[VX] Legend of the Moonhunter [February 8: DEMO 2.0 released!

Legend of the Moonhunter
All images and info copyright 2012-15 © By Geoffrey Koer
Art by Andy Wintrip

Spoiler for:

The Dark Rain Forest. A demonic woods created by a terrible entity. A patiently growing darkness.
For hundreds of years, the island of Andorei has been covered by a huge, ever-growing forest. It always rains, and night ever lasts under the dripping boughs of the trees. The forest is said to be evil, for it houses demonic creatures and grows ever thicker.
87 years ago, king Feran waged war against the Prince of the Forest. He was a righteous king, with a lot of power and many followers. He was able to gather an army of roughly 1000 men, which was impressive considering the growth rate of the forest devouring cities in its wake.

The battle lasted for 16 days, until finally king Feran and his elite had fought their way into the Prince's castle. There, the king drove his magic-embedded sword in the heart of the Prince. What happened next could not have been foreseen.

Bereft of its vessel, the darkness bound itself to the nearest living source: the king. A surge of dark magic entered him, cut at his flesh and dyed him red in his own blood. His screams took the hearts of man and demon alike. It was a painful, forceful pact. In his mind, King Feran saw the pure, raw force that now raged within him, simple yet magnificent, brutal yet honest. He understood, then, that he would have to yield to it, or be destroyed. His mind was changed forever.

Fire and lightning swept through the air as a reborn King Feran slaughtered everyone like a frenzying beast. When calming down he enslaved the surviving soldiers, whom in time would become his demon servants. The king then drowned the city surrounding the castle, transforming it into a lake. The castle, on top of a hill, still stands at the far end of the lake, like a remnant of those days of fire, thunder and water.

For 87 years king Feran honed his skill and grew in power, ever embracing the darkness which swallowed him. He is obsessed with the forest, its growth and how little he influences it all. He entertains himself by manipulating people, exploiting those with strong desire, and crushing those who rebel against him.

At times 'heroes' come along and challenge him, all of whom perish fighting him. It isn't until one female Moonhunter crosses his path that he meets a worthy challenge...
It is now 87 years after King Feran turned evil. People live in fear of the forest, subdued by its dooming omnipresence. Only some dare to enter the night. Those are the Moonhunters, sell swords and bandits that can be hired.
Meet Dark a Moonhunter for hire. When one day she is hired to save a boy named Keshi, she finds out he has a unique power, linking the two together in a way which forever changes their lives.

Spoiler for:

Dark (Aya Masters), age 25
You play the game as Dark, a young, female Moonhunter who stands her own in a world ruled by men. Although she is tough, selfish and enjoys using sarcasm, she will defends herself - and those she loves - like a lioness. She fights with demonic, phantom fists.


Keshi (Keshi Maell), age 15
Keshi is a young nobleman's son. He grew up innocent and isolated from the world. He is light-hearted, often scared and doubtful, but he is determined to do what is right. He fights with unique white magic, capable of annihilating demons.


Zihkan (Zihkan Kesh'Kan), age 48
Zihkan is a brilliant scientist, but is socially disconnected from most people. His wild theories about the forest's inhabitants have earned him a bad reputation, but his fascination for the forest has not decreased at all. Although his mind wanders off from time to time, his handiness with guns and potions make him a valuable asset to the team.
 
*One more characters will appear in the game, but has not fully been written out yet. Therefore the information and art will be uploaded at a later date*

Spoiler for:

- Side view ATB battle system.
- unique sprite animations for the main characters.
- Shield Break battles: use special magic to break an enemy's defense.
- No overworld or world map, but large, explorable areas.
- No random encounters! Your choice to fight or flee.
- Original art and music (composed by myself).
- A gripping story revolving around character development, history, and sacrifice.
Scripts used:

Spoiler for:

- Enu's Tankentai Sideview 3.4e, with ATB 1.2c and numerous add-ons by Mr. Bubble and Kylock
- BulletXt's Thomas Edison VX
- Marc's Simple Shadows
- MysteryMan23's New Game Plus
- Modern Algebra's Battle Scapes
- Erzengel's BMG Unchange
- Dartdaman's Status Screen
- Vixotic's Map Story Title Screen
- Zeus81's Fullscreen++
- DaimondandPlatinum3's Transform Enemies based on Variables (custom for this game)
- Modern Algebra's Kill Auto Shadows
- Modern Algebra's Dynamic Sound Emitting Areas/Events
- Woratana's Neo Save System IV
- Synthesize's Regenerate HP/MP
- Sprite_Picture

