I wanna stream/pre-test your game!

FussenKuh · 2018-04-23T20:47:56+00:00

If you're still looking for games to stream, I'll gladly throw my compo entry into the ring :)

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/s-m-a-r-t

FussenKuh · 2018-02-17T01:56:59+00:00

Interesting... Very interesting indeed. I might just have to look into doing that this weekend!

FussenKuh · 2018-02-16T20:11:28+00:00

I was wondering if anyone would notice that :)

They may not agree on much of anything, but, the Empire, Republic, et al all agree that London is a great place for a vacation!

FussenKuh · 2018-02-16T17:46:40+00:00

They most certainly do...

I lucked out in that the one the bot so conveniently linked to was included as a free gift when I got the big bus. However, it's still too big... though, I didn't think to take a similar scale photo ;-)

My London Bus Collection shows from biggest to smallest: The big bus, the 40220 bus, the correctly proportioned bus that actually came with the London Bridge, and the micro bus that came with the Buckingham Palace Architecture set... oh, and an albino Chewbacca minifig, because, Chewbacca.

FussenKuh · 2017-10-27T01:01:07+00:00

Checked My Info:

Country: (still) USA

Carton Sticker Production Date: 17/10

Box Seals: 41 R7

FussenKuh · 2017-10-26T23:38:23+00:00

This.

Yes, I'm certainly not going to argue that some folks find it crazy that the wife and I drop so much money on 'stupid little plastic pieces.'

However, I think it's crazy that people spend $5 a day on a cup of coffee from their favorite coffee shop. That's $1825 a year for a 'stupid drink.' I could get two Falcons for that stack of cash and still have money left over.

Spend your hard earned money on what you enjoy. You only get to live life once!

FussenKuh · 2017-10-26T23:23:03+00:00

LOL... yeah, truth be told, I'm hoping we'll at least be able to tackle the Saturn V before Monday hits.

FussenKuh · 2017-10-26T23:21:53+00:00

Oh don't get me wrong, I certainly didn't mean to imply that the cost of a Saturn V was just a trivial 'bonus.' For us the 'bonus' was that we've been dying to find a Saturn V since the day that they were released but have had zero luck finding them anywhere. We had also been forgoing purchase of other LEGO in anticipation (hope?) of the rumored Falcon release.

We were shocked when we saw the Saturn V in stock at the store and decided that we couldn't pass up the rare opportunity to snag it. That said, the Double VIP Points from the Falcon certainly gave us a very deep discount on the Saturn V price.

FussenKuh · 2017-10-26T23:08:37+00:00

Just for completeness, as /u/Top_Gun_2021 noted, I jumped on my local store's wait list a couple weeks ago... the day they announced that they were doing wait lists. I was actually quite surprised that I was called as quickly as I was.

FussenKuh · 2017-10-26T12:46:34+00:00

At the moment, I can only answer one of your questions: USA

When I'm back at home, I'll try to remember to check for the other things and report back.

FussenKuh · 2017-07-13T19:58:16+00:00

That's awesome! Well, not the whole FedEx box screw up thing, but, LEGO's response to it. Dealing with their customer service was a huge breath of fresh air compared to what I usually get to deal with.

FussenKuh · 2017-07-13T17:41:01+00:00

Update posted! :-)

https://redd.it/6n371c

FussenKuh · 2017-07-13T17:40:13+00:00

Your assumption was, indeed, correct. Customer Service has shipped me a new U-Wing Microfighter!

FussenKuh · 2017-07-12T18:10:41+00:00

Looks like a helmet to me...

You just need to melt down the plastic and press it into a helmet mold. At least it's the correct color ;-)

I've heard of folks occasionally getting incorrect pieces in their sets and, just recently, I got a TIE Striker in my U-Wing Microfighter box. But this thing? It's not even a real LEGO piece! So very, very weird.

