horror than thriller, which I believe hindered the game's potential a bit.
I understand you might have been going for the horror element from the start, but in my subjective opinion, it would have benefitted greatly from a lighter "you cant discern the threat" vibe. The atmosphere is so well-built, that the horror depictions, especially those pertaining to the jumpscares and the protagonist in the true ending, seem to be taking away from the suggestiveness of the environment and the way the characters talk about it.

It would have beneffited from a less visually pronounced scare, and potentially (and even more subjectively) from a more mysterious element.

The Gym seemed to not have served any gameplay purpose other than making the island feel more alive. (unless there was something I missed?) I was expecting Blaine, the quiz maniac, to have some sort of implication in the entire thing in a gameplay-related manner. This might have been a jam or time constraint thing given what little time you had, as you mentioned in the thread. (naturally, getting to blaine and back was slow).

The minimap thing in conjuction with the visible staircase, and the game connection was brilliant. I don't know if clearing the game, though, is a prerequirement to maneuvering around the mansion, since I cleared the game first.

Some of the elements felt incompatible (psychological, then science & technology then supernatural, and metaphysical) in what appeared to be a science-horror thing at first. I presumed that because it was Cinnabar Island and gen 1 was all about the science.

I wasnt sure if fear of the dark was, as put forward by the text in the beginning, presented as a psychological thing "scot(t)" had to face, then if it was a science experiment, then if it was supernatural. Though it ended up as the latter.

Finally, the audio design in the mansion was incredible. The quality of the sounds, and how they worked together, what I believe is reduced panting when standing still? and how intense it all feels to traverse - it was superbly executed. Generally, the game is an audiovisual treat.

All in all, it was polished and well-presented overall, which indicates an amount of proficiency with things ranging from tiling and art to the mapping and the sound design.

Porygon2 · Aug 21, 2022

I really enjoyed Scotophobia! From reading that the main character's name is Scott, I actually wondered before playing if there was going to be a Scottophobia pun somewhere.

The quiet, eerie music added to the ambience perfectly, and the ending was hilarious. As of typing this I haven't found

the full code for the secret room yet. I know the beginning of the code is in the first post and the ending is revealed at the end, but I have yet to find the middle. I thought it could be in the asset pack, but didn't find it there. I feel like it's either in a super obvious place that I missed, or that it's going over my head.

The minigame was one of my favorite parts of the game! I actually got so engrossed in it that I forgot there was a whole main plot for a few seconds at times. I also loved how it tied into the strategy for navigating the endgame area!

Although the estimated playtime was 30 minutes, I actually got close to 2 and a half hours, though I'm unsure if time where you have the game window open but minimized counts towards playtime. I know it doesn't in Essentials, but I have no idea for PSDK.

I wasn't expecting

voice acting

,

that was really going the extra mile to add to the atmosphere!

Missing d in headphones:

similarily should be similarly

Missing a in kinda:

There's an opening ( but no closing ):

There should be a comma after Hey there:

appareciate should be appreciate:

Missing one z in quizzes:

With other NPC descriptor boxes, if they have more than one word, all words have the first letter capitalized, but here the g in guard is lowercase:

Additionally, while his descriptor in the initial conversation is Security guard, his descriptor if spoken to again is Security Officer:

The h in the first ha should be capitalized, and there's missing punctuation at the end of the sentence:

giver should be give:

you're should be your:

Missing t in apparently and in tact should be intact:

Missing e in mathematics:

TechSkylander1518 · Aug 25, 2022

Had a really fun time! You did a great job at creating a spooky atmosphere!

I really love Fuji's characterization in this! The philosophizing about quitting and the arcade game were both great ways to show off his heart and smarts!

The sound design in this game is superb! Obviously the voice acting and heavy breathing in the mansion takes the cake, but even while I was exploring the rest of the island, I was really enjoying the little soundscapes in the labs and on the shores!

The arcade game was cute! I love games-within-games, haha, and its aesthetic was done well!

The jumpscare art was all fantastic! Great, creepy designs done well, I think they'd work just as well if used for regular scares!

I love seeing Ditto used in horror! (Assuming I'm right in thinking that was a Ditto at the end, haha) There's so much great potential with body horror and mimicry, I'm surprised we don't see it more often!