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Spoiler for:

Legend of the Moonhunter OST, YouTube playlist (not up-to-date):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeAZoz0HiAZbyu-EkQlmZ-SPAHzVprhLC
Soundcloud (up-to-date)

Spoiler for:

DEMO 2.0 is out (February 8th 2015).
Demo 2.0, can be downloaded HERE.
Size: 106MB (encrypted, should run without RTP)
File type: .exe
Save games from demo 1.2 are not compatible with 2.0.
The demo is roughly 5-6 hours in length. This is roughly 30% of the full game, excluding side quests.

Additional
All original art, story, and music is copyright 2012-2015© by Geoffrey Koer. Please, do not use any of the resources on this page without permission.


Enjoy, and constructive criticism is always welcome!
 
Yours,
~ Geoff

Good job, so far! I have meandered through the demonstration, and most everything moved along smoothly. The mapping for the game is nicely done when roaming the forests and pathways, but the cities and buildings often come across rather plain; interiors sparse or misaligned. However, since the game is rather new, I am sure the mapping will only improve. One thing that does not need much improvement is the usage of character and NPC movement while doing actions, emotions and speaking parts. The music for each area is also quite nice and fits well. The songs are somewhat repetitive, but are catchy enough to avoid becoming annoying. Keep up the good work!


I have compiled a list of errors and/or suggestions, and have listed them below.


[ General ]
- You may want to consider including an option to enter and exit full screen instead of forcing the player to do so. I found the immediate full screen at the beginning of the game very annoying.


[ Introduction ]
- <Minor> : ( Image of Issue )
-- Menu is accessible following the main introduction, but before control is formerly handed over to the player.


[ Dark Rain Forest ]
- <Minor> : ( Image of Issue )
-- Passage settings incorrect; square below character is impassible.


[ Ipimaru City ]
- <Minor> : ( Image of Issue )
-- Passage settings incorrect.

< Lyibra's Orb Shop >
- <Minor> : ( Image of Issue )
-- Passage settings incorrect.


[ Kracata Road ]
- <Minor> : ( Image of Issue )
-- Passage settings incorrect.


[ Underpass Cave ]
-- Infinite Hofelpaf battle? Each step around the area starts another fight with the monster.

That face on Keshi is... Just wow

You make spoilers and images as followed

[spoiler][img]http://geokoer.com/mh/screen01.jpg[/img][/spoiler]

which makes

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Wow, you people are fast. Within a day this project's been moved already to substantial projects.

  Thank you for the feedback, Exhydra! I have already taken care of the minor issues, and I've set the start in normal screen, not full screen. In the demo you can also toggle F5 to switch between full and normal; I will have to give some instructions for that in the title screen, I suppose.

Granted - the town and interiors need a bit polishing. I find it challenging to make these feel natural, and the inherent chipsets of VX aren't amazing for building roofs and whatnot. I'll have a look around the interwebs for interior designs. If you've got any pointers on the like, I will take a look as well.

  And thank you for telling me how to make spoiler messages, D&P3. It was obvious when thinking about it, but couldn't find instructions for the life of me.

  *Update*

I'm working on redesigning the houses in Ipimaru City now, and have fixed various little bugs 'n stuff.

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I'll also take a look at the interiors, make them a little more logical, as was suggested earlier. For those of you who are playing the demo; the first area of the Dark Rain Forest has got a few secret places!

  28/11/2012 *Update*

All previously mentioned bugs have been fixed, as well as a few additional ones found. I have been working on the list of items, and various other thing that aren't immediately visible in-game.

I can entertain you, however, with a new script I implemented for the save system. Screenshot!

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It is not yet compatible with a new game plus script I'm using, so I will hang around the scripts board in a while for that.

I have made three new areas, two of which are quite large. I'm also in the process of hiring an artist to make unique monster art for me. The designs for the third playable character are also being created these weeks.

