another help system might be just show the level played (without the shots exact placed, just blocks moving), that way the player can watch the solution, but still have to find out where the shots need to hit - which keeps the playfulness of the stage intact, and just removes the "hard" puzzle solution concept our.
Interesting idea, but I think it reveals a bit too much. Thinking about your suggestions though, led us to an idea for a hint system. I don't want to say what it is because I want to check if you get it without my explanations, so we will test it in the next build. We hope to have 'Save Toshi' 3.0 with the new hint system and 2 other major issues solved on Thursday. I don't want to put any pressure on anyone, but we really don't have too many udid licenses and we now have a chance to renew all unused licenses, so I again assume that people interested in staying in the loop, will post their report till Thursday, Thanks! *Question: Which levels did you dislike in the 1st pack and why (highly important)
Excellent! the rest of you people, please follow this example. BTW, This is credits screen for the build we submitted for the massive open-beta, Respect!
Level Pack 1 Thoughts: 1. Tutorial so it wins by default 2. Too Easy-can also win by default because easing people into the game 3. Too Easy-can also win by default because easing people into the game 4. Too Easy-can also win by default because easing people into the game 5. Too Easy-can also win by default because easing people into the game 6. Easy but I like it because Toshi gets launched to dance floor. 7. Good difficulty 8. Good have lots of choices of blocks to break and falls differently to get her to dance floor. 9.I love Killing Toshi on this on by way of flying LOL 10. Very good Tricky to get to fall the right way 11.Boring and Easy although I do like the sliding action 12. Good 13.Too easy 14.Love this one I was How the @#$!% do I get Toshi up there But figured it out . 15. Good have to hit it in right spot 16.Great its like a Toshi nerf gun LOL 17. Too Simple 18. Great Misleading makes you think you need the TNT 19.Probably the hardest level on the first pack 20. would be better switch with 19 for the last level. too simple also Forgot to add Thats a sweet credit screen. Thank You Noam for letting me be part of this sweet game.
Level pack 1: 1-10: Easy as they should be. 11-14: Looks easy but hardly to get 3 stars by first few attempts 15-19: Much difficult than 1-10, good difficulty 20:I cannot get 3 stars. Who can give me some hints?
I only listed the ones I did not like! Now I feel bad. In any case, I do share the same opinion as EMTKiNG except for level 15 and 10 ....
Good feedback Alex! next time please try not to group levels together. As to the hint, EMTKiNG is quite right: hit the big one. Please don't, you're doing an awesome job! I just updated the spreadsheet, and I can definitely see some patterns starting to emerge about the levels, even though we still have too little info - hope the others will post their reports soon enough so we can analyze the final data. GREAT work everybody
Feedback: Gave up around pack 2 - WAY too hard too early. Definitely ought to curve the difficulty some more.
Thanks for the feedback! to deal with it I need to ask you a few questions: 1) could you please tell us what levels were too hard/frustrating? 2) would a hint system like medianotzu suggested in his first report would change the experience? here is the quote from medianotzu's report to refresh everyone's memory:
Hello all. Sorry for my EXTREMELY late reply on this, but my work has taken up all of time lately. But I finally got to give the second build a thorough runthrough, and here are my thoughts. I deliberately haven't read anyone else's comments yet, to avoid being influenced and to give an opinion that is truly my own. Later though, i will read through the rest of the pages here and comment if I have further comments to make... I'm going to have really short answers here... a) I didn't hate any, and the ones I loved were the ones that were most difficult. If I had to scratch my head for a few minutes to try and figure out just how the hell I'm supposed to solve the level AND do it in the minimum number of shots, then that's great! No levels truly stumped me though. b) I don't think any need to be moved. c) 100 levels is plenty for a game like this - too much more and it's going to get repetitive. Of course, people's value that they attach to 100 levels also depends on the price you're going to charge. 1) If I'm a position where I OBVIOUSLY cannot win, I would like for the game to somehow recognise this and notify me (although I realise from your coding POV this might be impossible, as an "ignorant" player I would still LIKE it though). 