This is all so imaginative and surreal- and I definitely didn't predict from the opening that I'd die in a painting- or that the animals would be mean! It's also challenging my tiny intellect to the limits, and I'm currently stuck trying to scare the rabbit (I've got a just cup of black stuff which might help but it's not letting me leave the cave- I can only seem to die, or postpone my death with 'wait').
I'm enjoying the atmosphere and it's a very compelling game. One thing I'd say is that the furniture could use a bit more graphics editing. The chairs are less sharp than the background paintings, there are patches of discolouration and jagged white bits. This wouldn't be an issue except I was stuck trying to find lemons and cranberries for an embarrassingly long time- and these minor flaws really grow when you have to cross-examine everything. The Unsharp Mask and Anti-Aliasing tool are your friends here.
Also, I wonder if this game should carry an epilepsy warning? This is probably Renpy's fault but it's very easy to get a flickering red screen when you move the mouse to start the game. Anyway, look forward to playing more- hopefully figuring out what to do too!
Hey! Thank you for trying this out! If you are ever stuck, feel free to check out the walkthrough for the main ending. There is also a hint for other endings too.
I've gotten the base images from free-for-commercial-use sources and was wondering how to clean them up, especially when they already had a background. I've manually erased the bits after zooming up to them for the full version, but I'm wondering if there are simpler ways. Do you have any tips for that?
I'll definitely take a look at Unsharp Mask and Anti-Aliasing. I saw that you can combine Anti-Aliasing with Feathering. Any general advice on when to use or not use that?
My friends and I are playing through the game and are really enjoying it! We’ve gotten all the endings except for the 4th one 😅 We are stumped lol. We look forward to when the full version comes out.
Edit: We used our slightly smooth brains and figured it out.
Hey again!! I made a follow up video and this time I guess the issue with the recording has been fixed this time! I will give you the rest of the feedback that I already started before! I am liking your game and I keep following the dev logs of your game.
Sometimes I click so the dialogue keeps going but there is no response! It did happen if you want to know around minute 10:31
When I give those 20 pearls to Brigitte so she can give me the perfume, the game takes me directly after that to talk with Sally, even though I didn’t press to talk to Sally (See minute 11:44 for a closer look).
In minute 13:37 you will notice that I could take that big pearl in the top left corner... was that intended to happen in the game?
The game is for sure has great potential and I would love to see the first version, just take all of your time to make it, I am sure it will be great... All the best.
PS: My little annoying brother liked the game and he actually came to my recording setting and spoke little bit, I left it in the video and did not delete his part lol it was funny because he was making fun of me.
Thank you for making another video of this game and for reading all the devlogs! I'm glad Butterfly Tea has kept you interested.
I'll answer your questions here:
I've designed the dialogues to disable other features while talking, but this might have restricted the click area. I've fixed that for the full version. I might change it for the demo in later updates when I'm less busy with the full version.
For the dialogue with Brigitte, you're right. The dialogue directly goes to Sally. I thought it would be simpler this way. Was it counter-intuitive?
And yup, you can take off the pearl, but you don't need it to get the main ending (Ending 1).
By the way, for the cave part, hint 2 is hinting at a tool that helps eyes see better.
Also, your brother is cute. Loved his little talk haha.
I am really happy you replayed for all the points I mentioned and yes!! focus on making the full version, the demo is not that important at this busy point, I understand how much you are busy.
For the dialogues with Brigitte and Sally, it was a little bit counter-intuitive. Just a little bit.
Q&A: My favourite question to ask is; how did Butterfly Tea first came up to life? (this means it can inclue your journey, your first thoughts, your isnpiration to make this game, your motivations...) I will look forward for your game and hope it will spread widely.
I think i have a game idea! its called: don't judge. its horror genre :3
here is the picture of the main character:
its also like she gets bullied at school, and being judged. she is secretly a devil, but doesn't know it yet. then, she has a bad dream about her killing her beloved parents. she suddenly woke up and noticed she was a devil. some time later, she grows horns. the rest is up to you! :3
The game engine usually used for visual novels (like this one) is Ren'Py. It's relatively easier to get into and is free. It can be found at https://www.renpy.org/. It's also got a Discord server and other online forums where you can ask for help and chat to other game developers using Ren'Py!
There's also RPG Maker which I think has some free version but also a paid version. It's usually used for, well, making RPG games but I've also seen it used for visual novels with places you can walk around in as well.
