Mombari - 3D adventure puzzle game testers wanted!

[sw7com]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a 3D adventure puzzle game called Mombari.

I'm looking for additional feedback - anyone want to help out? I have the game in alpha testing.

You will need a Windows Phone 8 and a Microsoft account (formerly Windows Live ID). Send the email address associated with your Microsoft account to stephan [at] software7 [dot] com and I can add you to the beta distribution list in Microsoft's Marketplace Store.

I don't share email addresses with anyone!



The Story
A powerful wizard threatens Mombari's village. To save the day, Mombari must gather all the magic rings in an immersive 3D fantasy world...while avoiding the wizard's traps! A magic map is Mombari's friend; ghosts his enemies. But to find his way without touching a ghost or becoming trapped in a dead end street, Mombari must use all his cunning...

How to Play
Tilt your Windows Phone 8 to move Mombari through 3D worlds while collecting magic rings along the way. Avoid touching ghosts or neutralize them with the magic wand. Only when all the magic rings have been gathered and he reaches the exit will Mombari be taken to the next stage.

Screenshots





More information can be found here: Mombari - The Journey is the Reward

Thanks for looking!

Stephan
--
http://www.software7.com
https://www.twitter.com/sw7com
Mombari - The Journey is the Reward

 

[mase123987]

What type of puzzles are there? I know it says you collect rings to advance but what is the puzzle portion?

 

[sw7com]

What type of puzzles are there? I know it says you collect rings to advance but what is the puzzle portion?

There are e.g. traps, dead end streets, teleporters, sinking footbridges. This in combination with the fact, that only when all the magic rings have been gathered and he reaches the exit will Mombari be taken to the next stage, is the puzzle part.

Difficult to explain, but easy to see if one actually plays it. It's not finished yet, but if you want to make a test drive let me know ;-)

 

[mase123987]

I send you a private message with me email address (too lazy to send an actual email to you!). I don't know how much time I will have to play it but I can give it a try.

 

[sw7com]

Great! Very appreciated. Added you to the list. PM sent.

 

[kyriacou48]

hey sw7com, id love to be a tester. been on WP since 2010 so im always up for supporting developers with new apps and games for benchmarks sake I have a Lumia 920, so id be more than happy to test and play through as many times as desired. Cheers!

 

[kyriacou48]

just sent through an email with my address. Thanks

 

[sw7com]

Cool - great. Beta list updated. Email sent

 

[kyriacou48]

Thanks Stephan, for reaching out to the WP users and for developing for a growing platform!

 

[kyriacou48]

getting "Sorry, you don't have permission to download this file". Does it take a while before the beta list updates?

 

[sw7com]

Don't know how fast it updates. I will immediately double check if I entered the email address correctly.

 

[kyriacou48]

No worries, thanks!

 

[sw7com]

Double checked email. Seems ok.
I noticed slightly changes in the Microsoft DevCenter UI. Hm.
Anyway, if it does not work during the next two hours or so, please drop me a note.
I would open a support ticket at Microsoft or resubmit the test version then.

 

[mase123987]

Few quick thoughts after playing through 2 levels:
Screen timed out on me while playing.
When you pause the game and press the on screen back arrow, it restarts the level compared to unpausing.
I can't close the app with the capacitive back arrow.
After I completed the first level, it just kept zooming in and out and wouldn't let me do anything.
Most importantly - the tilt controls are pretty bad right now. The calibration was off no matter what the position I held the phone. Consider adding something that explains how the tilt controls work. I personally would like to see something like a dpad for a game like this.

 

[kyriacou48]

Up to world 3 level 2... and thought id some up some of my thoughts so far.

Positives:

-Great 3D environment (not perfect but definitely a great attempt)

- Controls for the most part, work ok (Again, not the best and I think a dpad would be preferable) but as a programmer its not the easiest to map controls sometimes.. lol

-level design and difficulty is good (some levels were easy, a few up to world 3-2 are a little tricky)

Some improvements for the next update:

-Closing the app. this is crucial, since I need to restart my phone to correctly close the app as it stands.

- positions of buttons: Restart button is incredibly close to the search key, found myself hitting the search key a lot.

For Beta stage/Future Improvements

- Screen Orientation

- different camera views (close up third person, first person)
- a secondary attack (one that acts faster but may take two hits to kill?)

-Control sensitivity

-Screen in between level could be quicker, but its fine in alpha stages

Overall, its quite impressive. Game development, especially 3D, is quite difficult, so hats off for a really good start. you've got a platform to work on with a lot of potential: I won't be going anywhere and I will stick with this to see how it improves, because I genuinely enjoy the game and the idea behind it! Good start Stephan, keep it up

 

[sw7com]

First: thanks for taking the time to make a test drive and the valuable feedback.

Some comments to the last two posts:
>I can't close the app with the capacitive back arrow.
This is a bug. Will be fixed.
> ...it just kept zooming in and out
Also a bug. Will be fixed
>level design and difficulty is good (some levels were easy, a few up to world 3-2 are a little tricky)
Not sure about this. Games testers already tested the game during the early stages of development on real devices. Based on these feedback I made the levels successively much easier. To find a good balance is always very difficult. I will see what further feedback regarding the difficulty level I will receive.
-Closing the app.
Bug -> will be fixed. BTW: you can always press the Windows button to switch to another app.
-Control sensitivity
Perhaps a possibility to set the sensitivity in the Options?
- Screen Orientation
You mean the possibility to rotate the phone?
- a secondary attack
I will think about it (currently the focus of the game is on the exploration/logic/puzzle part).

>Overall, its quite impressive....I will stick with this to see how it improves, because I genuinely enjoy the game and the idea behind it!
Thanks. Good to hear

It's still an alpha version and your feedback helps me a lot to develop it into the right direction.

Stephan

 

[mase123987]

Any chance of a d-pad as an option? I just find it hard to enjoy with the tilt controls.

 

[sw7com]

As for the control options, there are different preferences. Therefore it certainly makes sense to support different control mechanisms. But in the first version tilt control will be the only supported option. Support for additional control options will depend on how well the game will be generally accepted.

This is very hard to judge for me at the moment. Presumably this is often difficult to assess in advance, I guess.

 

[sw7com]

Regarding the positioning of the buttons, see the point
>Restart button is incredibly close to the search key, found myself hitting the search key a lot
above:

I'm thinking about positioning the buttons with a slight offset, like shown in the screenshot.



Does the look weird? What do you think?

 

[mase123987]

I don't think it looks weird.