2021-09-24 01:38:46

what happens is I press the arrow key up or down or whatever. while the guide is talking. then when it tells me to perform action. the guide just says ability in cooldown. that is all I can do it is the first encounter and that is every time I do that. I figured the app will catch up but it just causes a loop. I am forced to then shut the app down. it never stops looping.
can we get an adjustment on speech rate for the guide? Also, one more request. or maybe it is done. can we turn off the music entirely because that music distracts me from knowing where I am. I am also confused on the method the walking works. I press right arrow I think I'm going east. but the f key tells me sometimes I'm going south? or north? how does that work exactly? am I walking like a compass would be?
maybe I'm just missing something. thanks for any assistance.

2021-09-24 01:46:31

starlord2017 wrote:

what happens is I press the arrow key up or down or whatever. while the guide is talking. then when it tells me to perform action. the guide just says ability in cooldown. that is all I can do it is the first encounter and that is every time I do that. I figured the app will catch up but it just causes a loop. I am forced to then shut the app down. it never stops looping.
can we get an adjustment on speech rate for the guide? Also, one more request. or maybe it is done. can we turn off the music entirely because that music distracts me from knowing where I am. I am also confused on the method the walking works. I press right arrow I think I'm going east. but the f key tells me sometimes I'm going south? or north? how does that work exactly? am I walking like a compass would be?
maybe I'm just missing something. thanks for any assistance.

Oh yes I'll see what I can do about speed, and yes the plan is to give you full control over the different audio levels independently, that should be in the next version I release in next few days.

And I didn't explain it super well, but the way movement works is you're in first person view, and left/right turns the way you are facing, then up/down takes you forward/backwards. But I may scrap it and replace it with something else. I'm not sure if I can tweak the first person view setup, or if it's just too unexpected to be in first person view in an rpg like this.

I'll keep trying to replicate that issue! Thank you so much for your help!

2021-09-24 02:04:09

here is an idea that works super well for blind players.
up arrow takes us north. left west, right east, down south.
so every time we press the arrow key we hear the audio key that indicates movement. solves the entire thing. that way we know we made a step.
thanks for that about the music and your work on this project. I'm glad that your prompt in response and eager to work on this.

2021-09-24 02:18:34

starlord2017 wrote:

here is an idea that works super well for blind players.
up arrow takes us north. left west, right east, down south.
so every time we press the arrow key we hear the audio key that indicates movement. solves the entire thing. that way we know we made a step.
thanks for that about the music and your work on this project. I'm glad that your prompt in response and eager to work on this.

Oh thank you for your support!

But yes, doing the up/north, down/south/ ect. in a classic top down control scheme does solve the confusion, but for me I'm not a big of of fan of audio cues doing it that way, so I was trying something a little different. Because in first person view if you hear something on your left or right, you know that pressing left/right will make you fact that thing. Even if by turning right it makes you face north, you still heard it to your right, because pressing right would make you face it. In a top down view doing up/down audio cues is a lot harder for me since my ears struggle to pick up small differences in audio and I can't just abuse the left/right ear.

So ya'll might see drastic changes on movement! I've been struggling with how to do movement for months to be honest! I've been making audio games for jams as practice before jumping into this bigger project, but I still never found an audio navigation system I loved.

And yeah I've been dying to start working on my big project (this one) but I wanted some practice making them and more time to play other audio games before starting a big project! All the support for my little prototype has been very nice, hopefully in a few weeks I'll be happy with the foundation of the game and be able to move onto actually making the game.

2021-09-24 03:42:34

I am sorry you can't hear out of your left ear so well. I just struggle with the current audio cues that we are given.  except for that.
Also when the foreman offers to show you the 4 terramon. pressing backspace doesn't take you back. I am only able to press enter and that terramon is automatically selected.

2021-09-24 04:46:07

starlord2017 wrote:

I am sorry you can't hear out of your left ear so well. I just struggle with the current audio cues that we are given.  except for that.
Also when the foreman offers to show you the 4 terramon. pressing backspace doesn't take you back. I am only able to press enter and that terramon is automatically selected.

