is BALLOONrain 1.0b more user friendly ?

[ManuTOO]

Hello everyone :)

I just finished the new version 1.0b of BALLOONrain.

http://www.managames.com/download.php?balloon_ig.exe (9.1 MB)

I tried to follow the advices I got in this forum.
Here the new things :
- a grid
- a lot fewer options, by default
- 2 questions during the install (2D or 3D, Mouse or Keyboard)
- a little more clear order form, with a cheaper price
- smaller install

I'd like to have feedback about the options... Is it ok now ? less confusing ?
And what about the grid ? is it visible enough ?
and isn't it _too_ visible ..? ;)

Thanks for ur comments !

[serg3d]

Menu is much better, but still minor nitpick - starting level for tutorial should be kiddie, not expert :) Grid still not quite visible though...

[tolik]

You forgot about graphics, they should be LOW by default with everything switched off.

The game is very unstable now:
Balloon caused an Access Violation in module Balloon.exe at 001b:00436281.
I can send you a crashlog, it happened when I tried to switch to LOW gfx.


Wooow... With low gfx it's slow as hell, 16bit very low, mouse is moving very unresponsively. P3-800/256/GF2GTS64Mb.
Previous version ran smooth.

[cliffski]

my quick thoughts:

This game LOOKS fantastic. really top quality. I'm very jealous. To be honest, I'm not a puzzle game player. My main thought was...
"Please make a shootemup"
I love good shootemup games (esp 2D ones) but there arent many, whereas there are dozens of puzzle games out there. Take that graphics engine and make a gorgeous space-tripper style shooter, I'm sure it will sell well. If anything, the 3D whizzbangness of your engine is 'too-much' for the puzzle game genre. Although Im not a big puzzle gamer so maybe thats not true?

[ManuTOO]

@serg3d :
yup, I had a little trouble with the grid : one arena is already built from a 3x3 grid... Adding a too visible grid on it just gives a too ugly result ... :-S
So I tried to find a compromise between visibility hint, and esthetics...

@emuLynx :
pfff... thanks for reporting this one, I have a hole in my strategy for refreshing some apart meshes... :-S
I corrected the bug, and updated the online version.

>>graphics should be LOW by default
actually, the engine is supposed to detect ur computer speed and choose the most appropriate settings. I even did a little change, as now it requests a more powerful 3d card before switching to hi-details.
Ur computer should be really enough to run the game in normal detail. Maybe u have something wrong there... Do u use debug DX libs ? Old drivers ? bad config ..?

>>With low gfx it's slow as hell
It should not have difference with the previous version. (except the grid.... try to remove it... but I hope it's not the trouble)
Maybe u just need to reboot ur comp, coz of the initial crash.

@cliffski :
if u roamed on my personnal website, u might found an old 3D shooter engine, with some explosions & space ships.
I really wish I could do one, but it'd just take too much time to create. My model would be Terminal Velocity... :)
but it seems u'd prefer a classic old school one, not full 3d. But it's not in my planning neither.
Except if someone does all the models, design, levels, textures & fx in a way I like, for free... :p

>> 3D whizzbangness of your engine is 'too-much'
>> for the puzzle game genre.
maybe it's the big artillery, but personnally I think it gives more pleasure to play the game ... :)

[Devman]

First off, very beautiful graphics on your game!

Here was my impression:
Options seemed clear to me. I am a "keyboard commando" so I went with keyboard only and it made sense to me going through tutorial (I chose kiddie mode).

I have a new computer and the controls were not bad but the arrow keys were too sensitive, such that I would often move forward 2 or more spaces when I wanted to move only one forward. Perhaps when someone holds down the arrow keys you can have it move forward one, then delay a half second or second before moving again? (I know how hard calibrating play control sensitivity can be, and I think you've done a decent job).

One suggestion: I am a native English speaker, and though the English is pretty good in your installer and tutorial information, it is clear you are not an native English speaker. This can lead people to think you are not professional and mistrust your program. I don't know 100% whether others are like this, but it is often the way I feel when I use programs with inaccurate or uncommon English. You may want to pay someone a small amount or get an English native speaker friend to translate more naturally the language.

Very attractive game!

[ManuTOO]

@Devman :
>> arrow keys were too sensitive
yup, u're not the 1st one who said that... But unfortunately, if I make a stop-step, then everyone who will have played the game for more than 1 hour will tell me it's too annoying... :-S
Really not easy to find a good compromise on this.