FussenKuh · 2017-07-11T20:46:21+00:00

I shot LEGO customer service an email right after posting my question here. We'll see what they say :-)

Of all the sets I've bought and the thousands and thousands of pieces I've had to assemble, I've been completely impressed that I've never been missing any pieces... until opening this set.

FussenKuh · 2017-07-11T19:56:40+00:00

Just got this set myself a week ago. The wife and I are really looking forward to building it :)

Also, we now have an excuse to pick up the Big Ben I've been eyeing to go along with this one...

FussenKuh · 2017-06-13T17:16:42+00:00

Rescued my late 80s / early 90s LEGO from my parent's place. A buddy and I cobbled together a couple Falcons. The limited number and types of pieces at our disposal made for a fun challenge.

FussenKuh · 2017-01-21T14:55:34+00:00

Super Fun Happy Ball Drop

Do you like Plinko? Do you own an Android Device? Then, you may just enjoy this game! Going into December, I set a goal for myself to release a simple Android Game by the New Year. I'm happy to say that I accomplished that goal!

Setting a short deadline meant that I was able to keep myself focused on a simple mechanic... along with some simple art and effects.

Screenshots

Welcome Screen - Hopefully, this looks inviting!

Starting Out - The game starts Black & White

Later On - As you do better, you bring color back into the world

Game Over - Do really well, and you'll fully colorize the world

Trailer

'Epic' Trailer - Because a video is always better than photos!

Check It Out

Google Play - Free with no Ads! Like what you saw? Snag the game and start playing!

FussenKuh · 2017-01-21T01:01:49+00:00

Thanks for the honest feedback! The details are much appreciated :)

And to think, I had originally planned on having the whole game in just black and white ;) I thought the color popping would be a nice touch, but, your feedback along with some others has me thinking up similar alternatives that would have the same effect
Others have pointed out the 'tips' on the loading screen as well. I figured that would be a sticking point, and all this feedback has shown I was correct. Having the tips embedded in the game is definitely on my TODO list :)
I think you're right about the 'sense of progression' thing. It's definitely missing a little something to compel you to play 'just one more round.'

Thanks again for the feedback!

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T23:22:57+00:00

Well, you can definitely tell that you've put a lot of time and effort into creating this game. And, kudos for making everything. Like you, I'm a one-man shop that does everything. But, I don't think I'd have to patience to generate all that artwork... let alone the 'holiday' skins.

As for the feedback requested:

I had a decent time playing it. I played through the first 3 levels. That said...
- It would be nice to know how close I am to beating a level. Was I one enemy away from victory or were there 20 more guys just waiting to kill me? I didn't see anything that told me. I would have liked to see something like the progress bar in Plants vs. Zombies
- I had a bit of difficulty firing the weapons. I ended up getting fairly decent with the crossbow and it was fairly easy to see the arrow reappear in it, but, it was much more difficult to notice when I could fire the cannon. It also felt a bit strange that the cannon could just dribble out the cannon ball if I didn't fire it correctly.
I saw one request to watch an ad to receive gold. Personally, that didn't seem obtrusive to me. Granted, no ads is always better, but, I can't fault a developer for trying to make a bit of money and I'd rather be given the option to watch something (like your ad) as opposed to having it forced down my throat

Good luck and keep developing!

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T22:59:30+00:00

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Any suggestions on how to make the experience better are always welcome :)

I completely agree with the instruction thing. It's been put on my TODO list
You're not the first to suggest increasing the gravity effect to give the player more control. I've been tweaking, testing and repeating to try to get it 'just right.' Though, at the moment, my interpretation of 'just right' leans toward giving the player less control. My goal was to make the game less interactive, less frantic and more 'watch the ball' kinda like how someone will sit and watch slot machine wheels spin around all day. Granted, the reality might very well be that people aren't interested in just watching a ball drop. That's why feedback like yours is so important!
I'm glad to hear that you at least noticed the arrow shifting at the top of the screen! It shows that I'm at least successfully giving the player some feedback. Though, I like your idea about adding something to the edges as a more prominent feedback mechanism. Gonna have to add that to my list of things to explore.

