Beta 0.8 Discussion [SPOILERS]

[matt]

The new build is live. Here's a new thread for discussion. What do you think of the final voice acting? Did you like the new level? How hard was the branch to find?

Thanks for playing!

[JPrice]

Well guess I'll go first

New level and voice acting hurray!
- First off, big shocker at the start of the new level with Thomas being a kid. Kind of puts things in a whole new perspective if you go that path O: Good stuff!
- I noticed that little Tommy is not as agile as his adult counterpart hahaa. Gave a great sense of urgancy and threat considering that he can't run away that fast. Puts the idea of his Asthma across really well too as it seems even when you start running a bit he starts breathing heavily
- Like that you have to retrace through the house, deja vu all over!
- I swear when you walk through the dark hallway lit by windows (Where that one jumpscare with the figure running across) there's a figure in the shadows but when you get closer it disappear's. I don't know if that was an actual thing though or my mind playing tricks on me hahaa. Is there a figure? I am curious to know
- Noticed there's a lot more backer portraits! Quick question about that, do you finally have everyone's portraits now or are there still some more peoples to be put in?
- When that veil of darkness comes in, it caught me off guard real fast! I remember I said outloud "Oh no-no-no-no D:", really makes you afraid for Tommy and with those screams & mutilating noise...scary stuff
- New scenery! Also little Gabby is pretty adorable hahaa
- Wandering in the woods for a while, it's pretty spooky especially with the constant branches in the pathways. Goes on for a while though I will say, not that it's a bad thing seeing as I imagine that is the intention
- Gabby nooooooo D: You were so cute </3 (Also Tommy crying is sad )

Something I did notice though, a few collision bugs. I took some screenshots of them to point out to you
- In the first toy room you can walk through the toybox and even further into the wall and offscreen. Pretty funny actually hahaha
Image links - http://i.imgur.com/ljcQEvE.jpg, http://i.imgur.com/71iI4vc.jpg & http://i.imgur.com/RvPqKnK.jpg
- Second is in one of the new mannequin rooms, you can walk into one of them.
Image links - http://i.imgur.com/2J0jDyl.jpg

Now now, the voice acting...Since I started on Insanity, the first major bit of dialogue I heard was the psychiatrist scene. I have to admit...I do really like the new voices
No offence to your previous voice work but this new one is done really well hahaa. Conveys a lot of the right emotions in the scene (Like Gabby's coldness) and sounds professional. Went and checked other scenes as well and I can't say that I dislike any of the voice work that's been done, good job all round I'd say
I especially like Thomas, he just sounds a lot more defeated and anxious. Makes his character really come alive now, nice work Mr. Grelle! (Not to dennounce the great work done by Ms. Maxwell of course ).

Really coming together now Matt! Looking forward to that final level where we can finally see everything in its almost completed state

[matt]

Is there a figure?

Yep, there is definitely a figure there. I'm glad you noticed! Childish Things definitely has a different feel. I wanted to capture the feeling of being a child and scared of shadows, so I tried to be subtle but creepy.

- Noticed there's a lot more backer portraits! Quick question about that, do you finally have everyone's portraits now or are there still some more peoples to be put in?

Yep, they are all in. We actually need to take the original ones out. We have the original facial close ups are still in the game. Now that we have the better versions, we need to get rid of the first pass versions.

really makes you afraid for Tommy and with those screams & mutilating noise...scary stuff

I'm glad to hear you found it scary! Eduardo and I put a bunch of work into it and did some neat things with the positions of the monster.

Wandering in the woods for a while, it's pretty spooky especially with the constant branches in the pathways. Goes on for a while though I will say, not that it's a bad thing seeing as I imagine that is the intention

I was going for a bit of a different feel with the woods section and playing with the idea of frustration. It seems like you can catch up to her, but your asthma gets you. Even though she is totally adorable, you can't save her... This section is somewhat adapted from one of my actual nightmares that inspired the game.

- Gabby nooooooo D: You were so cute </3 (Also Tommy crying is sad )

What's really impressive is that both Gabby and little Tommy are voiced by Elizabeth. She's amazing! Her little Gabby voice is so cute that it breaks my heart when she dies. I take no offense that you like the new VO. I agree that it's much better! That was the point of getting actual professionals. My wife is very relieved that we removed her lines. She was not thrilled to be temporarily cast in the game. hahah

[JPrice]

Glad to know I was right about the figure and it wasn't just my imagination hahaa
Also nice to hear that you have all the backer portraits done, I would have loved to have one myself but sadly I didn't (And still don't!) have enough money for that hahaha

This section is somewhat adapted from one of my actual nightmares that inspired the game.