Even if it wasn't quite the tone of the game, I got a kick out of the janitor, Chansey, and "How to date nurses" goofs!

Minor, but it was smart of you to include that bit in the intro to make sure people get fangames from the proper source, I need to make that a habit myself!

The title screens a little hard to read against the black background...

Since the message about remapping controls only takes up one message box, I think it'd be just as fast to just display the message without asking the player if they already know - players who know are clicking through just one message either way. (But this is really minor, it's literally just one message to click through

)

I like changing the bump SE, but I feel like the new one doesn't quite convey the player bumping into something - I honestly thought it was the sound of Scott opening a drawer when I first heard it, but that's partly because of what I had bumped into.

I feel like it doesn't really make sense for Drace to say "I need to take this call" when she just took a call - but also maybe that's intentional for a joke and I just didn't pick up on it.

I thought it was a little strange for Dr. Fuji to explicitly tell players "this is how you access my lab" in his game. In-universe, the lab is secret, but the video game is like, a normal video game, right? It feels like Todd Howard telling people "This puzzle in Skyrim is also the PIN for my bank account!" And out-of-universe, I think most players would be able to connect the dots and realize that the magic of the castle is a clue to how the security in the manor works.

I feel like the voice acting got a bit disrupted by having the text display on screen right away - the text would always outpace the audio, and it felt a little weird listening while I had already reread the whole line. (I don't know if PSDK has the pausing text effects like Essentials, though...)

The minimap only took like about a fourth of the screen? Felt weird that it was so little when the rest of the screen space wasn't really used for anything.

If you die in the mansion, you have to go through the whole warning about saving again, and then the whole cutscene of Scott entering the mansion, kind of disrupting the flow.

It seemed like Scott's fear of the dark didn't really get mentioned until he actually went into the mansion. (Or until you try to go into the mansion, but depending on the order you enter the buildings, you might not even see that) I feel like there could have been a few more references to it so that it was a theme throughout the game - maybe he comments on having to snuff out all the candles in the game, maybe the lights flicker in one of the buildings and he gets nervous about them going out, that sort of thing.

The dialogue portraits aren't used at all in Domino's reveal? It seems like the left half of the screen would have been perfect to use them, they wouldn't cover anything up.

I kind of wish Mew wasn't referenced at all in the password puzzle.

I spent a lot of time trying out stuff like Mew's dex number + Mewtwo's dex number MEWTWO but if it was spelled on a phone pad, etc. - and then when I got the ending clue, I was like, "Oh, it's Mew002, or Mew's dex number with 02 at the end, something like that." I ended up just watching a stream for the answer, and that's how I found out about the other clue's locations. And then I don't think Mew was actually relevant to the password at all?

Scott kind of flickered into the main scene?

Trainer card displays Lucas sprite

Janitor has some black pixels above him in this frame of his walk cycle -

EDIT: Oh, I see this was mentioned in the notes. I think the issue is that the sprites aren't quite aligned right in the 4x4 grid.

Don't think this was intentional?

Visible reflection

Seems like there's two colors of void here?

This is probably a PSDK thing, but the lock treated the input as like, putting in one number, not like a combination lock. So if you scrolled from 0 to 9 because it would be quicker, then you'd also change the number left of what you had selected.

