Infinitap Games

I was spending half an hour earlier just trying to get past the place where there are two enemies in the same room in the mental hospital - I have no idea how to get past the second one :/

The text on the eye test was a great detail, more of those would be lovely; it might also be a good way to put in hint text (in "character" of course, e.g. "Don't...noise" scribbled in blood on the wall for enemies that use sound to hunt).

UPDATE: Recorded a short example of me trying to get past the second patient.
First attempt: He cornered me. That happens every time I try to go above him.
Second attempt: The camera is pulling away from him (that happened a lot previously as well) and suddenly he jumps me from a distance that seems "unfair".
Third attempt: Maybe I could have made it if I went to the right when he turned at the end? I don't know.
Fourth attempt: No running in the hall.
Fifth attempt: Him, me and the camera do a little dance, he gets tired of it and jumps from far away. I run off to tell the guards.

Funny enough that video Cybolic posted of that enemy was where I died about 3 times like I mentioned in my first post. I do agree that the gap for sneaking past that particular enemy is rather tight so maybe that could be loosend up slightly. Then again that's just how I feel so see how everyone else feels about it hahaa

I think the "listening cone" should be narrowed significantly when the enemy is still/listening, so one can at least freeze when he gets too close - which happens a lot due to his changing pattern.

Now that I tried again, I managed to get by him on the first attempt (without doing anything different), and then past the rest of them until the second body-pile, where I am now once again completely stuck.

The - problem from my point of view - is that there seems to be a randomness to when the enemy will attack, which makes it feel like cheating.

the new ingame link for the post play survey don't work for me
except that I really had fun and I can't wait to play the finished version
The second pile of body was a little hard to past but it was fun to figure out how to do

Oh, there was also this tiny glitch: Floating foot.

Ah! And congratulations on being the first game on Linux that has rumble working on my setup!

Yeah, I really need to fix that set up. I wanted to see how people would respond to it, but it is clear that I made a mistake.

Most of the other enemies don't roam vertically that much. That guy can roam the full vertical area, so to get past him, you need to wait until he's listening down at one edge, walk by him, and hope that he isn't going to walk up again when you are passing him. I tried to do some tricks to make it easier by making his walking pattern less random, but it clearly isn't working.

What if he walked in a square patrol? That would essentially have the same gameplay I was going for but be more predictable. Do you think that would work? Or should I cut his patrol area in half like everyone else?

Sorry for the trouble!

Hey Matt,

I check both of those and I am up to date on my drivers and my graphics card meets the minimum requirements for the game. I've played the other alphas fine but I can't seem to get past the black screen with the intro music. What can I do?

matt wrote:What if he walked in a square patrol? That would essentially have the same gameplay I was going for but be more predictable. Do you think that would work? Or should I cut his patrol area in half like everyone else?

Sorry for the trouble!

I think a clear diagonal patrol would also work and still be close to what he's already doing - or maybe a rhomboid to make it more interesting visually : Don't be sorry! Try everything now so the game can be as varied as possible whilst still tested and fully playable by all

Okay, like last time, here are my impressions as I make them while playing the game. Sorted by level, but other than that merely chronological comments. I won't guarantee their helpfulness, but they represent my experience playing especially the new level for the first time quite well, I hope.

1st Level
- Door handles on "side-doors" are way smaller than on "back-doors".
- "Fading effect" when going up through a door is great!
- Stair walking animation looks great downward; walking upwards, Thomas seems to walk like he's afraid of stepping in something. In both directions, he'll often do a "step in the air" after reaching the platform, especially when you keep holding the button.

2nd Level
- The dialogue is odd, on purpose. Still, I don't think we need exposition to explain that Gabby is his sister. We gather that from the photo. I really liked her just standing there as Thomas woke up, though, that was creepy. Her actually talking made me feel less isolated, whereas her just standing there, looking, would be more disturbing while retaining the lack of interaction.
- I notice that we "teleport" down into the cellar, while there was a point made of walking down the veranda's stairs. Maybe enter the cellar by having Thomas descend the last two steps or so?
- It's hard to evaluate without direct comparison, but the picture placement seems way better. Assuming it was actually changed and I'm not just imagining things?!
- Oh, light shining through the keyhole into the darkened room! Nice detail!
- Is it intentional that the big clock keeps chiming 12 o'clock repeatedly when leaving the room and coming back to walk in front of it?
- When leaving the room with the covered up doll towards the bathroom on the way to the boy's bedroom, Thomas will look towards the doll room, so, in the wrong direction upon entering the bathroom.
- In the long corridor before the boards with the failing lights, I can still walk into pitch darkness without any consequences and I can even go back into Thomas' bedroom.
- I'm doing the juvenile "rubbing the axe shaft"-thing with the sprint-button. Sorry.
- I can no longer fall down the attic stairs or glitch while trying to leave the attic! Great!

