Praise and Suggestions

[Plebian]

Firstly: Magnificent title!!! I should have gotten into Spiderweb games a long time ago! Extremely enjoyable!

 

Playing the iPad version now, but I have also played the "Search the Dungeons" starting quest on the PC demo, and I have a few suggestions on improvements for the iPad version:

 

1.) Highlight Dialogue Options when Selected: The default text is pretty small, and while using the larger text makes it a little easier, I have, once or twice, managed to select an unintended dialogue option. If the text could highlight gold when "pressed", or if it could appear above your finger when selected, that would help a lot.

 

2.) Unique Party Sprites: In the iPad version, if the player is playing as a Blademaster and chooses Sevilin as a party member, the game-window sprites are identical. This is causing a little frustration during combat, as one cannot tell at a glance which character is selected. If each of the party member's sprites could be given a slightly different look (like longer hair for Sevilin or something) that would help a lot.

 

3.) Character IDs Appear Above Their Sprites: Presently, selecting and holding your finger on character sprites displays their teensy-weensy ID text right below your finger, making it unreadable. Is it possible to just change the placement of the text to the space above the character's head?

 

4.) APs Used for Movement Displayed: I dislike the full grid during combat, but I also dislike being unable to plan out movement accurately. Not sure if this was a purposeful design decision, but it would be helpful to have a number identifying the APs to be used appear over your finger when you select a spot on the ground to move during combat. If the destination leaves you at 0 or will cost more APs than you have to spend, it could appear in red. Another option might be to have the squares marking the maximum distance a selected character can move hilight in black when that character is selected, resulting in a green ring around the character's feet, and a larger outer ring marking the extreme radius of possible movement.

 

5.) Scroll Buttons: The tiny, relatively busy screens can make scrolling the view a pain using the tap and drag system. I wouldn't necessarily do away with it, but an eight-point scroll button setup permanently displayed as a fancy border for the game would be of great use when scrolling larger distances. Furthermore, having an "arrow" clearly indicating that North is in the upper right corner of the screen would help orient new players immensely.

 

5.) Shima Bug: Not a suggestion really, but just a little bug I noticed. If you speak to Shima before speaking to Redbeard, Shima's introductory character dialogue is cut off early and is never available again. Furthermore, his picture and icon do not show up on the left-hand side of the screen where it should be so that you can access his inventory and whatnot before setting off on the first mission to the desert. He IS selectable for the mission, but it makes the preparation confusing. Not a huge bug, and setting off on the first mission seems to rectify it whether he is in the party or not, but it's not a very graceful start to an amazing game if it pops up.

 

Overall, none of these things are game-stoppers, but it still feels as if everything is set up for a mouse-driven interface, not the smaller touch-screen of the iPad.

 

It doesn't kill the fun, though. Again, congratulations, Spiderweb: fantastic game!