Pokémon is spelled without the é everywhere

that you use heaphones during gameplay - headphones
If you press F1 you can view the controls. - If you press F1, you can view the controls
In the black emptiness we lose ourselves - In the black emptiness, we lose ourselves
and sometimes briefly, we lose our minds - and, sometimes briefly, we lose our minds
Yeah yeah I know - Yeah, yeah, I know
Suddenly Drace's radio - Suddenly, Drace's radio
Yes Sir? - Yes, sir?
Aw great - Aw, great
Um yeah - Um, yeah
Yes yes, - Yes, yes
ask questions, investigate and do a thorough job - questions, investigate, and do a
Yeah uh, - Yeah, uh
Dammit Drace - Dammit, Drace
Hey there you wouldn't happen to - Hey there, you wouldn't
Excuse me sir - Excuse me, sir
Apologies sir - Apologies, sir
Alright well - Alright, well
Good luck sir - Good luck, sir
apparently it's all in tact - it's all intact
I ever quit something and it was hard - I ever quit something, and it was hard
Are you a PQ fan too? - Are you a PQ fan, too?
Oh, well that's pretty cool - Oh, well, that's pretty
Oh and if you do win - Oh, and if you do win,
together for years and now we have - together for years, and now we have
Be careful hero - Be careful, hero
The Princess shines their brightest - The princess is referred to as she/her everywhere else, so I think this is supposed to be she?
some sort of strange powerful magic - some sort of strange, powerful magic
Please brave Hero - Please, brave Hero
Kanto's riches businessman - Kanto's richest businessman
No luck there either - No luck there, either
Awww you've got to be - Awww, you've got to be
to save while inside as you may softlock - to save while inside, as you may softlock
Past the old wooden door you look inside - Past the old wooden door, you look
you notice a switch on this one too - this one, too
Drace are you there? - Drace, are you there?
Luckily you remember that - Luckily, you remember that
something has change on this floor - something has changed on this floor
You better be down here Drace - You better be down here, Drace
My true name, is Domino! - My true name is Domino!
He asked me to find this place, this secret lab of his and collect - this place, this secret lab of his, and

Tomix9tomix · Aug 25, 2022

TechSkylander1518 said:
I kind of wish Mew wasn't referenced at all in the password puzzle. I spent a lot of time trying out stuff like Mew's dex number + Mewtwo's dex number MEWTWO but if it was spelled on a phone pad, etc. - and then when I got the ending clue, I was like, "Oh, it's Mew002, or Mew's dex number with 02 at the end, something like that." I ended up just watching a stream for the answer, and that's how I found out about the other clue's locations. And then I don't think Mew was actually relevant to the password at all?

I just wanted to mention, I found this so funny to read because I did the exact same thing with the phone pad

Elle · Sep 10, 2022

AenaonDogsky said:
This is the first game from you I got to play, here's a review:

Uh, interesting books.

Sound design is great. Especially the climaxing of the track in the game room in the lab, and how it fades its creepiness out.

Animations and lighting (its either parallax or psdk lights) is also great

Flavor text is pretty well done

I love how the fog gets deeper the further you go on the shores

LOL I wasnt expecting VA! That was cool.

- The transition from the word-explaining part to the start of the game feels a bit abrupt, perhaps make it fade in more slowly?

- When I first got in the PQ game I interacted with the candles, but I got flavor text instead of getting to blow them out. The ability to do so activated after getting to one of the statues (or talking to the npc?). This can be slightly incosistent as far as certain playstyles are concerned, especially; you are getting into a zelda-esque environment with a big map and slow-ish movement, and after exploring a bit you don't get immediate feedback from your actions. The player might be tempted to leave thinking "there's nothing here". EDIT: I don't know if the ability to interact with them activated after the first flavor-text interaction.

- Seems like I didnt get any indication as to the appearance of scytheboi, despite being warned about it, a slightly dimmed screen or an SFX would have been cool

- You should be getting the prompt to re-interact with the mew door since your first interaction gives the impression that the door isnt interactable until something in the game has been activated.

- It doesnt feel like the game is hinting at an alternate ending, and clicking on everything as a prerequirement for this might seem a bit strange. Note that this is the first game I've played from you and I assume from the comments and your presentation that people might be coming in with certain expectations, so my perspective is that of a first timer.

- After reading those two books in the lab room, (which is one of the two little tiles I never interacted with, having interacted with literally everything else xD) I can see how to get the pass for the room.

- That said... this kind of layering system might be very intriguing, but only to a very small amount of players. I can understand the allure from a designer's standpoint too, but it's hit or miss with give or take the majority of players. Admittedly, I'm also guilty of things like that but at one point I had to consider the scope (or layer depth in your case) of such a structure. And the deeper you go the more "meta" (as in the case of external hints) it all becomes. This can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand those few people will really appreciate something like that, on the other many people nowadays have very little time to spend on secret hunting. The sweet spot between ingame hinting and the consistency and expectation of how the ingame world works, is what worked best in my case.

- I definitely did not get into the game with Metal Gear gameplay assumptions in mind, though, lol!

Also, you might want to mention, that, it is the in-game credits you are referring to when it comes to that particular hint.

