Indie Call of Saregnar - a Betrayal at Krondor-inspired RPG

[Tavernking]

The only constructive feedback I have is to extend the range/brightness of torches, right now they're pretty useless. Make it dark dammit!

edit: and +1 for crossable streams

 

[Nutria]

The invisible wall at the stream didn't bother me that much. I figure the target audience for this is used to it anyway. And I'm guessing that any alternative would be a lot of work. What I would make sure to do is add a splashing sound effect for when you are crossing a stream.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

The uncrossable streams didn't bother me at all. It's a very classic approach to set such artificial limits in the gameworld. It's no Skyrim after all (and thank the Lord for that!). Makes me feel even more nostalgic actually.

 

[HoboForEternity]

nobody sane wants their boots wets, especially travelers. so avoid water unless it's necessary.

 

[garren]

Just launched the demo, basically just walked around a bit, haven't really ventured deep into it yet, but a few things stuck out to me:
- the fadein/out is kinda annoying, I wish the transition between scenes/dialogue was instant, especially when examining things and there's a brief delay you can't move after clicking the message away
- make more examinable things if possible, it's really fun to examine things almost like in an adventure game , I really wanted to click that compost pile (?) in romar behind the house , makes exploring and looking at things feel more rewarding even if there's no loot
- add an FOV slider please, I like a wider visible area
- I love the different expressions the characters make when in dialogue instead of the same blank face, nice touch
- esc doesn't close the loot window
- movement needs a bit more leeway, for example I couldn't squeeze between the shop and the fenced area in romar, the fenced areas themselves aren't enterable either, I know it might seem silly when there's nothing there but it just feels more natural to be able to move more freely and look at things, maybe if there's a low blockade like those piles of wooden boards they could be just walked over too, or make them taller so it makes sense not being able to walk there
- additional/separate dialogue music would kick ass to really bring out the mood

 

[Nutria]

I really wanted to click that compost pile (?) in romar behind the house

I believe those are Euro-style haystacks? Some French guy came to America and wanted to making a massive painting of everything that happened on the 3rd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He interviewed everyone and asked them exactly what they saw, and every little detail is perfect. Except that he made the haystacks in this weird mushroom shape, not cubes. We may have the same problem here.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I am carefully marking down all feedback guys, thanks for reporting and thanks for giving it a spin! I am also very nauseous still after spending a lovely Christmas hugging the toilet, so bear with me if I don't answer each and every one of you. Cheers!

 

[Nutria]

Actual footage of Rhuantavan right now:

 

[Rhuantavan]

Accurate

 

[Narushima]

I believe those are Euro-style haystacks?

There's both. There are haystacks and what looks like piles of manure.

 

[J_C]

I am also very nauseous still after spending a lovely Christmas hugging the toilet!

You got it all mixed up. Hugging the toilet only comes at New Year's Eve, not Christmas.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I am also very nauseous still after spending a lovely Christmas hugging the toilet!

You got it all mixed up. Hugging the toilet only comes at New Year's Eve, not Christmas.

In my country we do it several times a year

 

[garren]

Just launched the demo, basically just walked around a bit, haven't really ventured deep into it yet, but a few things stuck out to me:
- the fadein/out is kinda annoying, I wish the transition between scenes/dialogue was instant, especially when examining things and there's a brief delay you can't move after clicking the message away
- make more examinable things if possible, it's really fun to examine things almost like in an adventure game , I really wanted to click that compost pile (?) in romar behind the house , makes exploring and looking at things feel more rewarding even if there's no loot
- add an FOV slider please, I like a wider visible area
- I love the different expressions the characters make when in dialogue instead of the same blank face, nice touch
- esc doesn't close the loot window
- movement needs a bit more leeway, for example I couldn't squeeze between the shop and the fenced area in romar, the fenced areas themselves aren't enterable either, I know it might seem silly when there's nothing there but it just feels more natural to be able to move more freely and look at things, maybe if there's a low blockade like those piles of wooden boards they could be just walked over too, or make them taller so it makes sense not being able to walk there
- additional/separate dialogue music would kick ass to really bring out the mood