Last, I intend to re-upload the demo (slightly longer, with several updates & fixes) to version 1.2 somewhere in January/February, in which hopefully some art can also be replaced.

That's it for now. If anyone else has tried the demo, your feedback will be very much appreciated! Have a nice day,

~ Geoff

  18/01/2013 *Update*

I rise from the dead - or, well, business, to give you a bit of an update. Happy belated New Year, by the by.

I was able to get help for some of the scrips' incompatibility, and all works happily together now. Yay!

I'm making some nice progress on the largest area in the game so far, having completed about 50% of its tiles. The map is 150x500 blocks, and I create it this large to add to the imposing nature the area will (hopefully) have story wise. Here's the work in progress screen:

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Yes, I like making faces and squid shapes for the areas; it keeps me entertained.

The artist I work with for the characters has started sketching the 3rd character in the game! Hopefully the design will be fully done by the time I intend to release demo 1.2. Here's the sketch:

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I still intend to upload demo version 1.2, but it will be near the end of February. It will include the new huge area, and introduce the 3rd team member, as well as have 2/3 more boss fights. I estimate that, when uploaded, demo 1.2 will be roughly around 15% game completion in term of areas and story.

Stay tuned...
~ Geoff

Wow, that's one huge map! That most have taken you awhile hehe! Im really amazed about that map, and it gives me motivation to make something grand for my own game as well! The faces and the squid shapes are really cool too 

I will hold on for awhile before I'll try out your demo, I was thinking I might wait until you release the new version with that big map included! But I'm looking forward to try this out! The battle-system seems really promising, with the 'break enemy defence' feature! Can't wait to see how it works 

  28/02/2013

I've been working hard these weeks, and I am very close to completing the large area, including its events and various new scripts. I still have to finish the final few scenes, and compose the music (which consumes most of my time).

I expect to upload demo 1.2 in 4 days. That way I can finalize everything and test it in the weekend.

Just a little more patience, folks.
~ Geoff

Looking forward to the new demo!  Keep it up!

09/03/2013

Demo 1.2 is out!:

  Updates include:
* +1/1,5 hours of gameplay (3/4 hours in total;
* new look for Ipimaru city compared to old demo;
* 1 new team member;
* new areas to explore, including the enormous "Kracata Mountain";
* some enemies/bosses have gotten original artwork (more to follow later);
* revival powder heals more HP, as well as heal spells;
* various spelling & bug fixes.
Apologies to those who have been waiting for the new demo. Making the music took its sweet time, and I had to fix various new bugs that popped up (and things I had overlooked) that seriously compromised gameplay. I also overhauled the large area's atmosphere, which took up time as well. Add in other excuses from my personal life and, well, you have a belated update.

  Demo 1.2, can be downloaded here and in the first post;
Size: 105MB (encrypted, includes RTP)
File type: .exe
Note: demo 1.0 save games are compatible wth demo 1.2; just copy and paste.

Enjoy - and do tell me what you think!
~ Geoff

Small addition: some friends who played the first demo forgot where to go, so for those who also continue their old save:

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Go to Kracata Road, walk left from the church of Arma and then go up (don't follow the path to Kracata).

This gave me an idea. Considering updates (and demo releases) will be months apart, I will make the Moonhunter bar a central 'hub', where you tell the bartender about you current mission. This'll work as an in-game reminder on where to go, without breaking the fourth wall.

I'm also considering putting notes on the wall there,which you can read for how-to-play, tips/tricks, controls, etc. Or, would you rather prefer info to be given at the point in the game when it's introduced? I feel the latter would break the pace of gameplay a lot...

Any thoughts on this?

For me personally I would like the wall and the bartender better, an easy way to locate things if you forget them! Seems like a good idea

Glad to hear you're on the same page, D_M    Had time to try the demo yet?

In general, I have been puzzling with some story elements for the past few days; I am not sure how to get from one point (where we are at the end of the demo) to the next large event; the pace is quite high in my game, but the events that follow (including meeting the endboss for the first time) is a bit too fast now. I will need to write a logical progression to this point.