- I can see my reflection in the pokecenter at the beginning if I hug the southern walls, particularly the corners

- That said, the map isn't centered, unless its deliberate, since it seems to be a staple of most maps

- You can walk through the PC desk on the screen part, unless deliberate to show sitting on the stool

- I can walk towards the stairs from this angle, and the character shows on top. Also, reflection thing on this floors southern walls again (see image)

- Mart map suffers from same reflection issue

- Scott has a Trainer Card. With Lucas sprite on it.

- "The perplexed Pokemaniac seems lost in thought" line is accompanied by the maniac turning as if he'd talk to you. Perhaps direction fix would be better in that case

- The old man/ janitors walking sprite in the Lab, when moving to the LEFT shows a couple of black pixels
Reflection in lab again. EDIT: Just read the note in the thread

- I think the irritated lab scientist who is in desperate need of ear plugs said "in tact" rather than "intact". Could be mistaken and I cant see that dialogue again.

- Iceburg and not Iceberg? Is there a reference I'm missing here? It should be "iceberg".

- Not really a bug, but number input is kinda cluncky as it doesnt allow you to put in a 0 before having moved to the next line

The atmoshpere of the game and the art is great.
I cannot really say anything on the story as that is very subjective, but I couldn't really tell that the protag was the bad guy based on earlier signs. Unless you count what he said right when he got into the mansion. I wonder what I missed.

It did feel like it was more horror than thriller, which I believe hindered the game's potential a bit.
I understand you might have been going for the horror element from the start, but in my subjective opinion, it would have benefitted greatly from a lighter "you cant discern the threat" vibe. The atmosphere is so well-built, that the horror depictions, especially those pertaining to the jumpscares and the protagonist in the true ending, seem to be taking away from the suggestiveness of the environment and the way the characters talk about it.

It would have beneffited from a less visually pronounced scare, and potentially (and even more subjectively) from a more mysterious element.

The Gym seemed to not have served any gameplay purpose other than making the island feel more alive. (unless there was something I missed?) I was expecting Blaine, the quiz maniac, to have some sort of implication in the entire thing in a gameplay-related manner. This might have been a jam or time constraint thing given what little time you had, as you mentioned in the thread. (naturally, getting to blaine and back was slow).

The minimap thing in conjuction with the visible staircase, and the game connection was brilliant. I don't know if clearing the game, though, is a prerequirement to maneuvering around the mansion, since I cleared the game first.

Some of the elements felt incompatible (psychological, then science & technology then supernatural, and metaphysical) in what appeared to be a science-horror thing at first. I presumed that because it was Cinnabar Island and gen 1 was all about the science.

I wasnt sure if fear of the dark was, as put forward by the text in the beginning, presented as a psychological thing "scot(t)" had to face, then if it was a science experiment, then if it was supernatural. Though it ended up as the latter.

Finally, the audio design in the mansion was incredible. The quality of the sounds, and how they worked together, what I believe is reduced panting when standing still? and how intense it all feels to traverse - it was superbly executed. Generally, the game is an audiovisual treat.

All in all, it was polished and well-presented overall, which indicates an amount of proficiency with things ranging from tiling and art to the mapping and the sound design.

Sorry for the late reply and thank you for the feedback!

Porygon2 said:
I really enjoyed Scotophobia! From reading that the main character's name is Scott, I actually wondered before playing if there was going to be a Scottophobia pun somewhere. The quiet, eerie music added to the ambience perfectly, and the ending was hilarious. As of typing this I haven't found

the full code for the secret room yet. I know the beginning of the code is in the first post and the ending is revealed at the end, but I have yet to find the middle. I thought it could be in the asset pack, but didn't find it there. I feel like it's either in a super obvious place that I missed, or that it's going over my head.

The minigame was one of my favorite parts of the game! I actually got so engrossed in it that I forgot there was a whole main plot for a few seconds at times. I also loved how it tied into the strategy for navigating the endgame area!

Although the estimated playtime was 30 minutes, I actually got close to 2 and a half hours, though I'm unsure if time where you have the game window open but minimized counts towards playtime. I know it doesn't in Essentials, but I have no idea for PSDK.

I wasn't expecting

voice acting

,

that was really going the extra mile to add to the atmosphere!