Finished the demo, some more observations:
- the wordlock chest locations were easy to spot, maybe they could be a bit more hidden, though the areas not being too huge can make it hard to hide them. That being said, hopefully there's more open areas to be explored in the full game.
- does haggling have drawbacks? Though I think the shopkeeper might have refused to haggle with me anymore as I tried spamming the skill for every item, there maybe could be more balance to the skill, like increasing his prices if you annoy him too much for example.
- I couldn't move the map of the game world, it only moved when I traveled around.
- any way to drop or throw out useless items? I got some spoiled rations and couldn't get rid of them.
- the writing could use some editing to make it sound more natural, I felt at times the sentence structure and flow kinda felt awkward, with all due respect.
- can I assess enemies any way to get info on them (hitpoints, skills, movement, etc.)? Can I control the pathway to the enemy before I strike him? Also I wish I could move the camera a bit as it moves automatically when switching turns, but it's not in the best position always I find. The fights themselves were easy, I wasn't worrying at any moment that I might lose.
- what do my skills do, I can't click them for a description. Also, would be nice to know what status effects do (tired for example). I wish I could read spell descriptions even when I can't use the spell.

All in all, a positive impression so far, despite my ramblings. I find the story slightly intriguing so far, and I like the dynamic between the main character duo. Dina was cool too.

 

[Narushima]

Dina was cool too.

That reminds me: do the protagonists know her well? They talk to each other like they're familiar, but aren't the protagonists supposed to be passing through as travellers?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Dina was cool too.

That reminds me: do the protagonists know her well? They talk to each other like they're familiar, but aren't the protagonists supposed to be passing through as travellers?

Spoiler

Plot twist: She is the patron God of travellers masquerading as a tavernswoman

 

[Skall]

I thought the demo captured the feel of BaK in a more modern implementation, so most of these are polish notes:

• Like the low-poly vibe, but I expect a not-insignificant number of players will complain about the lack of jump/flight like in Might & Magic. I'm assuming you're going for the original Krondor feel where even a small fence was an impassable barrier?
• I'm not sure if making it darker at night would fly with users, but the effects of the torch are somewhat subdued, at least outdoors. Perhaps make it illuminate the surroundings a bit more, but give it a smaller radius?
• The controls went a bit nuts for me with various buttons/inputs on my PS4 controller being detected as always on. Had to close D4Windows to resolve.
• The fade-in and fade-out when inspecting objects is too long, especially considering that it locks movement/input.
• Italicized text is also presented in a slightly different colour, which makes it seem like a clickable keyword.
• What's up with the inn girl blaming me for getting robbed? Shouldn't she be compensating me for providing no security in her establishment?!
• When chatting with house-NPCs that invite you inside, the screen fades completely to black, which seems fairly bare-bones. If you don't have backgrounds/environments to use here, I'd suggest staying outside the house but darkening the environment like you do with the regular house encounters.
• The passage of time seemed a bit too quick. I realize there were long-skips in BaK, but here it seemed like clicking on any house, entering the temple, etc., all took many hours.
• The hover tooltip for the time-of-day simply displays its title, but requires an additional click to show the actual time and date -- might as well just make this the tooltip.
• There are no hover tooltips for the skills and spells not usable outside of combat can't be hovered to view their info.
• While holding alt to detach the cursor, if I mouse-over a house door, all the grass disappears.
• It bothered me that I couldn't scroll/zoom/drag the world map, and that there were no local maps for indoor areas like the cave. Also, it seemed like certain landmarks like the cave or the forgotten god's ruined temple should get icons on the map once discovered.
• Maybe consider an option to snap-to roads like in BaK and/or have a toggle for running/forward movement?
• "..scared the shit out of Sam!" seems like a rather modern idiom.
• It would be nice to have an OK/cancel keyboard shortcuts. I'm specifically thinking of closing loot popups and transferring rations between characters. In the latter case, they need to be dragged to the character's portrait in bottom-left corner of the screen, at which point the confirmation popup appears and the cursor needs to be moved back to the centre. It would be much easier to use E/Spacebar to accept the default transfer.
• I'd also appreciate some way of automatically collecting items by double-clicking. There's no way to focus a character as the main one accepting items due to the interface, but at least double-clicking to collect money and evenly distributing rations among the party would be helpful.
• I wasn't sure why I couldn't heal while camping/why that button was not selectable (even though it wasn't grayed out or anything).
• I really liked the journal noting important events, but maybe there should be a way to sort/filter it? Main Quest/Side Quests/Flavour categories?
• The camera scrolling in combat felt a bit sluggish; both the length of the end of the tween animation when rotating it and when jumping to the current attacker. However, I loved that you retained enemy archers being able to hit their own fighters.
• Due to the character portraits having square border-corners, the vertical endurance/stamina bars always seem like they're at 95% even when they're at 100%.
• It'd be nice to be able to get some flavour text on all interactable objects to hint at their use, or lack-there-of, e.g., burnt out campfires.
• The text quantity seemed to be a bit higher and the volume of interactive objects just a bit lower than BaK, but I might be misremembering it.

