Game Development

Jon

6:13 PM

DH.

Nice

Jon

does that look ok?

DH.

Yup, I liked it how you made the second box smaller

PearsonArtPhoto

Hmm...

DH.

For casual players they won't be bothered of "mistap" the wrong button

And the same goes for hardcore ones wanting the par

PearsonArtPhoto

6:15 PM

I don't know if I like the two "over par" labels

Jon

yeah, that message changes but it will say over par in there...

NaCl

wow, people downvote really fast

cool

DH.

Where?

NaCl

-1

Q: add character at column N in file

I have a code file for which no line exceeds N. (let's say N=80) Here is an example: class A { int a; }; I want to insert spaces for every line until the character count of the line reaches N, then insert a custom character c, which could be anything. So for our example: class A ...

@Jon agree with @PearsonArtPhoto, two 'over par' messages suck

Jon

lol ok

PearsonArtPhoto

6:18 PM

Something about it just doesn't quite seem right to me, but I'm having a really hard time figuring out what it is...

NaCl

Well, @Jon makes you feel dumb, because the game tells you two times that you are over par

Jon

that is the tutorial portion

NaCl

Or maybe you simply don't like redundancy

DH.

For me it's OK for having two boxes, but yeah, maybe no need to write Over Par 2 times

Jon

I think it is ok for the tutorial portion -- if you go over par the first time I want you to know about it

DH.

6:20 PM

Maybe just leave the star alone, though this would feel a bit empty

Jon

After the tutorial section I will stop doing that

NaCl

two boxes are fine, the content matters

No, just remove ", but over par"

easy as pie

Jon

naw

I want the tutorial to say Level cleared, but you did it over par.

NaCl

The other box shows whether you got it or not in a centralized manner

Okay

Jon

but I will for the rest of the levels

Almo

6:21 PM

looks odd to me jon

Sie

Well I finally the vertex manipulation feeling "good". The feeling of making a mechanic feel right is just so awesome. All I really gotta do is make sure the motion controls on the Vive work well with it too.

Almo

but I can't really say why :(

Jon

well figure it out

PearsonArtPhoto

@Almo I'm in exactly the same boat.

Almo

what is the second "over par" box supposed to mean

You already told me it's over par, why you telling me again

Jon

6:24 PM

It says On Par when you get on par

I'm asking mainly about the way it looks, moreso than what it is saying in the boxes

Almo

so it says "level complete but on par" and there's a another box saying on par there too?

NaCl

looks good

Almo

I'd say the UI needs a rethink

NaCl

^

Just remove it, Jon, players are not that braindead

Almo

actually, they are unfortunately :(

PearsonArtPhoto

6:25 PM

One thing that I was just thinking about is a meter of some kind to show if you were below, at, or above par.

NaCl

@Almo proof or didn't happen :p

PearsonArtPhoto

The buttons looking the same, but having stuff in between them, also seems a bit odd...

Almo

I saw people doing the tutorial i made for crystal shuffle, and their response after it

definitely fucking braindead

Jon

the thing I am saying is... that message is not going to always say On par in it

Almo

it was not a great tutorial, I admit that.

Jon

6:26 PM

That message changes to various different messages...

Almo

but they'd mash through it without paying any attention to any of the text then say "i don't get it" at the end.

NaCl

Yeah, but @Jon uses 2 words to express if you're on par or off par... (besides in that tutorial level)

with a red box and stuff

Jon

no one noticed it before

every first time player said, well you sholud have mentioned that par thing

NaCl

How can anyone be possibly that braindead to not understand that you're off par if it's red?

Jon

NO SHIT

NaCl

6:28 PM

It is with that additional box, isn't it?

Jon

its right there, but no one notices

PearsonArtPhoto

I would have some kind of a motion that shows the par level.

Jon

that box has always been there

NaCl

okay, people really are braindead. Maybe ask on ux?

Almo

I see an empty star, a redo button and off par

seems odd

Jon

6:29 PM

the redo button wasn't there before

PearsonArtPhoto

Many people for 3 star games show the stars appearing one at a time.

Almo

like... I get the star if I get off par?

PearsonArtPhoto

Some kind of motion would help.

Almo

it just looks weird

Jon

no.. you get a level clear

PearsonArtPhoto

6:29 PM

The buttons are a bit small.

Jon

you can keep playing

but you can retry for par

Almo

then maybe say that "Try again for par"

I don't know

just throwing around ideas :(

PearsonArtPhoto

Almo

i really don't like dealing with these kinds of issues; they're hard to find good solutions for.

I've never liked "replay" for those, since to me "replay" means "watch how I did that as a video"

NaCl

I don't know what's wrong with a simple "Level completed!" and "Level failed!" in one box and "appearing with cool animation star on par" and "dead star off par" in the other

DH.

6:31 PM

Yeah, I liked the 2 boxes

Anyone off work, go play Red Remover and see how he did it

PearsonArtPhoto

The two action buttons just seem off...

The text is a selling point for your game.

Jon

I'm just gonna leave it without the retry

PearsonArtPhoto

So you could have the text on top, with some kind of a visual representation and the buttons below.

I don't think that's what you want either.

Jon

the retry is at the top right

PearsonArtPhoto

A retry button would be very helpful.

Jon

6:33 PM

I only added it to make it easier to retry

NaCl

I liked it

made it easy to retry for being on par

Jon

That was the point of it

DH.

Exactly, I got the idea

NaCl

keep it! :D

Almo

I got the idea, but it feels wrong with the empty star and duplicated "off par" text.

