Exanima gaining traction!

[lvk]

It looks like gaming news websites are starting to pick up on the Exanima greenlight:
http://www.loadthegame.com/2015/03/24/steam-greenlight-spotlight-exanima/
http://games.on.net/2015/03/exanima-is-a-dungeon-crawler-prelude-to-sui-generis-now-in-beta/
Comments seem pretty positive so far!

 

[TwoPumpWarrior]

Just don't post any RPG Watch links, the commenters HATE this game and I don't know why.
Couch Potato seems interested enough to post the updates and stuff, but the comments are always trashing the game.

 

[Faelivrin]

I like the first (and only) comment on the second article, specially:

Any game where you can place an old bucket over your head and stumble backwards falling into a crate because that’s what you feel like doing gets my vote.

 

[TwoPumpWarrior]

@Faelivrin Truly spoken like a scholar

 

[Murf]

Just don't post any RPG Watch links, the commenters HATE this game and I don't know why.
Couch Potato seems interested enough to post the updates and stuff, but the comments are always trashing the game.

I noticed that too yesterday, but a lot of them haven't played it, it's one thing to watch the play and say lit looks like drunken brawling, its another to play knowing how the physics work for it.

 

[Justin_Paplus]

Bare mettle should contact them :
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/hey-prs-and-developers/
[email protected]

 

[Murf]

Bare mettle should contact them :
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/hey-prs-and-developers/
[email protected]

it's orig reviews of Sui Generis were positive.

 

[Don Kanaille]

I´m going to get the hype out regarding games websites etc. as soon as Exanima hits Steam. It sure deserves it.

 

[Anoe]

One of the first google results was.. this:
http://www.pixieland.org.uk/2015/exanima-first-impressions/
http://www.pixieland.org.uk/2015/exanima-second-impressions/
It is mostly negative opinion but he's right about one thing: for a new player it is really hard to start a game without tutorial.

 

[ZaratanCho]

Seems like the quickstart guide was ignored, what a surprise. ;d

 

[Madoc]

One of the first google results was.. this:
http://www.pixieland.org.uk/2015/exanima-first-impressions/
http://www.pixieland.org.uk/2015/exanima-second-impressions/
It is mostly negative opinion but he's right about one thing: for a new player it is really hard to start a game without tutorial.

There's not much he says that I don't consider simply false or inaccurate. Just sounds like someone struggling with anger issues that doesn't have anything meaningful to say.

 

[-Tim-]

There's not much he says that I don't consider simply false or inaccurate. Just sounds like someone struggling with anger issues that doesn't have anything meaningful to say.

Come on, you're wiser than that.

 

[Anoe]

I just want to say there will be more of such reviews on Steam if the game will release to public in current state. Just a few pop-up windows telling the player how to drag-open the door, how to open closed door with a key and maybe "hold the left mouse button to swing weapon" will make a big difference. People tend to ignore quickstart guide, but you can't ignore pop-up windows with some basic instructions.

 

[Madoc]

Come on, you're wiser than that.

The thing that stands out most are his emotional state, mainly frustration. It's an incredibly biased opinion piece and yet he presents it all as if it were objective. He writes an article slating the game and didn't even take the time to read and absorb the concise user guide. Sorry but that to me is absolute garbage.

@Anoe Sure there will. We would like to add a tutorial but realistically there's more important things to add and we still have serious doubts about how much it would really accomplish. In game pop ups however is something we'd like to avoid, we think it's a bit immersion breaking. I'm afraid user friendly just isn't our priority.

 

[Pilluminati]

The thing that stands out most are his emotional state, mainly frustration. It's an incredibly biased opinion piece and yet he presents it all as if it were objective. He writes an article slating the game and didn't even take the time to read and absorb the concise user guide. Sorry but that to me is absolute garbage.

@Anoe Sure there will. We would like to add a tutorial but realistically there's more important things to add and we still have serious doubts about how much it would really accomplish. In game pop ups however is something we'd like to avoid, we think it's a bit immersion breaking. I'm afraid user friendly just isn't our priority.