I know that all sounds vague - but I don't want to give away the exact things you will get to do in the game

I'm sorry that I havn't replied in awhile! Been a bit stressful, and I forgot to update my thread here for a little while now.. I'll make sure to download the demo tommorow and try it out! Hopefully I'll get back with some feedback by the end of the weekend

How long is the playtime of your current demo by the way? approx?

Edit: Nevermind just read your patch notes

I'm sorry that I havn't replied in awhile! Been a bit stressful, and I forgot to update my thread here for a little while now.. I'll make sure to download the demo tommorow and try it out! Hopefully I'll get back with some feedback by the end of the weekend

No problem at all; the demo won't go anywhere. I look forward to seeing your work progress too - but take your time

22/04/2013

Boy, this place has come to a standstill.

Time to change that! I have been very busy lately; my wedding is in 3 months, school's entering its final semester and my students are getting near their final exams. On top of that I will be moving to a new house next month. Progress, thus, is slow. But it IS progress.

Screenies.

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Showing off the atmosphere here. Sun rays actually move a little, and the screen tints from a normal bright hue to a slightly warmer red, in accordance with the sun rays.





Experimenting with picture overlay. I will work more on the shadows, and will also come back to the earlier areas (both outdoors as indoors) to add shadow and light. I'm not sure I will venture into the territory of parallax-ing, but this adds depth and atmosphere at least. Ignore the bird - it just kinda flew into the picture.

So, what do you think? On the right track to greatness? goodness? okay-ness?

~ Geoff

I'm downloading the demo now. I'll tell you what I think of it in a bit.
From the screenshot it looks pretty cool.

I'm downloading the demo now. I'll tell you what I think of it in a bit.
From the screenshot it looks pretty cool.

I hope you enjoy(ed) playing the demo. Any ideas for improvement/criticism is always welcome.

I am now working on adding shadow to all the interiors. The mountain town and Ipimaru City have already been shaded (and look much better). After the interiors are done I may upload a demo 1.2b version, just to show off the new layer of depth & prettiness.

Been so slow recently, I'm sorry that I havn't replied.. I'm gonna download the demo now and take a shot at it, will come back with feedback!

The screenies looks lovely by the way!

Feedback:

Spoiler for feedback:

I guess this will be a wall-of text so bare with me, this is my thoughts of what I have played so far:

I think you have done a great job with the intro, It's short but gets to the point instantly and It sets the mood just perfectly.

Haha, I love how the moonhunter that Dark is punching is just lying there bonked to the floor!

I love the menu, those sprites you have put in there looks amazing! First off, Are they custom made? and I wish
I knew how to implement pictures into the status screen, is that done by a script?

I like the atmosphere of your first map, and it feels very dark and a bit scary to be honest. I think you could
put in a little bit more clutter on some places though.
The grassy road looks a bit squareish as well, and doesn't seem to fit to well. I'm not sure how you would go
ahead and give the player a sense of direction without it though, but maybe you could use some kind of sandy looking road instead? I love how the map is laid out though, and you have put in some elements for exploring in there which I like (when finding the dead traveler). I also enjoyed the small 'moral' choice you put in there, due
to looting his corpse! A nice little detail there

The battles in the area seemed a bit hard at first (especially when facing 2x monster with the sort of 'upgraded' monster..Laka Dem, I think?) Happened to die on my first encounter with those but after some more exploring to find some curative items it worked fine. You could lower the hitpoints a bit for them though in my opinion, and I think that the Green Vials heal a bit too low amount of hit point to be useful in battle.
The healing amount is pretty much gone if you face 2x monsters and a Laka Dem uses It's rough attack. Maybe 50-60 hitpoints would be a better value for it?

I can't help it but the tune for the forest seems a bit out of place. When I look at the atmosphere of the forest area it feels very dark and gloomy but I don't know if It's just me. A more dark and scary tune would fit better with the enviorment in my opinion, not that the current tune that you are using is bad, It's very nice actually! The battle tune sounds awesome though, and it sort of got stuck on my head there!

The battle system seems very nice and polished, and the animations are just plain awesome! (Especially the
Fantom Virus). I think you could try and add some sort of 'alert' to that spell though so you know when the poison is no longer affecting the monster (I used a normal attack instead of inflicting it with poison again.
A small little detail, but I think it would help the player out a bit more). 
I'm a big fan of ATB combat as well, and the overall battle system looks really cool so far.
I also enjoy that you are using 'touch event' encounters, since random ecnounters can get so frustrating
for me after a while, and the sprites that you are using for the Laka Dom's looks sweet. The sort of 'death'
animation for them was a nice addition to it as well! According to loot drops so far, I'm really looking forward to see what those lesser orbs are used for!

