Hello, ive recently completed the beta stage of Elemental Allah and im seeking beta testers.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=a2a7 ... bcf6b2e8ea

thank you for volunteering your time. There is no installation so no need to worry.

Also, im sorry to say there is no instructions on this game yet, ive yet to work on that.

some screenies:







Please comment!

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€

The splash screen isn't really necessary. It's a nice image but it doesn't need a button just for "play now," if you are going to add configuration options and make it a menu screen, it's fine to keep, and I expect you would for save/load game features.

Store obviously has font placement issues. You will run into problems pretty easily because each platform (W2K, XP, Vista, WINE) renders text differently. You might want to include a cheat-code to switch rendering locations around so you can tweak them while the game is running and find an optimal solution. Bitmap fonting is another way to get control over your letters.
The scrolling textboxes are a big no-no. They make navigation a lot of work. Look at old (NES/SNES) RPGs and see how they handle cramming a lot of information into a small space. Some were very intuitive and some were a pain in the ass. Since you are on a PC, I suggest using a tool-tip sort of system; when you mouse over an item a small, non-obtrusive info box appears so you can read the item info, and it goes away as soon as you leave the item so it isn't a pest and won't cost any of your GUI space. Many games do it that way, Morrowind for example.

Crimson on Black is bad because it's difficult to read. I suggest getting the cliché bar graphs in there, use PNG or GIF or ICO even to get transparency on your hud pictures (unless you frame them and give them backgrounds instead of flat white, which is best done using transparency anyway). Different fonts would be nice, too.

So you liked it then Vix?

I'd like to make the following suggestion: Combining custom graphics with standard windows controls (text boxes and frames) doesn't look so good. But the structure of the game is nice. Well done

Thanks everyone for commenting, well appreciated!

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€

Actually, I hadn't tried it at that point; just commenting from the screens.

Testing it:
• Window can be resized through dragging but the interface does not respond by scaling or anything.
• The popup to enter a location is rather spontaneous. If entry is optional, there should be an indication (highlighting for example) and the player would know when that appears to hit a key to choose to enter. Also, it seems to grab the player who isn't really all that close sometimes.
• There was no indication the item was bought beyond the cash decreasing.
• I never figured out how to do anything in combat except scat and scat.
• Plenge? Is that like Spacom? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8BS9i6lop8)

I tried to take the min/ max sizing off the windows. You can still change the size of the window??



Yeah, I think i epically failed to use another form to indicate to you if you really want to go fight. Thanks for the suggestion, that actually sounds pretty good, I can pull that off.



Yes, I could indicate how much you lose by having text next to the cash ... for example say you want to buy something that is 50 coins, you purchase the item and then text next to your coin total pops up "-50" to indicate to the player he/she lost 50 coins.




I thought so. I still am working on in-game instructions to specifically tell you how.


No, it was something that caught my eye in wikipedia. Plenge is the stage right before a magician does a magic trick.

You also didn't tell me if the game is a fail or is ok either.

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€

Windows: Check your capability flags to ensure it cannot resize.
Buying: Do it the way modern games do. Ask the player to confirm the purchase. That prevents mistakes and the player knows the item was purchased when [OK]ing the box.

It's not done, so it's neither fail nor win. Don't get into the habit of expecting praise or slaps every time you make a minor change; you'll only get yourself distracted. Get it to beta first.

I perhaps thought you knew it was at beta already?

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€

The title says beta. The experience says alpha.

Oh ...

Wikipedia:

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€

"Beta level software generally includes all features"
"Beta generally includes all features"
"includes all features"
"features"

Features. You no yet haz them. Alpha get.

Now get your chalk and write on the board 100 times:
Wikipedia is not an authoritative source.

Then, get back to work on your game. You have a long road ahead of you.

Don't be mean Vix, he's only 12. Suggest small step by step improvements, so as to not dis his efforts or discourage him.

So madgamer, if you could make those window frames invisible, and replace the text boxes with custom text objects, it would look much nicer.

For example, instead of using the frame, use the picture box as a container. Then draw your own frame-like graphics and labels to fit into these picture boxes. Make them look all adventurey and magical

what features?



What chalk board? I dont got one.



I do.



I guess so

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"They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." â€â€