Feedback Request: Geom game, demo, website

[Indiepath]

Hi,

Indiepath has released GEOM v1.3 and would like you to try the demo and reply to this small questionnaire. The questionnaire contains 33 questions. Answering to these questions shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes. We appreciate your effort.

The game download link: www.geomgame.com/download.php
Website & screenshots: www.geomgame.com


GEOM QUESTIONNAIRE
GAMEPLAY, GFX, SFX

1) How would you rate the actual game play? (I hate it 1 .......... 5 I love it)

2) Why?

3) Rate the game graphics (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good)

4) Why?

5) Rate the game sounds (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good)

6) Why?

7) Rate the levels (I hate them 1 .......... 5 I like them very much)

8) Why is that?

9) Is the game difficulty okay? (pick one: "game is too difficult", "game is too easy", "the game difficulty is fine")

10) What are the best features in the game?

11) What are the worst parts of game?

12) What would you add or change to make game better?

13) Any other comments?

SHAREWARE INCENTIVE:

14) Rate the demo: how well it works as an incentive on purchasing the game (very poorly 1 .......... 5 very nicely)

15) Why? What would you change or add?

16) Demo has 60 minute limit. Is the demo time limit too short or long or appropriate?

17) What would you suggest for time limit?

18) Demo has only 10 levels. Do you think the amount of levels in demo should be smaller or greater?

19) How would you do the feature limitation?

20) Rate the nag screens (very bad 1 .......... 5 very good)

21) Why is that?

22) Any more ideas on how to improve the demo to make it more appealing for purchase?

WEBSITE

23) On scale 1-5 how would you rate the game website? (worst 1 ...... 5 best)

24) What do you consider bad in the website?

25) What do you consider good?

26) Are there any improvements that would you suggest we make to the game website?

PURCHASE PAGE

27) How would you rate the game purchase page? (very bad 1 ...... 5 very good)

28) Why is that?

29) Is the purchase page too complex? (very complex 1 ......... 5 very easy)

30) How secure do you think the purchasing is? (not secure at all 1 ......... 5 very secure)

31) Are there any improvements that would you suggest we make to the purchase page?

32) Do you have any other comments about the purchase page?

OTHER FEEDBACK

33) If you have anything else to comments, please feel free to do so.





Thank you for your time.

[DGuy]

Hi,

Maybe you've seen this already, but I posted some comments here:

http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=3222

In response to the 1.2 anouncement.

DGuy

[Robert Cummings]

Will you pay me for the 10-15 mins?

[Indiepath]

Thanks DGuy. We have changed the game... so some of your previous comments have been considered... and we have changed the game:

(Hmm... I'm not 100% sure if Tim changed the issue #1 - and he is on holiday now so I cannot tell if that's fixed. we will work on it anyway if not already done. :))

#2 is changed (it will show "click here" only in the first level)
#3 as far as I know... the volume changing should be now ok.
#4 sparkles have changed bit as well, I think this is no more an issue.

So please, if possible - reply to this survey as well. That would be very welcome (as you gave us good ideas which we already implemented - I'd like to hear some more). :)

@Robert Cummings: Nope... but isn't it wonderful feeling after giving somebody something they want. :)

[gersen]

Hi,

I have no time to answer to all your survey but I have played a bit your game and this is my feelings:

the concetp is original and the game is well made (graphics 4, sound 5 (I find it very well suited for the game), levels 3). Why levels only 3? Because some are fun but others are very boring. When you have a lot of linked geom with more than 4 side the game slowed down a lot and it is rather difficult to made combos. So my suggestion here is to try to avoid level completely made of geom with more than 4 side and mix it with more geom with 4 or 3 side.

Other than that I think that the game is not well suited for the casual market, it isn't as easy as the other 'puzzle' games. You should try to reach your own audience, people that enjoy this type of puzzle where you have to think a bit more before to move your pieces.

Anyway a good game, I quite enjoied it.

[HunterSD]

Why not offer a free version of the game to everyone that participates? I'm sure you'd get a lot more responses that way.

[Indiepath]

@gersen: No problem if you do not have the time. I appreciate your effort on commenting.

Do you mean you got slow FPS rating on some levels? Maybe we could have some kind of score system that would allow you to skip some levels - if you prefer not to play them.