And if you want to get really advanced there's also game engines like Unity and Unreal which are very versatile but, as a result of that, are also a lot more complicated.
Hey! I was just about to answer that but dGameBoy101b nailed it.
Are you going for a cutesy horror game? From what you said, it seems like a visual novel?
If you want the player to be able to walk around, then RPG Maker is definitely something you can consider.
For a more traditional visual novel, I also recommend Ren'Py. The language is relatively easy to learn. It provides many features and supports complex story branching. It also supports Python scripting if you want to implement more personalized features.
Unity can also be extended to support visual novels, but it's more work.
I would like to thank everyone who has decided to try out this game. This is the first game I've ever made, so it means a lot to me.
I would especially like to give a shout-out to all those who took some time to write comments. Your feedback is invaluable for the development of this game.
Now, there is something I would love if you could help out with. Whether you've played the demo, you're about to play, or you're simply considering it, I would greatly appreciate if you could share your thoughts on which of the following style for the full version you prefer:
STYLE 1
STYLE 2
The full version is much darker and heavier than the demo as characters' backstories are revealed. The demo can be seen as a 'prologue' to the full version with a story of its own that's tied to the main plot.
I hope to create the right atmosphere, so your feedback would be a great help.
I came to take a look to the updates and changes made in the game, will be reading your dev logs now, for this I would say go with STYLE 1 simply because it gives it that unique atmosphere that you origanlly gave to Butterfly Tea, and to be honest, I would love to see it changes from STYLE 1 to STYLE 2 just like you did with the main menu, where in this case, it changes when there is a dark side revealed by a certain character or when the game plot move from the cuteness we first experience to the dark image the player starts to experience (it will be like great if you use with it music background changes too)
I do have plans for incrementally changing the mood. STYLE 1 definitely gives more of a cutesy feel. Though I'm still deciding on the details with the nonlinear plot. I'll change the music, but it might get tricky for the graphics.
I'll try to get more feedback from different people. Though I'm definitely taking yours into consideration!
Also, I'm glad to see you here! Hope you like the devlogs.
Super fun and a good idea the art is really nice as well and maybe im just not good at this sort of thing but i'm so stuck! I've gotten to the room at the end of the cave and gotten the void(??) in the teacup but im so lost!
The pearls you need to give to the squirrel are different than the inventory pearls. Once you find and start collecting them, you can see the amount of these pearls in the counter above (which is currently 0).
There is a bug though, but not the type we've been thinking about. The intended behaviour was for you to only be able to collect the inventory pearl once. I've been trying to reproduce the behaviour from your game. Could you tell me how you got 5 inventory pearls?
Here you will find my gameplay video for your demo, I will also write my review about your game below… I do need support for me to keep doing these kind of reviews, so do subscribe to my YouTube channel.
First of all, the game style is really nice, I loved the art that you have in the game. Especially the butterflies and the fact when you scroll the mouse over them in the menu, the entire screen change. Love it.
The soundtrack is chilling and it has some horror vibes from time to time, so well done on that.
However, there is one major issue I faced in this demo, sometimes when I click to continue reading the conversations of the characters, there is a small delay after I click and it does not change directly (This does not happen all the time but it was enough to corrupt the rest of the video... starting from minute 10:36 in the video) The rest is out of synchronization between my commentary and the gameplay. I also had another 20 min corrupted because of that, but this time I just deleted the file and only kept this first one so you see the problem up close. (I deleted the rest of the video since it was corrupted)
Other than that problem above I did not have any issues, except the fact that I could enter the cave the first time and went too deep until I found myself in another room, this did not happen again no matter how much I replayed the game and went into the cave… I always died after my very first time (thought to mention this to you here).
I truly love puzzles but these that you had are more complicated and it is hard to know how to solve them without any kind of hints (I think you might have that in the full game since this is a demo but in case you don’t have it in the full game, you might consider adding that).
I played. So far I'm stuck with ending 3. I enter the cave... and i go forward and die. I can't dive because the lake is frozen. Having trouble figuring anything else out. Caught the butterfly and made butterfly blood. Talked to everyone. Any hints? loll
← Return to nonlinear adventure
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This is all so imaginative and surreal- and I definitely didn't predict from the opening that I'd die in a painting- or that the animals would be mean! It's also challenging my tiny intellect to the limits, and I'm currently stuck trying to scare the rabbit (I've got a just cup of black stuff which might help but it's not letting me leave the cave- I can only seem to die, or postpone my death with 'wait').