3rd Level
- Managed to do the chase scene on the first try, did you make it easier or did I just get luckier than in the last version?
- Wow. Great ending. The reference to the 2nd level is much appreciated! It's like we just got a glimpse at understanding the mystery of that earlier situation

4th Level
- Ambient sounds are loud here at the beginning. But after the initial shock, they went to much more effectively restrained and disturbing. Yes, I'm using headphones.
- Unexpected change in scenery. I mean, we knew this was coming at some point, but I actually expected to see more of the mansion falling apart. Maybe it'll make a return in later levels?
- The door handles seem better proportioned here (side compared to back doors), but I would probably place the side doors' handles a wee bit higher up on the doors.
- After the messed-up mansion, this place looks positively clean! Weird.
- I'm not sure whether I just heard a new enemy or whether the ambient sounds got loud again. Erm. Now I'm worried. Good thing!
- There was that sound again. I very much doubt it's ambient now. But it seems that, whatever that is, it's running away from me. I guess I'll follow it, it's not like I have much of a choice.
- I wonder what the voices are saying. I can't really make them out.
- Blood never bothered me much. I like a few splashes of colour every now and then.
- Oooh, nice, long stairway. The way the camera pans is disconcerting, I can't tell what's ahead. It'd be even better with some sort of sound with every step, preferably something metallic or whatever bare feet on metal would sound like.
- There's that sound again. Is it identical to the first two times? I think it is. Maybe add slightly different sound clips in the future?
- What does a psychiatrist need with an ophtalmologist's reading chart? What does God want with a spaceship?
- Yeah, the doctor's office is a great room for comparing door handle placements. The handle on side doors should definitely be a bit higher up.
- I wish I could read all the creepy texts on the various items in this area. One says something about arsenic and another is "-anal"-something.
- Hey, it would be cool for the ophtalmologist's reading charts to have a small, perhaps mocking or despairing message in one of the lower rows of letters! Still readable, but not immediately obvious. Please add something like that!
- Oh, there's that sound again. You know, at this point I'm less scared and more curious what this thing actually is. I wonder... oh. Dead. That was quick.
- He was lobotomized and had his eyes removed? Gruesome. But I think I have an idea of how to get past him now.
- A really nice way of indicating the strategy to be used against the enemy without holding the player's hand, well done!
- I'm sorry, I appear to be lost. Can you maybe... give me a hand?
- I don't know what it is, but I really like the "3D effect" as the Jacket (as I now dub thee) is turning his head to listen. The Baby also had a similar 3D-looking aspect to its animation. Will Thomas get something like that?
- I never liked cafeteria food.
- I was wondering how you'd make the Jacket more difficult. The pathing direction certainly adds to the challenge. One has to be careful.
- The third stairway. I'll be honest, it lost the disconcerting effect the first one had because nothing bad has happened on these yet. Perhaps add something to throw the player off?
- I especially like the many bloody claw marks/hand prints in the second shower room. Maybe add some to the door, if possible, to make it look like they tried to get out but couldn't? A shower room like this already conjures extremely dark associations, making it look like they were scrabbling desperately to get out would make it even worse, I feel.
- Even when faced with a pile of decapitated bodies, Thomas doesn't lose his head. I mean, composure. That grisly obstacle does make it more difficult, though.
- The next obstacle reminds me of Lone Survivor's alcoves.
- Another sound? But I already know these creatures now.
- Evil new trick there with the broken glass. I like it. When I had dealt with the first few Jackets, I didn't expect any more surprises.
- Ah, the psychiatrist. I wouldn't add further interaction with her, but maybe let us look at the book she's reading. What's on those pages? Gibberish? Insults towards Thomas? Mockery? Pictures of gruesome abominations?
- I can go back into the psychiatrist's room. Is that intentional? If yes, how about messing up the room upon entering it again? Replace Gabby with a doll? Rip up the wallpaper? Something along those lines?
- Good puzzle just outside the psychiatrist's room. I like how the simple mechanic of the Jackets gets incrementally more complicated while remaining intuitive.
- I'm surprised the sound of breaking glass attracts the Jackets, not Thomas' cries of pain as he steps on the shards with bare feet. I guess he doesn't feel them? Perhaps he is detached from his own body's pain?
- And that's it! Ominous last screen yet again.

Well, I hope my reactions/ramblings are of some use perhaps. I also filled out the survey. Perhaps that'll be more helpful at least.
Despite my various nitpicks, I really like what this game is shaping up to be! I'm a sucker for gameplay mechanics, so this newest level was definitely my favourite so far, even if the atmosphere was - funnily enough - in my view less disturbing than the one from level 3.

miumiaou wrote:the new ingame link for the post play survey don't work for me

Sorry, I missed this post earlier. Here is the link to the survey.