Hi, AJ here! It's only been two days since the Community Game Jam's rating period started and I'm already taking notes about everything that it's happening. I'm sure they will help me in future projects and jams.

This post contains spoilers

First of all, I must thank all the players that took their time to play "Backwards" completely. I see that the art decisions (visuals and music) have been successful. However, in my opinion, art and music could be better, but it's a jam. Of course I could have done them better, but in a limited time, this is the best I could do it. Nevertheless, players' feedback shows that the have liked it, so I have no problem with that.

Before posting the game, I thought that players might not know how to solve the first """puzzle""", going against the game rules and moving backwards. I was worried about that because the most important part comes after it, so I was afraid players would only see this first part. It's turned out not to be a problem, at least the players who commented in the jam submission page could make it through it.

Buuuuut... the second """ puzzle""" was indeed the problem. I'm writing all that quotation marks because they're not really puzzles, I mean, they are too easy to be puzzles. You only have to click the words "WHO", "ARE" and "YOU?" in the correct order. The problem comes with the pieces. You have to collect three puzzle pieces (one for each word) to then click them in the correct order to open a door, so the UI shows you the pieces you have collected and then you click on them. I needed that the player couldn't click on them until they have collected the three of them, and also I needed the player to be near the door so he/she knows what happens when the puzzle is solved. For that reason I made the pieces (buttons) not interactable until you are in front of the door. I thought it was easy, I even made the pieces responsive with color changes and sounds so the player could see when to press them. However, many players have commented that "there is a bug in the door section" or "I inputted the solution in the wrong order and it doesn't work anymore, I had to restart the game". Restarting the game is not needed, if the player inputs any wrong answer, the puzzle resets. It even makes a "wrong" sound. I've checked it a couple of times and it works fine. SO my conclusion is that the players who had those problems simply weren't close to the door, and they thought they were inputting the solution... but they weren't doing anything because the pieces weren't interactable. I'll think of a solution and I'll update the game when the jam ends.

I also wanted to talk about that topic: modifying the game. I'd like to leave the game as I uploaded it during the jam. I don't know what you think about that, but I think that "Backwards", as it is right now, is the result of a hard work during a limited time, the pressure, the nerves, the frustration and the decisions... everything belongs to the jam, and if I modified it, I would be losing those "jam marks". That's why I don't want to modify it. But I also want the players to complete it and see the whole story, without any difficulty. I think I'll only change the pieces puzzle.

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Hi, this is also me after having written the post. I'm getting more comments on the bug at the door section. I'm seriously considering modifying the game now, but I don't have any ideas to make the players realize it's not a bug. Well, I suppose I'll deal with the drama later, as I always do. 

ANYWAYS,

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BYEEE!