So ive been playing this game for awhile now. There are a lot of MINECRAFT clones out there, but this game resembles terraria in the purest form. This game is excellent. The only thing I really hope this update brings is to 1) make it so you can skip night if you possibly Go to sleep in your bed 2) make it so I don't have to constantly reset worlds when u get stuck underground or just have a "reset spawn option". It would make mining SOOOOOO much easier That's really it. I love the crafting, animations sounds, and gameplay. If these issues are fixed, 5 stars no problem.
I'm glad you were willing to do that and hope you enjoyed it. But Junk Jack is on a mobile platform, being tethered to a PC or having to rely on my mobile browser seems off putting to me. As far as "whining" I disagree. I purchased the game, see that the developer is active here and am offering my opinions and feedback on their product. What they choose to do with that information is completely up to them, and you. If you disagree with any of my points and care to engage in an adult conversation great, but the general attitude that people who do as I am are "whiners" is really pretty silly, we're all gamers here, all trying to have fun and advance the mobile gaming experience. I am incredibly grateful to the attention and participation of Pixbits here, no doubt a Class A developer. I see a lot of brilliance in Junk Jack or I would have deleted the game and moved on long ago. The art style, controls and overall charm of the worlds is incredible. I like you, I assume (forgive me if I'm wrong) want Junk Jack to be an incredible success not only for Pixbits but also for the players getting started in this niche genre. And yes I'm am completely open to the notion that I am completely wrong in my opinions and the ONLY one here that shares them. And that's ok, but don't dump on me personally just for sharing my opinions.
I think a lot of us see the genius and potential in this game, which is why were are here, sure it's taken from the pages of Minecraft and terreria, but I've sort of played both and never got into the controls or graphics, but this game- it has me thinking about it when i'm not playing and it's just got me hooked. It is quite different imo. Anyway, I do agree with a poster that said something along the lines of there should be only about 10 pages in the pre-made book. Just the general directions, how to move, craft, build, and a note that instructs players to hunt and dig for recipes, so they know what theyre doing.. I also agree with a poster that said that some of the treasure you find feels a bit useless. Sure i have an amulet, but I'd like to be able to make something even cooler once i collect them all or something, you know or be able to build something to house them all and its not finished til all the treasures are there. I dont know.
Those are there too - you just might have found some later ones first. Ok, stomping my mod foot now - it is clear that there are two passionate sides to this debate. We can debate it until the cows come home and never get any unified sentiment. Fine, I am all for debate. I have myself planted my feet quite firmly on one side of the line in the sand, grateful I won't need the tutorial and sad I might lose some recipes with an update. But no more derogatory statements to one another and no more name calling. No one should be criticized for an opinion. There is a difference in presenting a differing opinion, or even a rebuttal in a civil manner. Pretty sure we are all adults here (and if not -- pretend), so we can all act like it. K?
Fair enough, but I think what is provoking such a dismissive attitude from many, myself included, is that your opinion doesn't seem to have much to do with the actual game or the actual game experience. Never even heard of Terraria until seeing the discussion with this game, never done more than watched some Youtube videos of people playing Minecraft and checked out people's web pages showing off their creations. I have poked about with some of the iOS clones and/or inspired titles but none of them ever held my attention for more than an hour before I stopped playing. So it's not like I came into Junk Jack a veteran of this style of game, yet within 72 hours I'd filled the entire craftbook, had my first house built, and had already stripped and respawned a couple of worlds for their trees. It's NOT a complicated game system, and while some of the points you raise are sort of true for your first 30 minutes, you make it seem like they were a much bigger deal than they possibly could have been no matter how new you are to this sort of game. And that you still continue to post about how bewildering and lost you were (are?) three days later, long, long after any normal human would have either already figured it out on their own or looked it up at forum.pixbits.com, just hammers home the conundrum of exactly what point you're trying to make. Kudos to the dev team for being here and on their own forums trying to address player concerns, etc., and I am even with you to a point, there certainly should have been a little more information given at the start of the game since so much of the UI goes unexplained, I just disagree strongly about the severity of the problem. We both came into this game with a similar lack of knowledge - I chose to view as a puzzle to solve, you chose to view it as unfriendly game design that was biased against "you" for your lack of pre-existing familiarity with the genre... now, which of us had more fun based purely on our perspective?
I just read through this whole thread. I see what you mean. Why are people bashing eachother so much? But well said.
Fantastic idea. The real simple things, the torch (so people don't get stuck underground like I did) and maybe the first (simplest) shovel? Just a light sample of what the crafting system mechanic is. I think its a really clever system and I like the "experimental" aspect of it. Really if Junk Jack just had a "record what items I've already crafted" feature that would be completely satisfactory. I made the torch completely on accident, since I crafted/placed it, how about a log entry so i can look up how I actually did it? Would a log of previously crafted items really alter the essence of Junk Jack? Thanks to the forum moderators for the patience in this passionate exchange, I know all to well the "fun" of being a forum moderator. (and ours is just for coffee geeks)
Lemme also chime in and say that I'd spring a buck for a nice set of Christmas items. I'd be even more excited for Halloween stuff. I wouldn't use it, but a $1 IAP for the book with all recipies and some supplies would be OK in my book too. Love the sound of the update - this game is seriously great, and is getting better. I still like it a lot more than Terraria (it's a lot less fiddly) and IMHO it's perfect aside from a little more direction at first (if it baffles Alpha Minecraft players, it's too complex) and the 'tap-to-mine' mechanism (which I'm living with OK but will be glad to switch...) Keep voting for TA's Game of the Week people!
