Hmmmm.... I've had to think about those concepts you bring up a bit.
Let me address the Elephant in the room first because it's a little bit in the first issue and a lot in the second:
There's a difference between being subtle and clubbing someone over the head. That's obvious. What isn't so obvious is being subtle, perhaps call it smooth, while still getting the point across clearly.
I'm sure, as a game developer, you've wrestled long with the finer details and that shows in the game itself. Just about anyone with the ability to create a cognitive fantasy in their minds could come up with a basic click and jerk story game. They are common 'adult' games. It's clear you are trying for something much deeper.
Because of that, you have some attempts to make things more 'instructive', like your help screens as game mechanics ratchet up and become available. I did see the 'progress' screen but it could be just as confusing as helpful. It kind of looks like a scoreboard but those imply you understand the game enough to know what the scores mean. I think the issue is you are trying to keep some mystery to the game so you are being a bit too subtle.
My advice to deal with this particular Elephant is to not worry so much about it. We players can separate game mechanics from story mechanics, they aren't the same. We know they influence each other, but if you tell us the game rules (you don't have to go into super detail) or when something isn't developed past a certain point, you won't break the illusion for us. It lets us anticipate something to come, which is good for you when it's not done too much. If all we get is a taste of a dozen new threads, it just looks like it's being overworked in too many directions. So, moderate, steady progress along 3-4 lines max is probably better than trying to fill in all the gaps at a slower pace... just my opinion though, I could be totally wrong.
So, be clear and concise with the game rules, a little less subtle, save that for the story lines. Okay, Elephant addressed...
Second: I think your direction of subtle with a bit more forewarned info is good. We see this more in AOH than Nice Time for Roo. A for-instance is when making major path choices like with Noe and her fiance'. If you play her romance to the point of when she fakes the "I need you call" to get him home to ambush him, there's a choice there where she can take him as is because she 'loves' him or she gets mad at him for putting her in a position where she doesn't feel properly appreciated. It's a pretty serious point, so it might be good to put a forewarning on each choice like "This will deepen your relationship with him at the expense of opening up their options with others down the road" and "This choice may cause increased tension between them that will remove some relationship options between them." (Not exact verbiage, I'm using the club here!)
Thus, to options you pointed out, it's kind of a balance between the simple idea of pointing out directions AND being more subtle at the same time (not either or). Only point it out when the major story path changes happen, otherwise we'll know the choices aren't as critical, even though they do affect choice variance later on. We know those kinds of choices are more like selecting an ice cream flavor, vanilla or chocolate. They are both ice cream, but picking one does change what you'll be tasting while you eat it.
Does that help? Maybe I'm being too subtle! LOL! (more likely long winded... maybe I should use a TLR approach!) Thank you for accepting the feedback.
Let me address the Elephant in the room first because it's a little bit in the first issue and a lot in the second:
There's a difference between being subtle and clubbing someone over the head. That's obvious. What isn't so obvious is being subtle, perhaps call it smooth, while still getting the point across clearly.
I'm sure, as a game developer, you've wrestled long with the finer details and that shows in the game itself. Just about anyone with the ability to create a cognitive fantasy in their minds could come up with a basic click and jerk story game. They are common 'adult' games. It's clear you are trying for something much deeper.
Because of that, you have some attempts to make things more 'instructive', like your help screens as game mechanics ratchet up and become available. I did see the 'progress' screen but it could be just as confusing as helpful. It kind of looks like a scoreboard but those imply you understand the game enough to know what the scores mean. I think the issue is you are trying to keep some mystery to the game so you are being a bit too subtle.
My advice to deal with this particular Elephant is to not worry so much about it. We players can separate game mechanics from story mechanics, they aren't the same. We know they influence each other, but if you tell us the game rules (you don't have to go into super detail) or when something isn't developed past a certain point, you won't break the illusion for us. It lets us anticipate something to come, which is good for you when it's not done too much. If all we get is a taste of a dozen new threads, it just looks like it's being overworked in too many directions. So, moderate, steady progress along 3-4 lines max is probably better than trying to fill in all the gaps at a slower pace... just my opinion though, I could be totally wrong.
So, be clear and concise with the game rules, a little less subtle, save that for the story lines. Okay, Elephant addressed...
Second: I think your direction of subtle with a bit more forewarned info is good. We see this more in AOH than Nice Time for Roo. A for-instance is when making major path choices like with Noe and her fiance'. If you play her romance to the point of when she fakes the "I need you call" to get him home to ambush him, there's a choice there where she can take him as is because she 'loves' him or she gets mad at him for putting her in a position where she doesn't feel properly appreciated. It's a pretty serious point, so it might be good to put a forewarning on each choice like "This will deepen your relationship with him at the expense of opening up their options with others down the road" and "This choice may cause increased tension between them that will remove some relationship options between them." (Not exact verbiage, I'm using the club here!)
Thus, to options you pointed out, it's kind of a balance between the simple idea of pointing out directions AND being more subtle at the same time (not either or). Only point it out when the major story path changes happen, otherwise we'll know the choices aren't as critical, even though they do affect choice variance later on. We know those kinds of choices are more like selecting an ice cream flavor, vanilla or chocolate. They are both ice cream, but picking one does change what you'll be tasting while you eat it.
Does that help? Maybe I'm being too subtle! LOL! (more likely long winded... maybe I should use a TL
R approach!) Thank you for accepting the feedback.