Oh yes I have a foreman fix about ready! I'll hopefully have a new build out in a day or two with a bunch of suggested tweaks to see what people are feeling.

But yeah I'll keep tinkering with cues until I find one most people can figure out smile

Adding an option to let people change the volume of cues should also help I think.

2021-09-24 04:59:26

excellent!

2021-09-24 11:06:38

thanks a lot aric, and good luck with the game. We'll do everything we can to support you!

I am a hunter named Grunt. I didn't realize that until now.

2021-09-24 11:20:43

I look forward to catching terramons and battling them in the full version one day. I even look forward to seeing how many types he puts out.

2021-09-24 17:59:48

I want it to continue to grow please.

meow meow.

2021-09-24 19:38:26 (edited by amerikranian 2021-09-24 19:39:51)

@Ericbomb, I appreciate your efforts in making these types of games. The community needs more of those. I'll hopefully try the demo this weekend and provide more focused feedback, but allow me to chime in based on observing the topic.
You are clearly trying a new type of navigation. I would actually recommend keeping this style of movement because we have rarely seen this type of mechanic before. The most complex levels for us were always just grids, and that gets old, fast. Not to mention you have people like myself who rarely get lost in this type of situation because it's all linear and straight. Perhaps instead of removing it entirely, provide a brief tutorial at the beginning of the game that allows you to practice moving around with clear instructions? Manamon II did this, but at that point few people used it because we've seen that type of navigation before. It sounds like you also keep the rotation fixed to 90 degree increments. I would consider changing this as well to a smaller turn rate, though at that point you should carefully consider your level design and the fact that the players have enough sounds in the environment to be able to navigate. You can see how this approach works in Shades of Doom, a rather unappreciated game which you can find in the database on the front page of this website. Though it is paid, the game offers a demo that you can use to get an idea of how to do these types of mechanics.
If you choose to keep your altered model where the arrow keys move you in a specific direction, that is okay. Just know that we have successfully handled a lot more complicated mechanics beforehand. I would hate for you to not implement something you think is really cool or unique just because you fear we can't understand what is happening. That may be a concern at times, but that's why you have prototypes like these--to iron out the kinks, as they say. I can also dig up an old thread about Code Dungeon, another game with excellent navigation and real-time combat. The developers posted a topic about in this room and I think by the end we were all pleased with the result. Perhaps you could get some inspiration from the conversations on there. Just let me know if you're interested, this game differs from Code Dungeon by quite a large factor, hence why I am not linking to it automatically.

2021-09-24 19:42:05

I think we all do. hell I've even donate to this game if it meant the game truly truly goes down this path and our developer continues to improve the game like this.

2021-09-24 21:15:24

amerikranian wrote:

@Ericbomb, I appreciate your efforts in making these types of games. The community needs more of those. I'll hopefully try the demo this weekend and provide more focused feedback, but allow me to chime in based on observing the topic.
You are clearly trying a new type of navigation. I would actually recommend keeping this style of movement because we have rarely seen this type of mechanic before. The most complex levels for us were always just grids, and that gets old, fast. Not to mention you have people like myself who rarely get lost in this type of situation because it's all linear and straight. Perhaps instead of removing it entirely, provide a brief tutorial at the beginning of the game that allows you to practice moving around with clear instructions? Manamon II did this, but at that point few people used it because we've seen that type of navigation before. It sounds like you also keep the rotation fixed to 90 degree increments. I would consider changing this as well to a smaller turn rate, though at that point you should carefully consider your level design and the fact that the players have enough sounds in the environment to be able to navigate. You can see how this approach works in Shades of Doom, a rather unappreciated game which you can find in the database on the front page of this website. Though it is paid, the game offers a demo that you can use to get an idea of how to do these types of mechanics.
If you choose to keep your altered model where the arrow keys move you in a specific direction, that is okay. Just know that we have successfully handled a lot more complicated mechanics beforehand. I would hate for you to not implement something you think is really cool or unique just because you fear we can't understand what is happening. That may be a concern at times, but that's why you have prototypes like these--to iron out the kinks, as they say. I can also dig up an old thread about Code Dungeon, another game with excellent navigation and real-time combat. The developers posted a topic about in this room and I think by the end we were all pleased with the result. Perhaps you could get some inspiration from the conversations on there. Just let me know if you're interested, this game differs from Code Dungeon by quite a large factor, hence why I am not linking to it automatically.

