never heard of a merkhet before, telling time by the stars with it is a cool thing to learn from a game. the first-person scene was very dark on my screen and i didnt know where to go first, a brighter start or one prompt would get people to the star reading faster
That was well.. interesting. I enjoyed it and saw it out until the end. I do think the game needs more engagement quicker as I think people might be turned of before the game gets into 'it'. Making it easier to use the merkhet would help with that. Other than that it was a great way to spend 10 minutes, and the mood was spot on. Good stuff 🎱
@oddballdave it's tricky to find a good balance with time. If someone takes a few minutes to read the instructions and task list in-game, then starting the story any faster would drop them into it while it's already halfway done. But if someone quits after a minute because they want to speedrun reviews, then I can't fix that either :D
I hoped that announcing that a playthrough lasts 10 minutes and adding some small subtle weird things in first few minutes would help to keep people engaged while they try to figure out how to use the merkhet. But it's true that there's not much to do right now, so someone that figures it out quickly might miss out on the story.
idk, my cord is covering star of the north, not much is happening... Am i supposed to put a thing in the tube when stuff passes the cord, but the stars are moving, so will lose position of the coord if I look away to put a thing in the tube. I think you need a cheat explanation for dumb ppl like myself.
@nnnnneeeedddd you're on the right track! Stars move over time and you have to notify the scribes below when time has advanced enough. Think of it like ringing a church bell hourly, except you have no clock so you use the stars as your clock. Just keep playing, even if you mess up :D
@frib I was just saying on another game page. Maybe I'm the perfect idiot test, idk if it's because the theme contains the word 'tech', but games seem quite complicated this time around...
Cool concept, and a merkhet is definitely old tech! A couple of minutes in, there was a sound effect (or part of the music?) that made me realize this game might be going in a different direction than just trying out an ancient tool. I really enjoyed the ending!
I also watched the inspiration video, which I found really intriguing. The idea of playing as an astronomer in ancient Egypt, going about your tasks and making observations while events unfold around you, is great and could easily carry a much bigger game.
Woah, that was trippy. Does following the instructions have any effect on the game? I assume it's just for flavor but I don't know enough about constellations to manage doing it correctly (even though I tried to look up some stuff). Still, nice and moody experimental game.
@liquid yeah it's a sound effect in the music that triggers after roughly 2 minutes, glad you liked the ending! Regarding that video, I didn't really have much inspiration for this theme and then I figured I'd just create something based on that :D
@silkworm-sweatshop it's purely flavor, giving you the illusion that you're doing important work :D I couldn't really tie the gameplay mechanic into the story sequence, since the stars just keep turning, and I didn't want to add a win or lose condition since you can't stop the inevitable and I didn't want the player to not focus on the stars. There were some other flavorful things I wanted to add but I didn't have time for that lol. Thanks for playing!
Learning to tell time at night with a merkhet is a really cool and unusual idea, and it fits the old tech theme nicely. A brighter start or one clear first prompt could get people to the stars faster. Great concept!
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I hoped that announcing that a playthrough lasts 10 minutes and adding some small subtle weird things in first few minutes would help to keep people engaged while they try to figure out how to use the merkhet. But it's true that there's not much to do right now, so someone that figures it out quickly might miss out on the story.
Anyway, glad to see you made it to the end! :D
I also watched the inspiration video, which I found really intriguing. The idea of playing as an astronomer in ancient Egypt, going about your tasks and making observations while events unfold around you, is great and could easily carry a much bigger game.
@silkworm-sweatshop it's purely flavor, giving you the illusion that you're doing important work :D I couldn't really tie the gameplay mechanic into the story sequence, since the stars just keep turning, and I didn't want to add a win or lose condition since you can't stop the inevitable and I didn't want the player to not focus on the stars. There were some other flavorful things I wanted to add but I didn't have time for that lol. Thanks for playing!