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So... this is the first project I ever posted about on this site, and I'm really nervous about it all. But of course, some feedback is needed and while this project predominantly was started for getting used to the new engine, I'd really like to finish it! (for once) In that spirit...
 
What is Ghostling all about?
 

Ghostling is going to be a short-ish game about, well, dead people. After awakening in a strange place that is not quite yet the afterlife, but also most certainly not the world of the living, you must now fulfil one final task to become a proper ghost. But what kind of task is it, exactly? Hard to tell when you can't remember your life at all. Talking to other, equally lost souls might provide some clues, and there is a guide to supposedly help you find your way - but in the end, only you can know your path.

 
Who is this "you" exactly?
 

This girl with the immensely expressive face:

She doesn't remember her name or anything else for that matter and seems surprisingly calm about this whole "being dead"-thing. A little detached from everything going on, she doesn't seem to have even a single clue about her task. Or perhaps she has simply been a really boring person during her lifetime already?

What kind of game is this going to be?

Not one involving many battles, that is for sure. :') Ghostling is all about exploring and following the story towards wherever it may flow. There won't be much action, instead just lots of dialogues and flavour text. It's also not a horror game, despite being about dead folk, so don't expect for the suspense to kill you. Of course, these lands are also not the most joyous ones to walk around in. Everything is rather quiet and just a little bit strange. Overall, I don't expect this game to become longer than about 1 hour of game time.

Screenshots? Here you go:

So, what do I need?

Honestly, mostly? I really need to know if this kind of game is interesting to anyone but me at all. :') Or if, you know, it's so boring that people turn into ghosts themselves while playing. That would be tragic... Any other kind of feedback of course would also be appreciated! Since well uhm... I usually only ever show my games to my friends, and I don't really know what response to expect here.

The demo:

Can be found here.

I wish the file was smaller, I really do. I already kicked out lots of unneeded image files, but for animations, audio etc., I just don't know yet for sure what I will and won't use, so... sorry for the file size.

Known issues:

One of the maps has a lot of water, and it lags a bit when I play the game. I'm not sure why though and how to fix this, but it shouldn't break the game.

Things I want in the future:

• Awesome lighting effects! Hopefully.
• Fog! This game really needs fog, if only to create more atmosphere.

So basically aesthetic improvements. Unless someone points out things the gameplay could really benefit from or the likes. I'm always open to suggestions.

Credits (so far):

I've used plugins that came with the preorder, mostly by Galenmereth and Yanfly. Graphics so far are either RTP, preorder stuff, my own weird parallaxes or other stuff made by me. Of which there really isn't a lot in the game this time (I usually prefer to use my own face graphics by now), because I really wanted to try out the new generator. Also I'm very lazy when it comes to spriting. Stepping sounds for now are mostly taken from this thread (thanks again for that tutorial!), but will likely be replaced once I find some public domain ones so I know they'll be safe to use.

And... I think that's all for now. So, please let me know what you think, whether it's love or hate or anything in between. And have some sparkles to go  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ no escape from emojis ever, sorry