Amber Full Beta 1.0.1

[myoksy]

and maybe one small coding thing: can you add an auto-save before the end of the demo? roll-back is blocked and "maybe later" throws one to the main menu. I just lost two hours of play time.

[jack1974]

Yes that's a good idea, but actually there should be an auto-save function, you should find some more recent games in the "auto" folder (so at least you don't need to start from the beginning).

[myoksy]

nah, the 6 auto save slots reachable via the gui are empty (and the "auto-auto save" is now one based on an oldish save of mine I just loaded)

[jack1974]

Ah weird. Anyway I just added and auto save+warning before the end of demo screen! Sorry about that

[myoksy]

no harm done : )

[Franka]

Well, the crafting game is definitely playable, just not really that fun to do more than once. When I've regained some willpower, I'll see if I can test it with the changes you made, but really burned out on it right now (can't imagine how you feel after so much internal testing). So, there's a functional game there at least, unless you broke something. Would be great to find people to test different crafting paths, I've only completed Ruby's dark paths, and there's no way I'm going through all the paths with crafting.

[Troyen]

I'll try to squeeze in a full run of Lynn's path (does she have crafting? If not I'll do Cosmina) next week, but I'm facing a writing deadline and I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to finish the game before the end of the month. (I thought I saw somewhere Amber was supposed to be released at the end of the month.)

[BobTheMob]

No more experiments from me ever, the risk is too high compared to the rewards!

C'mon, Jack, don't talk like that!

So this one thing didn't quite go as planned--doesn't mean you're a fail at Life!

If ya never try a new thing how can ya learn if it will pay off or not?

[jack1974]

Well, the crafting game is definitely playable, just not really that fun to do more than once. When I've regained some willpower, I'll see if I can test it with the changes you made, but really burned out on it right now (can't imagine how you feel after so much internal testing).

Haha no worries, if you manage it cool, otherwise I understand! And yes, you can imagine how burned out I am I tested so much that just THINKING about any game with crafting...lol.

I'll try to squeeze in a full run of Lynn's path (does she have crafting? If not I'll do Cosmina) next week, but I'm facing a writing deadline and I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to finish the game before the end of the month. (I thought I saw somewhere Amber was supposed to be released at the end of the month.)

No Lynn is the only one who doesn't have crafting (for her romance, there's still the main plot crafting goal)
And yes I thought by end of month it could be ready. However, it's not like it MUST be out at the end of month, I can wait a few weeks more. But beside tweaking some values (like I did in the last update) I don't want to do anything else (also because I don't think there's anything else that can improve this game the way is designed).

If ya never try a new thing how can ya learn if it will pay off or not?

Yes it's true, however as I said several times, if I try a new thing must be a small experiment, not a big game like Amber. It would be cool if I was good at following MY OWN ADVICE sometimes!

Anyway, after all I think the game is playable once, but as Franka said, playing it again to unlock the other endings becomes too tiring. Luckily there's the VN Mode

[myoksy]

What's New In Version 0.8.7
[..]
- BELOW, CHANGES DONE TO REDUCE THE ADULT AGE GRIND!!
[..]
- reduced the crafting times of all recipes, so now you can craft something at evening too (before was always too late)

are you sure this is implemented as described? I am still in the apprenticeship stage and crafting times are noticeable shorter.

related: this change makes gathering useless*. I try to keep the energy level above 75 (otherwise jobs with high-quality demands are too much of a hassle) and even a short trip takes 20+ energy. imo this should be extremely reduced to give a comparable output to crafting alone. Like 5 energy for a short trip, 10 for a medium and 15 for a long.

* maybe with the exception of raw materials only procurable with gathering, but so far I never saw such a thing