First off - let me apologize for missing last month’s devlog! Just when I think things CAN’T possibly get busier - they do! But know that each day that goes by brings us closer to having that demo out! In fact, I’ve been having tons of playtests recently, so I’d like to share some of my learnings and my ways of addressing issues!
Something I learned is that lots of playtesters are afraid of “doing the wrong thing” or “committing to something permanent” at the beginning of the game - which is totally reasonable!
At first, I thought it was a little weird because "hey, it’s a game - just try it out!" But when I thought about it more, it made a lot of sense. Love, Ghostie’s gameplay can APPEAR to be more “permanent” because setting up couples is a way bigger decision or outcome than something like growing a crop in a farming sim.
Some playtesters were fine with experimenting, while others were afraid to commit to certain actions. So…how do I address this without throwing a bunch of text to explain how everything works? I already have a lot of tutorial text (but tried to make it as entertaining as possible!!), so I definitely don’t want to add more.
I recently created “Deaddit" which is a forum site on the ghost internet that you have access to. It was originally supposed to be a later feature, since it was only intended for world-building purposes. However, I opted to implement it sooner to address these “frequently asked questions,” which serve as guidance for players.
I’ve created forum posts of “common” questions that are posted by other ghost matchmakers, but they’ve actually been real player concerns from playtests!
Plus, it’s way more entertaining to read than a bunch of tutorial text. But, don’t worry - I still have the world-building forums, like this conspiracy theorist ghost who is convinced they live in a simulation…
but that's absurd, what kind of person would build this silly, wacky world...right? 😐 ha ha ha
That's it for this month! Make sure to wishlist Love, Ghostie if you haven’t already!
- Jennifer