Thoughts and Suggestions

[FlyingSixtySix]

Overall, I think it's a good start. I'm enjoying it so far. There are somethings I think need improved though, as detailed below:

1. Beep at start - The first thing I noticed when booting up the game is a loud beep.
2. Remember full screen setting - It would be nice if the game were to start in the previous full screen state.
3. Mouse integration - Having mouse integration on menu would speed up quickplay configuration.
4. Settings menu - A settings menu (for configuring the game itself) would be useful.
   • Volume control - As of v1c, the only way to control the volume is through the operating system.
5. Less obtrusive hints - When I was playing for the first time, the entrancer and whammy hints blocked the upper part of the track. (I was in windowed mode.)
6. Slow menu load - It takes five seconds to load the main menu.
7. Profile deletion button colors - I was initially confused with whether the selected option was yes or no, because of there being no other indicator than color.
8. Error #2032 - For some reason, when loading a song, this error pops up in the top left corner. I have restarted the game multiple times to no avail.
9. Ability to remap keys - I'm playing the game with my keyboard in it's normal (typing) position. Having the ability to remap keys would be nice.

Thanks!

[Setup1337]

I am glad to hear you are liking the game so far. Thank you for the suggestions. Here's my responses to them:

1. Acknowledged. Will be in the next update.
2. Acknowledged. Will be in the next update.
3. Acknowledged. Added to my to-do list.
4. Acknowledged. Added to my to-do list.
5. They do indeed block a bit of the track, but that is so that they catch attention. I would've added transparency to the background but that would cause massive lag. The hints only appear on 'Easy' difficulty anyway.
6. Done on purpose. It is so that players notice and have a few moments to glance at the update announcement that shows up right away. In pre-release testing I had problems with nobody reading a single line of it if they immediately could press 'Quickplay'.
7. Acknowledged. Will be in the next update.
8. This error indicates that the song has no PMV file. I am not yet sure what to do about it because it is very helpful if you are indeed making a PMV and some access error prevents the game from loading it as that would mean you'd be starting from scratch without any notification OR if someone is loading a song that DOES have a PMV created by someone but it does not load and the player would not know about its existence.
9. Acknowledged. Added to my to-do list.


I will do the points my to-do list as well, but that takes a bit longer to implement.

Why were you playing in windowed mode though if I may ask?

[FlyingSixtySix]

Thanks for responding!

6. Done on purpose. It is so that players notice and have a few moments to glance at the update announcement that shows up right away. In pre-release testing I had problems with nobody reading a single line of it if they immediately could press 'Quickplay'.

I don't think lengthening the amount of time it takes to get into the game is a good idea; it's the player's choice to read the update announcement. If they've already seen it, then why should they have to wait? Arguably, the only way to tell if they've already seen it is by looking at it (or remembering the last time they played) - but that's only a quick glance.

Nobody reading the announcement during pre-release testing is understandable, as they'd likely be testing just the game mechanics.

Why were you playing in windowed mode though if I may ask?

I prefer to have a smaller and more compact UI - I find it more appealing.

[Setup1337]

I don't think lengthening the amount of time it takes to get into the game is a good idea; it's the player's choice to read the update announcement. If they've already seen it, then why should they have to wait? Arguably, the only way to tell if they've already seen it is by looking at it (or remembering the last time they played) - but that's only a quick glance.

It is still useful though. It can also be used for reminders. I am still experimenting with many things in the game and having a surefire way to get players' attention is useful.

Is that 5 seconds of wait really that bad? For me having this feature is so important.

[FlyingSixtySix]

I don't think lengthening the amount of time it takes to get into the game is a good idea; it's the player's choice to read the update announcement. If they've already seen it, then why should they have to wait? Arguably, the only way to tell if they've already seen it is by looking at it (or remembering the last time they played) - but that's only a quick glance.

It is still useful though. It can also be used for reminders. I am still experimenting with many things in the game and having a surefire way to get players' attention is useful.

Is that 5 seconds of wait really that bad? For me having this feature is so important.

It isn't a big problem, but how about this: when there's a new announcement, have the user wait. After that, if there's no new announcement, don't have the player wait.

[Setup1337]

Well like I said, it still is useful for reminders. What if there is something important that the player doesn't currently have time to do? They play the game and next time they start it up they no longer remember there was an announcement - but on next startup the announcement is no longer read either because the player will enter 'Quickplay' right away. So ultimately the announcement is not read at all.

[FlyingSixtySix]

What if there is something important that the player doesn't currently have time to do?

Why would they be playing the game if they didn't have time to do the important thing?

They play the game and next time they start it up they no longer remember there was an announcement - but on next startup the announcement is no longer read either because the player will enter 'Quickplay' right away.

What if they have already read it? What if the user chose not to read the announcement? Once it's read, it's been read--if the user forgets, then they may have thought the announcement wasn't important enough to take immediate action.

Let's use Discord's "Go Vote" notification from this year's midterms. Discord doesn't know whether or not I've already voted, but they displayed the notification anyway. Say I've already voted. I can close the notification, because it's no longer relevant to me. Now, say I'm not legally allowed to vote. The same logic applies that I can close the notification, because it's no longer relevant to me.

For users simply wanting to play the game, they should have the freedom to do so without waiting, because their interpretation of whether or not something is important doesn't have to align with yours.

So ultimately the announcement is not read at all.

There's no way of telling whether or not the user has seen the announcement. Sure, you could save a bit of data when the user clicks on the announcement, but there's no way of telling whether or not the user has actually read it.

[Setup1337]

Why would they be playing the game if they didn't have time to do the important thing?

I don't know yet what I potentially mean by an important thing. It could be an emergency announcement, it could be a critical bug. Or worst of all, it could be because I accidentally broke the auto-updater with an update and players need to download an update manually. I just want to be prepared for the future.

We are still, after all, debating over a five second difference which only happens once every time you start the game.

[FlyingSixtySix]

Why would they be playing the game if they didn't have time to do the important thing?

I don't know yet what I potentially mean by an important thing. It could be an emergency announcement, it could be a critical bug. Or worst of all, it could be because I accidentally broke the auto-updater with an update and players need to download an update manually. I just want to be prepared for the future.

We are still, after all, debating over a five second difference which only happens once every time you start the game.

Fair points. I just think that as a player, I should have the freedom to disable the delay if I wanted to, at my own risk of course. It's the player's responsibility to heed to the announcements. If they don't want to, that's their fault entirely.

[Setup1337]

I have implemented the indicated suggestions.

Here is the post with the changelog: https://www.notesfrommagic.com/index.ph ... e-released

Thank you for your suggestions.