We have received mixed information about the difficulty of the game: Some people report it to be too difficult while others think it's too easy. I'm not sure what it is :) Hopefully the 4 different game modes provide helps in this issue. We are defining the way our customers play and where they play. Thanks for your comments.

[soniCron]

GEOM QUESTIONNAIRE
GAMEPLAY, GFX, SFX

1) How would you rate the actual game play? (I hate it 1 .......... 5 I love it)
3.5

2) Why?
Very unique and quite fun, but sometimes it got extremely complex. I think a hinting system would be a nice addition for the beginners. Also, anything more than 3 sides is difficult for first-time players.

3) Rate the game graphics (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good)
5

4) Why?
Fit very well with the theme of the game. The style was attractive.

5) Rate the game sounds (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good)
4

6) Why?
Again, very fitting. I could listen to them all day. BUT, you lost me (and a point) with the voice. It was good, but not good enough. And, it spoke too much. I know I've paused the game...really, c'mon. IT JUST TALKS TOO DAMN MUCH!

7) Rate the levels (I hate them 1 .......... 5 I like them very much)
3

8) Why is that?
Fairly good follow through, though I would have made it start off a little easier. Nice learning curve otherwise (which could be improved with a hinting system).

9) Is the game difficulty okay? (pick one: "game is too difficult", "game is too easy", "the game difficulty is fine")
The game difficulty is fine

10) What are the best features in the game?
Graphics, animation, gameplay, music. In that order.

11) What are the worst parts of game?
THE VOICE.

12) What would you add or change to make game better?
The voice.

13) Any other comments?
Nope.

SHAREWARE INCENTIVE:

14) Rate the demo: how well it works as an incentive on purchasing the game (very poorly 1 .......... 5 very nicely)
2

15) Why? What would you change or add?
Unless I was addicted to the gameplay (and I mean very addicted), I wouldn't even care to buy it. You didn't give me a taste and then pull away, you let me eat the whole plate then ask if I wanted more.

16) Demo has 60 minute limit. Is the demo time limit too short or long or appropriate?
Inappropriate.

17) What would you suggest for time limit?
I'd try a gameplay limit (like 10-15 minutes) and a maximum number of runs.

18) Demo has only 10 levels. Do you think the amount of levels in demo should be smaller or greater?
I didn't get through all the levels, but I think if you capped me at a certain time per play and stopped me halfway through a level, I'd be like "Oooh, wait! No! I want this!"

19) How would you do the feature limitation?
Like I said.

20) Rate the nag screens (very bad 1 .......... 5 very good)
1

21) Why is that?
I didn't even notice them. ;)

22) Any more ideas on how to improve the demo to make it more appealing for purchase?
Nope.

WEBSITE

23) On scale 1-5 how would you rate the game website? (worst 1 ...... 5 best)
4

24) What do you consider bad in the website?
Make the "Play Game" button different and bigger than the "Buy Game" button.

25) What do you consider good?
Very attractive.

26) Are there any improvements that would you suggest we make to the game website?
Already said.

PURCHASE PAGE

27) How would you rate the game purchase page? (very bad 1 ...... 5 very good)
3

28) Why is that?
All that info at the top is too tiny. Didn't even notice until I looked harder. You need "Money Back Guarantee", "Privacy", etc. logos really big.

29) Is the purchase page too complex? (very complex 1 ......... 5 very easy)
3

30) How secure do you think the purchasing is? (not secure at all 1 ......... 5 very secure)
2.5

31) Are there any improvements that would you suggest we make to the purchase page?
Big metal cast-iron, plated-gold privacy, money back, security icons.

32) Do you have any other comments about the purchase page?
Nope.

OTHER FEEDBACK

33) If you have anything else to comments, please feel free to do so.
Next time, I'll do my style comment card. ;)




Thank you for your time.
No, thank you! ;)

[stan]

I've posted a small thing about GEOM 1.3 in the other thread...

Your poll is way too long, but I'll answer a few questions:

1) How would you rate the actual game play? (I hate it 1 .......... 5 I love it)

2

2) Why?

It's just "click click click click"... Always the same, not a big challenge, not a lot of variety, maybe not enough rewards. But a lot of players seem to like "click click click click" games ;)... I'm not your typical casual gamer.

3) Rate the game graphics (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good)

4

7) Rate the levels (I hate them 1 .......... 5 I like them very much)

3

8) Why is that?

Different levels didn't seem to change the gameplay much or at all.

