PyWeek - The Kenney.nl fanclub - feedback

I wish I could understand this game more to evaluate it more fairly, but it was confusing for me, sorry. I made a machine but I didn't understand how to feed the copper ingot to the machine. I do like the concept very much and I was looking forward to playing it, but creating a game that any player can quickly understand how to play is really important.

it was not clear to me how to finish the first! I put the machine together as the 'f1' help showed, but then I was stuck. Not sure where to place it and how to connect the belts.

No sound nor music. Otherwise it would have been a decent game.

This is not very intuitive. The windows exe package is exactly as the name says - just the exe, and this game REALLY needs a readme. The controls for making the conveyors.. - well, you know that already. Needs a bit of sound, music, a tutorial, some more instructions packed. Coming back to it 10h before judging ends - I pumped up the innovation score, because it actually is one of the most interesting takes on the flow theme.

I like this game, but I put some "average" scores due to a bunch of small things.
For example, it took me a while to figure out the controls (using a keyboard), especially to change the conveyor direction which is a bit tricky and make it less fun to play. I also had few bugs, like random objects appearing on a conveyor and spoiling it.
It would really gain with more visual indication (a small arrow for the conveyor, status of the machine, ...).
But it's a very nice and original use of the slick Kenney's graphics.

It is very fun.
But moving conveyers around is boring.
I have finished 6 levels satisfiend and I do not want any more

Wow, I really like the idea, the use of artwork, and a lot of the design choices. I have to admit, getting the hang of the game is really bewildering. I think a very, very easy level to get started would have helped me a lot. Maybe where you just have to place a single conveyor belt and that's it. I made it through the first two levels after about 30 minutes but I'm still not sure of some of the mechanics. Is it possible to cross streams of goods? It seemed like the 2-in-1 conveyors were the way to do this, but I wasn't able to figure it out. It was pretty fun to watch it all working once I had it together.

Hmm... some instructions or a training level might have helped here. I spent quite a while trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do. A great looking game! :-)

pretty good graphics visual effects and very smooth, but I don't know how conveyer belts work. the F keys also dont work. This was a very challenging game.

Bit confusing, can’t figure out what to do. Managed to get one mechanism together, but couldn’t figure out what to do next.

This is cute, and the conveyor belt mechanisms work very nicely. Building an elaborate contraption and then sitting back to watch it work is rewarding.

I think the choice of sprites is problematic for gameplay though. I'd like more visible indication of which direction conveyors are moving, and perhaps sprites that make it clearer how they link together.

It didn't get me very excited, just kind of meh.. But I appreciate the extensive logs!

Cool concept; no complaints about that. The game was quite confusing, though; it took me quite some time to even figure out what to do and how to do it. While the graphics were nice, the presentation as a whole still needs work, to clearly communicate the concepts better. I thought at first that the circuit board symbol at the end was the produced circuit board itself, even though it was only indicative that the circuit boards would exit there. Similarly, it was not at all obvious in which direction things would go, and how to change the direction of the conveyors (which was rather finicky; why does the direction not "stick"?)

Overall it feels like a good prototype / proof-of-concept, but to get a higher production score from me, I would have liked to see some sound and music, UI and introductory menu / explanation and some more visual theming, and a bit more work on getting the interaction to work more intuitively.

Hard to figure out what to do even with the instructions. The conveyors seemed to do nothing.

On replay and ready some of the diary entries, finally figured out how it works. There's a mismatch between instructions and the actual machines in one of the later levels.

Contains premade graphics, which were fitting for the game.

$ pgzrun alien_toy_factory.py
pygame 1.9.4
Hello from the pygame community. https://www.pygame.org/contribute.html
pyweek.py
potential conflict in camera, layout[1] -> M
potential conflict in camera, layout[4] -> K
potential conflict in computer, layout[2] -> H
potential conflict in computer, layout[4] -> H
potential conflict in computer, layout[5] -> K
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/remigijus/Work/final/.virtualenv/bin/pgzrun", line 11, in <module>
sys.exit(main())
File "/Users/remigijus/Work/final/.virtualenv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pgzero/runner.py", line 92, in main
exec(code, mod.__dict__)
File "alien_toy_factory.py", line 77, in <module>
main("pyweek.py")
File "alien_toy_factory.py", line 70, in main
exec(code, mod.__dict__)
File "pyweek.py", line 224, in <module>
game = Game(HEIGHT, WIDTH)
File "pyweek.py", line 45, in __init__
self.training_manual = TrainingManual(self)
File "/Users/remigijus/Work/final/training.py", line 41, in __init__
self.corner = images.players.display_corner
NameError: name 'images' is not defined

I spent longer than I'd care to admit working out the nuances of each component - materials are supplied from the left hand side box ONLY GOING right onto a conveyor belt, the instructions have a green arrow which for the first 2 minutes I didn't notice as the screen behind the arrow is quite crowded (perhaps fading or hiding the background, or mentioning the arrow keys to scroll would be better than just the "on the next pages" clue)

Considering the game after working it all out; it has a unified visual style and mostly smooth gameplay. Main control complaint is that WASD+SPACE has 2 functions (rotating and moving/placing) causing fiddly behaviour (perhaps a rotate-mode toggle or different keys to toggle direction instead of awkward "hold and release").

Really like the grid system and the free movement, as well as machine recipes, a bit let down by the lack of guidance - a youtube tutorial accompanying the entry, more readme info, annotated screenshots or in-game intro would fill that gap.

The game idea was fun and all but the controls and selection detection of the game is a little disappointing. I can see how you related the theme to a production line but. The layout is not very appealing and graphic of the game looks very generic. Overall it's a decent game with room of improvement!