That is my point, exactly. To me there is big difference between figuring out how to play Junk Jack and figuring out what items I can craft. The puzzle should be "what items can I make from the materials I find" not "I made a torch, how did I do it, and why can't I do it again?" You guys keep telling me to google stuff or keep at it. I chose after 7-hours not too, the time spent having to figure out how to play Junk Jack effectively killed my desire to explore and experiment with the craft system, which is seemingly to me the part of Junk Jack you guys love. Kudos to you guys that chug through the first phase of the game or sit with your iPhone in front of a computer. If I really have to sit in front of my PC to learn this game, even just at the beginning its a first for me on my mobile phone.
yes totally make the whole book an inapp purchase! this developer needs the cash more than other ones! more money to them means more awesome updates. But dont get crazy with the inapp purchases, it can ruin a game.
7 hours later, you still cant make a torch, this game isnt for you. sorry double post..no clue how to delete this.
Hey, fix for this is coming. And for now, if you don't have web access on your iPhone, go to the wiki and print out the items to a PDF file and drop it into iBook. I certainly never sat in front of my computer to learn the recipes, but I did look a few up on my iPhone - a little help went a long way...
I actually crafted several items, and thought it was really cool. True I couldn't figure out how to make the torch again but most of the seven hours was spent getting stuck underground, overfilling my pockets with raw materials and/or getting killed my monsters I couldn't fight against. Once I did turn Peaceful Mode on it helped. But at that point I was kinda done with wanting to try to figure it all out. Puzzles should be fun. You're absolutely right, Junk Jack may just not be for me. I just want Pixbits and Junk Junk to be as successful as possible. A "re-spawn" to start point option to use when stuck and log of items accidently made would have made it so you guys never heard a peep from me.
I understand, and honestly I dont think youre dumb or anything insulting. But, like you said i just think this isnt your type of game. It's supposed to have that lost on a desert island sort of feeling.
Perfect example of my point. No clue how you could have made a torch accidentally since you would have had to have actually put the items in your crafting box and one would think you would have paid some attention to what was in there, but lets assume you did. What you're saying is that even though the game hands you the torch crafting recipe fairly early on in the recipe finding process, even though it's a simple two item type crafting, and even though you use and place them in the environment like every other item in the game, for *you* this was a source of frustration. This is the part we don't get. Let me give you a real example that happened to me last night. Decided to try my hand at making some half-blocks that the craftbook notes say "can be used as paving". Cool, I want to have a stone floor in the new home I'm building. I place them and, what the heck, they're just floating in space "inches" above my floor. So I scratch my head, dig up the front row of blocks that currently serves as my floor and place the half blocks again... Nope, now I've got a row of half blocks floating in space "inches" below the floor line and I can't actually walk on them. Break them down and poke some and realize, aha!, I need to place them on the row below Jack onto full blocks and, there you go, paved stone floor. I thought the whole process of figuring it out was cool, gave me a sense of accomplishment; you'd, based on your posts, would have found yet another reason to put this "frustrating" game away. I've not seen anyone tell you to Google stuff (the one thing I did suggest you Google was Minecraft *images*, but that's because they're cool, not because they'd help you in JJ at all). People are telling you that the game is not that complicated, because it's not. With all attempts at being respectful, I'm just not sure this is the game for you. The comment a bit above this one about 7 hours and you still can't make a torch is, while blunt, pretty true. I've probably only put a bit more than that into the game and, as I laid out earlier, I've accomplished quite a bit without guides, spoilers, or pre-existing experience with the genre.
I was mining and seen a diamond chest! Great but... There is like an invisible force field blocking me from getting to it what is this?
I feel for the developers of this great game. I have never seen an iPhone game where you have two sides of the fence arguing so vehemently for their side, where both are merely opinions. Pure sandbox exploration games have their advantages/tutorials have advantages. I think that the devs have come up the best solution in their update; create just enough hand-holding to hook the non-Minecraft/non-browser people. This argument should be over. MORE IMPORTANTLY: Thanks Pixbits for a great game! I have played a couple hours of Minecraft, and couldn't get into it, but Junk Jack is amazing. I have played 10+ hours, have a HUGE castle, pieces of three statues, TONS of jewelry/knickknacks and keep wanting to play more. I would love to have regular updates, and am perfectly willing to pay IAP for the big ones. WISHLIST (not in any order): Water (to allow lakes, rivers, waterfalls, fountains, etc) Quests (I know this is coming) Collection Achievements (Every gem type, all statues, etc) Bosses (related to quests?) iCloud Backup/Transfer Ability to Share World (even if non-interactive) Thanks for everything Pixbits!
