The Science of Staying Awake
Feedback wanted - major update planning
In short, watching other people play TSOSA has made me notice issues with the game that my own testing didn't. Aside from changing some minor stuff and tweaking the sanity mechanic, I want to also make changes to the storyline's structure and branch it out more, especially in the first half, seeing how there's a bunch of near-meaningless choices and ones that lead to the same place.
Now is a good time for criticism. What bothered you while playing? Is there anything you wished would be added/removed/changed?
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!
(If possible, an archive might be set up offsite after the update to keep the previous version available while avoiding clutter in the itch.io download section)
Files
Get The Science of Staying Awake
The Science of Staying Awake
don't go to sleep (please please please please)
| Status | Released |
| Author | viscereye |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Tags | Creepy, Dating Sim, Horror, Multiple Endings, Ren'Py, Short, Singleplayer, Surreal, yandere |
| Languages | English |
| Accessibility | Subtitles |
More posts
- Kofi!Jul 09, 2023
- 1.2.2 - Jumpscare toggle addedJun 09, 2023
- Jumpscares and gore in TSOSA - opinion pollJun 05, 2023
- 1.2.1 - mostly bug fixes, minor achievement changeMar 15, 2023
- Discord serverMar 08, 2023
- TSOSA now available on MacMar 06, 2023
- 1.2 - New route, sanity overhaul and moreMar 05, 2023
- 1.1.2 - Tiny patchFeb 06, 2023
- Optimization, loading screenJan 20, 2023
Comments
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1) A final, proper good end, something where Vance and the player character get to spend some time together without the threat of... Violence. Just something so they both see each other again. Yandere is fine, but I do want that happy ending for the guy.
2) As said below, Vance's sudden violent shift isn't really explained that well. It could do with a few extra text boxes padding it out, making it a slightly more gradual thing.
3) Having nightmares locked behind tea, or endings locked behind candy - it can work in theory, but in practice I was just spamming different choices trying to find secrets. I don't think having so many options that are ultimately meaningless is a good fit for this story.
While I'm flattered to see you empathize with the characters and hope this doesn't come off as rude, if you're looking for a real, pure, fluffy good ending, you're playing the wrong game.
Hopefully the game's description wasn't misleading - TSOSA may not be particularly extreme or conventional horror, but it is still horror. Harm is at the core of the story and at the core of Vance's presence. This will never end well.
No no, I didn't mean to imply that I wanted a pure, fluffy-good ending. Just that I didn't want to see Vance so.... Downtrodden, without any way to make everyone feel better? I dunno. Still, I had a great, enjoyable time with the game, so thankyou very much <3
The only 2 things that distinctly bothered me was 1. The sanity which I know your tweaking but I just have to say it gets quite annoying lol maybe if it was a little easier to replenish or maybe if different drinks give different stat benefits like tea giving you a little more sanity. The second thing is more of something I thought was a bit strange, I wasn't a big fan of vance's sudden vicious shift when you fall down the stairs, maybe change that a little, or at least maybe the output could change if you feed him, making him feel a lot more sorry.
But hey
That's just an opinion
A game opinion
Thanks for reading :)
Also Vance is my new favorite bean
Oh, good catch! That scene was added and tested pretty early in development, it completely slipped my mind how jarring it feels in the context of the full game ^^"
I would love an expansion on exactly what is going on I have an understanding and I love the mysteriousness of it. I just would love to see like a happy ending for Vance and our player character but maybe I am misunderstanding some elements of this story so an ending of these sorts could possibly throw the game off but regardless I loved this and am definitely keeping tabs on future updates and other games.
i would love more spookyness and jumpscares, maybe im alone in this but i think it fits his charachter. and in my opinion, having lots op options to choose from in the dialogue is a good thing! even if it doesnt add to the overall storyline it makes the experience feel more personal.
basically, the more we get to talk to vance the better. i dont know how much you want to expand the game but i would also love the introduction of other charachters or to see more of how vance interacts with the world, maybe also get to know how he spends his time in his realm of existance.
i would also suggest sticking to one art style as some of the sprites were way more detailed than others, i actually liked the simple art style vance is drawn in and i can imagen it is easyer to draw more sprites in that style. please dont feel pressured to include all this im just trying to give you some ideas if your short of them but if you already know what you want than great! its your game : )
Hold on, I'm a bit confused - can you expand on what you mean by "some of the sprites were way more detailed than others"? Are you just talking about the difference in style between the sprites and the CGs (illustrations)?
yes thats what i meant