>> get an English native speaker friend to translate
>> more naturally the language
doh ! :eek:
I already asked someone (from this forum) to check/correct the english in the game. He did a few changes. He was canadian if I remember well (maybe he's still around ;) ).
I added a very few sentences since his check, so I guess (& hope!) it's not from them u had been annoyed...

[Mithril Studios]

Re: the single step with arrow keys - why not add a key mask for those who want to move more than one square at a time? (e.g. ctrl-up arrow to move x spaces or max distance)

Anthony

[Pi Eye Games]

Hi ManuTOO,

I've been playing for an hour or two and generated some feedback - hopefully all 'positive' :)

I'm not sure if any of these would effect sales or anything, but here goes (the first two points are my biggest).

Graphics/Design :

The 3d graphics are gorgeous, I love the reflections too. The game's got a real sleek feel - and I happen to believe in 3d puzzle games :p

1) ... but ... I'm not sure the font suits the game ... The game is sleek, polished, futuristic, but the font has a comic book style (especially with the circular backgrounds). Sorry, I'm not sure what would be better, but I do feel they are mismatched.

2) The whole game is off-centred just to make way for some stats! ... I'd take a look at getting the play-area centred, even if you had to zoom out a little to fit the stats along the top (having less stats would help too - just keep the important ones while playing ? Score, Time etc.) ... I guess there are some modes where this would be more difficult, for instance where you have a list of combinations/points.

2) I think there's too many stats in between levels too - only the hardcore player will really care, and they detract from the important features such as the score and options. (They also get in the way of the lovely backdrop !).

3) I'm not sure why I have to choose between mouse and keyboard control - why not have both available at anytime? Also, Windows(tm) keeps trying to activate 'Sticky Keys' because I'm using the Shift key too much : ) ... and ...

4) ... you 'rotate' when the key/mouse-button is released ! - The result, for me, is that it feels slightly laggy (only slightly - but some people might take longer to release the mouse-button) - moving the rotate from 'mouse-up' to 'mouse-down' would make it feel more responsive, even if it is just a fraction of a second.

5) The nag screens are annoying - I know they're supposed to be : ) but you actually admit to your player that they are just there too annoy them ! This may put you on a wrong footing, as they say. I'd never call them nag screens (just present the benefits of registration or something ? - they're 'reminder' screens). I'm not sure if they are present right from the start (?) but I'd take them out for the first couple of days - but, like I said, I've NO experience in selling stuff ; )

6) I think I've read in another comment that there's too much text in the tutorial descriptions - I'm guilty of that too, but you've got some small novels in there :)

Technical :

1) I've got a really old/worn PS joy pad ... it's slightly off centred and so the game constantly cycled through all the options ... I'm probably the only person in the world with this problem though ; )

2) I do get some crashing when changing video options : (

3) The reply mode really slows down the game for me ! - down to about 5-10 fps (usually runs at 50-60).

Sound :

I love the sound, it really complements the 3d style. Just 2 things ...

1) I find the 'drop' sound a bit disturbing - it's like you've just pinched someone and they didn't like it :eek:

2) I can hear the move sound repeating *all* the time (I'm playing with headphones). The move sample seems to stop, in order to play the next move sample. Have you tried just letting the old samples play out or having a 'moving' loop which quickly fades in and out (something I do for my 'sliding' blocks). This is the most important sample.

Well, I hope some of this is useful, and thanks again for your feedback, which has certainly been a great help : )

Cheers,
George.

[ManuTOO]

@Mithril Studios :
add more keys would kill the simplicity (and I already have 1 key too much)

@George :
G1) I guess u're right... I looked at all Windows fonts, and I thought it was the more cool & "fun". To achieve a better one, I guess I should use some handwork ... :-S

G2-a) is it really a trouble .? I think it gives some more interesting camera effects (when it's moving)... and the board is square, so there'll be room left. (but maybe I'll give a try about that sometime :+) )

G2-b) I removed the stats in Puzzle mode, they were not really useful anyway. But I keep them for other modes :p

G3) "Shift" key ..? Do u dl the game a bit long time ago ? Since the 1.0b, the default keys are Ctrl+Alt.
I won't allow mouse+kb at same time, coz if the mouse moves a little bit when playing with kb, it'll be more than annoying. U can change easily anytime u want in the options.
I put the Mouse/Kb choice during the install, to make it obvious what u'll play with.

G4) as ur the 2nd person to mention this, I guess I have to change this. But it's a bit annoying for the few people with 2 button-mouse.

G5) I lowered them a litlte bit, and changed "nag" to "reminder" .... ;o)

G6) ahha :p
I double-checked them. And I almost can't remove anything. :-S
I think if people want to learn something useful from them, I cannot remove anything. Other people who just need to learn the "drop" thing, won't read it anyway.

