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sonicboy112 In reply to MrPoniator [2017-08-20 18:52:43 +0000 UTC]

Senpai noticed me~

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MrPoniator In reply to sonicboy112 [2017-08-20 21:24:14 +0000 UTC]

Remember to eat your toast before running off to school.

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sonicboy112 In reply to MrPoniator [2017-08-20 22:35:09 +0000 UTC]

See you at the corner before "accidentally" bumping into you

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sonicboy112 In reply to Keeper-of-time-RD [2017-07-16 19:01:18 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the feedback!

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Keeper-of-time-RD In reply to sonicboy112 [2017-07-17 12:30:02 +0000 UTC]

No problem.

Although I did replay the Daring Do dream to see if I could pin down why it felt so lacking compared to the other dreams.

And first off oops, I apparently misread that popup on the uniforms the first time. It only says Scoots gets the uniform. So my bad there.

But back on the dream, I think the reason it feels lacking is that it doesn’t seem like the dream walkers have a purpose in the Darring Do dream. The whole thing feels like Daring would have finished the dream just fine on her own and that Scoots and Derpy had no meaningful effect on the dream.

Compare that to the other dreams where it’s easy to see stumbling blocks where the dreamer couldn’t/wouldn’t progress on their own. Yet at no point in Daring’s dream does she seem that input from Scoots or Derpy is something she wouldn’t have thought of on her own. And if anything it seems like Daring is the one giving out advice that offers others a better perspective. So the whole dream comes across as ‘Why are Scoots and Derpy even there?’

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sonicboy112 In reply to Keeper-of-time-RD [2017-07-17 20:29:34 +0000 UTC]

The Daring Do convention dream is largely a throwback to my previous game 'Spike's Day Out' where spike goes to a convention (ak yearling is there too). I wanted to make gameplay less focused on combat and more about the experience of running around a convention.
I can understand how it would make the level seem less robust as opposed to all the other dreams where combat was the focus. I may make some changes come full release so it wouldn't be such a quick burn.

Thanks for your thoughts!

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Keeper-of-time-RD In reply to sonicboy112 [2017-07-18 12:35:56 +0000 UTC]

Fair enough.

However, given the context of this game I’d strongly recommend adding a nightmare element to the convention dream.

Especially since as it stands, if these two dreams are the be-all and end-all of Scootaloo’s dream walking, then you are portraying her as “the useless dream-walker.”

If you are wondering why I’d say that, ask yourself this: What do dream walkers do?
They help OTHERS overcome their nightmares.
Okay, Does Apple Bloom do this?
Yes, she helps Diamond Tiara and Big Mac in their nightmares.
Does Sweetie Belle do this?
Yes, she helps Vinyl Scratch and Octavia in their nightmare.
Does Scootaloo do this?
No, she wanders around a dream that isn’t even a nightmare.
(And no, facing your own nightmare doesn’t count, because you can do that as a regular dreamer, no need to be a dream-walker for that.)

Combine the fact that you catch her sleeping on the job with the current set of dreams where Scootlaoo is given no meaningful achievements as a dream-walker and I’m not sure how the player is supposed to see Scootaloo as anything but a useless character.

That said if you’re okay with portraying Scootaloo that way that’s not actually that big of a problem. After all Derpy is the star of the game, and thus the only character you are forbidden from porting as useless from a 'good game design’ standpoint.

It’s just that if that’s how you want to portray Scootaloo I’d rather you do so knowing that that’s what you’re doing rather than being under some illusion that you’re treating her fairly when you aren’t.

I suppose alternatively, you could leave the convention dream as a ‘throwback dream’ and add a third dream to Scootaloo’s cloud where she actually gets to fulfill the role of dream-walker and help someone overcome an actual nightmare. (an thus be as relevant to this game's story as her fellow crusaders.)

Whatever you choose to do, I look forward to the full version of the game, as this issue alone doesn’t stop the game as a whole from being a good game.

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sonicboy112 In reply to Keeper-of-time-RD [2017-07-18 23:21:28 +0000 UTC]

Huh, actually really didn't think of it that way during development, but there is more to come with each crusader soon.
Thanks for pointing it out!

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Keeper-of-time-RD In reply to sonicboy112 [2017-07-19 12:43:43 +0000 UTC]

That’s good to know.

Obviously I can only comment on what I can see. As they say, context matters.

On that note I can’t say that I’m surprised that that observation eluded you. You always knew the full story/context. And the fact that Scootaloo doesn’t accomplish anything as a dream-walker in these two dreams would be much less noticeable (and is much less important,) when you already know Scoots will have another opportunity elsewhere to prove her worth as a dream-walker and live up to all that talk of working hard and toughing it through difficult situations.

From a story telling standpoint those things only need to happen before the end of the game. And as long as they do happen before the end of the game, the fact that they don’t happen in these two dreams doesn’t matter.

Anyway, thank you for elaborating on that. And the best of luck to you!

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