I have been very busy lately but this morning I felt like doing something relaxing for an hour and looked into the full version of Secret of Darkwoods for the first time. I must say, I am impressed. I don't know how limited the playtest version was compared to the full one, maybe I simply died too quickly back then to explore more, or maybe a lot of the areas weren't accessible back then, but now the game makes a lot more sense than before.
Also,
@rap2h , the adjustment to music volume makes a lot of difference for me. What before felt very dominating and intrusive is now a really nice and atmospheric ambient music, and I have seen from various situations now that the music smoothly changes for random encounters, swamp, combat, town etc... very nice!
The automatic adjustment when things like tavern background noise appear makes a big difference too.
I felt so bad for criticizing the music of all things, which was practically the main creative aspect of the game, and I'm happy to realize now that it was really just a matter of volume. I don't know Dungeon Synth, at first I thought it's too synthetic to fit the atmosphere, but it blends in very smoothly.
And I salute your way to promote the artists and at the same time criticize the way Steam doesn't allow links to their work.
The "talk to a random stranger" minor quests still aren't my favourite aspect of the game, for example even in one hour play I had the same "random" face appear three times in different towns and there are still some writing inconsistencies, but with the whole game world open now, it doesn't matter as much as before. They are, after all, just random side quest givers for extra XP, money, loot or whatever.
I initially criticized too that you often need a certain item or skill to solve a random quest that was only available through a different random quest and therefore it was impossible to meet the requirements, but now I see it's possible to learn skills in various places and on various occasions, and the game shows the requirements you must meet for something.
I'm not sure if that was the case in the test version, but now it's often also possible to leave places quietly once you realize you don't meet one of the possible requirements for a solution, or at least the skill check for running away is often much lower than the other options. That's a nice touch in an open world without level scaling.
Another nice feature: The explanation of skill checks, because some people might have no idea what the dice mean:
Plus, if there's a skill check that's doomed, like 3 vs 2D6+2, it helpfully writes "always fails" in bold letters next to that choice so that everyone knows at the first glance that choice is a no-win pick.
Here's my adventure sheet:
I didn't have any skills at level 2, later I learned stuff like Herbalism, Lockpicking, Climbing, Persuasion from various people for a small fee, although for some I had to spend attribute points at level up first to be able to learn them. I could only learn novice level skills for now, the upgrades require more attribute points, so while I learned everything I could at this point, I suppose later it's important to focus on some preferred skill lines first according to the attributes you want to boost.
In many quests there are multiple ways to solve them, using tools (yeah as an experienced adventurer of course we know to buy a torch, shovel or rope when a trader offers them, even if we have no idea yet what we might do with them) or skill checks with either strength, dexterity, luck or speed for example.
I later got a ring of speed from a bandit encounter, for example, which greatly helped when I had to flee somewhere or dodge and fight back.
Speaking of which, it's cool that random travel interruption can be a bandit, but also a one time occasion travelling merchant who sells something rare for a good price!
(Oh and one minor "bug" report for possible adjustment: If you equip an item in the inventory, it still says "equip" afterwards. The box next to it makes it clear which one is actually equipped, and equipping one automatically unequips the other one, but it would still be better to have it change to "unequip" once you're wearing something. Also, if you sell items, you can sell the ones you are currently using and the store window doesn't take that into account, so you have to be careful not to accidentally sell the armour and weapon you're currently using)
I have to go do something else, but more feedback and screenshots, especially on quests stuff, will follow.
For now, big congrats on a really nice textbook game, I'm very positively surprised after my playtest impression, I can honestly recommend this to people who like textbook adventures, DnD campaigns or just any adventuring exploration really.
Also, amazing how you folks react to feedback even shortly before release, that's impressive and shows how much ou want to grow and learn.
The few improvements that could still be made are entirely forgiveable for a volunteer team releasing a debute game for free. This game is really nicely done, gives good vibes, and I'm sure that whatever you people plan to do in the future will be even better!
Ah yes, I died to a zombie. or rather to my own arrogance, because after coming back with some more levels and skills I thought that now I can finally take it without fleeing.
I didn't save