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[oodavid]

Well, the agile manifesto says you should always ship on time, even if it was at 2330!

I've got a lot lined up for the next release:

• Moar Levels - aiming for 100
• Moar Level variations - using different goals, limits, powerups and modified atoms
• Moar Story - I've got a lot written now, but not the levels to connect them together
• Facebook Integration - like and share
• High-Scores - that means making a server backend... I think
• General tidy of the interface - notably the pre and post-game modals. Oh and pause too
• Micro-Payments - to increase the number of powerups available to the player

[oodavid]

Decided to put an "Early Access" on the Android Play Store... and why not?!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oodavid.moleculematch

[JobLeonard]

Why do you need phone status & identity? As a simple way to determine unique players?

[JobLeonard]

Also, I don't do Facebook likes (except on status updates of friends) out of principle, sorry

[oodavid]

Why do you need phone status & identity? As a simple way to determine unique players?

I'm not going to lie to you, I have no idea! GameClosure uses it for some reason. I'll look into it.

Don't worry about the Facebook thing, i'm the same in many ways.

[oodavid]

Four new boosters have been added to Molecule Match, giving us a grand total of five:

Edgefix :: improve your chances by tidying up big atoms on the edges
Swap :: tactically swap two atoms around
Smash :: destroys an atom
Smash-line :: destroys a row or column of atoms
Shuffle :: the old favourite!

Levels are now being designed to take advantage of the new boosters!

For those who aren't aware, the game is now available on Google Play (albeit a slimmed down version!)

I'm busy talking with weeby.co about getting on to their beta program; they've created an environment whereby you can plug in the core elements of a game and they deal with a lot of the important peripherals: social, leaderboards, consumables, in-app purchases, menu UX and analytics.

With that in mind I'll be free to focus my attentions on gameplay and level design, which is just awesome! LOTS coming in the next few weeks!!

[JobLeonard]

I've been having fun with the "previous new" version, and devised a new form of shuffle-optimising (can't really be called scumming any more). Basically, you connect all atoms you don't want to swap, without completing them. I don't think this is abusive - the effect is very limited, and really only effective when you have, say, two 4-connectors on the edge, and a lot of one/two-connectors in the middle. In that case, statistically, the 4-connectors are more likely to end up in the middle.

Is shuffling completely removed in favour of these new boosters?

[oodavid]

I've been having fun with the "previous new" version, and devised a new form of shuffle-optimising (can't really be called scumming any more). Basically, you connect all atoms you don't want to swap, without completing them. I don't think this is abusive - the effect is very limited, and really only effective when you have, say, two 4-connectors on the edge, and a lot of one/two-connectors in the middle. In that case, statistically, the 4-connectors are more likely to end up in the middle.

Once again, I'm humbled by your playtesting! There's definitely a number of techniques that arise from the nuances of the boosters and playstyle. The issue is that as I balance the levels I don't yet know when the player has drawn these conclusions. It's likely that you're the best player in the world (after me, but I don't count)

Is shuffling completely removed in favour of these new boosters?

Not at all, I plan on spending a lot of time balancing the levels regarding the boosters, the fact that we have more variables simply increases the number of unique levels can be created! I want the shuffle to be one of the main mechanics in the game, old-faithful if you will.

I've been pondering making two versions of the game:

• Molecule Match = Weekly set of 4 levels with leaderboard competitions
• Molecule Match, Dantes Story - The full game, with story

The idea being that the former can amass the data that will balance levels for the latter... Still not sure TBH.

[oodavid]

I've been working hard on a number of new features to the game, the biggest being the First-Time-User-Experience; I really want people to understand the principles of the game within a minute or so. Previously I had the levels simply increase in complexity but noticed that around half of all users put the game down at level 6, where it gets "hard", asking a few of them, they simply didn't "get it".

So we now have a proper Tutorial system!

Level 1 - Simple Atoms



Level 2 - Complex Atoms



Level 3 - Using Boosters



Level ? - Demonstrations



I've created the Tutorial engine and have put all of my old levels to one side and am starting from scratch, I'm hoping to have people hooked ASAP!

[oodavid]

I'm not dead! And nor is Molecule Match!

I've spent some time down a rabbit hole trying to partner with Weeby.co - so fresh out of the oven there's no real documentation or working examples - it may happen in the future but I've sunk a little too much time into trying to get my head around their platform that I care to imagine.

I'm currently tackling a key UI / UX problem that's been bugging me - in the footer lies two critical parts of each level, the goal "achieve something" and the limit "within time / moves / molecules" that most people don't realise is a big part of each level. So the Intro, Success and Failure sequences will hammer home the purpose of these elements:

• Do the things to win!
• You did the things and won!
• You didn't do the things and lost!

Obviously these animations are still WiP as the buttons look shite and the text is all over the shop, but it's getting there.

In other news I have:

• Successfully built the game for iOS
• Written a backend server for data analysis
• Written a crude visual level editor so I can crack out levels en-masse
• Written an article about First Time User Experiences
• Planned and began to work on some K-Factor type features (and a blog article to go with it in due course)

I think once I'm happy with this Intro / Outro sequence AND I've written a few more levels it will be time to release another version of the game for feedback. Exciting.

[JobLeonard]

I think once I'm happy with this Intro / Outro sequence AND I've written a few more levels it will be time to release another version of the game for feedback. Exciting.

Indeed

[oodavid]

Indeed

Hey, easy, pothead. I'll get you your fix.

[JobLeonard]

Oi, just because I'm Dutch doesn't mean I'm an addict.

[oodavid]

Found a moment today and made wobbly buttons :-)

[oodavid]

Oh and wrote a quick article about keeping Todo-Lists in your personal time 

A War Board for the Home

[oodavid]

Reckon I might be happy with this now, just need to wire in the old logic and we're laughing

[oodavid]

Decided to work on the Map a little, this is what happens when you get a Gold Medal and unlock a secret path:



Edit: Slight tweaks, but not worth a new post

[oodavid]

Just smashed through my "misc bugs" tasks, nothing in particular to shout about but satisfying as the list was starting to get rather long. I've just noticed my tasklist for the next release is really short:

• Link up the Failure / Success screens with the Progression Map
• Make the Tutorial trigger the Intro sequence
• Review the Post-Tutorial Levels - about 20 to tweak
• Write the "last-level" node
• Finally get the thing on to the Apple App-Store (it's mostly just screenshots required)

Oh, and I have a half-finished level editor - there's quite a bit of backend logic there as well that does version control and links th levels with analytical data from playthroughs. Pretty cool stuff, but not visually interesting...

[tieTYT]

I like the polish that you've got at the first post, the way those stars explode out of new levels.  Nice polish for the game, in general.  But the art itself doesn't seem very cohesive.  I'm sure it's a WIP.

[c3sk]

I really like the evolving backgrounds you have going on here. Especially the Dantès Story one. The gameplay seems pretty solid and there is quite a bit of fluid motion on the screen considering the game mechanics. Good work!