May 2019 Progress Report
I recently decided to add tutorials to the game to help new players. In order to determine what type of information would be beneficial for a new player, I had to look at the game through the eyes of a newcomer, and imagine that I was playing Yandere Simulator for the first time. When I did this, I started noticing all kinds of game design flaws and huge glaring problems that I had been ignoring up until this point!
So, I decided to spend the month of April fixing everything that was bothering me about the game. I made a tremendous number of changes to the game over the course of the past month, and that's what this video is about!
Comments (11)
VERY BIG STEP FORWARD! nicly done :)
I'm amazed and proud of all you were able to accomplish last month. The low sanity distortion is an excellent touch -- sort of reminds of me of how in Alice: Madness Returns the screen becomes more and more shattered as she takes damage until she snaps -- and of course the involuntary giggling and attacking is beautiful. Also, you sounded much more upbeat in this video. I guess accomplishing long-sitting tasks feels good. I know I felt like a weight lifted off me last month when I finished a writing project I started over three years ago. I look forward to you finishing off the last bits of that checklist soon. Keep up the good work.
The low sanity tweaks are great! Perhaps stair-step some of them into 50% and lower as well? Such as a very low chance of the intrusive thoughts starting at 50%, going steadily more common as she goes lower, and the giggling occasionally starting at 80%? It would feel less drastic, but also make sense with her slowly shifting away from Sanity. The chase mechanic could use a small tweak, like if they're only just within sight of it, they chase after you, providing an opportunity for you to take care of them as well if you wanted (since at a certain strength, I believe you CAN fight off a teacher? Would you then be able to dispose of a teacher as well?) While I like the dramatization idea, you could do a toggle-mix of both options. Such as, if you turn down the 'full tutorial' (play practice), you can turn the prompts on still to let you know that you're "about to do x thing" since some people just like reminders, rather than a full-blown tutorial. The map is useful, perhaps the final look of it could be more like something Yandere-chan/kun had carefully made to keep track of "where I got this memento of Senpai <3" etc. Could be used to mark down where you've already picked up a cassette or where you know a certain useful item is, etc. For the Red Thread of Fate, does it stretch over the entire area of the school, no matter where Senpai/Rival currently are? Or does it just show up when they're in the same area? You could very easily use that to track down where your rival is if you're not sure, since the map shows you where Senpai is, and if you're near there, you can just go the other way to look for your rival. Or is it a direct line, so to speak, regardless of walls and obstructions?
As of now, I'm only imagining sanity effects at 33.33% Sanity and lower, but I could consider the possibility of stair-stepping them as you described. Yes, you can fight teachers and dispose of their bodies, although you need at least 1 point int he Strength stat to fight them. The idea of little yandere notes on the map is a cute idea :D As of now, the red string of fate stretches across the school, no matter where the two characters are - you can see the string clip through walls, but I feel like it's actually okay, since it symbolizes that their connection always exists, even when they are not present in the same room.
I do like what you've done with the Low Sanity indications.
What do you do to look at your game with eyes of newcomer? Tried many times and completely failed :(
What helps me is to imagine a person standing beside me, and imagine that I'm pointing out each aspect of the game to them. Then, I imagine that person asking critical questions, like "Why does it work that way?" "Won't that be annoying?" "How would I have known that if you didn't tell me?" If it feels really awkward to point at a specific aspect of the game, or if it's really hard to describe it, or if I don't have a good answer for a critical question, then I know that it's an aspect of the game that needs some work.
The good old Thots :3
Fantastic progress report , yanderedev. I'm happy to see that you're feeling positive. It's all coming along very nicely. I enjoy the hallucination feature a lot and low sanity. Keep up the good work, the awards of your labor shine through your work.
Love the big picture, it feels like it's all coming together nicely. Can we get some male thots too? ;p
Sensible updates xxx Have a lovely day xxx Just saw your youtube video - I like the idea of a serial killer rehersal but think it's better to look at other things that need improving 1st xxx Usually, students check their locker at least 2/3 times x The map is very sensible but I can see why this could not have been done earlier. In fact, it may have negatively impacted upon your creativity and productivity. Senpai feels stronger now as a character by wanting to unmask us if we kill someone. It makes him more interesting as well. The hallucinations YandereChan/Kun expdrience wuth low sanity is amazing and reinforces a message to take care of mental health (a nice plus for the game) x Nice work, Yanpai!!! ✌😊 x