The "split" cell sort of suggests (at least design-wise) that a tripple crystal should break up into three singular crystals, and to me it feels more intuitive that way than it splitting into 2 and 1 in arbitrary (though, not random) directions. Also the grid should probably have sides of even length, so that you never wonder which crystal will move first (pic. related), however, not sure how that can be a problem
Overral though, liking the game so far, good luck with the development! <3
I love that you brought these topics up since I was gonna write a devlog about mechanics today :) I've been struggling trying to find out how to make the most intuitive mechanics that will make sense/be consistent in any scenario
For example, about the crystals and not knowing which one goes first- if I do change it to where there is an even number of spaces in between, I will still eventually need to account for what happens when there's an odd-numbered space in between, since that can happen based on what the player does. For those cases, I just made a priority system where crystals go first depending on the direction they're going in. So top priority is upward, then right, down, and left.
The other thing you mentioned was crystals splitting- I have to keep in mind that any number of crystals could enter it, up to 8. In the interest of consistency, I decided everything would only split into 2 halves. If a crystal is odd-numbered, then its larger half will go up or right, depending on the direction it entered the splitter.
Now that you know where my head is at, I'm curious to hear what you think! I appreciate your thoughtful comment :)
Ah, fair then. Probably would be nice to teach the player the direction priority, but I suppose you know that already.
So, there probably should be more mechanics than just fission and crystals going... into slots, right? (what are those slots, by the way? Like, what exactly am I doing? lol) When I think of fission, I imagine nuclear reactions, atom splitting et cetera. Fusion seems like the logical continuation of that analogy. Perhaps combining crystals could not only yield a bigger one, but also a secondary output of singular crystal?
Or is thinking of that as a nuclear process straight up wrong? hMmm...
Fusion has been part of the plan for a few days now :) my plan is to make a tile that will hold the first crystal that lands on it, then waits for another crystal to approach. Once both crystals are on top of the fusion tile, they'll simply add together. Then, they'll be released in a direction that will be indicated in the tile art.
I'm hoping to explore my options for a tutorial more, but there will be a point of diminishing returns where it won't be worth explaining every nuance to the player. Hope it turns out ok!
