WA MOFI Difficulty Discussion

chrise · Post by **chrise** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 12:10 am

I know it is conceptually easy, and easy to think of how some program could be created which does it, but it may be that given the existing code used by the game it would be tricky to fit it in.

More likely, it would just be a hassle, and I think that key combination was probably originally (back in the development of the first WA) intended just as a debugging/testing aid, and allowed into the final game on the basis that people can use it if they are really stuck, but on the proviso that it is not guaranteed not to mess up the state of their game - in WA, I think it just acts as if the player had reached the star at that instant, without regard to what objects they have or what it means from a scoring point of view.

In WAMOFI, it was tidied up somewhat to try to ensure a consistent game state even when the cheat is used, but it would seem that the scoring was left alone.
From what I have seen, the score in WA and WAMOFI has not really had much attention paid to it by most players - while people generally do want to get all coins and gems, there is less interest in trying to complete levels as quickly as possible.

skeet · Post by **skeet** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:12 am

I dont know if it is too late to post my opinion but I agree with the folks about this edition being just too hard. I have played all the Wonderland games and in all the others I only had to use the

"ugh"

cheat code only once or twice....can anyone say "The Corridor". I even managed Stinkers Rescue by practicing the parts to it using my editor. BUT when I have to use all 9 save slots to get the first 30 steps of an adventure it means I am really in trouble. I have an old laptop and even older hands which makes so many of the moves near impossible. I believe alot of MY frustration lies in the ratio/mix of the

easy (are there any in the last 2/3 of the game?),

hard and

YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT???? levels. I have been stuck on floing mastery for about 3 days now. My enthusiam for playing is waning and I just don't feel as much the need to finish.

Oh well. Okay there is my two cents....

cbloopy · Post by **cbloopy** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:05 pm

There's little question that this game is the most difficult of all games released in the Wonderland series. But, you're only making things more difficult for yourself if you're trying to solve every level on your first go. You don't need to solve levels like Floing Mastery to see the ending. The little bit of extra you get for solving all the extra levels is likely meant for an expert player. This will still leave you with some difficult levels towards the end but hopefully you'll make more progress if you leave the optional levels for the future.

skeet · Post by **skeet** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:26 am

but cbloopy-

Its an obsession! I find myself trying to blink to the playroom and throwing flos and pops to the washer controls!!!! Dont ya see, dont ya see.

Actually I finished mastery and now at Mischief and Mayhem....great level in my book....r e l a x e d. So far no cheats in MOFI...yea for me.

I just occasionaly like a little whine with my cheese. HAGD

Susan

cbloopy · Post by **cbloopy** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:16 am

skeet wrote:but cbloopy-

Its an obsession!

Yes, isn't it? Especially when you get through like 90% of a level and is getting stuck on that one last part.

It does help sometimes if you leave a particularly annoying level, try something else, and come back to it later. Just how our minds tend to work.

Good luck with the rest of the game, you're getting pretty close to the end!

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:08 am

Some people apparently don't understand the concept of hard video games:

elmopalooza wrote:It was a waste of money. It's too hard!

*removed by author*

elmopalooza · Post by **elmopalooza** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:29 am

Qloof234?

Who the [EDITED BY MS] do you think you are? Asking that I be banned? For what? having an opinion? What an[EDITED BY MS]you are! I think the game is too hard. and so do 200 million others. That says something! If you can not offer me help on this level then [EDITED BY MS - Really, this is not called for. Please keep your emotions and language in check on this board.]!

mqdar · Post by **mqdar** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:37 am

Still, Qloof, why are you asking for a ban?

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:47 am

Okay, look, first off, I'm sorry.

Second off, yes, I realize I shouldn't have posted that. My only reason is because I wasn't thinking straight.

I am sincerely sorry.

Second off:

Imagine yourself as one of the group of people from this forum, who was selected to work on this game. A Wonderland fan, considering it an honor to be able to work on the next game.

Imagine the schedules that would need reworking, the time needed to be able to thoroughly test or design the game. It would be awkward for busier people, having to rework a schedule to fit in time to work on the game.

Now, imagine that once it was released, you noticed a comment on the official board saying that it was a waste of money? From a spambot? Who cares, they're programmed to say random stuff.

But from someone who actually plays the games? It's... hurtful, to say the least.

Now, I was testing this, and I went all the way around hell and back trying to fit Schoolwork, friends, family, other computer time, reading, and other things around the new schedule. Afterwards, my mom was... mad, to say the least, at the sudden uprising in time spent on the computer.

Once it was over, I sighed - relieved, that I could turn my schedule to normal, but also sad, because it was a very fun experience in the long run and has inspired me to want to work on the next WA game.

