ROSETIA: A First Contact Simulation
NOTE: If you're having issues with the web version, change your browser's magnification OR download and change your computer resolution to 1080p!
If doing multiple playthroughs, make sure to reload the entire page each time or the final conversation won't work!
There is also currently a glitch in the web version that removes em dashes (—).
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TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GAME, SEE THE STEAM PAGE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1754020/ROSETIA_A_First_Contact_Simulation/
Welcome to ROSETIA! Or at least, THE FIRST FIFTEEN MINUTES OF ROSETIA, A ROUGHLY 8-HOUR GAME!
An incredible amount of work went into making this, but all of the dialogue trees, character expressions and a good deal of the programming were done over the past few weeks. I can take no credit for the code; my girlfriend is amazing and taught herself to use Unity in order to help me. In the end, we have produced something that is... very okay? I think my art and presentation are great, but the writing needs work. I set out to create a game that tracked and responded to your moral choices (along a spectrum of interventionism; we have a morality tracker and a reputation mechanic, just not in this intro sequence), but in the end I only achieved a pseudo-cutscene and three underdeveloped, exposition-heavy conversations . I front-load a lot of the character backstories because despite appearances, these characters won't actually be included much in the full game. Anyways, other than some dialogue branching, the reactivity is limited.
Things I would like feedback on:
- Plot
- Characterization
- pacing
- elegance of exposition
- Ideas / opportunities for greater reactivity
- Dialogue UI / UX
I just want to make this opening sequence as engaging as it can be given the general lack of explosions and action.
Things I probably don't need feedback on:
- bugs, glitches, general jankiness (unless it's literally unplayable)
- dissonance between the text and character expressions
- a lack of audiovisual assets (sound effects, character voices)
- Spelling mistakes (there is currently a glitch that removes em dashes and semicolons and we don't know why)
Thank you so much in advance for any help you can offer to make ROSETIA better.
- Thea <3
Download
Install instructions
Press ROSETIA_Project.exe to start.
Comments
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Hello!!! This is Ned!!!
Sorry it took me so long. I honestly got caught up in things and forgot :( I am sorry again! but here are some comments I have!!
- I think having an audio slider would be useful! I had to turn my computer volume way down to have the audio at a level that was good at the beginning.
- UI or explanation on how to move at the beginning would be nice (and how to choose options, I didn't realize I could use the number keys!)
- UI having slightly larger hitboxes than what they are would be nice (the continue button, the slider, the dialogue options)
- with the first interaction with Ian, I didn't quite understand how much of a threat they were giving that 1) was a bit confusing for me to read because I thought I read the situation wrong, but that could really just be me (autism) - on my second playthrough I now realize that the 1) option about tears and stuff is a joke.
- Ian as a first character you can talk to really sets up the dynamic of the ship and gives you interesting things to look into (such as oooo who is this character?). I think that was a great first character to meet because of this.
- I walked right by Ian in my second playthrough... it might be nice to have a trigger that makes it so the player has to talk to Ian (him going "hey!!"and pulling you into dialogue would be funny)? Or is it an option to talk to Ian or Hanh first because I notice you can't talk to the captain right away (until you talk to the others)
- OMG YOU CAN MOVE IN FOUR DIRECTIONS THAT'S SO COOL! I only realized on the stairs :)
- I didn't quite understand why my character wanted to stare at Hanh lol especially since we seem to be a little robot guy? Am I misunderstanding my own character?
- Hanh's comment about being an elephant in the room and "lets talk about it" is relatable in the way of like... I am a very visibly trans person and I am very used to being the only trans/nb person in a room lol, I appreciate that sort of narrative :)
- I also appreciate how she talks about how not limiting oneself to make others comfortable- I also noticed that certain dialogue repeats itself here until the "human ingenuity is truly limitless" part- if there was a way to indicate what I've already selected (and what moves someone on from a conversation versus keeps them there) that'd be helpful because I am so the type to play to see everything :)
- Hanh explaining her cybernetics on my second playthrough felt a bit forced, like the only moment where I really felt like I was being put on a path rather than choosing. Hanh's dialogue is a bit long but I really don't mind that because I enjoy learning and exposition. Maybe here would be where you can get some additional images in the future just to break up the monotony of Hanh ( a picture of the Mind, even showing us where it is in the room (it's the puddle right?) )
- even making the exposition optional for players who don't want to hear it (I know it sucks to put in the option but then if the player doesn't know later it's at least their fault)
- If I am still reading my character like a robot why do they gotta go and get put under? Maybe they're not a robot? oops...
- The characters are all very unique and it adds a lot to interacting with them- They feel like different people which can be hard to do sometimes. Great job there!!!
- the Mind was a bit hard to learn about at the beginning, maybe highlighting character names in the text and including The Mind as one of them would help with that? up to you :)
- Some pieces of dialogue were so big that it was hard to read. Even making it so both appear on separate lines may really help!
- Adding the ability to cycle through the options with the up and down arrow and letting people select that way would be nice but I know it's a pain to code
- Telling players there's a scroll that you can look at the previous part of your conversation would be good! :0 :)
- if the players don't want to be hit with the g-force and flung around basically, then why is there stuff blocking the stairs that is going to get flung around? (this is just me going hmmm, not necessarily a thing to fix or anything)
all in all the game feels really cohesive :) the art is SOOOO pretty and I am so excited to see it come to life! The characters are fun and clearly have their own dynamics with the player character and each other.
I forgot to say it but if you ever want to talk more about this I'd be happy to talk! :D
Just played through and I have a couple comments! They're all about writing and Articy and story because that's my jam.
Overall, I like the sense of humour. It's adorable and sad. Sort of sadorable I guess. Pathetic robots work for me.
I think your writing is quite pleasant to read, but story-wise I felt like things were moving a bit too slowly during the Hanh chat. I got anxious to know what my mission was and what I needed to do.
When talking to Hanh, I noticed that some dialogue choices were still available after I asked them once. You can eliminate them with variables, and probably should. Players hate having to re-read things just so they can find new choices.
You had a lot of dialogue choices in some passages. I felt like maybe too many sometimes. I think I felt this way because my sense is that the choices weren't going to *matter,* per se. Like they were just different ways to get the same infomation, and there would be no consequences. I wonder if you intend to have more RPG-like features such as skill checks and consequences and things. That would beef things up.
I'm interested in where else this story and game goes. Message me on discord so I can batter you with questions! My username is savagelaser.