I'm enjoying the atmosphere and it's a very compelling game. One thing I'd say is that the furniture could use a bit more graphics editing. The chairs are less sharp than the background paintings, there are patches of discolouration and jagged white bits. This wouldn't be an issue except I was stuck trying to find lemons and cranberries for an embarrassingly long time- and these minor flaws really grow when you have to cross-examine everything. The Unsharp Mask and Anti-Aliasing tool are your friends here.
Also, I wonder if this game should carry an epilepsy warning? This is probably Renpy's fault but it's very easy to get a flickering red screen when you move the mouse to start the game. Anyway, look forward to playing more- hopefully figuring out what to do too!
Hey! Thank you for trying this out! If you are ever stuck, feel free to check out the walkthrough for the main ending. There is also a hint for other endings too.
I've gotten the base images from free-for-commercial-use sources and was wondering how to clean them up, especially when they already had a background. I've manually erased the bits after zooming up to them for the full version, but I'm wondering if there are simpler ways. Do you have any tips for that?
I'll definitely take a look at Unsharp Mask and Anti-Aliasing. I saw that you can combine Anti-Aliasing with Feathering. Any general advice on when to use or not use that?
Yeah, I can add a warning later.
Good luck with the rest of the game!
My friends and I are playing through the game and are really enjoying it! We’ve gotten all the endings except for the 4th one 😅 We are stumped lol. We look forward to when the full version comes out.
Edit: We used our slightly smooth brains and figured it out.
Hello!
Thank you for trying this out, and congrats on getting all the endings!
Feel free to check out the devlogs for sneak-peeks of the full version. I'm writing at least one per week.
Hey again!! I made a follow up video and this time I guess the issue with the recording has been fixed this time! I will give you the rest of the feedback that I already started before! I am liking your game and I keep following the dev logs of your game.
The game is for sure has great potential and I would love to see the first version, just take all of your time to make it, I am sure it will be great... All the best.
PS: My little annoying brother liked the game and he actually came to my recording setting and spoke little bit, I left it in the video and did not delete his part lol it was funny because he was making fun of me.
Hello,
Thank you for making another video of this game and for reading all the devlogs! I'm glad Butterfly Tea has kept you interested.
I'll answer your questions here:
Also, your brother is cute. Loved his little talk haha.
All the best to you too!
I am really happy you replayed for all the points I mentioned and yes!! focus on making the full version, the demo is not that important at this busy point, I understand how much you are busy.
For the dialogues with Brigitte and Sally, it was a little bit counter-intuitive. Just a little bit.
All together, the game is doing great! Well done!
I already love this game and I can't wait for the full version!
Haha, thank you for the interest! Feel free to check out the devlogs for the full version's sneak-peeks!
Hello everyone!
Thank you for trying out Butterfly Tea's demo! If you're stuck, here is the walkthrough to get the main ending (Ending 1). Hope this helps!
If you have any more question, don't forget about our Q&A event!
Q&A: My favourite question to ask is; how did Butterfly Tea first came up to life? (this means it can inclue your journey, your first thoughts, your isnpiration to make this game, your motivations...) I will look forward for your game and hope it will spread widely.
thats so cute! also how do you make a game? :>
Thank you!
Making a game greatly depends on the game genre. Do you have any specific game in mind?
I think i have a game idea! its called: don't judge. its horror genre :3
here is the picture of the main character:
its also like she gets bullied at school, and being judged. she is secretly a devil, but doesn't know it yet. then, she has a bad dream about her killing her beloved parents. she suddenly woke up and noticed she was a devil. some time later, she grows horns. the rest is up to you! :3
The game engine usually used for visual novels (like this one) is Ren'Py. It's relatively easier to get into and is free. It can be found at https://www.renpy.org/. It's also got a Discord server and other online forums where you can ask for help and chat to other game developers using Ren'Py!
There's also RPG Maker which I think has some free version but also a paid version. It's usually used for, well, making RPG games but I've also seen it used for visual novels with places you can walk around in as well.
And if you want to get really advanced there's also game engines like Unity and Unreal which are very versatile but, as a result of that, are also a lot more complicated.
Hey! I was just about to answer that but dGameBoy101b nailed it.
Are you going for a cutesy horror game? From what you said, it seems like a visual novel?
If you want the player to be able to walk around, then RPG Maker is definitely something you can consider.
