It's an interesting idea, I'll certainly have a play around with it and see what sort of difference it makes to the feel of the game, cheers.
And basically every other anagram game ever made, including some of my own from many years back. There's a limit to what you can do with little square boxes. I've tried several times altering how the field is laid out and how the play tiles look and work over the years. In the end most people end up complaining that there isn't a more traditional layout to the games, so who am I to argue with them, got to give people (mostly) what they want in the end after all they are the ones who have to play the thing.
I think this is where the missing word thing is clearer. Why is there no allocation for the word "let"? Also, why can't I make the seven-letter word "booklet" here? In other similar games, words completed are shown alphabetically and this can help you work out what's missing.
Hi, Both words are in the dictionary's, so it should be possible to enter them. Looking at the screenshot you provided though, you can't make a seven letter word because there is no space for a seven letter word on the game board, the highest you could make in that screen is a six letter word. And you have filled in all of the available three letter words, so you can't then add let as there is no space for it. This isn't like similar games where you just make any and all words possible, I already have two games like that out. I wanted this one to be different so you have to try and fill in the spaces on the board. Which is why for instance, if you entered a six letter word for that screenshot. The number of white tiles on the board would change to five. Indicating that all longer words have been found so you can't enter more.
That confused me a bit at first but I worked it out pretty quickly. You could maybe have some sort of target displayed on screen though, which shows you how many of each word length you still have to find.
Hi folks, Thought I'd put a wee update on what's happening as it probably seems like I'm dragging my heels with the update to Wurds. Beyond the changes I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been tweaking the in-game interface to make it rheal purdy like. More importantly, by way of thanks to all you lovely people who have been buying me coffees, I'm adding a new game mode (or two depending on time) to add a bit of variety. So that's taking up a fair bit of my time. And I'm investigating a couple of reports of random crashes. That's taking an awful lot of time as I'm having to play lots and lots of games (which I like) but the $%!#*&* thing just keeps working for me. Normally that would be good but when your trying to find a problem you really want it to bloody break That's all for now, just wanted to let you know I've not forgotten about or abandoned the game.
It all sounds very awesome and I am really looking forward to checking it out when it is ready! I'm still enjoying the original a lot and all the tweaks sound like it will be even more fun. I'm especially happy about the larger buttons!
It's finally allliiiiveeee... Ha, just kidding, it's seems like it's been a long time but it's just because I've been working very long days and nights. What started out as a quick bug fix and a couple of new features has grown arms and legs and turned into, well, damn near a whole new game. I've pulled in some things I'd been working on for a separate game a while back. Freshly polished up and included in Wurds to give a bit of variety. All the changes I mentioned before are complete, along with bug fixes, a completely new look, revamped sounds and, well basically everything. Oh and one of the new game modes might just please a certain someone who liked the menu screen Here's a wee video that (even with my dodgy video making skills) should show it off better than I can describe. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
If ever there was proof needed that my medication makes me forgetful, this is it I forgot to mention one other new feature coming for everyone, free players and coffee buyers alike. There is a new custom challenge mode (or feature maybe) where you can create your own levels. Put in your own source letters and add a list of the words to find, set a time limit if you like and add a category if you want to give a hint. Then share the level with anyone you want by email or iMessage. The recipient can add the level with one touch. Levels you create and receive are saved so you can edit them, share them as often as you like and play them yourself so you can check if you have the right challenge balance. I'll get screenies up when I get home.
Well as promised here are the screens of the new level editor where you can create your own games. As if the hundreds of millions of unique levels in Wurds weren't already enough to keep you going for the next twenty years, this adds even more variety and longevity to the game. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and suggestions, it's all much appreciated and always welcome. So, to save reading through the whole thread, here's a quick recap of what is coming to Wurds 1.0 (current version) Literally hundreds of millions of unique, dynamically generated games. Two game modes, one of which is completely free. No limits, nags, lives or anything else. Just an endless supply of free games. 1.0.1 Update adds the following Big visual overhaul making the game a bit easier on the eyes. Nice new tiles, colors and animations. I've added some more sounds for better audio cues and there's some nice ambient background music. Three brand new game modes for all of you lovely folks who have been buying me coffees. Including two brand new styles of play. Also for the coffee buyers, there is now an option in the settings to enable automatic plural and singular checking and word entry. Now you can create your own custom levels and share them using Email, iMessage and AirDrop. Free for all users, coffee buyers and free players alike. Bigger buttons where possible. No more undo button, now just tap anywhere on the white tiles to remove the last letter added. Tapping on any word you have already entered in the top boxes will instantly add it back onto the play tiles. Three seconds are added to your game time for each word you successfully enter. You can now play your own music in the background by disabling the in-game music. Minor bug fixes and behind the scenes optimisations. Still just a single in-app purchase to unlock all 5 game modes, get rid of the adverts and keep me going in coffee to work on this and other games.
