Hi Stephane! I've finally played a bit with glob2. It is hard to evaluate the usability of a game itself, I've therefore commented the things 'around' it -> settings, tutorial, selecting and saving a game, navigation in the map. On Feb 8th, I'll take Globulation to our Open Software Usability meeting as I proposed to make a session on usability of games. We are usually between 4 and 8 people, partly usability partly OSS developers. No one of us has done a lot in game usability so far, so a good opportunity to learn about it! Four eyes see more than two -> if there will be additional findings, I will tell you. Have fun! /el *** TUTORIAL *** It is good that there is a tutorial, but there are some issues: The speed of the tutorial depends on the size of the display and the speed of the computer. When I first did the tutorial in the default startup size (896x672, I think), important instructions were displayed for a few seconds only. As the icons were not explained in advance, it required some orientation to understand what parts in the game correspond to the labels used in the instructions. The wording made it difficult to understand the instructions quickly: For example workers are sometimes referred to as globule, unit, moving unit or worker. On a slow computer, the speed is very low and 'nothing happens' for long sequences. As the tutorial neither provides an introduction to the purpose of the game, nor an option to jump to the next learning unit, the danger of prematurely stopping the tutorial is quite high (happened to one of my testers). The impression that 'nothing happens' may also hinder the user from starting the full version of the game (also the case for this tester). Suggestions: - Before starting the tutorial, give an introduction to the purpose and the functionality of the game (what's the goal? how to accomplish it?) - Describe the most important elements in advance, explain their role in the game, and introduce their icons (swarm, worker, hospital, warrior, explorer, wheat, wood, fruits etc). Also tell about the status indicators below and on the right of buildings and globules. - On the map, but before the first worker starts to show up, describe the game space (status on top, zoom, four buttons under mini map. - Try to make the instructions in the tutorial less speed dependend. If possible provide an option to manually click to the next instruction (e.g. by stopping or looping the current system state, or use a faked game for the tutorial). Studies have shown that learning is most effective if the user can control the speed himself. - For new actions like reducing the number of workers, provide an explanation what effects that will have on inn and swarm, why you should do it, etc. - Possibly think of adding a second unit including explorers and warriors. *** SETTINGS *** Arrangement on the screen: The larger the screen, the more are the four options moved to the corners of the screen. At the same time, the distance between the OK and Cancel buttons increases. Suggestion: - As related objects should always be visually grouped, provide them both in the lower right corner. Audio: When 'Mute' is activated, changes on the volume slider have no effect. Suggestion: - To show up that relation, disable the volume slider when mute is activated. Full Screen: In Full Screen mode, general keyboard shortcuts do not work any more on SUSE Linux/KDE. By that it is not possible to switch to another application (e.g. mail!) or changing desktops while playing in full screen mode. Suggestion: - Always allow general shortcuts to take effect even in full screen mode. - In the settings menu provided while playing, possibly provide an option to change screen size/full screen mode. Design of Scrollbars: There is only a very slight visual difference between the handle and the background of a scroll bar as both have a black background colour and a white, rectangular frame. Also, the handle can not be dragged but only the empty space can be clicked. In window systems, both handle and background can be used to move a scroll pane. Suggestion: - Allow both dragging the handle and clicking into the background of the scroll bar. - Possibly facilitate the recognition of the handle by changing its background pattern, or by providing a broader white border. *** LOAD GAME *** When selecting a custom game, there is no indicator when a game was last played. For example, a user might not remember the name of his last game (just clicked 'Save' but did not take care), and now wants to play on. There is currently no way to order the list by date, or get date indicators. Suggestion: - Consider adding date tags (last played, modification date) and optionally provide them in the list. *** CUSTOM GAME *** When choosing a game in custom game mode, there are some minor issues: Available teams: It is unclear if the number of teams is limited for a certain map or if it can be increased up to the maxium number of checkboxes in the middle: For example 'A big pond' behaves in the following way: 1. The label under the map still says '3 teams' when five are selected. 2. There are no more than 3 colours even if more teams are enabled 3. There do not seem to be more than 3 teams on the map (right?) Suggestions: - If the number of teams can not be higher than specified on the right, disable the checkboxes of the additional teams. Add a hint 'Max. 5 teams' below the map. - Otherwise, allow more than the specified number of colours. Update the number of teams according to the selection. Colours: The player has the same colour as the 'closed' teams. This is confusing -> teams that are not available should rather be disabled than painted in a colour. Suggestion: - Disable the colour selection of teams which are not available and paint it black until they are enabled via the checkbox. Player name: The user himself specified a user name in the settings, but here he is referred to as 'Player' only. That is quite inpersonal. Suggestion: - Instead of 'Player', write the name of the user. Map Seqence: As in the game selection, maps are ordered in an alphabetical order. Users who have slow machines might especially look for small maps, they have to click through each one and view the dimensions. Suggestion: - Possibly add an option to order by size. *** GAME AREA *** Overview over Resources: Currently, there is no overview over the overall resources in the game area's header or in the statistics area. By this reason it is hard to evaluate how many resources one has all in all. (not sure if that is necessary, after all) Moving on the map: To move on the map, the user can drag the rectangle in the mini-map. Another option is to move the mouse pointer to the outer borders of the game area where there is a very thin frame that makes the map to change its viewport. In Full Screen mode, this is not a problem, but in window mode the area is only a few pixels broad. It is very hard to navigate by that means. Also, on the right and top border of the game area, the sensitive parts are not the border of the (visible) game area, but the border of the window. There, the game area is covered by the menus. Suggestion: - Enlarge the sensitive areas for moving on the map. Jumping to current event: To jump the current event, the user can push the space bar. This is a very useful shortcut. Finishing the game: When the user does not want to quit the game, but pause until the next day, he first has to save the game, then quit. When he forgets to save, the current game status is lost. Furthermore, when quitting the game, the user mostly is confronted with the screen: Lost. Your Colony is Dead. This message is discouraging, especially when you plan to play on with your colony the next day! Suggestions: - Consider adding an option to pause the game. - When clicking 'Quit', consider asking the user if he wants to quit or save the current status. Only when quitting, show the bad message: Your colony is dead, otherwise Your colony is in hibernation. (or the like ;-) -- ------------------------------------------------------------- address@hidden gubener str. 14a / 10243 berlin +49.30.74078947 / +49.177.3325867 www.kdedevelopers.org/blog/931 -------------------------------------------------------------- 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2
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