For a more traditional visual novel, I also recommend Ren'Py. The language is relatively easy to learn. It provides many features and supports complex story branching. It also supports Python scripting if you want to implement more personalized features.
Unity can also be extended to support visual novels, but it's more work.
Hope this helps!
A little gif I made...
More information here
Hello, lovely people!
I would like to thank everyone who has decided to try out this game. This is the first game I've ever made, so it means a lot to me.
I would especially like to give a shout-out to all those who took some time to write comments. Your feedback is invaluable for the development of this game.
Now, there is something I would love if you could help out with. Whether you've played the demo, you're about to play, or you're simply considering it, I would greatly appreciate if you could share your thoughts on which of the following style for the full version you prefer:
STYLE 1
STYLE 2
The full version is much darker and heavier than the demo as characters' backstories are revealed. The demo can be seen as a 'prologue' to the full version with a story of its own that's tied to the main plot.
I hope to create the right atmosphere, so your feedback would be a great help.
Thank you for making Butterfly Tea better!
I came to take a look to the updates and changes made in the game, will be reading your dev logs now, for this I would say go with STYLE 1 simply because it gives it that unique atmosphere that you origanlly gave to Butterfly Tea, and to be honest, I would love to see it changes from STYLE 1 to STYLE 2 just like you did with the main menu, where in this case, it changes when there is a dark side revealed by a certain character or when the game plot move from the cuteness we first experience to the dark image the player starts to experience (it will be like great if you use with it music background changes too)
Hey! Thanks for the response!
I do have plans for incrementally changing the mood. STYLE 1 definitely gives more of a cutesy feel. Though I'm still deciding on the details with the nonlinear plot. I'll change the music, but it might get tricky for the graphics.
I'll try to get more feedback from different people. Though I'm definitely taking yours into consideration!
Also, I'm glad to see you here! Hope you like the devlogs.
Super fun and a good idea the art is really nice as well and maybe im just not good at this sort of thing but i'm so stuck! I've gotten to the room at the end of the cave and gotten the void(??) in the teacup but im so lost!
Hey! Thank you so much for the interest!
Congrats! You're on your way of getting the harder-to-get-endings. Have you taken a look at the seal?
I love the style! the music and the art very cute
but I think I have a bug
after getting 5 pearls i cant give them to the rabbit i think idk the one with the hat...
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you've decided to try this out!
For the pearls, could you provide some more details?
The one with the dark hat is the squirrel, Brigitte. So you collected the pearls then clicked on her and then couldn't select one of the options?
oh yeah the squirre!
so I got them on my inventory and I press on them and then on her and she start talk again about find the pearls
Could you post a screenshot of the game just before you press on her?
Thank you.
sure
The pearls you need to give to the squirrel are different than the inventory pearls. Once you find and start collecting them, you can see the amount of these pearls in the counter above (which is currently 0).
There is a bug though, but not the type we've been thinking about. The intended behaviour was for you to only be able to collect the inventory pearl once. I've been trying to reproduce the behaviour from your game. Could you tell me how you got 5 inventory pearls?
Awesome game! Love the art and the characters.
Some puzzles can be challenging to solve. You really have to think "outside-the-box"sometimes.
Love the idea that it's nonlinear.
Definitely didn't take 1 hour to play this lol.
Looking forward to the full version.
Haha, yeah. The gameplay time might need to be adjusted as more players finish this.
I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for trying this out!
Out of curiosity, which endings did you get?
All 5. Took me a while to break the seal though. Ending 4, I think? The update helped.
Here you will find my gameplay video for your demo, I will also write my review about your game below… I do need support for me to keep doing these kind of reviews, so do subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Thank you so much for this! I appreciate your time.
I've addressed all the major points of your review here: https://itch.io/post/2798982
Great channel you have! I wish you success!
This one looks so cute.
Haha, thanks!
awesome game :3
np! Plus, I know this game will get popular in the furture!!!! :D
Haha, thanks. Hopefully, it does!
I played. So far I'm stuck with ending 3. I enter the cave... and i go forward and die. I can't dive because the lake is frozen. Having trouble figuring anything else out. Caught the butterfly and made butterfly blood. Talked to everyone. Any hints? loll
Hello!
I've just published a hint page if you ever want to check it out: https://buttoncupcake.itch.io/butterflytea/devlog/225473/demo-hints-1-lemon-pain...
Let me know if you have any more questions!