I really enjoyed Captive Audience and the sequel, and was wondering if there will be any more games? The first two were really awesome, but there haven't been anymore updates so I was curious if the project was cancelled.
Great Game, I did have a few bugs playing after this video such as voices playing over each other or not playing at all but seeing subtitles. There was also another bug where I could not enter the cave as it was blocked by rocks. Other than these bugs I had an amazing time playing it! Had me looking outside all the time for the monster during the start. The replay factor is great as well, I restarted a few times trying different things and finding new parts to the story or events that I didn't notice before.
So i tried streaming this game last night. Ill say upfront, i like what this game was going for. The graphics are solid, the voice acting falls on the decent side, and i was genuinely interested in the story. So before you read on i want to make it clear, i liked this game. The part where the monster first shows up was really well done and scared the crap out of me! :) Its just that i can't say i recommend it due to some issues i encountered. There were in fact, a few game breaking problems i encountered more than once with this title.
1, Some scripted events seem to fail to trigger.
2, No save feature, i get the feeling that this game was made with the idea of finishing it all in one go, which is fine, but if the game isn't long enough to warrant a save feature, then a check point feature would probably do well with this game.
3, No clear direction for the player. This was probably my biggest personal issue with the game. I don't like games to hold my hand, but i always appreciate clear objectives. A simple journal entry is good enough however, this game doesn't seem to even really hint very well where it would like the player to go. If it was meant to lean on exploration, that would be fine, however then that crosses over with the fact that there is no check point or save feature so if you accidentally corner yourself and get killed, you have to start the whole game over again and since it would appear that some of the scripted events are time based, that can get really frustrating.
4, Sequence breaks. During my stream i seemed to do certain things out of order and ended up bugging out some of the scripted events. I'm pretty sure i caused the creature to de-spawn somehow as well. I would like to call back to the previous issue i stated about no clear direction for the player as i think that some clearer direction for the player would help prevent these sort of things from happening.
Those were the major issues i had with the game. I've recently started studying game design and learning C# so believe me when i say i truly think that none of these issues are cause by lack of competence or negligence on the team who made this game. I completely understand that a lot goes into making games and there are bound to be a few problems here and there. I just thought i should bring these things to your attention as i do like this game and would love to try and play it again once all these issues are ironed out, if you see fit to iron them out that is, if not, thats okay. I'll also include a link to the entire segment of my stream where i played your game. Feel free to scrub through it if you're interested in seeing some of the issue i spoke about. I'm not the sharpest crayon in the tool box so its entirely possible that all these problems were my fault so feel free to point that sort of thing out if anything jumps out at you. Keep up the great work.
This game was built as a master's project with the central theme of promoting intra-diegetic immersion, which is what led to a few design choices like the removal of checkpoints, a save system etc. The core concept was to create an experience you'd sit down for and finish in one go, or die and come back to later, rather than picking it up intermittently, with the idea being it would improve immersion to not have breaks in the story.
This is also the reason for a lack of clear direction, outside of what is given to the player in the dialogue. A lot of the sequences reward a player reacting naturally to the situation, e.g. trying to use the phone to call the police, which was an experiment to see if the situation could guide player action as oppose to it being driven by linear instructions. Whether that worked or not is up for debate, but I hope that helps explain the thought process.
With regards to scripted events failing it's entirely possible, but some also have variants based on what actions you've taken, so what may seem like a failure may infact be an alternate event happening. I did test all events thoroughly prior to the last build so they should all be functional.
Sequence breaks should also have been compensated for but if I get the chance I will revist the project and apply a lot of fixes i'd been interested in making. Unfortunately during the past year I was under a contract that prevent me from further developing the project, and so now it's a case of finding a stable build and picking that back up if I get the time.
Glad to hear you enjoyed elements of the game though!
Hey no problem, and i appreciate the informative reply. I did notice when i played that some events do turn out slightly differently, such as the deer in the road and the first phone call you receive. I did think that was very interesting and was caught off guard by that, good work! Yes, if you're ever able to pick this project up again i would love to see it tuned up and firing on all cylinders if you're ever able to come back to it. Ether way, keep up the good work. :)
This got me pretty good 😂 you'll see right in the 1st few seconds... (full gameplay starts @ 25:00 in the vid). I'll have to revisit this & see if I can get some of the multiple endings!
Captive Audience is finished yes! We originally designed the game as part of a group project at University, and unfortunately could not continue development after. Our writer did create a spin-off/sequel though called It Will Find You! Its also free on itch so check it out :)
Sorry that was my bad, I got confused about which page I was on! Yes for now It Will Find You is complete, and all 8 endings are playable. While the story is complete though there are definitely improvements i would like to make somewhere down the line :)
I know this isn't the time nor place probably but I've been so corrupted by the one single thought that I can't get off my mind. I've been wanting to know if the game Captive Audience is based off of a real life event? The girl at the end is a real girl, seeing that her possible pain looks so realistic, I've been so burdened, so weirded out by the thought of why nobody asks about it, but why does she look like she ACTUALLY in pain, with a broken heart? Everytime I think about it, I honestly shed a tear. I know that's what the game is, a sad experience. Though, I mainly am concerned why nobody questions why it feels, odd, like the voices, the way its all put, especially the end with the real life clip of that girl, it all feels like real pain, like their all actually unset from something. But my concern is when you see the girl at the end. I'm sorry if this is too much to read. I've just been wanting to know for so long. Do you mind explaining it all? It'd really help me out. Thank you in advance.
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Hey Devs!,
I really enjoyed Captive Audience and the sequel, and was wondering if there will be any more games? The first two were really awesome, but there haven't been anymore updates so I was curious if the project was cancelled.