It's a small thing to bring up, but I really love your save points and how the save is handed out (screen toning,
and the sound effects when saving. Along with the layout for the save-file, looks very neat!). I think you
could make it a bit more clear that the savepoint recovers your health as well, it helped me out a lot to
progress further when I knew about that.

Once again, I really love how you reward the player for exploring (found that little shack in the forest with tons
of useful items), I love that you are being rewarded for exploring every corner of the map. And wow, this is one
gigantic map with lots of different areas to explore! Really enjoyed that!

The First boss battle with Puruumba was cool, and I like the fact that they know each other and it ended up more like a 'duel' with each other. The fight was nicely balanced for a first boss enounter, not too hard but not to easy. I enjoy the ATB system that you are using as well, it really puts you on your toes and you need to act fast or you end up at the Game Over screen! I can't wait to see how that will evolve further into the game!

And so I found the boy Keshi!
The second boss battle was a bit more difficult (no dark hide on Puruumba), but very nice balanced as well! I really enjoy the way that you have implemented the usage of skills, and in this battle you really need to use them to finish him off! It was a really cool battle where you needed to focus a lot and almost think ahead on your next move (much due to the darkness spell). Once again the ATB really spices up the overall battle and
if you aren't paying attention you could en up dead really fast, really enjoyed this battle, nice work!
Also love that Keshi is using a slingshot (like a little rascal) haha had me laughing a bit!
(Just so you know, I found 2 Emerald eyes! Thanks for rewarding exploration like always. Not sure if I missed some)

The thing you have going with Dark's weapon being like an own 'identity' or what to call it, or something that
can invade Dark's dreams seems really cool! I really love this feature and I can't wait to see what will happen according to the weapons absorbing the powers of defeated monsters (especially within events). I think It's a really cool feature for upgrading weapons and skills, and It's really, really interesting!

About the thing I said with decreasing the hitpoints for the Laka Dem's, I think I have to take that back.
At the beginning when you face them with Dark alone, they can be pretty tough.. but I guess it would be weird
to encounter them when you have found Keshi. You could always make a different version of them and increase their hitpoints and damage after you have aquired Keshi to make it a bit more appealing (But I think It works in it's current state too, It was just a bit hard the first time you will encounter them).

After talking to the guards of Keshi's hometown they are blocking the way to the savepoint so I lost my
chance to save there (I'm not sure if It's intended, so that you won't be able to go back to the forest
area thogh.) You have also forgot to put a switch on Keshi after the event with the guards, he will appear
again standing infront of the guards after the event is over. (Check picture).



I think Ipumaru City looks great!, and I love how you established 'sections' for the town (Like District of Lords).
I can't enter any of the buildings except the pub and the Inn
(But I guess that's because It's in the middle of the night and it would be kinda weird to just stumble into people's houses when they are asleep).

I'm really looking forward to see why the bartender refuses to serve Moonhunters. It's always fun with a
story-oriented detail, where people look different upon the professions that characters have (and the reason behind why they dislike them).

I'm not sure what to do in the city, I tried talking to the guard to the west of the city and he says I should
go take a look at the Inn, but when I get there the Inkeeper just introduces himself. I'm not sure how to
progress from here. I will stop playing here for now, but if there's a way to progress I will come back and add
the rest of the feedback later, and end it with the overall thoughts of everything after that!

I really enjoyed it so far, but I will try and share some more in-depth opinions when I get back to it!

Cheers!

Edit: I just realized that the vials aren't giving the player 30 hp as a base.. but rather 30% of maximum health... nevermind on what I said about the vials xD

D_M, thank you for your elaborate criticism! I will break it down in a few points and comment on it - as well as help you through the section where you are stuck in the city. To prevent spoilers, here it is in a, eh, spoiler.

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I love the menu, those sprites you have put in there looks amazing! First off, Are they custom made? and I wish I knew how to implement pictures into the status screen, is that done by a script?

