Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!dutrun!galaxy!leo From: leo@duttnph.tudelft.nl (Leo Breebaart) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games Subject: Re: Diamonds - some suggestions Message-ID: Date: 5 Feb 91 09:14:02 GMT References: <345@unf7.UUCP> Sender: news@dutrun.UUCP Reply-To: leo@duttnph.tudelft.nl Lines: 79 I have also spend an evening or two trying out the 'Diamonds' game, and if Stephen Hite only just beat me to posting a list of suggestions and improvements. shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) writes: > 1. Don't make me start a level over if I don't complete it with one > fuzzy ball. I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything when > I get so severely penalized. Yes, this is the biggest problem with the game. It is ridiculous to demand of the player that he has to start all over if he does not clear each level in just one pass. > 2. I don't like that idea that if I don't get all of light blue balls > first before touching another paintbrush that I'm dead. No, here I disagree: the matching ball/brick color combination is one of the cutest ideas in the game, and the requirement to hit all the blue ones first adds a reasonable difficulty to the game. > 3. You know, you could use those '+' signs to represent something. Why > don't you have some '-' signs also and then you could figure out some > way for them to cancel each other out so you don't get blown away just > for touching a single '+'. Make it a "lifesaver" technique. In this > way, it's still dangerous but carries some meaning also. Not particularly necessary in my opinion. Besides, they are not '+' signs, but death-crosses (I think)! > 4. You need more icons that represent different attributes. I could see > my interest level waning if the only different kind of icon to get > is a key. For example, speed icons, gravity icons, "penetration > icons" that are good for acting as a "wildcard" color for one hit, etc. Total agreement. There is of course the arrow brick which interchanges the left-right arrow keys if you hit it, and that is one mean muther! But in the same vain *lots* of interesting things could be added, possibly in connection with special attribute bricks: having the ball go left-right instead of up-down, speed-up/slow-down, death-brick protection, multiple balls (don't ask!), hit-everything balls, extra-life bricks, etc. You have to watch out for the danger of kitchen-sinking the game into an unplayable mess of different balls, bricks and colors, but it certainly needs *some* added spice. Some small other things I noticed: 1) You can't enter a training level number from the keyboard, and you can't use the up/down arrow keys either: you *have* to click the on-screen arrows instead. 2) If you set the music off, it doesn't *stay* off, but keeps re-appearing every new game within a session; this is extremely irritating. 3) Talking about the music: the simultaneous sound effects are terrific, but five seconds of an old disco song infinitely looped is not my idea of soothing background music: after the first two games you never ever ever want to hear that stupid music again (which is why 2) is so annoying!). Suggestion: have the disco-loop played during the showing of the high-scores, or during the opening screen, and just use some good sounds for the actual playing. 4) Having the background picture change with the level would also be a nice way to enhance the game. I am aware that adding music and pictures would increase the size of the game dramatically, but I personally would not mind: I have space enough on my hard disk, and downloading costs me nothing... Having said all this, does anybody know if the author is on the net, or are we just talking to ourselves? Peace, -- Leo Breebaart (leo @ duttnph.tudelft.nl)