I started playing Flash Drod today and was making some notes that I was going to take some time to organize, clean up and post once I finished at least the first game, but considering this
post I'm going to just stick it down here as is. Some of it repeats the points Jatopian's friend mentioned. Sorry if this is not the right place for this.
Click here to view the secret text
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General:
- Might want to add links on the Flash Drod download page to the regular game download page and the forum.
- It might be nice to have a wide screen layout option with control keys listed to the right of the play area.
Things that matter for newcomers:
- Should add specific instructions about how to get a CaravelNet Key. Could be in a mouse-over or pop up box.
- I mis-mapped my keys (because I was thinking about the keys in keyboard order (i.e. NW, N, NE, W, wait, E, SW, S, SW) as I remapped them and it took me a while to figure out how to get back to the menu to re-do it. In actual fact, I reloaded the game and once I did that I was able to get to the scroll at the bottom of the room which explains the easier way. I would suggest that be the note beneath Beethro’s feet when the game first starts. You don’t want people giving up in frustration before they even start.
- I found it odd that the explanation for the “crucial” (as per the scroll) backswipe move is hidden in a secret room (First Level, 7N3W), especially when crumbly walls haven’t even been described.
- Spawn Cycle/Queens: was this ever explained? Maybe I clicked through it or missed a scroll. Aside from the regular rooms being pretty confusing, there’s a secret room queen maze that would be pretty tough for a newbie.
- Restore: the help screen doesn’t explain that you can restore a room, what it means, or how you do it. So even if you do see the Restore to a Different Room on the Title screen, you wouldn’t necessarily know what it does or that it would also restore the room you are in to its unconquered state. And since there’s nothing explaining that you can click on the minimap to select a different room that might not be clear either. As well, couldn’t there be a “Restore this Room” button on the Esc menu?
Things that might only matter to veterans:
- Restore: restore seems to take you to where you first entered a room with your first sword position. The main problem with this is if you are trying to improve your score from a different (more optimal) entrance, you may find yourself having to redo the rooms (possibly many) that are between you and the optimal entrance. Even if you’re not redoing sections of a level, it is still an annoyance to have to make your way back to the different entrance each time. But here’s the weird part: it doesn’t always happen.
- Observation: since you can’t restore to a checkpoint once you leave a room then I’m wondering why there are checkpoints before stairs in a room with no monsters.
- Minimap: will this become clickable/expandable? Is there another way to find routes, crumbly walls or unsolved rooms?
Things that might only matter to optimizers:
- Move counter: is it just me or does anyone else feels like they’re at sea without a compass? I know you can hit enter but it’s not the same.
- Scores: will there be a Flash DRoD High Score page on the forum?
[Last edited by noma at 06-19-2012 03:48 AM]
