I think it would benefit from a minor nerf just to help get over the hill, like I said I keep ALMOST getting it but run out of time at the last moment. A small decrease in difficulty shouldn't impact the feeling of relief and victory when you finally clear the stage.
And I'm glad to be helpful any way I can. I can tell you're putting a lot of work into the game and not a lot of people are providing direct feedback, so I thought you might appreciate the input.
Glad the feedback was useful.
So, I've been stuck on the same level for about a week now and I'm noticing another thing that might be helpful - I'm not sure if the dialogue choice for an upgrade actually has a mechanical effect right now, but if it does being able to change which of them you have would be nice - unless it's possible to do that by replaying the stage where you choose one?
Just noticing that the longer thread upgrade doesn't help as much as it sounds like it would and wishing I'd made a different pick.
So my complaint isn't that I dislike the voices - you did a really good job fine tuning what each character sounds like.
The issue is that AI voice generation is really bad at actual line delivery. The way they speak doesn't really sound like an actual person; they have a very start and stop delivery as if they had to double check the script mid-sentence; resulting in a brief pause.
AI voice generators also lack the ability to project emotion properly. It was especially noticeable for me when I got to the first erotic scene and Kairi's reaction is identical to how she would address anything else; no shock, confusion, or embarrassment over what the other version of her is doing.
That's the point when I backed out of the level to turn the voice volume off, since it was hurting my immersion.
I'm currently part way through chapter 1 - major notes so far
The art is good, but the AI generated voices are hurting more than helping. I think you'd be better served switching to text only; and keep the option open to, if you manage to make some money off of the game, hire some actual voice actors.
I'd also personally add some information about the behavior of the different types of anomaly so players can strategize around their behavior: I've found one of the better ways to clear levels is to set up traps and separate the balls, but without knowing what each type of anomaly is going to do it's difficult to predict and plan for their movement.
I've got a lot of friends who are artists so I'm very familiar with the stigma over AI-driven art, but I see it as a tool like any other. How it's used is what's really important - sometimes, like with this game - you have an idea for a project that exceeds your capabilities, or where you lack the resources to to hire outside artists to get the job done.
It's pretty clear from the way you've put the voiceover and art to work that you're using generative AI for lack of better options; not to cut costs like when a large scale production does it. Far as I'm concerned, you can't get into a much better use case for responsible use of AI then small projects like Lockdown.
I'll absolutely be coming back to see chapter one (and the rest of the game, as it releases), the gameplay is distinctive since Qix is a relatively obscure title in the history of gaming, and the core concepts of the narrative are intriguing.