Ohhhh that's pretty interesting to hear, how did the adaptation change what was in your original nightmare then? Like was it the setting, people etc. Assuming you don't mind me asking of course!

both Gabby and little Tommy are voiced by Elizabeth

Again nice little tidbit of trivia there, nice range too hahaa

[matt]

Well, I have a bunch of stuff in the designer's notebook about the original nightmares including my notes after I woke up, and then a second document where I tried to reshape the experience into a game. I don't want to go over the whole thing, but the setting is basically the same as the beginning of the nightmare, and I tried to capture the feelings of the nightmare - basically feeling completely disempowered. The nightmare actually had a time loop where the little girl character would go crazy and start killing people because she was actually raped by the gazebo instead of killed. In the nightmare, no matter what I did, I couldn't stop anything, but it kept looping over and over. Neverending Nightmares' structure could be thought of as a time loop, so we kind of kept that aspect of it. I wanted to avoid the issue of rape in Neverending Nightmares though. It seems like a very tough subject to tackle and doesn't really tie into the themes of the game...

There's a lot of stuff in the early design docs for Neverending Nightmares where Gabby is evil or villainous in real life, but I ended up cutting all of that since it didn't really fit into the themes of the game. Anyway, there's a lot more in the Designer's Notebook. I think if we do another kickstarter campaign, I think I'll make that in the main reward tier as well as the developer commentary. I think those are both going to be really cool.

[JPrice]

Alright that's cool that you want to keep it secret for the Designers Notebook. I'll get to have that anyway when you eventually release it so I'll be able to read about it then

[RightClickSaveAs]

Wow, the new voice work is great! Gabby's voice actor especially sounds awesome. That's a great range of different roles she played.

The new level was really unexpected. I love the different feel to playing the younger version of Thomas, and the detail of him carrying the stuffed rabbit around with him. The sequence where the darkness closes in on you was really intense. The woods got a little frustrating, which is what it sounds like you intended, but it wasn't overdone.

The branch was very easy for me to find. In the previous builds, my first instinct was always to walk straight over to the edge, it actually took me a few seconds when I first played Insanity to figure out that I needed to turn around and go back in to trigger what is now a separate branch in the story. I would imagine that this new branch would be the one that most players end up seeing on their first play.

[matt]

Hmm... I'm not sure if I want this to be the first branch people see. What do you guys think? Do you normally try to walk off cliffs when you play games? Maybe I can make it a little harder just because I think when people get the ending to this branch, they might be a little miffed, so for that reason it might not be the best first branch...

[AironNeil]

I would imagine that this new branch would be the one that most players end up seeing on their first play.

Those were my thoughts exactly, compared to the last branch this one is almost "too easy" to find.

When I went through the Insanity level I noticed the new jump scare in one of the first cells that you could look into, I was always thinking in the back of my mind that those cells would be perfect for that kind of thing. After that point it made me somewhat worried to look into anymore of the cells that the hand reaching out got me again, ugh!

The new voices are very good, I thought before they were in that I'd miss the old ones since I got used to them, but that didn't happen surprisingly. The only thing I do somewhat miss is that Thomas doesn't sound as weak as he used to (no offense). He still plays the part very well, but I think the way he speaks seems a lot more confidant - of course, that could just be me being used to the old voice.

As for my thoughts on the new level, I really liked it, but I did find quite a few collision bugs like JPrice, but he pointed them out better then I could so that should be solved. Something that I noticed is that the moving animation for young Thomas seems to be a little bit more smooth than adult Thomas who seems to be really stiff all the time. I realize these comments might seem a little nit-picky, but I'm just kind of blurting out things that came to mind at the time and you can use/ignore all you want.

The scariest part of the level for me was either when I saw the shadow figure and thought that "this was the level he'd be an enemy", or it was when I kind of scared myself when I entered a room with a bizarre manikin wearing a trench coat and seeing the exact same manikin outside of the room when I left it. I'm not too sure whether it was already out there and I didn't notice before, or if it was a small touch that really got to me. Even though I was wrong about the shadow figure being an enemy, (unless you count the part where he gets you before the forest part) just the thought that he might be was all you needed to get me tense.

I think the forest part was even better than the mansion part for the feeling it was trying to convey. The feeling of trying to catch up to Gabby while having a severe case of asthma was frustrating - which I hear was what you were going for, so kudos!

EDIT:

Hmm... I'm not sure if I want this to be the first branch people see. What do you guys think? Do you normally try to walk off cliffs when you play games? Maybe I can make it a little harder just because I think when people get the ending to this branch, they might be a little miffed, so for that reason it might not be the best first branch...

I think it has more to do with the fact that people would more naturally go right and cliffs haven't been established as things that you can go off of in this game so people would keep going right. I think that if you made falling off the cliff an interaction rather than just something you could walk into, it might make people less likely to do it. Of course, the rest of the cliffs in the game would probably have to be the same way for consistency's sake if that were done...

[RightClickSaveAs]

I think it has more to do with the fact that people would more naturally go right and cliffs haven't been established as things that you can go off of in this game so people would keep going right. I think that if you made falling off the cliff an interaction rather than just something you could walk into, it might make people less likely to do it. Of course, the rest of the cliffs in the game would probably have to be the same way for consistency's sake if that were done...

That's how I feel too, the tendency for me is to keep going in the same direction. My first instinct is to walk up to the cliff just to check it out and see what happens, not necessarily knowing that would make you fall off the edge.

When I first played Insanity in one of the previous builds, I tried walking to the cliff, then when that didn't do anything, I tried going up. The way that scene is built, your eye is drawn to the point in the distance where the building keeps stretching out above you.