20: Gem Squash

[edg3]

I decided to take the clone route in the end, and remade a game that I played before that I found enjoyable, that I cant find anywhere anymore...

It is done and here. Hope others enjoy it as much as I do, one thing I will say is that R jumps to the score screen and ends the game if you run into problems, but hopefully all the numerous bugs have been sorted. :) I hope what ve done has made it easier to work out Kensei, let me know if it is more obvious now. Ive added a scoring system, and because im nice, the minimum score you can ever get is 1 star :)

As Im writing this I feel like an idiot, I uploaded the file and had to reupload it immediately after because I accidentaly deleted it...

Screenshot:


Final:
http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset.../GemSquash.zip

[Kensei]

oooh, looks very familiar, will check when I get home (i.e in 2 hours time)

[Kensei]

k, brief update....

I am trying to play a dumb user with this and I found it a bit frustrating to understand how to play this game.
I ended up clicking randomly, then click and dragging, then, finally double-clicking on jewels. Eventually I clicked that if you double clicked on 3 or more they disappeared... but it was a bit of a long process :/

I do like the sparkly jewels and I will play it again until I get a clear screen or a 'no more moves'... Perhaps you could do a brief splash screen explaining that you need 3 in a row?

[Thaumaturge]

Actually, it seems to work with two in a row on my end.

I don't know which bugs you know about, but since you're working on the removal script, I'll just note that the "double-click" issue might be a bug - it appears that the first doesn't do anything, but subsequent clicks on the same gem, however many have preceded it, do register. (To see this, find a single gem and click on it, The first click seems to produce no result, while subsequent clicks produce a little circular effect.)

Overall, edg3, it looks like a decent start that, once the bugs are killed, primarily calls for a little extra gameplay to differentiate it from others of its type, and a scoring system. ^_^

[edg3]

Im planning on having a start screen :) im just a bit out of ideas on how to actually implement a scoring system with no text :)

[Thaumaturge]

Well, you could use "award levels" - that is, store a numeric score in the background, but show a graphic that represents score (a bronze icon for five points, a silver one for ten, a gold one for fifteen, a slightly larger and prettier bronze one for twenty, a slightly larger and prettier silver one for twenty-five, and so on, up until a very big, shiny and colourful one for some large number). Naturally, the actual levels should probably be adjusted for the numbers that you have in mind, the amount of time that you want to devote to this and your speed of icon creation.

Finally, if you want fewer icons with a large distance between them, you can also include a bar beneath the award level, indicating how close the player is to the next award level.

[edg3]

Bump, and Final is uploaded and linked to in first post.

Added:
- some more visual show of what is clicked
- score screen
- bars move to the left when you open a complete column
- background star effect changed

Have fun :)

[Thaumaturge]

I like it. ^_^

The additional feedback provided for the first click does indeed help - it's now quite clear what that click does.

I also like your scoring system, although the meanings of the icons are a little unclear, I think - perhaps if players saw their awards being awarded during play it would help to connect the two, as well as give the player feedback during gameplay on how they're doing.

[edg3]

If i have time on monday i will add in those indications and suggestions :) thanks for the input

[Thaumaturge]

It's my pleasure - good luck! ^_^