How about having short instructions/hints appear as text during first encounters, when coming close to the first door you'd have something like the following appear for 5-10 seconds: "Click the door and drag the cursor in the appropriate direction to open it", and then fade out. Something subtle but noticeable. I don't think it would be immersion breaking, in that case I'd argue the inventory and pretty much any UI element is.

 

[ZaratanCho]

Well i do think it is immersion breaking but..
Inventory etc is needed obviously, bad comparison. ;d

I just am amazed why some people find it so hard to read a few sentences in general. Or refuse to read simple instructions, well that is fine as long as they don't bash the game because of it. ;d

You are going to play a game but you don't have 2 minutes to read the controls and some instructions.. then you spend 2 hours trying to figure stuff out and game is weird and hard.

 

[Tony]

Well i do think it is immersion breaking but..
Inventory etc is needed obviously, bad comparison. ;d

I just am amazed why some people find it so hard to read a few sentences in general. Or refuse to read simple instructions, well that is fine as long as they don't bash the game because of it. ;d

You are going to play a game but you don't have 2 minutes to read the controls and some instructions.. then you spend 2 hours trying to figure stuff out and game is weird and hard.

Yeah, very counterintuitive. Especially in a game labelled as 'beta'.

 

[Pilluminati]

Well i do think it is immersion breaking but..
Inventory etc is needed obviously, bad comparison. ;d

I just am amazed why some people find it so hard to read a few sentences in general. Or refuse to read simple instructions, well that is fine as long as they don't bash the game because of it. ;d

You are going to play a game but you don't have 2 minutes to read the controls and some instructions.. then you spend 2 hours trying to figure stuff out and game is weird and hard.

It's not a bad comparison, at all. Who says they're needed anyway? It's a choice of the developer to include them because it makes the game more enjoyable. They're there constantly so in that regard they are much more immersion breaking than a little bit of text in the beginning of the game.

I'm suggesting something like this (already exists in the game):

Except put it in the dungeon mode. All the better since the UI work is already done for it, less work to do.
And all you immersion divas out there can just disable it in the options menu (Show gameplay tips).

 

[-Tim-]

The thing that stands out most are his emotional state, mainly frustration. It's an incredibly biased opinion piece and yet he presents it all as if it were objective. He writes an article slating the game and didn't even take the time to read and absorb the concise user guide. Sorry but that to me is absolute garbage.

@Anoe Sure there will. We would like to add a tutorial but realistically there's more important things to add and we still have serious doubts about how much it would really accomplish. In game pop ups however is something we'd like to avoid, we think it's a bit immersion breaking. I'm afraid user friendly just isn't our priority.

I agree that it isn't an objective article and the fact that he didn't even read the user guide makes his comments on the controls mostly invalid. However, I disagree with the way you chose to react to this. Even in biased articles like his there is potentially useful user feedback. The rest (or even all of it) should simply be disgarded; using someone's percieved emotional state to disprove his/her points only works against you. Sentences like 'Just sounds like someone struggling with anger issues that doesn't have anything meaningful to say.' is the kind of stuff we all think sometimes, but it is not the way to respond in public, especially by someone in an important and relevant position. Your words carry weight, whether you like it or not .

I love Exanima and everything you've done so far so I won't take up any more of your valuable time to discuss this. I would implore you however to try to see through the emotional stuff that people show in these opinion pieces and only see if they make a valid point somewhere. That is to say, that you keep doing what you have already been doing so far, which is responding really well to -different kinds of- feedback.

On the 'tutorial' topic, I really like @Pilluminati's idea!

 

[Murf]

I agree that it isn't an objective article and the fact that he didn't even read the user guide makes his comments on the controls mostly invalid.

He did read the guide though.

"A quick trip to the settings screen netted me the controls and a short “getting started” guide, and so I was able to explore my prison."

Granted the tone of the article was not the best, but I am sure as the game gets more exposure there will be some more of this same kind of thing. It is just unavoidable. Especially since the Devs wanted to make an RPG in a style that hasn't been done before. Can't please everyone all the time.