WOW! You truly outdid yourself! You not only listened to us here, you went way way way beyond. Wurds was awesome before. Now it's freaking brilliant. Seriously, fantastic work. This is now my favorite word game. I've updated my App Store review already and plan to spend hours wallowing in Wurds today. Just awesome. PS: It's SOOO pretty!!!
Thanks for all the improvements and extra game modes, they're really nice additions. But I'm getting some seriously steep battery drain on my iPhone 5S and it gets really sluggish sometimes, so I think it could do with some optimizing. I played for maybe 15 mins on the bus.
Aw shucks, you'll make me blush I'm glad you like it, that makes the work worthwhile for you and the two other people who play it *Edit, oh no wait, one other person cos one of them is me
It's certainly something I'll start looking into tomorrow. There is a lot going on in the background now since the update. But I'm sure I should be able to do some optimising to bring that drain down. It's strange though, during development there was nowhere near as much battery drain, the cpu usage was actually pretty low and it's not a graphically demanding game. It's really mostly used up by the dictionaries and all the routines for checking them. I've a feeling as well that maybe the auto plural/singular checking may be a culprit. Curious to know if you have been using that. But yeah, I'll drop the other stuff I'm doing just now and start some investigation. I'll try my best to get an update out asap. Sorry for waffling on, my medication is in full swing so hopefully all that drivel makes sense.
I didn't switch on the plural/singular check as soon as I read you'd get less time/points It could, of course, be my device. I did restart it later just in case and there may have been a whole heap of other stuff from the day that was creating problems, but unfortunately, it did act sluggish. Thanks again for all your hard work creating Wurds!
Your definitely right, I've looked at my own usage and while it's not quite as drastic as yours there's definitely something afoot. I'll start debugging in the morning and see if I can find some gremlins to squash. As for the plural/singular thing. You won't lose out on any points or score multipliers, you just don't get the (teeny wee) bit of extra time for each word. But I've found in my playing the trade off is definitely worth it. I seem to save more time by having it switched on than I'd gain from the bonus time. But we all play differently, that's why I didn't make it mandatory. Oh, that's a good word for someone in my state
Just yin wee update. After two days of practically no sleep (thank you obsessiveness) and several dozen red bulls You weren't wrong, so far I've got the CPU usage down by almost 90% on average. So the battery life situation has improved. I'm not happy yet, after level 32ish it's hogging a bit more memory than I'd like so I'm trying to bring that down before I submit the update. Mostly I'm annoyed that I got past level 30 with a huge score and it's not going to be on the leaderboards I've improved the globe animation in game as well so it's a lot less jarring when you add a new word. Ah well, time for another shop run to stock up on energy drinks then it's back to work. If only I'd made a better game to justify all of this work lol. *Edit, just to clarify, by better game I mean something people would be more interested in. As it is I think Wurds is an ok word game, but it is just a word game if you know what I mean. Of course my complete lack of marketing ability probably doesn't help either lol.
Just an update for the three people who play the game I've submitted the next update for Wurds. CPU usage is down by 96% and the memory footprint has been reduced by almost half. Why I didn't do these changes in the first place I don't know, just stoopid I guess. Anyway the update should sort out the battery drain issue. Hopefully it'll be out quick, my developer membership is up in a month and I'm seriously considering not renewing it. Five years and I'm still not good enough, much more practice needed methinks. So I'd like the update to get out and everyone have the chance to update it before that happens, if it does. I'm rambling now, bloody medication lol, so I'll bring this post to an abrupt halt
