Feedback Request: Professor Fizzwizzle - Final Beta!

[Ryan Clark]

Hi everyone!

Grubby Games is back again with the final beta version of "Professor Fizzwizzle." We posted our first beta here a few weeks ago and got some excellent feedback. We've addressed almost every single issue that was brought up. Most notably: We now have a "world map" to show progress through the game, we cut the amount of reading down by more than 75% by using a tutorial-text system, we added a game speed slider so you can play at your own pace, and we changed over to FMOD for sound to fix the "poor sound quality" problems some people reported.

Screenshots: 1 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot1.jpg) 2 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot2.jpg) 3 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot3.jpg) 4 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot4.jpg) 5 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot5.jpg) 6 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot6.jpg) 7 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot7.jpg) 8 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot8.jpg) 9 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot9.jpg) 10 (http://grubbygames.com/images/screenshot10.jpg)

Windows (http://grubbygames.com/ProfessorFizzwizzleBETA2.exe) (7.4mb)
Mac OS X (http://grubbygames.com/ProfessorFizzwizzleBETA2.dmg) (9.8mb)
Linux (http://grubbygames.com/ProfessorFizzwizzleBETA2.tar.gz) (9.7mb)

The Linux version is new, and a bit experimental, so I'd be very interested to hear if you're able to get it running on your machine.

Thanks for taking the time to check out our game! We're interested in any and all feedback you may have.

[BIGZIPZ]

This game is really brilliant.

[Drake]

The tutorial pop-ups are nice. Good job breaking up the text into digestible chunks.

The world map is beautiful. Does an excellent job of showing off the large number of levels at a glance. Some nitpicky comments based on mouse navigation:

- I found the level hotspots to be a bit small. I would recommend some "lazy" hotspots - larger than the dots themselves, maybe with a cursor snap to the center of the dot.

- Once you select/highlight a level, you need to double-click to start it. I think a single click should be enough.

- I really wanted to see the Professor move along the paths. If you shrunk him down enough, I think you could do it without obscuring your hotspots.

[PaulCunningham]

Full of charm.

Only played a few levels due to it being late though.

In game Level Editor was a very nice feature and real easy to use.

Ran without problems on my WinXP / Athalon 500 / Geforce 3TI 200 PC

Congratulations! It's really well done!

[ggambett]

Linux version : doesn't work. It's interesting what you do to compile the game in-place, but I get 2136 lines with errors, all of them with references to STL. We probably have different STL versions.

Why are you doing this? Is because of the SDL license? If that's the case, you don't need to do this. If it was to increase compatibility with other systems... well... it didn't work :)

Email me if you want me to try other things.

[DanDanger]

Oh, your game is really good fun to play. Plus it is a proven fact that any game with the word "professor" in the title is going to be great no mater what.

I could not find fault with your game, it really is lovely. Its so relaxing being able to play at your own pace, and being able to auto complete the level just makes it that more player friendly. The graphics are so sweet and the music mirrors the style perfectly.

You have a very highly polished, fun and relaxing game, I could not ask for more :)

Well bloody done!

[whisperstorm]

I have both a 9yr old boy and a 7 year old girl, and they both cannot get enough of this game. My son's been asking me to register it for weeks now :)

[digriz]

Hi,

Good game but i think i may have found a bug. It could be a game feature but it's an unusual one. I'm only testing the windows version but i suspect this will be on all platforms.

When you start a level, press escape and select the 'show solution' button. Let the solution playback completely. When it returns to the menu, select the 'next level' button and hey-presto you've just skipped that level.

If this is a game feature, i think it makes it a little too easy to get to the end.

[m.e.]

Hello Ryan,

Stunning game!
I'm jealous of this well designed and funny game! Those animations sure brought a smile on my face.

I've signed up for your newsletter and as soon as the full version is available you can be assured that I will try to buy it!


Question: Your site didn't provide me how you are shipping your
product. If there is no way I can buy it in the store (which I
assume), how can a non-credit card holder buy your product?
I'm happy to pay for the extra costs as long as I don't have
to use someone elses credit card!

Keep up the good work!

Regards from

[Ryan Clark]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the excellent feedback so far! We're very happy to hear that the game is enjoyable :)

I've read all of your comments above and have taken them into consideration. I'll answer only a few specific posts here:

When you start a level, press escape and select the 'show solution' button. Let the solution playback completely. When it returns to the menu, select the 'next level' button and hey-presto you've just skipped that level.That is by design... we figure if you want to skip the levels, we're not going to stop you! Some people enjoy having an easier time with games, so the option is there if you want it.

Also, wouldn't it be a pain if the game forced you to go through the motions? You already know the solution... it would be like punishment or something :)

how can a non-credit card holder buy your product?We'll be using Plimus as our payment processor, so you'll be able to use "US$ Checks, Eurochecks, Wire Transfers. Payments can be made Online, by Fax, by Mail or by Phone." I hope one of these options will suffice!

I have both a 9yr old boy and a 7 year old girl, and they both cannot get enough of this game.That's great news! We tried hard to keep the game accessible to kids; it's good to hear that we've succeeded.

Thanks again for the feedback everyone. You have helped make Professor Fizzwizzle a better game :)