Feedback Request: Thomas and the Magical Words Updated (1.02) Version

[chanon]

Direct Download Link:
http://www.viquagames.com/games/thomas/download/

Screenshots:
http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas0.jpg
http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas1.jpg
http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas2.jpg
http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas3.jpg
http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas4.jpg

System Requirements:
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Pentium500 or better
DirectX 5 or better
128MB of RAM

The first post was here:
http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=4482

In this updated version:
- We've changed the letter tiles to use dots instead of numbers to avoid problems with Hasbro.
- Added a little more story to the game as conversations
- Added sound fxs and adjusted some music
- Lots of little improvements
- Fixed some bugs

We've been getting some bug reports which we think we'ved fixed but there may be some bugs left. So if anyone would be so kind ... please try playing it at least to the Flower-D map.

Also, any comments and advice on the game or on the website is welcome!

PS. Who knows where Terin is?

EDIT: Anyone getting a crash bug, please locate the errors.log file (it needs to be the one right after you crashed) in the game directory and send it to me at chanon _at_ viquasoft.com Thanks!

[Werzel]

Hi chanon,

This is my first post here though I have been lurking for a while, so please be gentle!

My feedback:

Overall, I liked the game. It succeeds as a means of getting children to learn while they play. I liked the scene-setting story and the gameplay was very good. I certainly played through the timed demo without realising the time passing - I think I'm right in saying that it lets you finish the level you're on before kicking you out if your time has expired?

Presentation was excellent (install was very professional).

Characters are well drawn and likeable, nicely animated too.

Here's a few suggestions (and a few questions!) I have after playing through to World 2-2 before the time expired:

The game crashed back to the desktop twice. The first time seemed pretty random, the second was just after world 2-1 loaded. A bit unexpected, but since the game saves regularly I didn't lose anything.

I found it hard to put a new word down on top of one I'd already laid out but haven't yet accepted. Clicking on a square with a tile picks up that tile, I can then press a key on the keyboard to place a tile underneath, and then click to drop the tile on top. On one occasion, I had a perfectly good word laid down but couldn't accept it because there was another tile underneath one of the letters.

Sometimes I would be typing a word e.g. "touch" by clicking on the squares and using the keyboard and the game would automatically accept when I got to a valid word (e.g. "to"). Is this on purpose, or did I miss something? Do I get less of a score if this happens?

I like the ability to lay down a few words at a time and then click accept - could I get a bonus for doing this?

The focal points on the screen are really the play grid and the letters so I'd move the letters to underneath the play grid for three reasons:
1. The top-right of the screen is typically the score area, and not usually a main focal area of a game.
2. When playing the Hasbro game (or a card game), you sit with the letters (or cards) in front of you and the board beyond.
3. It's more intuitive to drag things UP onto a play board than DOWN onto a play board (at least for me).

The dictionary could use a careful eye. The first orbs game I tried, the answer was "spaying" (which is far from an offensive word, but a little unusual!), when I laid down "spike" the description I got was something to do with electricity spikes rather than pointy ones. Your screenshot (http://www.viquagames.com/screenshots/thomas4.jpg) shows an example of the dictionary descriptions - are these too verbose for your target market?

I like helping out the pets on the way, but is there a long term goal for helping them or are they there just to help me if I get stuck on a level?

I'd change "Mr. Broombucket" to either Mr. Broom (my fave) or Mr. Bucket. The name just looks weird. I also think "Sbooky" is a weird name, but I just got the pun so never mind!

I also don't like the music on World 2 - it's kind of off-beat and a bit short. I especially noticed the length of the loop on World 2 because the levels took longer to complete.

Sometimes Thomas walks to the next island, sometimes he uses a spell. At first I thought he was becoming a better wizard as the game went on (he started off just walking, then started using a spell) but later he started walking again so I wasn't sure if it was just random. It would be great if he did get better throughout the game (walking / warping / warping to an unlinked island?!) or the pets came along to help him so kids (and me!) would think he's ready to face the evil book.

That about wraps it up!

Werzel

[redito]

This is certainly a polished and well done game. I would say it seems more geared to children than adults.

I played for about 45 minutes and found I quickly got tired of the "huzzah!" noises. Maybe he could say something different once in a while?

At the beginning I found myself clicking through loads of dialogue to get to the actual game. If I was re-playing this game I'd soon find that irritating and perhaps you should have a way to disable it after you've played through the game once.

I also thought it took too long for Thomas to go from place to place. When he walks he is unable to take a direct route. He has to go up one, over one, forward one, up one... People don't walk that way and it takes ages. Again, maybe something in options to speed this along.

I can see that something necessary in the first play through would feel slow in subsequent playings. A way for adults to bypass this might make the game more grownup friendly.

I have the same feelings about the dictionary as Werzel. I got several very obscure and strange definitions for words. If you are marketing this to kids then the most obvious definition would make the most sense. And for adults, perhaps an option to turn the dictionary off.

I also agree about putting the letters at the bottom. Certainly more intuitive that way although I adjusted quickly. I did, however, have a hard time seeing the "shuffle" key, even after getting the hint that it existed. It seems to me the hint said it was at the bottom and that's where I looked. But I could be wrong as I was buzzing through the hints and dialogue at a pretty good clip.

I didn't listen to the music so I can't comment on that. However, I didn't have any real glitches or bugs and it didn't shut down on me like it did for Werzel.

The game is certainly well done and will likely appeal to the kid market like crazy. And for parents who want their kids to expand their vocabulary this game could certainly help.

[chanon]

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback guys!
We will consider all of your suggestions.

Helping the pets actually has a long term goal in that if you help all pets in a world, you will get more starting items in the survival mode. (The first tip about pets has this info, but I know it might be a little hard to notice.)

Originally we also considered a bonus for submitting multiple words at once but we were afraid that it might urge people to try too hard to do that. We wanted to emphasize trying to make long words more than a lot of short words. Again we might reconsider that.

On placing the rack at the top being strange, this is the first time we got that comment, so if more people say it we might change it.

On walking/warping, actually he walks when he is close to the destination. If he is farther than certain distance he will warp. Again I understand that it may look random and we may have to do something about it.

Sometimes I would be typing a word e.g. "touch" by clicking on the squares and using the keyboard and the game would automatically accept when I got to a valid word (e.g. "to"). Is this on purpose, or did I miss something? Do I get less of a score if this happens?

This probably happened because your clicking accidentally triggered a double click on the play area which caused a submit event. You actually get more score when this happens (the score of "to" plus the score of "touch" when you submit it).

We know that the dictionary we use does have some obscure definitions, but it is the best free dictionary we have found.