Post by Garry Francis in Comments on "Tastybuns Burgers"

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This is a smallish game, but of all the games I've played so far, it was one of the most fun. It's based on an original idea, it's nicely paced, it's got some nice puzzles and it has very few bugs.

I played version 0.9.0. I think you might have fixed most of the issues raised by others, as I didn't strike them. Here's what I found...

Consider overriding the default CREDITS with your own. You can still see the system credits with *CREDITS.

Consider overriding the system HELP with your own, as the default response is longer than 6 words.

It's nice to see you start the game with something in your inventory. It's the first game to do so (so far).

"Mr." and "Mrs." should be "Mr" and "Mrs" respectively, as they're contractions, not abbreviations. I know that Joe Public usually puts a full stop after them, but Joe Public is wrong.

It didn't understand LOCK & UNLOCK, even though you have a locked door.

You can't CLOSE GATE, even though you can open it.

"You ring but..." should be "You ring, but..."

"satsfied" should be "satisfied".

You're missing a full stop after "...vermin-infested kitchen". I think this was the only culprit, but it wouldn't hurt to check the other sentences, just in case.

I guessed what to say to the clerk at the Record Department before I received the hint from the fisherman. Dee noted this, as well. I'm not sure how to get around this unless the fisherman gives you something to give to the Record Department.

Similarly, I guessed what to say to Mrs Nguyen before reading the newspaper. Perhaps if you didn't mention her by name in the first room.

You've used "Philippe" and "Phillipe" for the same character. I think the former is correct.

Following on from what Adventuron was saying about EXAMINE vs READ, I personally prefer these to be different. When examining signs, you could say something about the appearance of the sign itself like "Bolted to wall." or "Big white sign with black writing.", or simply "Something's written on it." Reading reveals what you get now with EXAMINE and READ.

And that's all I could find to complain about. You're making my job too easy!

Verdant Tome4 years ago (1 edit)

Thank you for your feedback, Garry! I'm glad you liked the game. Yes, it's a bit short, as I was working under a tight deadline, but I hope it's also sweet.

You make some good points. I didn't even know about CREDITS or HELP, as they're not mentioned in any of the development guides that I found, and I didn't think to try them in the game.

Thanks for pointing out those spelling errors. Good proofreading is very valuable!

I did some reading online, and it seems that if Joe Public is American, then they're not considered wrong. From things you've written in your game and elsewhere on itch.io, I'd guess that you're Australian? Me too, although somehow I was taught to use the full stop when I was growing up. Now that I know the preferred Commonwealth English form, I'll try to change my habit, because I do generally try to stick to that way of doing things. But I've been teaching ESL with American English textbooks for a few years, and I have no energy left to discuss whose flavour of English is "more correct". You would not believe how often it comes up. :) Also, I apologise if my spelling/vocabulary wavers back and forth across the pond; now you know why.

Leaving out responses for locking/unlocking/closing things was a conscious decision. There are always more little things for which you could code flavour responses, and if I'd been working on the game for a month or even a week I would've done more, but I drew a line there. Those kinds of responses are one of the things that I really admired about your game. You managed to cram even more puns and asides into your game without exceeding your two-word limit or creating confusion.

Both the fisherman and the newspaper were only ever intended to be extra hints for those puzzles. I added the fisherman because I felt that the folder was an incredibly vague hint (I didn't originally conceive of it as being a hint like that at all; it was only there to give players feedback that not just one, but two of the treasures related to dodgy business practices), and that most players would need an extra nudge. There was also another somewhat roundabout reason for the fisherman and his puzzle item to be present initially, which was related to some things that were cut for time. The newspaper was added when I had half an idea to make Dale say something else, so it would've been the only clue for that puzzle, but in the end I didn't change Dale's line.

I think that it may seem like the fisherman is more important than he was supposed to be, which in turn makes it seem like the player shouldn't be able to get the treasure that he hints at without hearing his clue first. The reality is that getting that treasure was going to involve a chain of puzzles dealing with the bureaucrats at City Hall, which I had to cut so I could go to bed and not be ruined for work the next day. :) So now, you just turn up at City Hall and ask for the treasure.

Garry Francis4 years ago

It sounds to me like there could be a post-jam game with a few enhancements. (Hint, hint!) John Blythe is talking about upgrading his entry to add graphics and remove the two- and six-word limitation. He posted a couple of sample images on the 8-bit Text Adventures Facebook group and they look great.