Howdy, y’all!

A couple of days ago, I shared a Devlog about what went right with my first point-and-click - even though I used some unconventional methods drawn from my non-gamedev background. But of course, plenty went wrong with this demo too... So here’s a list of all the mistakes I made, so you don’t have to!

To be fair, most have to do with flow and navigation.

1. Where it all Begins

The very first thing the player see when they click start is a room. The room is made of 2 images from 2 different camera points. Here they are:

Currently, the game starts at the first scene. And what’s the first thing players see? A laptop! Naturally, that's where they go right from the start. The problem is, I want players to explore the environment, which contains crucial information they’ll need later (and this will be even more important in later demo releases and eventually in the full game).

So, how I plan to fix this issue, you might ask? Maybe some algorithm blocking the laptop before the player is done exploring? Maybe a to-do list shown in the corner. Well, sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. Although, I don't have a proof this would be enough, for now I plan to simply start the game at the second screen looking towards the door, so the player can't see the laptop yet. Because if it's stupid but works, it's not stupid!

2. Make it Bold

I made these really cute, minimalist navigation buttons… So pretty, so nice - and yet totally useless. Why? Because no one even notices them!

Did you spot them? On the above photos. I know exactly where they are, so they seem obvious to me. But hey, I made the game, so trusting my own perspective was my first mistake. My second mistake? When my boyfriend, got stuck testing an early demo, I brushed it off as "he never play games, it's probably fine". 

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t fine. Watching streamers get frustrated because they couldn’t figure out how to proceed was a nice cold wakeup call. Ya girly did a bad job with navigation! And it spreads towards the whole game, not just the two buttons at the beginning.

I see two options here: add a well-explained controls screen before the game starts, or make the navigation more obvious. I’m not a huge fan of a controls screen, though - it disrupts the atmosphere I worked so hard to create, and many people skip it anyway. So, option two it is. But how to go about it?

Here's a clip showing how navigation currently behaves. First, the good news: I have no issues with the text buttons ("Check closet," "Check desk", ... ). Players don’t spot them right away, but in a way that builds interest rather than frustration. The problematic elements are the side and bottom arrows, as well as the message choices. Right now, only the icon/text responds to hover with a slight brightness increase, which is clearly not enough.

For the arrows, I'll extend the buttons to be full-length (vertically for side arrows and horizontally for the bottom arrow) and add a semi-transparent background. I may stop there, depending on how it looks, but most likely, I'll also add a hover effect to the background for extra clarity.

The messages are practically begging for a background that reacts on hover. I'm not entirely convinced that'll be enough since they still look like a single message rather than separate options, but we'll see... I’m also considering adding a sound cue when new message choices appear in a different chat. Right now, only the correspondent’s name changes colour, which has been hit or miss. It’s not top priority, but it’s a nice detail to consider.

3. Change the F-ing cursor

Okay, this isn't necessarily a mistake, but more of a result of time constraints and decision fatigue. I still haven't decided what I want the cursor to look like, but I know some changes need to be made.

First and foremost, it's essential for any button to have a pointer cursor. Honestly, even if that had been the only change I implemented before releasing the demo, it would have significantly improved most of the issues.

Secondly, when a conversation is ongoing, the navigation buttons are disabled to prevent errors, which simplifies programming. However, players have no way of knowing that navigation is disabled. There’s no visual cue at all - none, nada, nein... Undefined. It currently appears more like a bug than a feature. To be fair, it's not the most significant issue, as it still maintains the flow of the game, but a "not-allowed" pointer would definitely enhance the experience.

4. Baby is huge

Once again, this is more of a time issue than a mistake, but the game folder is massive compared to the game itself. 

Some of this is an easy fix, as I've left behind phantom files that I didn’t end up using - those definitely need to go. 

The other major contributor is the "animations." If you read my first Devlog, you already know I opted for video overlays instead of proper animations. While this approach works wonders, it can also inflate the game size quickly. Some overlays (like the dust particles), I’ll probably leave untouched, but for others, I plan to find substitutes or reduce file sizes (like some lighting effects). Some overlays could be better recreated as simple animations; for instance, I don’t realistically need a video of birds flying around. They’re great, but they consist of just three wing positions repeated. I could easily create three images, animate them, and move them around for potentially even better results.

Thanks for following my journey in developing my point-and-click psychological horror game! It’s been a wild ride filled with lessons learned from my mistakes.

Your feedback means a lot to me as I continue to refine the game. If you haven't checked it out yet and you enjoy atmospheric mysteries and psychological twists, I’d love for you to give Mark of the Past a try and share your thoughts. Your input will help shape the future of this project. Thank you for your support!

If you enjoyed reading, you may also enjoy some of my other Devlogs for this game!

Also, if you want to make me do a little happy dance, please consider following me: Dangerous Donuts Games