PearsonArtPhoto

6:34 PM

My thought is it's the right idea, but wrong approach.

Almo

just because it's possible to figure out doesn't make it good UX

3

Jon we're nitpicking because you have a great fucking game, and want it to be super great. not trying to be insulting. :)

Jon

i'm not insulted

i'm listening

Almo

ok good :)

I figured, but wanted to be super clear about it :)

Jon

You are a total jerk wein wein wein

I'll put buttons everywhere!!! YOU'LL SEE

NaCl

well, there is still the option to gain some rep on ux...

DH.

6:37 PM

Yeah, maybe asking this on UXSE is a good idea

Almo

hahaha

Jon

I could ask

i don't have an account

Sie

@Almo So when you guys call me an asshole it is out of love?

Got it.

DH.

Even though I never saw a game question there, maybe someone could come with a new idea, I mean, one that no one of us could think of

Jon

so how do i ask it?/

Almo

6:38 PM

sign up, you get 200 free points for high rep on other se site

will be no problem

PearsonArtPhoto

100

Almo

ok

NaCl

@DH. don't see how a "game-question" would be bad there if it's the menu

Pip

UI :(

DH.

You want to know how to keep it clear and elegant to the player see that he got or not the "on par" challenge, and in case he didn't so it's easier to retry the level and go for it

Jon

6:39 PM

I don't even know what I'm supposed to ask

I think i'll just keep working on it, lol

I'm not ready to do a full UI overhaul because of snobby UX people

Almo

I read a lot there, and I think you'd get really good help

DH.

UX people are cool, they ask us to do stuff that would be helpful but that we can't make because time/resources make it impossible/I couldn't care enough

Jon

well, I know the text is bad

honestly, if I just drop the "But over par" like you guys said, I think it is pretty damn clear now with the retry button there

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm still not convinced of that...

But you are a better UI designer than I, who am I to tell you what to do...

Sie

Why not just put the text below it and point to the replay button? It lets the player know to retry for a better par.

Almo

6:45 PM

One thing I learned from "The Design of Everyday Things" is that even non-experts in UX can tell you if something is wrong. They might not have a solution, but if they have trouble with the interface, it's most likely not their fault.

Jon

Sie

Something like, "Want to get a better par?"

Jon

Almo

Like this shit. Push or pull? Those handles are both pushable and pullable, so you can't tell which without trying.

Bad door handle design.

Sie

I don't know. I think you guys are being way too picky over something so small.

Almo

6:46 PM

Great fucking book. Everyone who builds user interfaces of any kind should read it.

NaCl

@Jon I like it very much

Almo

@Sie this game has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of people. Getting the details right is important.

PearsonArtPhoto

@Almo: This one? amzn.to/2681UQl

Almo

That one

short, easy to read, funny in places.

Will really change the way you look at interfacing of all kinds.

NaCl

@Almo yeah, you should always design anything in a way that there is no possible "wrong usage" for it's purpose

Almo

6:48 PM

He starts by saying he'd like to talk about computer software interface design, but since we can't even get fucking doors right, he's going to talk about simple shit like doors and oven handles.

DH.

lol that's a good approach

Almo

hahah "In my opinion comments are just places that aren't vetted by the community; they were not designed to hold critical information. Let's just clear em all out and drop the table :)"

Jon

oh btw

I noticed a bug today that no one else mentioned

When blocks are upside down, they don't look in the proper direction when another block is falling

The angle is reverse

Almo

OH

subtle one

Jon

yeah i can't believe i never noticed that until now

DH.

6:56 PM

Oh the little details

NaCl

That's the kind of bug almost no one would have been aware off, like a wrong tone in a piano concert

Jon

haha, pretty much.. it was very noticeable in one level while my son was playing

I saw it and was like "HEYYYY HE'S NOT LOOKING AT THE RIGHT THING!!"

figured he'd gone sentient...

but naw... was just a bug

Jon

7:17 PM

i just got 100 rep for joining UX

dayum

more points than I got all month

Almo

:D

Alexandre Vaillancourt

I've thought about joining tons of communities to get the 10k rep in chat :P But I'm too lazy

NaCl

500g Thermite Explosion

►

this guy is my hero

DH.

The regional justice is my new hero

They just approved that products below 100 USD can't be taxed of the Import Tax(which is the ludicrous 80%)

Jon

8:17 PM

shit man I was trying to order papa john's pizza and a couple sodie pops, and I accidentally opened a franchise

Almo

ahahaha

TheMuffinCoder

I was listening to song called Entropy and I thought, wow that's a nice game for a space game

store.steampowered.com/app/255500

Turns out it already is a space game

Sie

Anyone ever feel extremely lazy after finishing up a relativity big feature? Despite there being more to do?

Almo

yeah

lots of people

Sie

It's a weird feeling. Partially satisfied but partially self loathing because you know there is more to done.

Almo

8:31 PM

hehehe

just accept that's how your mind works and drop the loathing part :)

One of the reasons I got Cognizer done without hating it was that I'd let myself work on it when I wanted. I'd kick myself a certain amount to avoid laziness, but not so much it became a super chore.

Thinking it's time for a 1-week $1 sale on that

maybe do that with a small update

Sie

I try that too but sometimes there is a feature that if left undone or not completed up to my standards it will eat at me until I fix it.

Almo

I'm like that. I resist it or I'll hate working on my projects.

Really need to work on my music this weekend...

Sie

Well over time I've gotten better about it. With some features I've accepted there will be a certain lack of polish and will need to be worked on eventually (technical debt? sort of? idk) and I let myself move on for the sake of progress.