9) Is the game difficulty okay? (pick one: "game is too difficult", "game is too easy", "the game difficulty is fine")

Seems fine.

10) What are the best features in the game?

The animations.

14) Rate the demo: how well it works as an incentive on purchasing the game (very poorly 1 .......... 5 very nicely)

1

15) Why? What would you change or add?

Apart from the 1 hour limit, I have no idea what's different in the full game. But then, I don't really like the gameplay anyway, so no amount of incentive would convince me to buy... I know the intro nag screen lists what's in the full version, but I didn't really read it. There's probably too much text in there, written too small.

18) Demo has only 10 levels. Do you think the amount of levels in demo should be smaller or greater?

I got bored at level 4 :). Since all levels seem to be the same, it's probably enough to keep only 5 levels or so. Maybe 3? Ahem.

23) On scale 1-5 how would you rate the game website? (worst 1 ...... 5 best)

4

24) What do you consider bad in the website?

White background, small text.

25) What do you consider good?

Nice page layout, clear and easy to read, contains everything, I really liked it.


I hope that didn't sound too harsh. I'm just not into this type of games. Hopefully many people don't think like me :).

[Escapee]

I will help answer a few questions from a gamer perspective ( not developer ok ??:D)

1) How would you rate the actual game play? (I hate it 1 .......... 5 I love it)
2.5

2) Why ?
the game is unique , but lack the playability and fun level that exhibited by some of the top games like Zuma , Jewel & exe . the 2.5 is solely for the cool graphics !!

3) 14) Rate the demo: how well it works as an incentive on purchasing the game
2

4 )Why
when i play Ultratron :D , i have that impulse to buy , but sorry not on this one ( the animation is really nice though ... )

all in all ,Graphic is good but so so on gameplay , keep up the good work & may success be with you ( same to me too :D)

[Tertsi]

I tried the game today and I liked it, here's my input. :)

1) How would you rate the actual game play? - 3

2) Why? The gameplay is fairly addictive and likely can't be improved much without changing the whole idea but there's something missing.

3) Rate the game graphics - 3

4) Why? The actual game elements, (colourful lines etc.) are ok but a bit dull and boring. I really like the cute little creatures with moving eyes and time bonus graphics though.

5) Rate the game sounds (Very bad 1 .......... 5 Very good) - 2.5

6) Why? The voice overs' cyber voice was annoying and I started disliking it after 1 minute of playing, however the music was nice and having voice overs is nice.

7) Rate the levels - 4

8) Why is that? The difficulty raises at a good pace and the levels are fairly nice but there could be room for improvement here, however I don't think it would make enough difference.

9) Is the game difficulty okay? the game difficulty is fine

11) What are the worst parts of game? - The voice overs' annoying cyber tone.

12) What would you add or change to make game better? I would completely redo the voice overs and make the tutorial text of the game more easily readable, currently it's aligned to the whole screen (instead of a portion of it) and that makes it hard to read especially with the whacky font.

SHAREWARE INCENTIVE:

14 and 15) Fairly well I would guess, but once again, I got turned off by the voice overs' sound.

16) Demo has 60 minute limit. Is the demo time limit too short or long or appropriate? If it wasn't a standard and expected, I would cut it by 10-20 minutes, but because 60 minutes is the standard, I would keep the limit at 60 minutes.

17) What would you suggest for time limit?

18) Demo has only 10 levels. Do you think the amount of levels in demo should be smaller or greater? Greater, 15-20 would work better because 10 levels are too fast to go through.

[Curiosoft]

Hey,

Looks like a cool game. I tried to play it, but I would hear "Geom" and a blank white screen would show up.

I tried to switch the screen mode and still got the white screen. I also unchecked the 32-bit option with little luck.

I run Windows XP on an ATI Mobility Radeon (on a Sony Vaio PCG-GR250)

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Indiepath]

@soniCron: Thank you very much. You have given us *very* valuable information.

@stan: Nonono, "harsh" is good. The more harsh, the better. That way we know what to improve. If you have any more ideas or comments, or harsh criticism (which is very welcome) ;) let us know. Thanks for your time.

@Escapee: Okay, we'll check Ultraton and see if we can make the demo more appealing. Thanks for your comments.

@Tertsi: it seems that you are the second one reporting about the voice... we'll do something about it. Thanks for the other comments as well.

@Curiosoft: Weird.. have you updated your video card drivers?