Now, my schedule still hasn't been able to fully settle back into place, because my aunt and uncle from England visited for two weeks and just left today, plus school became a nightmare with all the homework that my Science teacher would give me a zero on when I gave it to him/didn't tell me about.

So, with my life finally turning to normal, I log on. Checking General Discussion... more complaints about MoFI's difficulty.

Hurtful as that is, I stand neutral - The game's difficulty isn't necessarily bad, but the learning curve for newbies is ridiculous.

However, I check another forum, and find someone who is an actual person and has played (and mostly enjoyed) the other Wonderland games go and proclaim that MoFI - which is by far my second favorite to WA - is a waste of money?!?

Not only did my teeth grind, but my head blew. I stopped thinking straight for just five minutes, and look what that got me.

Now that I can think again, let me rewrite what I said at first.

What I SHOULD'VE written wrote:Okay, I understand that MoFI's difficulty is ridiculous... But still, that's rather hurtful to us people who spent many hours of our life working to make this game what it is.

I speak for myself here, and possibly others who worked on MoFI, but please try not to be as... hurtful about what you think of the game.

You can share opinions on the game, but keep in mind it may hurt others.

Sorry if this post sounds rude...

Now, if I'd written that, I think this would've turned out much better. Yes, it's my fault for writing what I did. I'll take responsibility for that.

However, what you said about MoFI can't be blamed on me, even if I was quality assurance for the game, for the reason that making the game easier would put it through weeks - or even months - of more testing and development time.

Like with what I should've written, I am deeply sorry if this post sounds rude or anything.

I'm just trying to set straight what I did wrong.

Post by **Midnight Synergy** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:27 pm

Qloof234 wrote: Like with what I should've written, I am deeply sorry if this post sounds rude or anything.

I'm just trying to set straight what I did wrong.

Thanks for the apology to elma, Qloof. Hopefully elma will also keep her responses in check - the above was uncalled for.

People can certainly express their opinion, positive or negative, on this board. I don't want to set a precedent where anyone who doesn't like the game is afraid to speak out.

Some people find the game too hard, that's been said already, while others appreciate the game exactly for that reason (more of a challenge). As I've said before, I will try to keep options for both camps in the next game.

Let me just add that you (Qloof) really shouldn't take any negative comments on WAMOFI personally - you were a tester on the game, you certainly shouldn't feel responsible for any negative comments toward it. I'm also a little perturbed at how much the testing seemed to have stressed you out... let's chat about that at some time (but not in this thread).

Qloof234 · Post by **Qloof234** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:58 pm

Midnight Synergy wrote:I'm also a little perturbed at how much the testing seemed to have stressed you out... let's chat about that at some time (but not in this thread).

Fine by me - but one thing I wanna say was that it was really just my schedule that had me stressed.

Our teachers say we don't get lots of homework in Grade 7, but we had quite a bit for a while there, making it hard to get time to test MoFI.

wonderland01 · Post by **wonderland01** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:49 am

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but it gets too hard too fast. As soon as you reach fire island, it gets crazy.

janellesnip · Post by **janellesnip** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:51 am

Here are my two cents on the difficulty of the Adventures series (especially WA-MOFI but also WA)
What is most bothersome is that there is NO WAY to check your progress UNLESS you are online and can compare notes between FLOING and nutters.
The other bothersome thing is replacing this function of the game with the save feature; meaning: If you have reached a level and it gets too frustrating, you can still keep your progress in that level and go work on something else; by which time it is not worth going back to the old game anyway, because otherwise you lose your newly achieved progress; but you can't get back to the skipped level in the current game, which turns it into a dilemma of whether to start over the entire game. I do not mind having to return to a particular level over and over -- but having to restart the entire game over and over REALLY spoils the fun, and I would prefer to stop playing than to do so.
My solution to this would be going back simply to the system of the classic series: When you stop playing, your last achieved level is recorded; and if you skip a level, you can always go back to it. If one "world" is a prerequisite to another "world", then simply have the second "world" closed until the first is complete (or have the option as in TOW and RTW: worlds open or all worlds closed), with something other than impossibility of completion being the penalty for doing things out of order.
I know at least in MOFI -- a map is something you earn -- please take out that feature or do it another way: Once you have completed a level, it is mapped for you and you can go back to it.
Aside from too many levels based on finger (and cpu) speed, the problem with this game --- many problems. I might go on some other time. In general, though, I also agree with many of the comments on page one of this discussion.

Yours,
Janelle

WA MOFI Difficulty Discussion

My two cents