Overall I really enjoyed it, to the point of not wanting to play it further so I can save the experience for when the full game is ready. I've been following the development here since you first announced it, and it really has come a long way. Also, if this recent poll is any indication, the Codex will surely greet it with open arms as well.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I thought the demo captured the feel of BaK in a more modern implementation, so most of these are polish notes...

Thank you very much for the feedback! All very valid points.

 

[Arrowgrab]

"..scared the shit out of Sam!" seems like a rather modern idiom.

"Strewth! Surely it didst vex yon ordure forth from Samuel!"

 

[Narushima]

does haggling have drawbacks?

I don't like the way haggling works in this and other games. It just gives you an extra button to click with every transaction. If anything, the skill should be applied automatically.

Found another typo, in the cave:
"An etherial voice"

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

• The passage of time seemed a bit too quick. I realize there were long-skips in BaK, but here it seemed like clicking on any house, entering the temple, etc., all took many hours.

.

That's something I noticed too. In general I don't understand why there is no real time in RPGs - if you are always able to skip time by resting (and thus can avoid the night if you like) why shouldn't a game have a normal time flow? For me that would make the game even more immersive. In my opinion there is no need to make time flow faster than in real life.

 

[Rhuantavan]

• The passage of time seemed a bit too quick. I realize there were long-skips in BaK, but here it seemed like clicking on any house, entering the temple, etc., all took many hours.

.

That's something I noticed too. In general I don't understand why there is no real time in RPGs - if you are always able to skip time by resting (and thus can avoid the night if you like) why shouldn't a game have a normal time flow? For me that would make the game even more immersive. In my opinion there is no need to make time flow faster than in real life.

It is something that I'll do another pass in calibrating, BUT. Time flows in the way it does due to how the world is compressed. It would be unrealistic to reach the next town, which is a couple of days of travel away from the first town in 15mins if you just sprinted towards it. The party needs to get tired, the rations need to be consumed, etc.
That said, I have been toying with the idea that time within dense areas such as towns would flow more slowly, thus more realistically than time outside of such areas, e.g. the wilderness, but it's just in the design stage at this point.

 

[V_K]

Speaking of characters getting tired, there's a minor bug: after you complete the sick man's quest, his wife offers you to stay overnight - but this doesn't seem reset the fatigue level. It's was rather funny when I completed the quest, the game told me I spent the night at their home, and then two steps out of the door Sam starts complaining that we need to make camp.

 

[Tavernking]

That said, I have been toying with the idea that time within dense areas such as towns would flow more slowly, thus more realistically than time outside of such areas, e.g. the wilderness, but it's just in the design stage at this point.

That would make a lot of sense!

 

[Ysaye]

Speaking of characters getting tired, there's a minor bug: after you complete the sick man's quest, his wife offers you to stay overnight - but this doesn't seem reset the fatigue level. It's was rather funny when I completed the quest, the game told me I spent the night at their home, and then two steps out of the door Sam starts complaining that we need to make camp.

She only offered Sam to stay overnight not necessarily to sleep; maybe they were preoccupied during the stay?

 

[garren]

One few things about the plot kept bothering me so I'll just mention them here. How did Arthur supposedly acquire such a rare dangerous book from a random vendor (only one in existence if I understood correctly)? Also the interactions with the gods in the cave and ruins were kinda overt, just getting showered with a god's attention all of a sudden, nothing wrong with that per say, I just wish that kinda stuff was more subtle, getting a god's attention should not be that easy, imo.