I am glad you like the face sprites and status-screen pictures Yes, they are custom made by an actual cartoonist, whom I know very well. The pics in the status screen come from this script.

I'm not sure how you would go ahead and give the player a sense of direction without it though, but maybe you could use some kind of sandy looking road instead?

I have put in some clues if you talk to the other Moonhunters before you leave. This first forest is purposely a maze - but a maze that rewards exploration.

I think you could try and add some sort of 'alert' to that spell though so you know when the poison is no longer affecting the monster

Not a bad idea - though we wouldn't want things to become too easy, now would we? I'll see what this would do and how to implement it.

I think you could make it a bit more clear that the savepoint recovers your health as well

True, that is why I will put this 'instruction' board in the Moonhunter bar, with tips and tricks, for those who want to read it. This way the pace of the game won't be compromised.

(Just so you know, I found 2 Emerald eyes! Thanks for rewarding exploration like always. Not sure if I missed some)

You may have missed some super secret areas... but you did find both emerald eyes. Bravo!

You have also forgot to put a switch on Keshi after the event with the guards

Huh, that is strange... I will play-test it again. Maybe if you talk to the other guard it won't happen? You're the first to mention this bug I'll look into it.

I'm not sure what to do in the city, I tried talking to the guard to the west of the city and he says I should go take a look at the Inn, but when I get there the Inkeeper just introduces himself

Perhaps something happened to the events when Keshi stayed behind. Normally you follow Keshi to his house in the district of lords, and enter to bring him back. After that you can go to the inn and progress.

I am glad you enjoyed yourself so far! Exploration and finding treasures is a large part of the game, and there are always secrets to be found in the forest. There is still a lot of gameplay left in the demo - so do let me know when you play again

I look forward to trying your new demo later on!

@Geokoer, Maybe I should include my feedback in a spoiler too? I reveal a lot of spoilers in the text, so I was just thinking that it might be for the better

I will make sure to let you know when I pick the demo up again. Probably this weekend, looking forward to it a lot to be honest!

I'll try and break my comments and feedback into some smaller sections next time I play. (To prevent you from being bored with those walls-of-text).

I hope you will like the new demo when you try it out, It has gone through some major changes since the last version (Hopefully for the better xD).

Don't worry about long texts; I enjoy reading generally, especially your experience of my game. Thanks or putting the comments in a spoiler

I may start over again in your new demo (I suppose that's better in any case) to fully see the changes. I hope my previous thoughts on your new auras/etc was useful too. Good luck!

Don't worry about long texts; I enjoy reading generally, especially your experience of my game. Thanks or putting the comments in a spoiler

I may start over again in your new demo (I suppose that's better in any case) to fully see the changes. I hope my previous thoughts on your new auras/etc was useful too. Good luck!

Okay, that's good to hear because I tend to ramble on a lot when I try out a game hehe!

Yeah the changes has been made mostly in the part of the demo and a new savefile will now be needed to follow everything as it should be according to the new changes (The main reason why I disabled the possibility to download version 0.2). The thing is though that I have worked a lot on the content after the demo and the continuation of Chapter 1, but all of the content is not there yet. I was thinking about adding some more playtime to the new demo (which would not end when entering Town of Duke), but since It's not fully complete yet and I have worked on other areas as well I think I won't be able to extend the demo until I release the full chapter 1.. (A bit sad for the people that have played my demo before, but the changes will present you with a whole different experience any way.)

Yeah, I have read through the things you said about my features and I'm very grateful for your feedback! I will make sure to reply to the post when I have a little more time to spare.

Just played a tiny bit (To the first waypoint) and this is what I have to say.

1. The intro was well done
2. This is only and idea, as this is your game, but maybe the "New Game" (and others) could be moved down a bit?

Example ~

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3. Rain sounds like somebody pissing.
4. The beds in the INN look like they're on the wall.
5. The menu is the default, it's not hard to change it up.

Example~ (It's pretty easy to switch things up. Ignore the whack color scheme going on, I was messing with the window skin.)

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6. The characters seems cool.
7. The dialogue is written well.
8. I'm interested as to who/what this prince dude is. I'm will continue playing.

Not about your game, but avatars look better when they're 105x150...

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