Alpha 0.3 Discussion [SPOILERS]

[nsane]

I'm glad my feedback wasn't taken harshly. I know that striking the balance between enemies remaining threatening and "Oh, it's X all I have to do is Y and I can get past it" is not an easy task nor is pacing, however, the game seems to be on track to do just that.

The short answer is that we aren't finished with the asylum yet, and we are doing some things that I think will improve the flow and pacing of the level. Obviously, I don't want to say specifically what we have planned, but I think it will at least address some of your concerns.

As far as having too many enemies, the spacing between them, and the keeping their mystery, that is a longer discussion, which I get into more in the update. I am open to changing things, but I don't want to mess with it too much before I am happy with it, so I would say wait to see it when we consider it "done" and have everything in context with the rest of the nightmares.

We are hoping to have a full playthrough done hopefully by the end of June or beginning of July, so hopefully with the pacing of the entire game, the pacing of those levels will make more sense.

You're right, taking a section of the game out of context with the rest will skew my view of it as a whole. I'm glad to hear that has been accounted for and looking forward to what's to come. It's been great so far.

[Lotus Prince]

Enemies are rather tricky to handle in games like this. To be honest, rooms with enemies were about the only points in the game where I actually relaxed. I see an enemy, I know it's here, and all I have to do is avoid it and not die. I feel far more uncomfortable when enemies are NOT around because I never know what kinds of environmental scares await me - even the background noise, especially in the house, was nerve-wracking, with the endless throbbing drone or the discordant music box tune. Meanwhile, the moment I'd see a giant baby, for example (with the exception of the very first time, which was indeed scary because I didn't know what to expect), I'd know that it's the only thing I have to concentrate on, and I know how its pattern works.

That said, it's not like areas with enemies are bad, or anything like that. They give the player a chance to concentrate on something, rather than be paranoid about what may come out from every possible direction, and they're not lax enough to make players confident, but they're more "video game-y" than other rooms in the game. Hiding in the cabinets as the babies patrolled by reminded me of something like Rolling Thunder or Lone Survivor.

[matt]

If I could, I think I'd make the game without enemies, but I don't think that really works for a horror game. I think you need to be threatened by something. Otherwise, I think it takes some of the bite out of the atmosphere.

I enjoyed Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, but I think the fact that it had so few enemies hurt the atmosphere just because it felt kind of like you were in a haunted house where you are just going along a path with some jump scares but you know no one can hurt you.

For Neverending Nightmares, we are sort of limited in how by the interesting/challenging we can make the enemies by the simplicity of the mechanics and of course by our limited time/budget.

I think if the enemies were all like scripted sequences designed to surprise the player rather than more mechanics/puzzle based behavior, it would be ideal, but that is really time consuming from a development standpoint - especially if you don't want to rely on quick time events and button prompts, which we of course don't want to because of our commitment to immersion.

I think we've made our bed for Neverending Nightmares, and we have to sleep in it - at least in that we aren't going to throw out all of our enemies (we are still open to tweaking them). However, I will continue to think about this and see what can be done for future games.

[Lotus Prince]

I quite agree. I said what I said about the enemies, but if there are no enemies, then the player can be confident in knowing that there is no danger ever. It'd be like Silent Hill Shattered Memories, in the town when it's not frozen. You're guaranteed to be safe, and so the scare factor drops considerably. I feel that you made the right decision by including the enemies, and they truly are scary in their design, but strictly from a gameplay perspective, they're relatively straightforward to deal with (at least, the ones encountered in early game - I still need to finish the alpha).

[matt]

Assuming all you've played is what is here, you haven't played the most interesting and challenging enemy set ups yet.

PS. I actually own A "Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder" arcade cabinet. I love it so much! My local arcade had one back in 1992, and it blew me away. Back when I had a nice salary (ie. before going indie), it was my dream to own it, and I finally found one. As much as my wife hates its enormousness, I can't bear to let it go.

[Lotus Prince]

Yep, that's as far as I've gotten. I stopped at a bit over 45 minutes to give viewers an adequate taste of what's in store. That said, thanks for the info - now I'm even more curious to see where the game goes!

Also, WHAT? I've never even seen a Revenge of Death Adder cabinet in my entire life! Lucky you!

[matt]

You are actually on the last level in the demo, so you probably only have 15 minutes or so left. The PAX demo combined stuff from the 2nd and 3rd level and removed some hallways and whatnot, so it is kind of confusing playing that first and then going to the actual game.

I did a developer [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK1ebMDEW_M]video talking about how tough it is to do demo builds, and how I'm not entirely happy with ours, but I did my best.

While I feel very lucky to own a Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder cabinet, I can't seem to convince my wife why I have a 400 pound machine that only plays one game that lasts 45 minutes. hahah

My goal is to some day have an Infinitap Games office, and I think the Golden Axe cabinet would be a great addition to it. (Plus, my wife would be thrilled to get it out of our apartment. hahaha)

[Harry Sunderland]

The new enemy is amazing! Matt, if you keep going at this rate with enemy encounters, you will have one of the best indie games ever created.

Holy cow, I love 0.3 . I love NN! Let me know if you want me to audition for the voice acting role of Adam/Thomas.

[matt]

Awesome! I'm so glad to hear you like him. I actually like the next enemy in the new level even better than the inmate, but I feel like the audience may be split about which is better. I can't wait to push a new build, but it won't be until next month since we need to get the sound in.

[gagaplex]

Out of curiosity:
Will there be levels with more than one monster-type? Like, a mash-up level, perhaps, so they all fit into their particular niche?
Or even a mash-up of environments (with, say, the Baby in the asylum along with its typical, displaced closet or the Jacket with its broken glass mechanic in the mansion) and doodads and decorations from other places mixed in, fusing them into one?
Also, will there be levels with just one monster that "follows you" around, kind of like that shadow from the Kickstarter Demo outside the window, but with actual repeated encounters/dangers?