Missing d in headphones:

similarily should be similarly

Missing a in kinda:

There's an opening ( but no closing ):

There should be a comma after Hey there:

appareciate should be appreciate:

Missing one z in quizzes:

With other NPC descriptor boxes, if they have more than one word, all words have the first letter capitalized, but here the g in guard is lowercase:

Additionally, while his descriptor in the initial conversation is Security guard, his descriptor if spoken to again is Security Officer:

The h in the first ha should be capitalized, and there's missing punctuation at the end of the sentence:

giver should be give:

you're should be your:

Missing t in apparently and in tact should be intact:

Missing e in mathematics:

Sorry for the late reply, thank you for playing and sharing your thoughts!

The middle code is in the credis, accessible at the title screen of the game. It's an often overlooked place, despite a perfect place to put secrets.

TechSkylander1518 said:
Had a really fun time! You did a great job at creating a spooky atmosphere!

I really love Fuji's characterization in this! The philosophizing about quitting and the arcade game were both great ways to show off his heart and smarts!

The sound design in this game is superb! Obviously the voice acting and heavy breathing in the mansion takes the cake, but even while I was exploring the rest of the island, I was really enjoying the little soundscapes in the labs and on the shores!

The arcade game was cute! I love games-within-games, haha, and its aesthetic was done well!

The jumpscare art was all fantastic! Great, creepy designs done well, I think they'd work just as well if used for regular scares!

I love seeing Ditto used in horror! (Assuming I'm right in thinking that was a Ditto at the end, haha) There's so much great potential with body horror and mimicry, I'm surprised we don't see it more often!

Even if it wasn't quite the tone of the game, I got a kick out of the janitor, Chansey, and "How to date nurses" goofs!

Minor, but it was smart of you to include that bit in the intro to make sure people get fangames from the proper source, I need to make that a habit myself!

The title screens a little hard to read against the black background...

Since the message about remapping controls only takes up one message box, I think it'd be just as fast to just display the message without asking the player if they already know - players who know are clicking through just one message either way. (But this is really minor, it's literally just one message to click through )

I like changing the bump SE, but I feel like the new one doesn't quite convey the player bumping into something - I honestly thought it was the sound of Scott opening a drawer when I first heard it, but that's partly because of what I had bumped into.

I feel like it doesn't really make sense for Drace to say "I need to take this call" when she just took a call - but also maybe that's intentional for a joke and I just didn't pick up on it.

I thought it was a little strange for Dr. Fuji to explicitly tell players "this is how you access my lab" in his game. In-universe, the lab is secret, but the video game is like, a normal video game, right? It feels like Todd Howard telling people "This puzzle in Skyrim is also the PIN for my bank account!" And out-of-universe, I think most players would be able to connect the dots and realize that the magic of the castle is a clue to how the security in the manor works.

I feel like the voice acting got a bit disrupted by having the text display on screen right away - the text would always outpace the audio, and it felt a little weird listening while I had already reread the whole line. (I don't know if PSDK has the pausing text effects like Essentials, though...)

The minimap only took like about a fourth of the screen? Felt weird that it was so little when the rest of the screen space wasn't really used for anything.

If you die in the mansion, you have to go through the whole warning about saving again, and then the whole cutscene of Scott entering the mansion, kind of disrupting the flow.

It seemed like Scott's fear of the dark didn't really get mentioned until he actually went into the mansion. (Or until you try to go into the mansion, but depending on the order you enter the buildings, you might not even see that) I feel like there could have been a few more references to it so that it was a theme throughout the game - maybe he comments on having to snuff out all the candles in the game, maybe the lights flicker in one of the buildings and he gets nervous about them going out, that sort of thing.

The dialogue portraits aren't used at all in Domino's reveal? It seems like the left half of the screen would have been perfect to use them, they wouldn't cover anything up.

I kind of wish Mew wasn't referenced at all in the password puzzle. I spent a lot of time trying out stuff like Mew's dex number + Mewtwo's dex number MEWTWO but if it was spelled on a phone pad, etc. - and then when I got the ending clue, I was like, "Oh, it's Mew002, or Mew's dex number with 02 at the end, something like that." I ended up just watching a stream for the answer, and that's how I found out about the other clue's locations. And then I don't think Mew was actually relevant to the password at all?

