The image sizes can be adjusted with the media slider and the default media rules should cover some of that. It's not foolproof though.
Ah yeah, guess I missed that bit. That's on me. Still, I maintain the bit I said about how the text should be laid out. Shrink the middle section, left align the text for both speakers so your eye doesn't have to search for the starting point of the next sentence. Or simply have the icons for both speakers on the left, and left align all the text.
The entire game taking up the entire screen is still a bit much though. Negative space is important.
As for your second point, I think you're right. When things were linear I had a much better handle on things...
I know you're still working on fixing the whole sandbox "debacle", though. I don't think you "rushed the whole "open world" thing a little too early" but rather I think it was a bit too late. You had an already existing game on your hands and started chopping it up into bits and pieces when it wasn't designed that way.
For what it's worth, after playing it recently, I don't
mind the sandboxy nature too much, but I do wish there was more of a progression to it and a common thru-line that ties things together better. I don't know if an intro section will do that past the prologue.
I think content gating would be the way to go. Have certain stories progress only
so much before requiring some kind of major milestone/event to happen before continuing on. You wouldn't have to do it with every side character and the like, but I think the major storylines could support each other better. I also think the whole feminization angle could have a better progression. The clinic being available so early breaks that extremely hard. As mentioned previously.
Like the biggest problem I have, is
all of that progression used to be there, the game had it. Riley/Bailey's progression were tied together, you couldn't break the sequence by going to the clinic and getting a pussy because it unlocked by progressing Lexi's section (don't know if a side character was the best place to put it, but it was better than having it immediately available), the MC doesn't start getting tits and ass from hormones until it's "reasonable enough", and the reactions the MC had for a given situation more or less made sense because they haven't progressed past that point with someone else. Sure it was a bit grindy at times, and certain scenes being basically nothing kind of felt lame, but that thru-line was there enough for the game to have a progression.
The problem with giving the player access to everything at the start, is that it devalues everything. Like people asking for 100% saves of game before they've even started it.
I think that thinking about the game in terms of stages or acts, while still keeping the sandbox element, is the way to give the player a meaningful sense of progression, have greater control over your story beats, and gives you as a dev greater control over how the player interacts with your content. Not in a "you can't go this way, turn back" kind of way, but a way that gives you a means of "composing" your content like you'd compose a photo or script. Shining light on bits you want the player to take note of and find important, leading their decisions and interactions in an organic way, and giving your characters emphasis based on how the player interacts with them.
But I think that's enough of me rambling. For what it's worth, I do know you're putting good effort into the game, and I applaud it. Keep it up.
Here's a sneak peek of the preliminary UI, tell me if you love or hate it and why.
As for this, I don't really feel one way or another about it. It's largely the same from what I can see. The move from black backgrounds on the buttons is better, but fundamentally it's the same layout, just with more
effects. Which I don't really think add to the game. They're just there.
To be fair though,
it is the rough layout I suggested a few years back with mockups, so any fault I would have with it would be on me.