Oh thank you for those suggestions! I'll have to play those and see what's going on and if they can help me!

And thank you everyone for the support! I'm glad seeing just my little demo is exciting. But we got a long while to go, but it means a lot to me how excited people are.

2021-09-25 01:30:57

we going to be allowed to give equipment to our terramons in the future?
my fiance says she wants to give items to terramon to customize looks and personality.
are we going to see more shards that are unlocked in different ways than just picking them up? I personally would like to be able to research, and take 3 shards, and make new terramon, assigning attributes and qualities to them, then seeing what comes out at the end. an open ended terramon system that allows for power evolutions and movements to be changed without being set to a certain script. so you can combine a physical attack with a defensive terramon, and interchange all moves/abilities. we can define the moves during the combination repurposing process. just a thought or two.

2021-09-25 05:04:00

starlord2017 wrote:

we going to be allowed to give equipment to our terramons in the future?
my fiance says she wants to give items to terramon to customize looks and personality.
are we going to see more shards that are unlocked in different ways than just picking them up? I personally would like to be able to research, and take 3 shards, and make new terramon, assigning attributes and qualities to them, then seeing what comes out at the end. an open ended terramon system that allows for power evolutions and movements to be changed without being set to a certain script. so you can combine a physical attack with a defensive terramon, and interchange all moves/abilities. we can define the moves during the combination repurposing process. just a thought or two.

Lots of good thoughts! There will be crafting, but that will be beyond the scope of the prototype so it'll be a long while before that comes out! Prototype is mainly for making sure that navigation, combat, and navigating menus feels good.

But I put up a new version on the Itch page with the fixes I made in last few days! Hopefully all of it feels better, and looking forward to any feedback!

2021-09-25 05:46:49 (edited by starlord2017 2021-09-25 05:55:00)

ok i got it to the part where it read into the script. then it quit. the game simply quit responding.
let me elaborate a bit further. When I heard the part about harvesting shards. then the guide quit responding. not sure what is up with that. I can see its made from some studio program. All i can do is see title then I press space bar, enter, escape, to no avail.

2021-09-25 07:28:25

starlord2017 wrote:

ok i got it to the part where it read into the script. then it quit. the game simply quit responding.
let me elaborate a bit further. When I heard the part about harvesting shards. then the guide quit responding. not sure what is up with that. I can see its made from some studio program. All i can do is see title then I press space bar, enter, escape, to no avail.

So is this at the very beginning?

Does pressing 1 or 2 do anything?

2021-09-25 07:36:00 (edited by starlord2017 2021-09-25 07:44:08)

it does nothing and yes it is at the beginning. my fiance got to the foreman, and she reports that the appp quits responding.
I also turned music off, and turned down the sound affects which should not affect the guide.
I've restarted and restrted the app several times. the same thing happens. the guide mentions the harvesting, and the shards. right when the guide would begin the story about the terramon and there is trouble in the tunnels, it quits at that point. 1 and 2 do  do something. 1 does take me to the options. I press enter when i get done changing the volumes.
can we get the guide to stop talking after the first time it tells us what keys do what?

2021-09-25 09:03:18

starlord2017 wrote:

it does nothing and yes it is at the beginning. my fiance got to the foreman, and she reports that the appp quits responding.
I also turned music off, and turned down the sound affects which should not affect the guide.
I've restarted and restrted the app several times. the same thing happens. the guide mentions the harvesting, and the shards. right when the guide would begin the story about the terramon and there is trouble in the tunnels, it quits at that point. 1 and 2 do  do something. 1 does take me to the options. I press enter when i get done changing the volumes.
can we get the guide to stop talking after the first time it tells us what keys do what?

