Kroco Gems HD - new-concept puzzle game (by Dracoders)

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by RobyOneKenoby

Hey guys just to be more clear because maybe the how to play should be improved for me. Before be frustrating make sure you have understood perfectly the rotation scheme:

a) tap the block you want to move or rotate once with one tap
b( tap a second time to any part of the screen (except that select another block) to start the rotation , if you tap on the left side of the block you choose then it will route anti-clockwise if you tap on the right part of the block then the block will rotate clockwise.

Please try this out thanks

PS. I know is tricky but any suggestion to improve it we will surely appreciate it

Oh, I will try this!

Here is my review I just posted on iTunes:

Originally Posted by Lord Gek's iTunes Review

Toppling the Tetris Tower

The game is an original hybrid of Tower Toppling and Tetris. A huge tower made of Tetris like pieces needs to be brought down by sliding and rotating the existing pieces so as to create solid horizontal lines all the way across the playfield. Take out a couple of lines or more quickly enough and not only will you score a nice score bonus, but you'll create one of the game's power-ups. As the power-up created is tied to the combo made, you sometimes might NOT want to go beyond a x2 combo if extra time is just what you need at the moment!

There are two modes of play, Story and Classic. Story presents the player with a series of tougher and tougher challenges occasionally implementing some special rules like no piece rotating or a special distribution of particular piece shapes. In Classic you'll get a pretty straight forward version of the game with the player able to choose a difficulty level based on how far they've come in the Story mode (only by completing the Story mode can you play the nastiest Classic difficulty).

My only gripe, as other players had noted on the Touch Arcade forums, is that the rotation of the pieces is kind of hard to pin down. It is easy enough to rotate the pieces, but it is never obvious which way the piece will rotate and if it happens to rotate the wrong way often it will then become locked in some undesirable position with no way to undo the errant rotation.

5/5

[Gabrien]

Is there a lite version planned? This looks interesting, but both the reported control issues as well as claims to it being "different" are something that's hard to gauge without trying. Additionally, this looks like a likely candidate for an early price drop. Putting it on my wishlist for now.

P.S. Any IAP?

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Gabrien

Is there a lite version planned? This looks interesting, but both the reported control issues as well as claims to it being "different" are something that's hard to gauge without trying. Additionally, this looks like a likely candidate for an early price drop. Putting it on my wishlist for now.

P.S. Any IAP?

No IAP and, actually, if I actually read the help which states nearly exactly what RobyOneKenoby said to begin with I doubt I'd have any control issues (it really is fairly intuitive ONCE you read that).

[Gabrien]

Thanks for the code to the developer. I can pretty much echo what others have been saying: huge potential but the double-tapping to rotate is cumbersome - even with the tips provided. To me, the solution seems simple: single finger swipe left/right to move, (as is now) double finger swipe left/right to rotate. Is there some reason I'm not aware of this would present any issues?

As for the meat of the game, I'm not far enough in yet to gauge its level of depth and variety, both of which will account for the degree of lasting value. If the two finger swipe was implemented, I know the core experience would feel more pleasant and intuitive for the moment though.

EDIT: I've noticed what might be another issue: the logic of when a block is or is not allowed to be rotated seems to be somewhat fuzzy as well. It's possible this may be because that logic isn't explained properly, or worse, it may be because the logic isn't consistent. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but I know I am not able to tell at a glance whether or not I'll be allowed to rotate a block in any given position without trying. And trying can lead to irreversible ends, particularly with the left/right issues at the moment. Also, another thing that might be muddying the waters is that there doesn't appear to be any solid reasoning or consistency with regard to the axis a given block turns on. Perhaps this needs a closer look as well.

[Dracoders]

Originally Posted by Gabrien

Thanks for the code to the developer. I can pretty much echo what others have been saying: huge potential but the double-tapping to rotate is cumbersome - even with the tips provided. To me, the solution seems simple: single finger swipe left/right to move, (as is now) double finger swipe left/right to rotate. Is there some reason I'm not aware of this would present any issues?

As for the meat of the game, I'm not far enough in yet to gauge its level of depth and variety, both of which will account for the degree of lasting value. If the two finger swipe was implemented, I know the core experience would feel more pleasant and intuitive for the moment though.

EDIT: I've noticed what might be another issue: the logic of when a block is or is not allowed to be rotated seems to be somewhat fuzzy as well. It's possible this may be because that logic isn't explained properly, or worse, it may be because the logic isn't consistent. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but I know I am not able to tell at a glance whether or not I'll be allowed to rotate a block in any given position without trying. And trying can lead to irreversible ends, particularly with the left/right issues at the moment. Also, another thing that might be muddying the waters is that there doesn't appear to be any solid reasoning or consistency with regard to the axis a given block turns on. Perhaps this needs a closer look as well.

First of all thanks for your careful description and thanks for the suggestion on the control system.
We will surely try the double swipe, but I can tell one thing: after some hours all beta testers wrote that the best control system was the double touch.

For example: I bought the new Tetris from EA, at first I thought it was difficult to play, but then I loved the new control system (even if lots of reviews are very negative on its control system).

So we thought that even if at first the rotation control is not easy, then it become fast and automatic.

For when a block is allowed to rotate we're still working on it, but I can assure it's very very very very difficult to improve

Thanks again Gabrien and LordGek!

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by Gabrien

Thanks for the code to the developer. I can pretty much echo what others have been saying: huge potential but the double-tapping to rotate is cumbersome - even with the tips provided. To me, the solution seems simple: single finger swipe left/right to move, (as is now) double finger swipe left/right to rotate. Is there some reason I'm not aware of this would present any issues?

As for the meat of the game, I'm not far enough in yet to gauge its level of depth and variety, both of which will account for the degree of lasting value. If the two finger swipe was implemented, I know the core experience would feel more pleasant and intuitive for the moment though.

EDIT: I've noticed what might be another issue: the logic of when a block is or is not allowed to be rotated seems to be somewhat fuzzy as well. It's possible this may be because that logic isn't explained properly, or worse, it may be because the logic isn't consistent. I haven't been able to put my finger on it, but I know I am not able to tell at a glance whether or not I'll be allowed to rotate a block in any given position without trying. And trying can lead to irreversible ends, particularly with the left/right issues at the moment. Also, another thing that might be muddying the waters is that there doesn't appear to be any solid reasoning or consistency with regard to the axis a given block turns on. Perhaps this needs a closer look as well.

The only fear I'd have is that while swiping a piece multiple times to move it several spaces to the left or right it would rotate as opposed to moving.

[dclose]

Oh my, this game looks really beautiful on a New iPad (3rd gen)! It plays very nicely on it too!

[Sanuku]

Low bandwidth Version | Pop Up

[pavarotti2007]

Does it have GC achievements?

[Dracoders]

Now it's free until sunday night!