2) Ermmm... The "non-white" Toshi in pack 3 just looks weird, apart from the fact she still has her previous "white" eyes, there's the lack of mouth and skin shading (her tone is too "flat"). In no particular order... Playing this on my iPad, with the orientation of the home button being on the right. When I launch the app, and I get the sign-up screen, the keyboard appears upside-down at the TOP of the screen. ie: The game thinks my iPad is orientated the other way around. Encountered weird bug on level 1-15, where Toshi hit the top barrier and instead of being knocked off and dropping down, she shot upwards like a rocket! I was unable to repeat this bug later though. On completion of level 1-18, when Toshi is dancing and the camera pans around, we are taken "through" the ice block, and it goes all pixelly. On level 1-19, Toshi supposedly "landed" successfully but was clearly "floating" in the air at platform height, quite a few pixels off the actual platform. The same thing happened on 2-10. On level 1-19, Toshi landed successfully and had started to dance for about ½ second, but then the top-platform, which was still falling, fell down on top of her and knocked her into the water. So I had a "successful" level where Toshi was not even there (she was in the water)! I failed on level 1-20 and so re-set. After that point, every single first shot I fired on that level was "invisible". I could hear it, but there was no action onscreen, nor did the shot-count increase. I would hit reset, then fire, then reset, then fire, etc. etc. and each time it was the same. Also, any attempt to drag the view around at this point resulted in an "invisible" shot being fired. The only way to clear this bug was to go back to the level-select screen. I could reproduce this many times, simply by hitting reset on level 1-20. On level 2-1, I took 7 shots, and got 2 stars, but on the dancing screen, it said "your score" followed by nothing! No stars or anything... I think it works fine. It doesn't beat me over the head with obvious instructions as to how it works, but it's easy enough to figure out on my own. In the absence of a "better name", I certainly don't think the current name is a "bad" name. --- Additionally, I had written down quote a few more notes while playing this, which I am not sure which section in your above points you would like me to put these, so I'll just put them here at the end. In no particular order... When first launching, I am presented with "Level Packs". I am not implicitly told why these packs have been divided this way...? Are they easy, medium, hard, etc? I can start on level pack 5, without playing level pack 1, which is not great, especially as pack-1, level-1 contains the tutorial. I'm not a great fan of locking ALL but ONE level at a time, but I think packs 2-5 should be locked until 1 is completed. And in each pack, maybe have only 5 or so unlocked levels at a time. Something like Aqueduct implements this nicely, with their levels and their level-packs. UPDATE: After having completed pack 1, I see the "new pack unlocked" message. Should I assume that the other packs WILL be locked in the final game? There's "sparkles" in the water occasionally, but it seems they very often appear when I shoot, so it looks like I have accidentally shot there. The first time I saw it, it felt very weird. The replay button is at the top-right when in a level, but it's at the bottom-left at the end of a level. I would prefer some consistency in placement. Can the music at the end of a level fade out rapidly when hitting next, rather than be totally cut off suddenly and abruptly? There's often, but not always, a distinct lag when pressing buttons - like if I go from a level and tap on pause. When pack 1 is completed, I get a screen telling me so, but there is no written dialog telling me "tap to continue". I just think it would be nice to tell noobs this, otherwise they might not realise it, and sit there waiting for something to happen. Maybe the reflections can be toned down a bit. I noticed this especially on level 2-2, where it looks like I have two rotating platforms, whereas I actually only have one (the "second" platform is merely the reflection). Level packs (currently) show no distinction between locked and unlocked. Part of me sometimes wants to "zoom in" while I'm playing, to see better/closer, and I find my fingers instinctively doing a reverse-pinch to try and zoom in. Is it possible to implement this? For the icon, if it is staying as it is now, then I would at least remove the default Apple-applied "shine" effect, as this dulls the colours of an otherwise brightly coloured icon. Finally, some repeat points from my first round of testing with the first beta. Again, in no particular order... I still can't understand Toshi sometimes. The first thing she said to me was "Help me *******". And I was playing with headphones this time around, so I had no problems with the sound, just problems *understanding* what was being said. I think the voice is just TOO exaggerated sometimes, or if it's real, then it's too strong for western ears. Still do not like the "Next" button, which looks more like a fast-forward button. The "vectorised" mountains in the menus look odd when compared to the "realistic" scenery in the actual levels. The glow at the bottom of the "Toshi Is Dead" graphic is cut off (the glow is a bit cut off on other graphics too). I still think there is too much repetition of the same phrases over and over again. I would like to hear a HUGE library of comments from Toshi. Although levels show completed versus non-completed by stars, I'd still prefer to see a colour difference, like red for locked/not played and green for unlocked/played. I'd love to be able to have a "watch replay" button - the reason being sometimes I need to put myself in a certain position to shoot blocks in order to land Toshi, but it's not the best angle to "watch" from - and I'd love to watch what I just did play back from a different, better viewing angle. This viewpoint would need to be rotatable of course. Should the replay arrow be going anti-clockwise rather than clockwise? ie: the arrow should be going backwards, not forwards, because you are going BACK to the beginning of the level.
