Thanks! I always like it when people give lots of attention to my creations, so I decided I'd give yours its due attention.robly18 wrote:Holy crap, exfret. Andy was right when he told me to put this on the forums, this is great feedback.
You mean alright, right?robly18 wrote:Aight so, here's my responses to some of your things:
exfret wrote:To improve playtesting:
-Tell us what stuff does, either in this thread or whatever, just say the specific features of each thing and what they do. It doesn't have to be a step-by-step tutorial, but it would be helpful to do this if you add any more complex things in (I'm doing okay guessing what does so far, though).
-If possible, make it so it saves your level. (Probably less of a priority).
-Give names to levels or do something else that helps me find specific levels.
-Please more text. I mean, adding text to buttons can't be that hard, can it? And, it helps me know what various buttons do.
If the only people playing get the game from teh forum or are your friends, then...robly18 wrote:The first part.. Well, I don't want to put stuff in this thread, because I do want to make sure that the game is good enough that the players get it by themselves.
a) They come from the forum and can just read the thread.
b) Are your friends, in which case you can explain the game to them.
The players don't necessarily have to get it by themselves. Some people, like me, can figure it out, while NealCruco couldn't. Now, would you rather have your game rendered unplayable to people like NealCruco, or put the guide I just posted that I didn't mention until now in the OP?
I liked your pictures. Much less than 1000 words in there though. If you're trying to be minimalist (which it sounds like you are), you could look at TwoDots (a free app), A Dark Room (on the web, also an app), or CandyBox 2. Although the latter two use lots of text, they don't give the player any directions, but you can still figure out what to do. You could also see if anything Andy's done in teh GSim strikes your fancy. In the end, I think you'll have to put in some extra text, but doing so with a special font/color should make it okay. Is there a reason you hate text so much other than its complete ugliness if used improperly?robly18 wrote:However, I also want to avoid using text, and have no idea how to convey the mechanics without using it.
Probably good practice, though, if that's what you're aiming for. If you're afraid of breaking something, you can always create a 'test' version separate from the one you'll show your friends.robly18 wrote:As to making it save the level, it certainly would be possible, but would be a bit of a hassle and would make the code certainly uglier.
I just want something that gives you more info on which level's which. If you can't figure out a way, then that's okay.robly18 wrote:Giving names is quite possible: the hardest part about that sounds like it would be to draw the box in which you'd say the level name.
Erase wasn't too vague. The small amount of vagueness it does have, though, is dangerous. I guess my guide explains most stuff anyways.robly18 wrote:As for more text... Like I said, I'm trying to avoid using text, but I guess some buttons, like the erase one, are indeed a bit vague.
Usually, when you click on a button, normally in a menu, some sound comes on and the button's appearance changes to signify you clicked on it. Almost every game has some feature like this. Just go into GSim, I'm sure you'll see. Just hold down the mouse button when you click the menu button to see what happens. Hopefully it does have this...robly18 wrote:Huh? Which kind of buttons? The arrows or the buttons like "delete" and such? To me, it seems like they give you enough feedback as is
Just change the picture.robly18 wrote:Hm. Well, I got nothing. I guess that's what happens when you try to make a game around experimentation.
Any way Andy could help you out or find a way to solve your problem?robly18 wrote:I'm sorry, but this looks like way, way too much of a hassle. I mean, if I run out of things to do, I might attempt to do it, but as is, I'd need to overhaul most of my class hierarchies.
First: Receivers could just be the color of what they receive. Have a diagonal line for 2 inputs. Bottom left would be the first input, top right the second. Open and crossed circles get more complicated, especially level 20 (which is confusing with the 4 input thing), so you could just include them only when you click on the receiver.robly18 wrote:My main problem with these two would be how to do it, exactly. If you have any suggestions, feel free to give them.
Second: Just create separate images for when the robot is stacked showing the blocks it has stacked on it. Should be easy enough, right? You could at least show a box below the top one. It can just be gray if it's too hard creating images for all stacking combinations.
Well, all I want is a lock in the top left corner of the square or something. I don't understand why this is so hard.robly18 wrote:The first one sounds possible, but the second one... Well, what is fixed or not is kind of set in stone by a flag set in my level editor (read: notepad) and is level-wide.
How about you include a counter. Hopefully you can do it in a way that doesn't look ugly. Also make sure it counts down so that it's obvious when the level's gonna end.robly18 wrote:As always, any suggestion as to how I could do this?
Ahh. No sounds. Seems like something you could practice, too. Music and sounds would definitely make it seem a lot more professional, though.robly18 wrote:The former is, indeed a small thing and not really a priority. Also sounds like something I should've planned ahead for, as right now seems like it would be a bit too late.
YAY! Level editor! Could you at least tell me what each letter means? Anyways, good job making a level editor before I even asked for one!robly18 wrote:There already is a level editor... Sorta. Look in the "levelfile.txt". It has the levels and such. However, the inputs and outputs and what the letters mean are indeed hardcoded into the game, and making a custom output maker sounds way, way out of the scope of what I'm doing here.
Okay. You could probably include one or two easy-sounding suggestions for the new levels.robly18 wrote:Right. A bit too much for what I can handle (getting it to be as-is was already difficult), so don't expect many of these to be added. If I ever make a sequel, however, I'll look into it.
But then, how does it keep its constant speed and change its speed the instant you tell it to?robly18 wrote:Added. When machine is going faster, time ticks slower for it.
Incidentally, it has no way of telling time, so it doesn't actually change anything.
Maybe next game you should work on coding in more readable way. A sequel sound fun. I am wondering what you're planning to do next, though. Are you ever going to work up to making a 'full' game?robly18 wrote:As for the rest:
I don't plan on going *too* far with it, but I do plan on finishing it. This is my first attempt at a serious game, but I don't plan to spend months developing this. I've learned a lot making this, but now I want to put that knowledge to use from scratch, and not keep working on a game that, looking back on it, looks like it was mostly written by a drunk weasel. However, I do want to get this to at least a playable state. My plan so far is to just keep working on level design and minor features, and once I've gotten that done, share it with my friends.