@Tweed Thanks for the comprehensive feedback, I appreciate it!
Before I get into details I want to write few words about the engine and it's restrictions. It will hopefully explain why I haven't implemented certain things and why it may never be possible to add some things to the game. As mentioned before, I'm using RPG Maker to make this game and because of the many restrictions of the engine I have to use lots of plugins to make the engine more versatile. The problem with some plugins, while they add all kinds of neat stuff, is that some of them has been obfuscated, which means that they have been decrypted and therefore there is no way to edit them or even get any sense how they are written.
For example I've been trying to add the key binding for months, but it all comes down to a certain core-plugin that affects many things in the game. Unfortunately it is also one of those plugins that are obfuscated, so I have no idea how it handles certain aspects of the movement. This causes an issue, that I can only make the key binding work with basic movement keys, but not for turning. For this reason I provide three different movement methods (WASD, arrow keys and numpad), but I'm still trying to find a way to implement the key binding. I don't know when I will get it to work, if ever, but I will try it until it starts working or I'm 100% certain that I'm not able to do it.
While all these plugins add lots of useful features and help me push the engine's limits further than I ever though possible, sometimes the obfuscated code or possible compatibility issues may cause a situation where I have to choose what to implement and what to leave out. Sometimes these plugins get updated and that might change the situation, but there is also a chance that an update will not work well with the other plugins and I have to roll back to the old version.
All this said, there have been many times when I've thought that I can't make some feature to work, but eventually I have somehow managed to get it work. Therefore I can't promise that certain features will be added, but that doesn't mean that I'm not working on them.
One of those 'give or take' situation is with the combat speed and map system. The combat used to be a bit faster, but it caused problems with combat log and it was impossible to keep up the text description displayed in the battle. The current speed is so far the best one. This is why I've implemented the auto-battle system, which will make the combat faster especially with weaker enemies. The core battle plugin still gets updated occasionally, so hopefully I will get more ways to tweak it in the future.
The map plugin I'm using for the overworld has some weird restriction because the plugin makers didn't take into account that someone would be making RPG Maker games in 3d, one of those restrictions affects to the map size. This plugin is unfortunately one of those obfuscated ones, but there are some settings in the plugin that I haven't tested yet thoroughly. I will see what I can do to improve the map situation.
Next the conditions. I've been planning to add a section about status effects and some other stuff in the codex to give better explanation about them, but I just haven't done it yet. There are lots of status effects, and while many of the are very basic, such as bleeding, silence, cripple, poison etc. they not necessarily work exactly like in other similar games. For example stunned doesn't prevent from acting but it gives big penalties to actions. Then there are some more exotic conditions, such as burning, hypothermia, soaked and oiled. These ones gives a bit more depth to the combat. For example if an enemy is first soaked with a water spell, it will take greater damage from lightning spells as long as the condition holds. Burning effect can be eliminated with water spells, hypothermia with fire spells and so on.
I'm also planning to add some hot keys. I've been working on a sort of status screen which will show elemental rates for attack and defence, but there should be some other valuable information coming also.
It's true that the main character's development will need some balancing because of all the skills, and this is the reason I've added the stat/skill tomes in the first place, but I'll see what I can do to improve it.
Originally Shadow was supposed to have 'disarm traps', but I ended up giving the skill exclusively to the main character and Hunter so that Shadow and Hunter wouldn't be too similar. But I'll think about it.
Traps can be spotted with high enough perception, but there's no way to avoid them. I may add the option to avoid them when spotted in the future.
The reason for the Conjurer class not having a full control over the summoned creatures is that I was planning to add a shapeshifter class and somehow they felt too similar. I abandoned the shapeshifter completely because I wasn't satisfied with the results I came up with. Perhaps I should take another look at the Conjurers and see how they play out with more control over the summons.
Option to pass time without camping is coming.
When it comes to dungeon crawlers and blobbers, I have always preferred the western ones, but I have played some of the eastern ones too. Somehow this game has turned into some sort of 'missing link' between the two. I'm not quite sure how it happened (probably partly because of the game engine), but here we are. Hopefully I end up getting best of the both worlds. I can't deny that Japanese design philosophies have affected, because I've been playing games since 80s and for every C64 there's been also NES and Master System, for every Atari ST and Amiga there has been also Mega Drive/Genesis and Snes and so on. And I've played a lot with them all. I still play with most of them from time to time.
If exploration is your thing, the game will deliver. It is full of secrets and 5 hours just scratches the surface. Later the game will introduce a new mechanic for finding new secrets and solving some puzzles.
I'm glad to hear you like the aesthetics. Even though I've said before that most complaints comes from the graphics, it doesn't mean I get them all the time. I get much more positive feedback about them and that's why I'm not that worried about the graphics. I understand that colourful aesthetics are not for everyone, but I'm quite happy with the atmosphere I've managed to create.
So, there are some improvements on the way, but I can't give any dates yet. Some things, like the option to wait instead of camping, are not that hard or time consuming to add, but sometimes these smaller and easier things take some time if I end up struggling with some other stuff. Sometimes I can focus on a single problem for days until I force my way through it or give up, and that might make me forget that there are other things I should be working on at the moment.
But I keep listening the feedback and I'm already working on some of the issues. Sometimes these things just take time, after all I'm the only one working on the game.
Thanks for all the feedback
@Tweed , I hope you will enjoy the game even more when you get further!
No tutorials, no hand-holding, no cinematic cutscenes, just pure joy of experiencing and discovering!