Hey there, new guy here...umm...I had to create an account and at least post this reply although I don't know if Tris Bee is still around.
From your perspective as a designer, you're completely correct, it takes a lot of work and multiple artists that were probably highly skilled at painting creating those scenes. I do commend you for at least not sitting around on your ass and actually creating something. I think what you've got here visually looks good, and you seem good at presenting it.
So, I don't know...You should just ignore it, or if you post something back respond to his perspective just at least honor it rather than calling him wrong.
You realize this by now I'm sure but it's just the wrong place to put your project, unless you take the time to probably contribute to the community and get to know people, although again I would just recommend sticking to press, blogs, portals and let's players. Maybe you should target Undertale fans instead since that seems to be what your style is like, but then Undertale is an american action ....rpg? game...You're DEFINITELY not going to reel in classic Final Fantasy fans if they're looking for something that takes itself very seriously like some Studio Ghibli-ish production.
Another thing maybe I'd say is that when you present it to rpg fans, make sure to show the inventory menus, the stats, the numbers, the math, the battle system. Explain what kind of battle system it is, how it works, those nitty gritty details. I've got a friend who used to be such a hardcore rpg player in his teen years, he would literally sit and lose days of sleep playing Monster Hunter. If you presented ANY game that had a turn based or active time battle system, even if the game was TERRIBLE, he wouldn't only just sit there and play the whole thing through, he would buy the game even if it meant dipping deep into his savings to do so (since there aren't many rpgs really comparatively speaking). People play Monster Hunter not for the graphics but almost entirely for the battle system. You literally just walk around and hunt monsters with (I think) no plot. When that game was advertised to rpg fans, it more than likely had the press writing articles about it's game mechanics and that sold it, not it's artwork or it's story. For me I personally just enjoy a long story, I would rather play an adventure game, but I'm just trying to drive home that point to a degree.
I had pretty much already decided I was done engaging here but I wanted to thank you for making an account to make such a thoughtful reflective post.
I said this earlier, but the truth is, probably the biggest struggle of being indie is getting your game out there, in the past few weeks I've finished the demo so I usually spend literally hours daily trying to find new nooks on the internet that google doesn't give you in the first page of options where I might find a good community or it. There are many places I didn't post, and I made sure to read the rules of different communities, for example, I didn't post on NeoGAF, Something Awful, IGN, Gamespot, etc. I didn't see anywhere where posting it would be necessarily offensive, and when I post in gaming communities, I actually end up being pretty active if the community is willing to have me!
Even though a lot of what's coming my way is "YOUR GAME SUCKS", it wasn't my intent to argue but sort of say yeah, well everyone doesn't have Cuphead Talent, and some people actually have to make their first game somewhere which probably isn't going to be their best. Considering this IS the first game of this scope I'm attempting I purposely chose to keep the art simple and in my comfort zone so 5 years later I still don't know how to cross the finish line on it. At the beginning of the year, I thought I had enough art to finish the demo but It turned out I probably needed twice what I had. Can you imagine how much worked 2x the art is for a more intricate style with only 1 person to work on it? Once I get comfortable and more knowledgeable of EVERYTHING needed in the process I am looking forward to improving my skills and going with a style that's more ballsy next time around. When you're taught code, you're taught to build simple programs at first, and build them block by block. Yes, there's plenty of alarm clock apps out there, would I be any less proud that I learned enough to make an unattractive solidly working one? Absolutely not.
You saw my Kickstarter so you probably realize that the game I'm making is a humble one and have no delusions about how "epic" it is in terms of production value. Of course I don't think this is ANYTHING akin to a Studio Ghibli movie.
I appreciate your thoughts on the game play, maybe I should showcase the battle system a bit more, I was slightly more shy about it because the game only has "boss" style fights, there are only 3 in the demo so I tried not to show too much, maybe this was a mistake but I'm certainly still learning!
Maybe the people here aren't that bad, but to me, I see a lot of people post games with "programmer art" who are clearly really passionate and they work on it for years, and my impulse is to try and tell them how they can improve, not ignore them much less take the time out to bash them. This is the internet, it's unfiltered and raw at times, I get that, but apparently me taking up for my work is equivalent to me only wanting to hear good things about it. I'm actually not arguing but as someone who believe in his project and wants to get better "YOUR GAME IS SHIT" isn't an argument that'll ever ly with me, I think not even attempting to stand up from my work from points of rationality would be worse as a small developer- I don't think I've attacked anyone or been vulgar to anyone here, or even suggested they HAVE TO LIKE MY GAME OR DOESN'T KNOW WHAT'S TALKING ABOUT, I've admitted previously and many times before that yeah, there are much better looking games and mine isn't doing anything groundbreaking art wise.
Again thanks for taking out the time to craft a post to me and this really makes all the other noise happening on this thread. I have thoroughly comprehended that this was probably not the best place for Cynical 7, and there's a reason I haven't messaged any of the mods about shutting it down, I think this is an interesting learning experience, it's also becoming a daily ritual to wake up at 5AM and see that someone else has come in to join in the festivities! If you'd like to talk more about it, feel free to message me! With your research skills it shouldn't be too hard! Otherwise as much as I like y'all I'll probably only reply to well cultivated response (positive or otherwise)
Cheers! It's been a fun ride and I hope you all have a great weekend!
PS: Another reason I want this to remain existent is because I'm sure there are other creators who are just getting out in the world that are going to have to face some harsh criticism, as brutal as this is if this can be a reference for those people to stand firm and keep working towards something greater, to me it's worth it.