Scott kind of flickered into the main scene?
View attachment 12137

Trainer card displays Lucas sprite
View attachment 12138

Janitor has some black pixels above him in this frame of his walk cycle -
View attachment 12139
EDIT: Oh, I see this was mentioned in the notes. I think the issue is that the sprites aren't quite aligned right in the 4x4 grid.

Don't think this was intentional?
View attachment 12141
Visible reflection
View attachment 12142
Visible reflection
View attachment 12140

Seems like there's two colors of void here?
View attachment 12143 View attachment 12144 View attachment 12145 View attachment 12146

This is probably a PSDK thing, but the lock treated the input as like, putting in one number, not like a combination lock. So if you scrolled from 0 to 9 because it would be quicker, then you'd also change the number left of what you had selected.
View attachment 12147

Pokémon is spelled without the é everywhere

that you use heaphones during gameplay - headphones

If you press F1 you can view the controls. - If you press F1, you can view the controls

In the black emptiness we lose ourselves - In the black emptiness, we lose ourselves

and sometimes briefly, we lose our minds - and, sometimes briefly, we lose our minds

Yeah yeah I know - Yeah, yeah, I know

Suddenly Drace's radio - Suddenly, Drace's radio

Yes Sir? - Yes, sir?

Aw great - Aw, great

Um yeah - Um, yeah

Yes yes, - Yes, yes

ask questions, investigate and do a thorough job - questions, investigate, and do a

Yeah uh, - Yeah, uh

Dammit Drace - Dammit, Drace

Hey there you wouldn't happen to - Hey there, you wouldn't

Excuse me sir - Excuse me, sir

Apologies sir - Apologies, sir

Alright well - Alright, well

Good luck sir - Good luck, sir

apparently it's all in tact - it's all intact

I ever quit something and it was hard - I ever quit something, and it was hard

Are you a PQ fan too? - Are you a PQ fan, too?

Oh, well that's pretty cool - Oh, well, that's pretty

Oh and if you do win - Oh, and if you do win,

together for years and now we have - together for years, and now we have

Be careful hero - Be careful, hero

The Princess shines their brightest - The princess is referred to as she/her everywhere else, so I think this is supposed to be she?

some sort of strange powerful magic - some sort of strange, powerful magic

Please brave Hero - Please, brave Hero

Kanto's riches businessman - Kanto's richest businessman

No luck there either - No luck there, either

Awww you've got to be - Awww, you've got to be

to save while inside as you may softlock - to save while inside, as you may softlock

Past the old wooden door you look inside - Past the old wooden door, you look

you notice a switch on this one too - this one, too

Drace are you there? - Drace, are you there?

Luckily you remember that - Luckily, you remember that

something has change on this floor - something has changed on this floor

You better be down here Drace - You better be down here, Drace

My true name, is Domino! - My true name is Domino!

He asked me to find this place, this secret lab of his and collect - this place, this secret lab of his, and

Some of the above issues are out of my control, but the ones I can fix, I will once judging ends. As for Fuji revealing his secret, I feel like he's the type of guy to respect a fellow secret finder and feel they are the best person to reward, especially if they can make it through the mansion alive on top of that.

Elle · Oct 20, 2022

pepsilon said:
I was so startled when the thing jumped out at me with a loud noise.
That's about it, though.

Totally understandable. lol

Ghetto Flash · Dec 28, 2022

Is it just me or is the download link missing? I'm new to Relic Castle and so I apologize if I'm asking in the wrong place.

Elle · Jan 5, 2023

Ghetto Flash said:
Is it just me or is the download link missing? I'm new to Relic Castle and so I apologize if I'm asking in the wrong place.

I've been trying to patch the game, so I took down the link in the meantime.

Elle · Jan 26, 2023

Ghetto Flash said:
Is it just me or is the download link missing? I'm new to Relic Castle and so I apologize if I'm asking in the wrong place.

The link is up, you can play it now.

Completed Scotophobia

Attachments

Nandthesword

Cooltrainer

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few

Tomix9tomix

The beetle is waking up

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few

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Arbiter of Doggos

Attachments

Porygon2

Novice

TechSkylander1518

Wiki Dweeb

Tomix9tomix

The beetle is waking up

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few

Ghetto Flash

Rookie

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few

Elle

Maker of Many and Finisher of Few