The difficulty in obtaining the codes was not by my design. I simply used the logic and text from the original tease. I've been contemplating simplifying it though, as it should indeed not be that hard to find...throwawayacct wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 2:29 pmI write copy for applications and educational game materials in professional training programs. I write web copy too, edit manuals, and also lead IRL peer-to-peer training sessions.JBK wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 8:56 pm Quoting myself again
Maybe I should simplify the process of obtaining the codes...I'll repeat what I've said to multiple people asking about this: You can NOT access the higher floors on 'Easy' mode. This is because there is a lot of pain on the upper floors and 'Ease' mode is meant to be nearly pain-free.
To access the upper floors, choose a mode other than 'Easy'. When on floor 10, choose 'Choose another girl' and then 'More Floors!'. Survive Bryci and you get the codes for the second elevator.
While there is a strong pull towards being clever to ensure people are paying attention and to give every 2nd-3rd user the thrill of finding a "special", the one thing a few of my colleagues fail at is trying to be clever. Or, as I say it directly - huffing their own farts. You can be clever with a storyline, but not with the processes.
The balance is found in designing something for the newest seasonal users that can still be engaging for a lifer to refresh themselves. You don't want the user to feel like they're grinding on a 2nd, 3rd, or 10th run through, but you also don't want to make new users frustrated at not seeing the sailboat in the Magic Eye painting because no one explained how to change their focal point.
Furthermore, you can't assume people will understand the process or vision. Different people make different connections. Also, neurotypicals will solve a problem or analyze a challenge in ways that a neurodivergent (ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc...about 20% of the population) person will not. Reading differently and/or processing information differently are just a couple hallmarks that show delineation between neurotypes. When it comes to a kink community, the rates are SIGNIFICANTLY higher in population.
Word puzzles and math games on timers are absolute no-gos (unless you are unconcerned with alienating the 20%). Recognizing most people skim blocks of text rather than reading carefully, is one way to make material accessible for all levels of users. Critical decision points need to be isolated from narrative text, so that people recognize there is something distinct to pay attention to - like the blue ropes in FarCry, or bolded text in Ultima6... To many seasoned users, it's a little eye-rolling, but new entrants are usually happy to get a mild hint which lightly bends but doesn't break immersion. These things are made to help you along a path.
Burying an entire half of a program behind a carefully selected set of choices is the kind of stuff you'd get in a massive open-world game like Witcher3, but designers need to remember why people are using these programs... because they want to get off in some way, and generally aren't going to commit 2-4 hours at a sitting.
Rillo's Estim Hack is an example of one such frustration-inducing and immersion breaking program. The combination of multiple hidden sections with stingy and difficulty-based randomizers and extended time-outs, took what was initially fun and creative and made it frustrating in a non-pleasant way; not one that I would repeat frequently if at all. On the other side, the original Tower concept gets a lot of replay because it's fairly direct in design, but it isn't challenging anyone outside of the overall length of the program.
I'll look into it and make it more clear for players.
