I'm playing through the game right now to find small errors to fix, because I want the game to be better, AND when I change the files, my site appears in the "Activity" tab so people may discover the game. And while I play I also gain insights about what I did bad and what I did good, which I'll have in mind when I make the follow-up to this game.
1 like
My insights so far:
-It's good to write in simple words, but don't exaggerate it. It's also important to write naturally!
-Too much stuff thrown at the player can feel messy, but can also feel fun. Find a combination where it's not too messy and not too boring/empty/structured
-It's impossible to read dialogue while racing
-Don't try to explain the context and background of the story with a long dialogue in the start. The player has to know what world it's being thrown into, but they should be able to understand that naturally from the environment
-The personality of the characters shouldn't be shown with grammar and word choices only. It should be deeper than that. It should be shown with their behavior primarily.
Seems like the main point it: Make it natural, don't force it. Most importantly, just make it fun
And I don't mean, just do whatever feels right in the moment. That's not what I mean with natural. I mean, use the knowledge I get about storytelling and design to make natural decisions that don't feel like I'm following a manual for creating things
-Have confidence in that the story and ideas are good as themselves, no need for irony or meta-jokes to comment on stuff