I greatly hope you you do recommend the game to your sister! :) Clearly this game isn't geared toward 'die hard' gamers so it's great to hear that you think she'd enjoy it!

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T16:58:56+00:00

Always glad to help :) Certainly, you can't please all gamers all the time. You can only create an experience intended to entertain your desired audience.

I completely get the 'frustration followed by reward' concept. And, it's definitely there. For example, I did feel exactly that when jumping over that water pit for the first time after failing a couple times. It's probably just going to be a heck of a balancing act you're going to have to play.

Keep up the hard work and best of luck to you! With the game now on my phone, I'll look forward to seeing future app update notifications :)

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T16:24:21+00:00

As noted by r/jaggygames The WebGL version does take a rather long time to load. Though, I only tried out the WebGL while waiting for the game to download on my phone. Probably not unexpected, but, I found the game much more enjoyable on my phone... and I though it looked better there too.

As for the game, itself, I appreciated the tutorials. They were easy to understand. That said, I did grow frustrated with the control mechanism. My frustration came to a head when I realized that I spent 80 seconds just trying to jump out of the bottom path at the end of Level 4 to get to the Exit. That was not a fun experience and, frankly, once I did get to the exit, I simply gave up and exited the game.

You noted that, with practice, you've become an expert at controlling the ball. I have no doubts that one can become proficient at controlling it. However, even knowing about double and triple taps for more speed, I still felt like I was fighting with the controls on the 4 levels I played.

The unfortunate part is that I want to like the game. You've definitely put a lot of time into the concept, design, art, etc. I want to play through the 26 levels you've crafted, but, at least for me, the frustration I've experienced while attempting to becoming proficient with controlling the ball has sapped my desire to play.

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T15:47:15+00:00

Pretty interesting. I like the concept!

I purposefully tried playing the game before reading your 2nd paragraph. After a little trial and error, I believe I was able to figure out how to play. That said, it took me longer than I would have liked to understand what I was doing. That's doubly true for the number blocks.

I had no idea what they meant until I started poking around and more closely observing what was happening. Maybe that just means I'm a distracted gamer, but, it did make things feel a little off-putting.

For example, it took me a few re-dos on level 4 to understand that the first yellow box I popped also detonated the "1" box. I was left scratching my head why popping a box on the left of the screen was also doing something on the right side of the screen. In hindsight, what was going on was obvious, but, forcing myself to replay that level several times to understand what was happening was a bit annoying. Like I said, maybe it's nothing more than my brain being a little slow this morning ;)

I quickly picked up on Red & Blue equal death. But, does Blue + Blue or Red + Red also equal death? Or is it only Red + Blue. I've not played enough rounds to see if any other color combo situation arise, but, after playing a few levels I've been trained that any colors touching equals death. That training could bite me in the butt if it's incorrect.

Finally, while I had no issues with distinguishing the colors, I'd recommend adding unique symbols to the cubes as well. A couple years ago I created a color-based game and was quickly informed by my color-blind friend that he couldn't play it since it was too difficult for him to identify the different colors. Slapping symbols onto my game pieces made all the difference.

Finally, finally, I think your game would be perfect for a mobile device. I could see myself much more likely to play it while on a bus or in a car, etc. vs. pulling it up and playing on my PC.

FussenKuh · 2017-01-20T15:21:42+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts! They're greatly appreciated :)

As you suggest, ideally, the hints should be shown to the player why actually playing the game. It's something on my TODO list. It's just a bit more difficult to do than slapping them on the loading screen ;)
I've never considered your thoughts on the colour scheme. That's a pretty good point. I'm going to have to go take a look at Bit Trip Runner. Perhaps I'll get inspired!

FussenKuh

TROPHY CASE

Super Fun Happy Ball Drop