u/agragragr

In my head, it all looked very elegant: the player clicks, the scene slowly unfolds, new details appear, and the atmosphere becomes clearer with every click. But clicks still have to be spent carefully, because madness is creeping closer.

That mechanic has not been cut yet.

The player reads every word, expecting something to happen any second now. Maybe the text will disappear. Maybe an event will trigger. Maybe a new choice will open up. Maybe something weird will happen.

Or maybe, at the last moment, they will change their mind and decide not to trigger the event at all.

Basically, in my head, players were not supposed to click mindlessly, because they might miss something.

But reality, as usual, corrected the design.

So I ended up adding a progress bar directly to the text, so it is clear how much is left before the action ends. Now it is easier to understand when the scene is about to finish, and when something important might happen. Then the text disappears.

I also added event titles, so the player can immediately understand what they are doing right now: inspecting, breaking, opening, taking, or performing some other action.

And under the hood, I added a variability system. Now, depending on items, stats, and different conditions, a scene can branch in different directions.

This is not visible everywhere in the demo yet, but internally there is now a proper foundation for branching.

Hopefully, the first iteration made it better.

Cursed paths, dead ruins, and whispers in the dark. Every click leads you deeper, opens new paths, and leaves a mark on you.