a new addiction

[requin]

Originally Posted by Josh Jensen

Assuming we put out a new build with the current 'Kids Mode' as the default, I wouldn't want to call it Kids Mode. What would you call the current 'Kids Mode' and 'Regular Mode' game types?
Josh

You could call kid's mode, "For Starters" or "The Journey Begins", or something. Then maybe go with Regular, then Intermediate, and Advanced and/or Expert. (not sure how many there are, offhand) In the reset menu (when you hover on the map) there's one called "junior" which as you say, must be kid's mode. But that's a tad confusing because to pick kid's mode you get that option page that comes up, when you make a new user. Maybe do away with Kid's mode and just have one menu with all levels; let ppl choose where they want to begin, but have it default to "The Journey Begins" (or whatever you want to call it).
I started in regular but like "kid's mode" and find it hard enough to continue through the map like that. It also gives me something to look forward to (doing it all again as 'regular mode'). Not to mention being able to reset and get entire new boards. How many times will it reset to new boards??
I thought there was nothing new to learn after twirlers but voila, 4-way bouncers, very clever. This game gets really crazy with all the wam boozlers and wintinglers (as per Dr. Seuss, heh).
I like the levels that are all one item (like all twirlers or all splitters). I like the splitters the best (so far), it's fun to try to see where all 3 balls go...
I cant explain why the shifters are confusing. I'm still too new to the game; I may get the hang of it. I'll keep you posted on ideas, etc.

[Josh Jensen]

Originally Posted by requin

You could call kid's mode, "For Starters" or "The Journey Begins", or something. Then maybe go with Regular, then Intermediate, and Advanced and/or Expert. (not sure how many there are, offhand) In the reset menu (when you hover on the map) there's one called "junior" which as you say, must be kid's mode. But that's a tad confusing because to pick kid's mode you get that option page that comes up, when you make a new user.

Perhaps it is best to avoid terminology that seemingly refers to difficulty at all. Magic Balls (Kids) and Regular Balls (or maybe Invisible Balls).

Originally Posted by requin

Not to mention being able to reset and get entire new boards. How many times will it reset to new boards??

Indefinitely. The newly reset levels are randomly generated, but they are based on rule sets we define. An example of one such rule set for Novice 5-7 is:

Novice_5_7 =
{
	text = L'All in the Mix',
	gridWidth = 23,
	gridHeight = 15,
	wallsMinWeight = 0.1,
	wallsMaxWeight = 0.15,
	bouncerCoverage = 0.2,
	splittersMinWeight = 0.2,
	splittersMaxWeight = 0.2,
	scramblersMinWeight = 0.25,
	scramblersMaxWeight = 0.25,
	normalMinWeight = 0.5,
	normalMaxWeight = 0.5,
	scramblersWrongMinPercentage = 0.5,
	scramblersWrongMaxPercentage = 0.75,
	switchersMinWeight = 0.25,
	switchersMaxWeight = 0.25,
	shiftersMinWeight = 0.1,
	shiftersMaxWeight = 0.1,
	stage = 5,
	level = 7,
	endOfStage = true,
	themeToLoad = 4,
}

In reference to the above, Novice 5-7 will always be made of a 21x13 board (according to the Puzzle menu's sliders), 10-15% of the island walls, 20% of the remaining empty tiles will be made of Bouncers/Splitters/Shifters, 50-75% of the level will be Scramblers, and so on.

Originally Posted by requin

I thought there was nothing new to learn after twirlers but voila, 4-way bouncers, very clever. This game gets really crazy with all the wam boozlers and wintinglers (as per Dr. Seuss, heh).

Nice. We should have used your Dr. Seuss terminology. Boozlers is much more exciting than Bouncers.

Thanks for all your input!

Josh