Elen:
You asked for some suggested improvements to Adventure Island. Here's my 2 cents:
1) Being so big, there's a lot of walking around to do sometimes particularly when trying to figure something out. I'd love to see a clickable map like you provided for the theme park that builds as the player explores a new world. It'd provide a quick way to navigate the island.
2) Some of the hotspots need to be bigger or more obvious. I think that many players automatically run their mouse over the entire screen in these types of games to discover what's available to click on or walk to. If the hotspots are too small they can often be passed over and can get a player stuck because they have missed something. I.e. it took me a long time to discover the closet with the disguise and the safe behind the picture.
3) For The Maze puzzle, it was obvious to me that moving between point A and B withing a certain time was required. When I calculated that 30 seconds was all that was allotted and that a minimum of 45 seconds was needed, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for another solution rather than the one that was actually needed. For timed puzzles (including the very last one), give the player enough time or find a way to tell them exactly how long they have to complete the task.
All in all though, I really enjoyed playing. And, I've played a LOT of adventure games in my life.
- CW
You asked for some suggested improvements to Adventure Island. Here's my 2 cents:
1) Being so big, there's a lot of walking around to do sometimes particularly when trying to figure something out. I'd love to see a clickable map like you provided for the theme park that builds as the player explores a new world. It'd provide a quick way to navigate the island.
2) Some of the hotspots need to be bigger or more obvious. I think that many players automatically run their mouse over the entire screen in these types of games to discover what's available to click on or walk to. If the hotspots are too small they can often be passed over and can get a player stuck because they have missed something. I.e. it took me a long time to discover the closet with the disguise and the safe behind the picture.
3) For The Maze puzzle, it was obvious to me that moving between point A and B withing a certain time was required. When I calculated that 30 seconds was all that was allotted and that a minimum of 45 seconds was needed, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for another solution rather than the one that was actually needed. For timed puzzles (including the very last one), give the player enough time or find a way to tell them exactly how long they have to complete the task.
All in all though, I really enjoyed playing. And, I've played a LOT of adventure games in my life.
- CW