I'll be completing my second PlayDate game within a week (in collaboration with BeepsNBoops, who produced the inspiring sounds and songs featured in the game). I would very much appreciate some beta testers before a wider release on my itch.io account.
Here's the DESCRIPTION:
Quest For The X: A retro, story-driven adventure set amidst the medieval intrigue of the Knights Templar.
Set initially in 14th century France, Quest For The X places you in the role of Guy de Canet, a Knight Templar living during the final days of the order. Racing against time and the plot of King Philip to destroy the Templars, you soon come to realize there is more at stake than just the order itself. Knowledge of humanity’s true origins, possession of powerful artifacts, and the fate of mankind itself are revealed to you in the course of this epic and expansive retro adventure.
BACKGROUND ON THE GAME:
Having a love for Indiana Jones, The X-Files, Oak Island, religious artifacts, cover-ups, conspiracies, and alien encounters, I began designing Quest For The X in late spring of 2023 after breaking my ankle mountain biking in New Zealand and finding myself with plenty of free time and zero excuses.
A retro-style story-driven adventure, the game pays homage to others which have gone before it, and many from my childhood including: Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns (Atari 2600), Conan (Apple IIe), The Return of Heracles (Atari 800), Bruce Lee and Zorro (C64),Out Of This World (SNES), and Space Quest 3, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis (PC).
Especially given the premise, and the adventure games mentioned providing inspiration for the game, I'd totally be interested in helping out with testing.
Technical bugs. Crashes, hang-ups, things not working that should which come from coding errors. This is obviously the most important feedback before release.
Gameplay feedback. Basically, anything you like or feel could use improvement regarding the puzzles and general flow of play. This might include how easy/difficult a challenge may be, or how a break might be needed, or too much of a break is part of the current pacing, etc.
Story feedback. What you liked and if some areas could use improvement. This might include the language used, plausibility, dramatic effect, historical accuracy (within reason), etc.
Visual feedback. What you liked or might improve on regarding the backgrounds, animations, etc.
You are welcome to place your starting point within the "debugger's cafe" to hop over to different rooms if you like, or even look at the code (Pulp), although this isn't necessary. Especially regarding feedback on the flow of the story and puzzles, it's likely best to just place through the game as any player would.
I likely will agree with you on certain feedback which I might be having difficulty implementing sue to my limitations or the limitation of Pulp (hence, my looking forward to using Lua next).
Overall, my goal is to release an alpha version of what I will create in the next full game, so if the basic structure, storyline, gameplay etc. is in the ballpark for this release (enough to attract a niche audience) that will be a green light for me to continue working on the game. Hopefully, it may also attract some other collaborators.
And I thought the description was an already great glimpse into just what's in store... It's clear that this game's definitely looking great, in combat, story, and the change of weather shown in the trailer is an amazing touch to the visuals.
Much thanks! This first chapter is especially story/exposition driven with more adventure-type puzzles than combat. I'd like to bulk up the combat elements in the next SDK-built chapter, but still keep it somewhat combat-light.
I hope the visuals (and great sound design by BeepsNBoops) will bring players into an exciting, almost theatrical world that players can trust has alot of passion and thought behind it.
