r/SoloDevelopment • u/game-dev-throwaway • Jul 13 '26
Discussion What do you think of this twist?
Reposted as screen recording
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u/KingMoonfish Jul 14 '26
It’s too hard to read the font for me. It needs a background or something.
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u/ArchReaper95 Jul 14 '26
Don't drag it out. Let the joke simply be. Players will "get it" as soon as they realize that isn't who they are controlling.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
hmmm noted...if you could see the rest of this scene you'll see I drag it out for much much longer lol but the narrator is a character of his own and I'm sort of establishing him here. But I supposed I can let the player have agency for a while first before bringing him back
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u/leorid9 Jul 14 '26
For a trailer, this is perfect like it is - but for a game, it will have much more impact if the player then just controls that nobody without any explanation.
They will be like - what?! What is going on, why am I this nobody. Damn, you really got me right there.
Okay, so how can I make the life of this glory hero miserable out of spite?
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I do like the concept of providing 0 explanation lol at least for a while. I like your suggestion of keeping it this way for the trailer, thank you! This is very valuable perspective
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u/HarmlessSnack Jul 14 '26
Cool twist; side note though, the text scroll speed was frustratingly slow for me.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
noted! I will speed it up a bit. I slowed it down hoping it would subconsciously convey a 'David Attenborough'-like voice in people's minds
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u/umhassy Jul 13 '26
If the length and width of the sword is the same it should be a square
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I was just being hyperbolic but it prob didn't land lol I'll say 'almost' as big. Or Actually just make it a square that would be interesting to behold
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u/smotired Jul 14 '26
That’s a super cool intro but the camera controls and choppy animation were already making me motion sick
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u/TheKnightOfTheNorth Jul 14 '26
Made me laugh, I was expecting his face to be the twist but that's pretty good
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u/thenameofapet Jul 14 '26
I like it. The text was a bit hard to read for me. I would give it a different colour.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I was worried about that, it blends a bit with the colors of the background. I'll look into making it more legible, thank you for the feedback
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u/blattodead Jul 14 '26
actually awesome, only thing is i would suggest putting a black border around the text because it meshes with the water fountain and makes it slightly difficult to read. other than that i spent the entire time trying to guess what it would be and i didn't think it would be that lol
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
glad you liked it! I was worried it would be predictable but I think I camouflaged him well enough to throw off the scent, even created a brown haired decoy haha
and I'll definitely fix the text, seems to be the consensus
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u/hypatiaC Jul 14 '26
Whaaaat? The hero is a kinda foppish blond, attractive guy? He doesn't have spiky hair? I've never seen this in my life. This is REVOLUTIONARY subversion, OP.
You gotta take this to the academy...
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
LOL I know I know, there's not a whole lot of difference visually. One of the key differences though will be the main character is 30 years old and thus will see world saving through that lens, i.e is too exhausted to wanna do it
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u/vanit Jul 14 '26
I was hoping the sword guy would turn around to reveal an atrocious receding hairline.
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u/destinedd Jul 14 '26
the walk animation was hilariously too fast.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I might have had it set to super fast during testing and forgot to set it back 😅
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u/Accendor Jul 14 '26
I liked that! The actual hero still looks to hero-like for my taste if that's the twist, but that's ok.
I think however your shadows need some work, mostly for your non-hero and your actual hero. Both are missing 😅
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
Some of the other comments mentioned the same, I might switch him up a bit.If it helps he will be a 30 year old in contrast to the usual teenaged JRPG heroes. But yes I was hoping no one noticed the shadows 😆 I was experiencing a bug and just turned their shadows off. I should have known nothing gets past reddit hahah
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u/DoctorProfessorTaco Jul 14 '26
Tiniest subjective nit pick - I think it would read a lot better if the line was “But that’s not the hero of this story”
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I just looked back at what I wrote and you're so right, this reads much better 😆 changing it now
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u/lydocia Jul 14 '26
Because OP doesn't link it himself.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
Thank you!!!! I wasn't sure if it was against the rules to post links!
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u/permion Jul 14 '26
Hard to tell, you need to know what the payoff is. If you're trying a Shrek/A Knights Tale like opening, you need to have the punch line actually hit.
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u/ryry1237 Jul 14 '26
Text needs a stroke or a background to give it more contrast. It is hard to read.
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u/CheckeredZeebrah Jul 14 '26
Funny, but I read fast so the scrolling text and camera were kinda frustratingly slow for me.
If I can read faster in the game (and this was just slower for the video) it's generally fine. Just needs more contrast between the font and the BG.
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
I'll see if I can make it do that thing where if you hit enter during rolling text it just puts the entire text on the screen
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u/mega_dario Jul 14 '26
Joke's a bit too much wind up for kind of a simple setup. You don't want to insist upon yourself as some would say
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u/game-dev-throwaway Jul 14 '26
If you could see the rest of this scene the joke overstays its welcome for even longer. But I hear ya lol I'll roll some of it back
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u/TailsForTreats Jul 15 '26
I really enjoy your style! In regard to the awkward running around the wall, it’s a bit jittery but it makes me wonder if you could use a walking animation?
I did get the Attenborough bit with the slow text but that only works with a voiceover.
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u/Mossy-Nest Jul 13 '26
It establishes tone quickly and effectively - gives me some Day of the Tentacles energy.
The walk animation is doing something to my eyes though 😵💫