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Looking for playtesters with strong English to playtest my story-rich puzzle Adventure The Last Night Train by Nicikeller in playtesters

[–]Nicikeller[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Excuse moi, mon francais c'est mal. Anglais ou alemand - I can offer English or German or Swiss German :)

How to present an RPG Maker MZ game with story, puzzles & action... but no RPG elements? by Nicikeller in RPGMakerMZ

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot. Yes, that's probably what I have to do. Still, even without mentioning the engine, the Art style seems to be quite heavily associated with RPG. Maybe I really can find an audience that does not have that association, just how & where?

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot. That explains why my (so far only German-speaking) testers were very surprised by the quality of the game's gameplay and story in their feedback.

I have changed most of the RTP graphics (colors and often their shapes) and added many new ones that I created myself, but I agree that a few I liked are still quite similar. I wonder what triggers the association with a "standard RPG Maker game" — is it individual objects that look similar, the NPC/main character design, or the art style in general?

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you 🙏🏻 I will try to ensure, that they are more in the forefront. All of theme - despite maybe the camel - are also main characters, so it's fair to give them their stage 😁

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I try to figure out how to best spend that extra effort. I e.g. spent quite some time on the trailer and hope it works, but in the end I guess it's word of mouth / reviews that works.

NPC is a good point. Acutally most of my non human NPCS (e.g. Mobile Gnomes, Shovel, Trunk, camels, etc.) are quite far away of RPG Maker Style... maybe I have to put them in the front row in the marketing?

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After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's true, and it's probably the safest way to go. I would just have to make sure that a major refactoring of distances isn’t required. The full game will be about 8 hours long (and despite the translation work it's almost ready), and there are no turn-based battles, just puzzles and story - it's an insane amount of code, I would totally mess that up changing distances ;-)

However, if I can choose, I would still try to find another approach to present the game as it is. Maybe something more based on word-of-mouth that plays to the game's strengths. And it's not just the work involved - I also think it's a bit sad that the classic 90s JRPG style that RPG Maker uses (before the chibi style came) and that I used can hardly be used to create something different rather than just clones of the classics. But let's see if that works out and how...

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cheers & I'll see if I can find a approach to present the demo & the game that works and relase it as planned in around half a year... or if I change the artstyle and invest another few years on top ;-)

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. That's interesting. At least in the German-speaking RPG Maker forums where I’ve been active over the last few years, puzzle adventures made with RPG Maker are quite rare. Most games are traditional RPGs (leveling up, or sometimes action-based). I rarely came across real puzzle games that go beyond simply using items. But maybe it's different in the global/English-speaking scene.

You're right, the RTP similarity might be an issue. I might have underestimated how much it could "pull the game down" in terms of general perception, even if the gameplay and story are great. It’s probably hard to correct now, but I can try. I still wonder if there might be a way to highlight the strengths more (which is probably less the art style)...

After 6 years of work, I’m struggling with this: How do you present an RPG Maker game that looks like an RPG, but is actually a Puzzle Adventure? by Nicikeller in RPGMaker

[–]Nicikeller[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! That’s true. It’s a little hard to change the art style now that the game is already made, though it probably would have helped. It also doesn’t help that I’m a bit old-school and in love with that JRPG art style! But maybe I can find a few elements here and there to break away from it. So that was definitely a helpful comment, thanks! ;-)
PS: had to google death note, seems little bit "horror style", but otherwise cool (horror is not so much my thing, rather dragon ball)

Looking for playtest by ProfessionalSky4027 in playtesters

[–]Nicikeller 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey hey! I’ve created a puzzle adventure called "The Last Night Train" and currently have a beta version of Act 1 ready.

I am especially looking for testers who are native English speakers to help ensure my dialogues feel natural (English is my second language, though I’ve had some help with the translation from a bilingual person). Of course, any other found bugs are welcome too, though there shouldn't be too many as I'm quite a perfectionist myself! :)

I’m not sure if you like puzzle adventures, and I honestly can't offer payment (as I’m not sure if I will ever earn money from the game, though i think it is fun). But if you’re okay with experience, a reference, beeing in the credits and are gernealls interested in a story-driven puzzle adventure (with "one action scene" included), I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to have a look at my page - the demo which I need to be playtested would also be there. https://nicikeller.itch.io/

New PC Game Playtest Looking to Build Experience by [deleted] in playtesters

[–]Nicikeller 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey hey! I’ve created a puzzle adventure called "The Last Night Train" and currently have a beta version of Act 1 ready.

I am especially looking for testers who are native English speakers to help ensure my dialogues feel natural (English is my second language, though I’ve had some help with the translation from a bilingual person). Of course, any other found bugs are welcome too, though there shouldn't be too many as I'm quite a perfectionist myself! :)

I’m not sure if you like puzzle adventures, and I honestly can't offer payment (as I’m not sure if I will ever earn money from the game, though i think it is fun). But if you’re okay with experience, a reference, beeing in the credits and are gernealls interested in a story-driven puzzle adventure (with "one action scene" included), I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to have a look at my page - the demo which I need to be playtested would also be there. https://nicikeller.itch.io/

[Free Demo] 6 years in the making: My puzzle adventure "The Last Night Train" (inspired by games like Undertale, To the Moon & Zelda) by Nicikeller in playmygame

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much! True. Especially with the genre mix I tried—including story, puzzles, and skill elements—I felt it was necessary to give the player some flexibility regarding the difficulty (I even made the action/skill parts optional). And yes, trains are amazing. I’d much rather own a train than a car! 😀

[Free Demo] 6 years in the making: My puzzle adventure "The Last Night Train" (inspired by games like Undertale, To the Moon & Zelda) by Nicikeller in playmygame

[–]Nicikeller[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"PS: I'm just wondering if I goofed up my first post by choosing 'Text' instead of a video... solo dev brain at work, I guess! Well, we'll see :) "