new player comments
Bought the desktop versions of Pawn, Guild and Jinxter today and thought I'd pop online to say hello.
First impressions brilliant, great games and I like the new gui widgets (especially underlined key words and the map) and the pictures - the bus in Jinxter wow what an improvement, Xam's kitchen, and sitting in the canoe are standouts, so far.
I love the ambient sound, wasn't expecting it and the phone ringing was a lovely surprise!
I was going to ask for the option to change the background colour but I realised you can do that by editing prefs.jsn, I prefer dark grey (e.g. #252627) with white text, it's a bit less contrasty than a black background.
The font selection is good, so much more readable than the original games I don't miss the pixelated text at all! Just curious why Jinxter uses Merriweather but it's not listed in Guild, are they game specific fonts?
Would be good if it remembered the picture position, and the text entry sometimes loses focus, but I see these have been mentioned before and are already on the to-do list.
I like the undo feature, and scrolling the text to see the history. One small point I'd suggest starting the text at the bottom of the screen when the game starts, so it's not hidden under the picture.
I kinda miss the Jinxter carousel on startup, but the animation is impressive. I like how you've done Guild with the boxset image in the background overlayed with an animation, and the music is nice.
I decided to play Jinxter first, and got stuck due to a small bug - I guessed what to fix the canoe with but for some reason I put it inside the sock first and put that in the hole and it went straight through, which sent me down a rabbit hole thinking it was the wrong item... but the item fits ok.
Which brings me on to a more general point - these games make me feel a bit thick! I love the puzzles but my patience isn't quite what it used to be, I think it would be good to offer more clues if a player is stuck, so they don't resort to looking at walkthroughs and miss out on the rest of the game.
I'll add more comments as I play through the games, but thanks so much for bringing these back to life. It's a difficult time for everyone at the moment, and this provides a pleasant distraction.
Comments
Jinxter endgame appears to be broken, I'm in the right place with the right future set and she never shows up. Waited over 100 turns. Not had any bad luck, score is 195.
Enjoyed the game, but it's very frustrating when the last move doesn't work!
Glad to hear that you like the game!
Are you sure that you are set for the endgame? There are quite some steps involved. If you provide some details what your last steps have been, perhaps we can figure out if something is missing?!?
Thanks for your comments on the games. You might like to play around with the theme selections rather than edit the config file directly. Although that will work!
The choice of default font was guided by readability on mobiles. Unfortunately, some screens are smaller and less clear than others. In any case you can change it, and the size. We used to default to "PT Serif" which is also there. You might prefer that.
Built in help has been suggested. Although the original hints are on the website, it would be nice to incorporate these into the game - and perhaps make a few additional ones.
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How long do you have to wait? I assume if you've had some bad luck this is when it affects you?
It would help if the Guardian turned up at this moment and told you if something is missing, rather than wasting time waiting.
Yes I like the themes but they don't let you choose a background colour other than black or white, but it's no problem I can edit it directly. Delighted when I discovered that, nice to see it wasn't hard-coded. Dark grey gives a bit less eye strain, imo.
If these were your exact order of steps, it might be slightly wrong. Perhaps check this:
get up the chimney, examine the ball until Jandor glances at fireplace, doofer ball, drop ash, then wait for her
Ah! That works. Thanks!
I originally entered "put ash on hearth" while still in the great hall, then went up the chimney, that doesn't work.
Whereas if I drop the ash once up the chimney it says "the ash disappears from view for ever, that's it as far as the ash is concerned", and then her claw appears after just waiting a couple of moves.
Presumably it makes more mess?
Glad to hear!
That was the idea behind it:
With the ball you get Janedor to the great hall, but you need to put the bracelet on her arm. You cannot do this directly as she would kill you in an instant. Instead you climb up the chimney, so she cannot see you. Then you drop something (you can drop other things as well). Jandor notices that something drops out of the chimney. She tries to find out what that might be in there. And that is your chance
Perfect excuse to play it through again.
I really like Jinxter, I think it's my favourite of the series. From what I've read it was a painful birth but it's a good game with logical puzzles. I love the village it has some good puzzles, and the underwater scene - the animation is a nice touch!
Impressed with the remastered version. Love the new graphics and ambient sounds, and the map is great. The new bus scene creates a much better first impression, and there are some lovely pictures throughout the game. Could possibly benefit from a new picture at the top of the clock tower?
You could think about when to offer a few more hints, here and there, somehow figure out when the player is stuck. People's expectations are a bit different these days. Maybe the Guardian could offer help more frequently, unless the player tells him to buzz off.
I'm going to explore Jinxter a bit more, I think there are a couple of different solutions to some puzzles, then I'll have a go at Guild.
Looking forward to Fish! Don't think I got very far with that one, back in the day.
Just to wrap up on Jinxter, couple of small in-game bugs, feel free to disregard, I'm enjoying playing it very much!
I found two ways to plug the hole in the boat - bung in sock or the mouse. The mouse fits as-is, but if you put it in the sock it passes straight through...
Doesn't make sense to freeze a bottle of water in a fridge, maybe there should be a freezer compartment. Might be an easy fix, e.g. fridge is malfunctioning?
It probably shouldn't allow you to go diving, or into the airlock, with the ladder (I was trying to get the charm without flooding the green lodge!).
I can see why you allowed the saddle to be carried on the cloud, you needed to be psychic to know where to mail it... but you don't need to visit the pub anymore - you don't need the 2-ferg coin, glass or ash to finish the game.
The Guardian could give you a hint where to mail it? Similarly with the train leaving early (as it used to), he could just pop up and tell you to run!
Been playing Guild today. The map came in very handy when I left stuff at the castle and needed to pop back for it. I like the animations, especially the spider!
Guild is quite iconic, I remember being amazed when I first saw Atari ST screenshots in magazine reviews. Some good puzzles but the deserted castle and grounds feel a bit lifeless, if you're planning some sequels I'd suggest add more NPCs that can wander around the map making a nuisance of themselves.
Guild is missing the load/save buttons but I found them in settings anyhow.