Theseus: Journey to Athens (Indie Adventure/RPG)

detailed comments/criticism

I am very glad that despite overall disliking the game, you still say that it gives the player a detailed taste of classical greek mythology. That has always been my number one goal, above even gameplay, so if I am doing that well then I feel I have a future doing this (even if there is a lot of room for improvement in things like combat mechanics, etc). Generally, I have received mixed/positive comments about this project, but I know it is not perfect and thanks to comments from people like you I have good ideas on what to work on.

You overstate the case, but there is truth in this quote:

"It really is as if the developer doesn't really care for anything in the game other than "here's some solid ancient greek lore and some brief taster plot-lines, my work here is done""

I want you to enjoy my game. I do have responsibility to make the mechanics fun. But nothing is more important than bringing the source material to life and presenting it as normal and appropriate. I would take slight issue with this criticism:

"the more you play, the more the quests get edgier and edgier, human sacrifice, kidnap, murder, etc, which instantly rules out the game being for small children, though doesn't rule out the possibility that the developer is a teenager."

The source material itself is edgy and includes seemingly bizarre and unjustified acts of human sacrifice, kidnap, murder, etc. I am not willing to tamper with the source material to any great extent. This is a world where Theseus really did murder his first wife's father and then kidnap/rape her. Arkadians did worship Zeus Lykaios, about whom people allege human sacrifice, cannibalism, and lykanthropy. The full mythology of Theseus is a series of acts that most modern people would find bizarre and extreme. I would rather my game be universally loathed than I sanitise the myths about Zeus Lykaios, etc, that's just the way it is.


Anyway, no excuses for the fact that you didn't enjoy a lot of other things, such as the combat and inventory mechanics. In addition to the updates to this game, I have been working on implementing a much more complex inventory management and combat system for my new project. I haven't announced it yet, but the planned setting is a particular siege that took place in mid-late 5th century Boiotia.

Finally, the game did initially have an interface that required a keyboard and mouse, but that has been changed. It is now entirely mouse-driven, with keyboard as optional. Similarly, all the reported bugs have been resolved. The last requested feature I have on my list is autosaving/multiple save slots, and I plan to release 2 content updates. I am holding off until Steam lets me put the thing on sale again or make an "announcement"; essentially Steam has these rules which don't allow you to reduce the price or put things on sale whenever you want. Figuring out the right "price" is somewhat difficult, some people have said make it cheaper, some say make it more expensive, some say wait longer and then do it, and Steam says "if you do it, you can't have a sale or participate in things for 30 days", and Steam has rules about the sales themselves (how much off, how long it runs, how often you can do it, time distance between sales, etc).

Either way, there's a free demo, and my new project will also have a free demo. Also, thank you for being willing to financially support indie devs like myself. I do have a full time job/career in an unrelated field, but I hope one day to be able to justify a career change into game development (which essentially means being popular enough that I can support my family that way). I would love the ability to focus on it full time, rather than doing it on weekends/evenings while trying to bounce a little one on my knee.
 
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Jul 30, 2018
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UPDATE 4/7/19

- 2 save slots in-game
- Autosave when you enter each location
- New load screen at the main menu where you can access both save slots and the autosave.


This has been a much requested update. It definitely makes things more convenient; if you die, just load the autosave and you'll be transported to the last location you visited prior to whatever killed you.
 
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Released a new patch today! Per community requests, I implemented WASD keyboard movement. The game is fundamentally designed for mouse/path-based movement and collisions, so the keyboard system was a little awkward to implement, but I tested it in Troezen and it appears to be working. For those of you who prefer keyboard movement, enjoy!

Also, the game is currently on sale, 20% off on steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/983640/Theseus_Journey_to_Athens/
 
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Joined
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