Thanks people for your answers, this has been very helpful. If other people like to participate please, feel free to do so.

[codeminion]

Hello :)

Sorry but i really don't have the time to break down that chart right now but i will post my first impression. Every feedback helps ;)

I played the game and found it quite good in general. The graphics were very casual and nice, maybe too casual for me ;) but i m not a casual gamer.

The sounds were very consistent with the graphics although i see some room for improvement. The sounds when you clicked the "elements" when they rotated were very faint and kind of "creaky" like there were some aliasing problems with the sound. Maybe these sounds should be more pronounced and maybe different for rotating left and right.

As to the game play it was very original but not very playable nor addicting nevertheless quite nice.

The one thing was the lack of "forced tutorial" and i was a bit confused as of to what the power-ups gave me.

That's it for now.

Great job and keep on working :)

Konrad

[Indiepath]

Thanks codeminion. We have had some plans for the tutorial... but it won't be here in the near future.

We have announced Geom v1.4 (we adjusted the vocals and implemented online high scores, and more updates to come :)) - please take a look at it and reply here:
http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?p=43915#post43915

[stan]

Just to say I played on a Radeon Mobility 9700 without problem (Asus laptop, XP Home SP2). I didn't update the drivers... version 6.14.10.6497 from 30 nov. 2004.

Maybe you could introduce the bonuses one by one in each level, with a short text to explain its use at the beginning of the level. (i.e. no bonus in the first level, one in the second, etc.) That way it would give some sense of progression.

[Indiepath]

3) 14) Rate the demo: how well it works as an incentive on purchasing the game
2

4 )Why
when i play Ultratron :D , i have that impulse to buy , but sorry not on this one ( the animation is really nice though ... )

all in all ,Graphic is good but so so on gameplay , keep up the good work & may success be with you ( same to me too :D)

I tested Ultratron and I'm sure it's fine game but I really did not see a single incentive which would persuade me to buy: it has no nag screens, I can't tell how the demo is limited nor what will I get when I buy? Could you please specify what you meant by this? Thank you.

[Robert Cummings]

Ultra is massive fun, retro, small, exciting and progressive. It also stops before you can get too far. It has a point to it and a strong identity. It knows what it wants to be and achieves it entirely.

Your game has no progression at all. There's no point to it. That in a nutshell, is why I can't see myself buying it. There's no character to it either.

I'm not being mean or nasty, that is the simple fact of it for me, and I hope that you for your sake, will consider dramatic changes or polish it and move on to the next game...

By character, I don't mean the backgrounds because that is all they are (although they are nice). I mean some integral reason for me to progress.


I also bought ultratron. I love all games from Zuma to Quake so it's not a genre thing...

[Indiepath.T]

I hope that you for your sake, will consider dramatic changes or polish it and move on to the next game...

Great feedback. Could you be a bit more specific about what we should/could dramatically change?

[Robert Cummings]

To be honest, I have a very difficult time seeing this game as a success for the casual audiances.

I do have several ideas, but I don't want to write them down here because I feel I have already offended you. I feel they will require too many changes to the game too, so not too useful to you.

Sorry if thats the case, but I am trying to be as honest as I can.

[MiceHead]

Indiepath has released GEOM v1.3 and would like you to try the demo...
I just wanted to chime in and mention that I had played the game some time ago, and absolutely loved it. It was the most enjoyable casual title I'd seen in a long time. As I recall, the only reason I didn't pick up a copy is that I was over my entertainment budget for the month.

[Indiepath.T]

@Robert, apologies - no offence taken. It's really difficult when you've been working so closely on a game to see what needs changing - you kinda get blinkered. Please feel free to speak about your ideas - I won't bite I promise. ;)

[Robert Cummings]

lol okay...


simplify main menu, divide into a left and right area with casual and puzzle play
have casual contain a map of a warp zone area with say 100 levels, no time limits and all you need to do is wipe each board... not continuously play it
in puzzle mode, it's the game as you see it now


Currently you are score based only, this doesn't lend well to a feeling of progression and must be fixed. By being able to "clear a board" and introducing new gameplay elements that enable that approach (it mustn't be far too easy) then you allow an element of satisfaction to creep in.

By adding tier or championship board so people can see how far they have to go, a feeling of progression is gained.

I don't need to go on... :)

[Indiepath.T]

Nice one Rob thanks again.