Re: [Enigma-devel] Enigma 0.8 beta version questions

[slfabian]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for responding.  I understand your point about locking levels turning
Enigma into a somewhat more coherent game, however I do not feel that the
people who know about and play Enigma need this as an incentive.  Don't you
think that the people who play Enigma are inherently motivated to complete
all of the levels and will keep trying to do so?  I don't like being forced
to play them more or less in order.  Again, this is why I don't like other
"level" games.  I don't think that this makes them fun--it only makes them
frustrating.

I wouldn't mind the idea of having an option to turn level locking on or
off.  I know that someone else said that this is the same as unlocking all
levels, but at least it would give you a choice.  If you are the kind of
person who needs or likes the "motivation" of having the levels locked, you
could select this option.  Otherwise, if you just like the challenge of
solving puzzles, you could select the unlocked option.   By the way, this
same person commented that he had previously skipped some difficult levels.

Another person wrote that he would have also complained if he wasn't able to
get some hints about how to solve certain levels by looking at the lua
files.  I am generally pretty computer illiterate, so I don't even know what
this means or how to look at these files.

I still hope that you decide to open all of the levels, or provide an
option, but I think that at least all of the levels that were available in
version 0.70 should be open in this and subsequent versions.

I also wonder why two of the levels were changed to make them more
difficult.  I am referring to "Mission Impossible" in the Enigma 1 level
pack, and an unnamed level (level 16) in the Esprit/Oxyd level pack.
Mission Impossible used to have fewer lasers and Level 16 used to give you 3
lives, but now only gives you one.  I have also had a problem on several of
the levels already with trigger plates getting stuck.

Just so you don't think I am complaining about everything, I do like the new
feature of having your solving time saved, and being able to challenge
yourself to beat that time.

Thanks again,
Stephanie Fabian


----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Heck" <address@hidden>
To: "slfabian" <address@hidden>
Cc: <address@hidden>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Enigma-devel] Enigma 0.8 beta version questions


> Hi Stephanie,
>
> > I am disappointed with several aspects of the latest version of
> > Enigma.  In version 0.7 all levels were available for play at all
> > times.  This was one of the things that I liked best about the game.
>
> It's good you wrote in to tell us.  In fact, you are the first one to
> complain about this new "feature".
>
> I think there is one good argument for initially locking most of the
> levels: It turns Enigma from a loose collection of levels into a
> somewhat more coherent game.  Locking later levels adds an incentive to
> try (even) harder to solve the previous ones. On the other hand, what
> many users obviously like about Enigma is *that* it is a loose
> collection of levels.
>
> I'm not sure how to proceed.  I somewhat lean towards removing the level
> locking from Enigma 0.8, but I would like to hear a few more opinions
> from others on the mailing list.  Of course, we could always add an
> option to enable or disable level locking...
>
> > I would also like to know what happens when you do release the final
> > version.  Do I have to start over from scratch?  Or will I be able to
> > somehow transfer the credit for already having solved a level in the
> > beta version?
>
> All your personal settings (including the information which levels you
> solved) we be automatically used by the final version.  They are not
> stored in the application folder but in your personal data folder.
>
> Thanks for your feedback!
>
> Daniel
>
> --
> Daniel Heck
> http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~dheck/
>