A few very brief follow-up thoughts, having now posted my own and then going on and reading the rest of the thread... ----- I just saw your message about getting 1000 new "beta testers"...!!! Wow man, that's a lot! I can't speak for you, but personally, the way I see it, it's your game, and the majority of the decisions on how to build it lie with you. I'd say 100 testers is PLENTY... As for the in-game tutorials on the different block types... I'd be against having a separate "description" page for them, and if you are going to describe them in the game, then do so in the actual levels, where people can FEEL how they work, not just READ how they work, or see a pre-rendered animation. So either leave it to experimentation, or include them in tutorial levels, where people can see the REACTIONS based on their ACTIONS. Cause and effect... I also see you're asking about using the word "Dance" in the title"... Personally, I would probably not notice or register a game that had this word in the title, as I have NO interest in "rhythm" based games. However, I do love puzzles, and that's what this game is about, as far as the PLAYER is concerned. As far as TOSHI is concerned, it's about dancing, but we're not Toshi. Someone suggested having the shots START from a certain number, and then go DOWN from there... No, no, no, no, no... Please don't do this! Some people will solve the level in two shots, but some other people will take 20 shots to complete the same level. If you start counting down, and then when you hit zero, people will think they've run out of shots! Also, if you count down from three stars and then reach zero, and then you go to two stars and your shot count goes back UP again to another seemingly "random" number... Then dang, that's just going to get confusing for a lot of people. The way you have it now is perfect! The hardcore players can figure out how many shots they need to get a perfect score, and the casual players can just shoot away as many times as they like, with the only objective being to save Toshi, and to not worry about their star rating.
Hi Brett, Great feedback, so I felt like posting some answers: 1) If I'm a position where I OBVIOUSLY cannot win, I would like for the game to somehow recognize this and notify me - it is indeed very hard to code such a thing 2) Ermmm... The "non-white" Toshi in pack 3 just looks weird - we removed her from the next build, youre not the only one who felt it was wrong for the game. BUGS The keyboard orientation problem - will be solved Weird bug on level 1-15 - weird indeed, we will try to recreate Toshi is taken "through" the ice block - this happens sometimes because we cant anticipate the location of blocks in the end of a level. The solution can be watching Toshi dance from a greater distance, whick looks less nice. Toshi "floating" in the air at platform height - we will solve on later builds I had a "successful" level where Toshi was falling from the dancefloor to the water - we actually thought it was funny and invented an achievement for that, called "Murder on the dance floor", you will see that in the upcoming version. Re-set problem on level 1-20 -thanks, we will fix it "your score" followed by nothing! No stars or anything... - will check it NOTES: 1) Yes, all levels will be locked in the final build. 2) sparkle problem - has no connection to your shots 3) The replay button is at the top-right when in a level, but it's at the bottom-left at the end of a level. I would prefer some consistency in placement - we did this since it's the only way out of the fail screen so we didnt want anyone to miss it. anyway lemme think about it. 4) Music at the end of the level should have faded - it's a bug 5) There's often, but not always, a distinct lag when pressing buttons - GUI system on Unity kinda sucks, but we will do our best to see what we can do with this. 6) When pack 1 is completed, I get a screen telling me so, but there is no written dialog telling me "tap to continue" - not sure about this one, let me think about it 7) Maybe the reflections can be toned down a bit - Ill try it, thanks! 8) Level packs (currently) show no distinction between locked and unlocked. due to priority issues, will be fixed in a later build 9) Part of me sometimes wants to "zoom in" while I'm playing - we will see what we can do with that in a future build 10) For the icon, if it is staying as it is now, then I would at least remove the default Apple-applied "shine" effect - will do 11) I still can't understand Toshi sometimes - could you write down the specific phrases that are unclear? 12) Still do not like the "Next" button, which looks more like a fast-forward button - what would you suggest instead? (I dont want to use a play button) 13) The "vectorised" mountains in the menus look odd when compared to the "realistic" scenery in the actual levels. - Toshi is also different (rendered in a soft cartoonish shader). 14) The glow at the bottom of the "Toshi Is Dead" graphic is cut off - will be fixed 15) I still think there is too much repetition of the same phrases - we did add some more, will try to see if we can add even more without choking the memory 16) I'd still prefer to see a colour difference in locked vs unlocked levels - will be fixed. 17) I'd love to be able to have a "watch replay" button - super hard to implement because of how the physics engine works and the way we built our system. cant promise anything on this one. 18) Should the replay arrow be going anti-clockwise rather than clockwise? ie: the arrow should be going backwards, not forwards, because you are going BACK to the beginning of the level.[/QUOTE]
Good one Brett, I love it too - "Save me, Handsome" lol it's funny and would sure grab my attention. The only thing I'm not sure of is if this kind of name might be a turn-off for female players? otherwise, perfect!!! As to the massive open beta project - we believe it will give us extra some info that can't be measured from a small dedicated group of experienced players like yourselves. We hope to capture the major objections from more general mass of people, gather some statisics, and see if we can tweak the game to players who experience the game in a more casual way, without losing the hard-core audience.
Not all female players Anyway, given the humor used while playing, this is a risk already embedded in the game ...