T1) oops... I checked my deadzone, it was only 10%, I put it to 25%, that's more logical, I guess it should be enough to resolve ur trouble.

T2) ooooooch :-S
I really hope it's not the 1.0b.
If it's this one, could u send me ur System.log ..? and tell me precisely from which state to which state it crashed ..?

T3) Actually, it's coz the mouse left/right movement changed the replay speed. I removed this possibility, as it didn't make sense (now it only works with the KB).

S1) Did u already try in real to drop a balloon that thought it was going to fly away ?
U'll see, it'll be very annoyed and it'll make that sound ;o)

S2) right.... The sound doesn't stop anymore, it make more sense to the ears, now!


Thanks for ur comments !

[Pi Eye Games]

Hi (I lost this post once :mad: - so here's a more condensed version ;) )

G1) Fonts are tricky and very personal - I think I have a grudge against the 'Comix' font, because I've used it a lot in the past - so I could be wrong on this one : ) Might just be something to try.

G2) It's not a problem, I just feel it unbalances the screen a little - but it is by just a little, and it would be a lot of work to move everything.

G3) I've got 1.0b - but - it think I must have had an earlier version and chose to keep my settings when uninstalling it ! - I've got the right keys now.

G4) Ah, I didn't notice the 'hold both buttons down to drop' option - you're right on this one, I'd keep it. The pause is very slight !

I did notice that holding both buttons, then releasing without dropping anything will cause the player to 'rotate' slightly ? (Sometimes just judders).

G5) Yey !

G6) Yeah it's a tricky one ... maybe just loosing the double spacing will make it appear smaller ... and having a space between paragraphs would help make it more readable ... at the moment some of the screens look like a mass of characters which is a little off putting :eek:

T1) Should help - I think mine was way out, but we'll see : )

T2) Sorry it is 1.0b ... I've checked the logs and they seem okay from the crashes ... the last few lines are ...

Bitmap(128*128*0)->Tex: Menu\Art\CircleRainbow.Tga (Format: Rgb)
Bitmap(1024*256*0)->Tex: Menu\Art\Intro.Tga (Format: RgbA)
Bitmap(64*64*256)->Tex: Meshes\Textures\OMBRE.Gif (Format: Pal8)

... but ... I've narrowed it down. I can change settings as much as I like :p The problem is when I 'cancel' a change ... it'll either crash straight away or the next time I try to make a change.

The two options I've tried are Resolution and FSAA

T3) Oh yeah, I didn't notice! Definatly better without though.

S1) lol - good point !

Cheers,
George.

[oddvark]

Hey I the game is great. I played it in 3D, using the mouse, with a P900 GEForce22go. Frame rate seemed good, was not disturbed or confused by the 3D, but then I play lots of 3D shooters.

I dont know if its more user friendly then the first cuz i didn't see the first. Only thought on this line: the menu's were a little hard to distinguish from the background, just cuz theres so much happening visually in the background. Perhaps slightly darken the main game when a menu is up to seperate the two? Otherwise I was able to navigate etc.

I was able to notice the grid. In my opinion, it seems to be enough to hint it there and give you the idea of how to move.

Just a few bugs im sure you know about. When I was switching resolutions from windowed mode to full, i got the game to cover only a part of the screen. I thought i was still in window mode, but couldn't find the window bar?

*I just tried to replicate this but when I said "NO" to Keep Resolution, I got an Access Violation.

The game was fun, and it *looked* great. For your info, I'm not a puzzle type player.

[ManuTOO]

@George :
always use Ctral+A, then Ctrl+C before posting... It saved me a lot of posts ;+)

G4) I did a little "trick". By default it rotates instantly, but if the player uses the 2-button-drop, then it swtiches to rotate on release. It's not perfect, but as there're not so much people have just a 2-button mouse or gamepad, it should be ok.

G6) Yup someone else told me about that, and the current online version (from yesterday) has a bit better font during tutorial : more space between lines, and less large characters.

T2) Thanks for the narrowing, I found it. It was about restoring the previous mode (coz of bad .ini handling :-S ). Of course, it didn't happen in Debug mode, only in Release, else it'd have been too easy ... ;+)


@oddvark :
> i got the game to cover only a part of the screen
ouch :-S
it's not supposed to happen... I never had this on my PC and u're the 1st one to report this.
May it be possible it's ur screen that's not well configured for the display, and uses too little place for the game resolution ?
Or maybe u have a LCD monitor, and ur drivers are not configured to resize to fullscreen when the resolution is too low ?