Great Game, I did have a few bugs playing after this video such as voices playing over each other or not playing at all but seeing subtitles. There was also another bug where I could not enter the cave as it was blocked by rocks. Other than these bugs I had an amazing time playing it! Had me looking outside all the time for the monster during the start. The replay factor is great as well, I restarted a few times trying different things and finding new parts to the story or events that I didn't notice before.
So i tried streaming this game last night. Ill say upfront, i like what this game was going for. The graphics are solid, the voice acting falls on the decent side, and i was genuinely interested in the story. So before you read on i want to make it clear, i liked this game. The part where the monster first shows up was really well done and scared the crap out of me! :) Its just that i can't say i recommend it due to some issues i encountered. There were in fact, a few game breaking problems i encountered more than once with this title.
1, Some scripted events seem to fail to trigger.
2, No save feature, i get the feeling that this game was made with the idea of finishing it all in one go, which is fine, but if the game isn't long enough to warrant a save feature, then a check point feature would probably do well with this game.
3, No clear direction for the player. This was probably my biggest personal issue with the game. I don't like games to hold my hand, but i always appreciate clear objectives. A simple journal entry is good enough however, this game doesn't seem to even really hint very well where it would like the player to go. If it was meant to lean on exploration, that would be fine, however then that crosses over with the fact that there is no check point or save feature so if you accidentally corner yourself and get killed, you have to start the whole game over again and since it would appear that some of the scripted events are time based, that can get really frustrating.
4, Sequence breaks. During my stream i seemed to do certain things out of order and ended up bugging out some of the scripted events. I'm pretty sure i caused the creature to de-spawn somehow as well. I would like to call back to the previous issue i stated about no clear direction for the player as i think that some clearer direction for the player would help prevent these sort of things from happening.
Those were the major issues i had with the game. I've recently started studying game design and learning C# so believe me when i say i truly think that none of these issues are cause by lack of competence or negligence on the team who made this game. I completely understand that a lot goes into making games and there are bound to be a few problems here and there. I just thought i should bring these things to your attention as i do like this game and would love to try and play it again once all these issues are ironed out, if you see fit to iron them out that is, if not, thats okay. I'll also include a link to the entire segment of my stream where i played your game. Feel free to scrub through it if you're interested in seeing some of the issue i spoke about. I'm not the sharpest crayon in the tool box so its entirely possible that all these problems were my fault so feel free to point that sort of thing out if anything jumps out at you. Keep up the great work.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/745712288
Hey Marshall, thanks for your comment!
This game was built as a master's project with the central theme of promoting intra-diegetic immersion, which is what led to a few design choices like the removal of checkpoints, a save system etc. The core concept was to create an experience you'd sit down for and finish in one go, or die and come back to later, rather than picking it up intermittently, with the idea being it would improve immersion to not have breaks in the story.
This is also the reason for a lack of clear direction, outside of what is given to the player in the dialogue. A lot of the sequences reward a player reacting naturally to the situation, e.g. trying to use the phone to call the police, which was an experiment to see if the situation could guide player action as oppose to it being driven by linear instructions. Whether that worked or not is up for debate, but I hope that helps explain the thought process.
With regards to scripted events failing it's entirely possible, but some also have variants based on what actions you've taken, so what may seem like a failure may infact be an alternate event happening. I did test all events thoroughly prior to the last build so they should all be functional.
Sequence breaks should also have been compensated for but if I get the chance I will revist the project and apply a lot of fixes i'd been interested in making. Unfortunately during the past year I was under a contract that prevent me from further developing the project, and so now it's a case of finding a stable build and picking that back up if I get the time.
Glad to hear you enjoyed elements of the game though!
Hey no problem, and i appreciate the informative reply. I did notice when i played that some events do turn out slightly differently, such as the deer in the road and the first phone call you receive. I did think that was very interesting and was caught off guard by that, good work! Yes, if you're ever able to pick this project up again i would love to see it tuned up and firing on all cylinders if you're ever able to come back to it. Ether way, keep up the good work. :)
This got me pretty good 😂 you'll see right in the 1st few seconds... (full gameplay starts @ 25:00 in the vid). I'll have to revisit this & see if I can get some of the multiple endings!
Is the game finished and needs no more updates?
Captive Audience is finished yes! We originally designed the game as part of a group project at University, and unfortunately could not continue development after. Our writer did create a spin-off/sequel though called It Will Find You! Its also free on itch so check it out :)
Thanks for the reply! I was originally asking about whether It Will Find You was finished or not. I know that Captive Audience is finished!
Sorry that was my bad, I got confused about which page I was on! Yes for now It Will Find You is complete, and all 8 endings are playable. While the story is complete though there are definitely improvements i would like to make somewhere down the line :)
I know this isn't the time nor place probably but I've been so corrupted by the one single thought that I can't get off my mind. I've been wanting to know if the game Captive Audience is based off of a real life event? The girl at the end is a real girl, seeing that her possible pain looks so realistic, I've been so burdened, so weirded out by the thought of why nobody asks about it, but why does she look like she ACTUALLY in pain, with a broken heart? Everytime I think about it, I honestly shed a tear. I know that's what the game is, a sad experience. Though, I mainly am concerned why nobody questions why it feels, odd, like the voices, the way its all put, especially the end with the real life clip of that girl, it all feels like real pain, like their all actually unset from something. But my concern is when you see the girl at the end. I'm sorry if this is too much to read. I've just been wanting to know for so long. Do you mind explaining it all? It'd really help me out. Thank you in advance.
Fun little game!
Link to my channel (opens in new tab) youtube.com/jonathick
Made a video