Oh thank you for your patience! This is what happens when you test it, then make a "tiny" change, then build. You're on top of things, I appreciate your enthusiasm! Wish I could have had software testers as on top of things at my old jobs!

I believe the menu issues should be fixed, I added a delay between the guide reading the instructions in the audio menu a second time, just in case people didn't catch how to leave the menu, and to get an idea of how loud the guide will be after tinkering with audio!

Let me know if you catch anything else or feel like there are things that just feel like they need to be there!

2021-09-26 15:00:18

so i waas playing the game, and it suddenly broke with  2 issues. One not so weird aand the other weird. So sometimes you hear both the guide and the formone talking at the same time. And then the other issue is, i was playing the game, and then suddenl the guide broke, and started saying north whenever i ppress the f key. I keep turning, but it would still say north. I didn't know my way through because all you here is north, no east, no south, no west, jus north. Please fix this, thanks and best regards

I am a hunter named Grunt. I didn't realize that until now.

2021-09-26 15:58:01

I tried real hard to get terramon encounters but  i walked for 10 minutes. I only got one prior to that.

2021-09-26 20:39:18

E-t-i-eloquence wrote:

so i waas playing the game, and it suddenly broke with  2 issues. One not so weird aand the other weird. So sometimes you hear both the guide and the formone talking at the same time. And then the other issue is, i was playing the game, and then suddenl the guide broke, and started saying north whenever i ppress the f key. I keep turning, but it would still say north. I didn't know my way through because all you here is north, no east, no south, no west, jus north. Please fix this, thanks and best regards

Oh so sorry to hear that!

I tinkered with the movement system a lot but thought that was working. Will get that fixed right away.

As for TerraMon encounter, do you know what zone you were in starlord? The camp doesn't have any encounters, but there should be encounters everywhere else after that. I'll try to get debug log going so that way if there are problems in the future you can just upload the log and it'll tell me where you were and give me an idea of what was going on!

2021-09-26 21:05:52

I went north of the camp. I was told to go east. I pressed right arrow to begin moving in that direction. I got an encounter north of the camp, but, then nothing after that. I think. not sure? managed to wander into the northern passage and hit a level 3. also the sound indicator that constantly beeps is real loud.
I also had the same problem with the heading navigation key. every time I pressed f, I can confirm. it didn't tell me I was moving in a different direction at all.

2021-09-27 09:39:38

starlord2017 wrote:

I went north of the camp. I was told to go east. I pressed right arrow to begin moving in that direction. I got an encounter north of the camp, but, then nothing after that. I think. not sure? managed to wander into the northern passage and hit a level 3. also the sound indicator that constantly beeps is real loud.
I also had the same problem with the heading navigation key. every time I pressed f, I can confirm. it didn't tell me I was moving in a different direction at all.

Oh thank you!

So two things, do you know which indication is beeing real loud?

There are three that I think "beep" when you face a wall, when you are at a door/press shift to hear a door, and pass a sign. Is it the one from turning and facing a wall?

And I can't see an issue up in the path, but listening back to the audio I see how easy it is to get lost because there are several 4 way intersections without a sign, so even though it's a small area without the direction working I imagine it's a nightmare to escape if you don't have it memorised.

I have plans to try and implement a map. So I'm thinking a map, a teleport back to camp ability, and probably more directly signs even if its as simple as "East back to camp, south back to camp, nothing but wild TerraMon in this area, ect."

I run into this issue constantly with map design TBH! Because I'm able to get through the maps super easy with the audio cues... but I made the maps, so of course I know! I really need a way to randomly generate maps, then see if I can navigate them with my audio cues to decide if they're good enough. But either way, I think additional navigation options are absolutely needed.

But I added the 7th version, but no real changes, only bug fixes in this one. Hoping to get a much better version out before this upcoming weekend. Thanks so much for your feedback as always!

2021-09-27 10:44:41

is the door the one that constantly beeps without pressing a key? if so yeah. I change direction the beeping will stop but, I turn back it will resume clanging away.

alternatively, you could just have the game announce your going east north or heading in a direction with a built in compass.