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Latest developments

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Development is progressing well, with a number of great features being implemented or worked on:
  • Auto word check option added to reduce the need for manually clicking the ‘check word’ button each time. Each valid word made by selecting letters will be automatically added, based on longest word first so you don’t have to fill up the short words first and it forces you to find the longer more difficult words first. Short words can still be manually checked.
  • Hint system added allowing a player to see a next letter and / or a badly selected letter. Again based on longest word yet to find so not wasted on short words. Hints, if enabled, are earned through stars awarded based on the previous round’s score and bonuses.
  • Profanity filter implemented with optional built in word list and ability to add additional ‘bad’ word files to remove unwanted words from the game.
  • Alternative dyslexic friendly font used on in-game letter roundels.
  • Added more animations and ‘juice’
  • Started implementing input mapping and key binding.
  • Numerous fixes.
  • Started implementing LAN multiplayer functionality.

Here’s an example of the hint system showing two letters, a red D to be replaced and a green X to replace it to start making the target word “EXPAND”.
Also note the dyslexic font is used.

It’s all really starting to come together now and here’s the accessibility options currently available:

Hi-score update

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The hi-score table of word2word is now working reasonably well and as intended. Each game type is represented and each difficulty level can be selected within the mode or a combination of all difficulty settings can be displayed at the same time to allow you to compare top scores between skill levels.

Each word dictionary has its own hi-score table, so changing the dictionary from say English to American will keep scores separate and can be resumed on loading the previous dictionary.

There’s also an idea to record scores per player so everyone can have their own hi-score table if they play with others on the same device. Eventually these should also be displayable together with other players to compare. Not sure how the switch between players will happen yet though, perhaps selecting a player from a list at the start of a game or something similar.

Here’s a quick screenshot:

Screenshot of the game hi-score screen showing the Target game mode selected using the third of 5 buttons on the left (for Casual, Arcade, Target, Speed and Timed), and across all difficulty levels selected from the first of the four buttons on the right (for All, Normal, Taxing, Elusive). Status message at the bottom of the screen shows the mode and difficulty on display.

ScreenshotSaturday

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Making really good progress on WORD2WORD (W2W).

Implemented:

  • Message log, displays previous messages to see words and scores just achieved
  • Burger menu with additional & less frequently needed options
  • Basic controller support
  • Keyboard support for typing letters and selecting actions
  • Touchscreen and mouse support
  • Multi dictionary selection
  • Sound volume settings
  • Plus fixes and improvements

Adding juice to colours, sounds and play now, which seems harder than the game mechanics! I’m now trying to decide on overall colours for the default theme and start on alternatives for additional themes. So far colours are very hit and miss and mostly experimental, though mostly defined in a theme matrix so at least it’s relatively easy to change.

First W2W dev update

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My first major project using the Godot game engine is starting to come together now.

An image spelling out the game title Word 2 Word

A quick screenshot of the current state of the game. This is using a controller so it has a letter selection cursor/crosshair on the S. This screen shows the Arcade mode where either the longest word (target) must be found to progress to the next level, or a number of other (fallback) words can be found instead.

A screenshot of the game in arcade mode.

Currently includes:
– Clear, easy to read screens with focus on clarity.
– Keyboard, mouse, controller and touch support, including typing support.
– Music and sfx (though not final yet) with volume control.
– Have added the the rules matrix, settings and stats serialisation
– Selectable dictionaries (UK/US) with word definitions, though final dictionaries are still under development. Dictionary loading and parsing can be done by a Godot GDScript (slower) or a C++ GDextension library (fast) depending on the target platform’s extension support.
– Beginnings of accessibility options screen. Limit sensory overload, theme and colour options.