The Wonderland Board

Well, it's finally time to lift the curtain and reveal the group of Beta Testers for Planet of the Z-Bots.

I had kept their names a secret to avoid them being bombarded with questions about the game during the testing period. Now that the game is (almost) here, they're freed from their vow of silence.

A few comments from me:

I have given Beta Testers no restrictions to talk about the game or the testing process. They are more than welcome to post their honest "review" of the game here, or answer questions from other forum members.

However:
1) They have no obligation to do so. Remember that they have been deeply immersed in the game for almost three months now, and they may really need a rest from it! Please don't badger them or expect answers from them. Although I think some will be more than happy to talk about how the game turned out, and what the process was like.

2) I have asked Beta Testers not to spoil any specific elements of the game, especially before release! Also, I'm asking Beta Testers to take a bit of a back seat when it comes to providing level solutions. They now know many levels inside and out, far better than a "new" player would for some time. Instead of spilling the beans on level solutions immediately, I've asked them to always wait and see if a non-tester provides a solution to a request. I think it is better, and more fun, if new players learn in sync with the rest of the community.

And finally, my deepest thanks to all of them! They did an amazing job at testing this game, and the results really show. I think WA3 is the best, most polished, most balanced WA game, and it is very much thanks to these talented folks.

So....


your WA3 Testers were...


(drumroll)


Blast!10
Emerald141
janetgalle
jdl
Lucky-Luc
mette
Muzzozavr
Qloof234
tyteen4a03

Congratulations!

[removed]

"These talented folks"? Awww, Patrick. You're making me blush.

*cough* Anyways, yeah. I suppose it was a bit disingenuous of me to be "speculating" about the game alongside everyone else, but... 'Twas all in good fun, right? Don't hurt me

Qloof234 wrote:"These talented folks"? Awww, Patrick. You're making me blush.

*cough* Anyways, yeah. I suppose it was a bit disingenuous of me to be "speculating" about the game alongside everyone else, but... 'Twas all in good fun, right? Don't hurt me

DEATH PENALTY

Sammy_P wrote:DEATH PENALTY

Slightly more on-topic, though it's not exactly relevant to PoTZ itself - Since I suppose I'll get at least one question about this, yes, I have already planned ahead as to how the new elements will be present in Hidden Realms (which in turn means yes, I lied about the Indigo chamber not being done). Having said that, I'm still not going to give anything away until people have had a chance to play through the game and find out what's new themselves.

Phew, Emerald141 was on the testers, that means my age group had a tester.[/jerk]

Also MS I think you spelled Muzozavr wrong, although this is what I think his username is from memory so maybe I'm the one who has it wrong.

Also Qloof, well played.

Also I was having a bit of a hard time trying not to act like a tester to overcompensate for not being one and to make people unsure. seriously guys it wasnt a pride thing honest

But now that you guys all know I'm a not a tester, I guess I can come out and say I saw the leak now. My first reaction was "WOAH, SUBSCRIBING TO MS CAME IN HANDY" and only later did I think about the fact that he didn't say anything about the video on the forums, despite it's spoilerific nature.

But I seriously need to stop talking now before I overembarrass myself, this isn't what I came here to do.

MS, you did spell my name wrong.

I did "speculate" a little with others, becuase that's what some others were doing. I was quite active in these WA3 threads before becoming a tester, so I thought it would seem weird if I completely "disappeared" from these topics and never replied again.

I "speculated" a lot.

Qloof234 wrote:

Sammy_P wrote:DEATH PENALTY

(Under what circumstances does my client deserve the death penalty!?)


Heh.
But yeah, testing the game was a great experience Patrick. Thank you for letting us do it again.

I was keeping an eye on some of the post counts, so I... I mean... GOOD WORK

MS, you spelled Muzozavr's name wrong.

It's illuminating to have these names at last! It was difficult to keep my "vow of secrecy" on the PCPuzzle chat when everyone started bombarding me with questions about the game (trying to sound like you might know something without giving anything away when you actually don't know anything is harder than it sounds), but at last we all know the truth!

It sounds like these guys did a great job. Congratulations to them all!

StinkerSquad01 wrote:I was keeping an eye on some of the post counts, so I... I mean... GOOD WORK

Hah, yeah, that's one thing I couldn't help but wonder about. I mean, for the first little while, when testing started, I hadn't even "returned" to the forum yet. Couldn't help but wonder what people were thinking seeing that my post count was going up even though I "wasn't here".

So, double-post, but...

Patrick asked us, the testers, if a few of us would be willing to put our thoughts together as a sort of "review" of the game. I'm going to try and refrain from spoilers as much as I can, but be warned; there might be a few mild ones in here somewhere.

So, anyways. Planet of the Z-Bots. Where to begin? I think I'll split my thoughts into five categories. Keep in mind these are just my opinions, so yours may vary once you've played it.

Graphics - Visually, PoTZ's graphical fidelity is somewhere between WA1 and MoFI - It doesn't have the same huge, jungle canopies that MoFI featured, but it definitely takes advantage of the engine's flexibility.

Something that I find quite nice, for that matter, is that textures have been used quite variably - Textures that would otherwise be seen only on the side of floor tiles end up being the side of a wall, for instance. Not a huge change, I know, but there's enough variation to make things look very nice.

The new level textures also look visually appealing, and several MoFI/WA1 textures have been given new tiles. Overall, the game does look quite nice.

Some of the new scenery models look a bit... odd when you put them next to ones from WA1/MoFI, but overall there's not too much of an issue - Everything still looks alright.

Speaking of Graphics, since I'm not sure where else to put this, one very welcome change from MoFI is in the Floing bubbles - When they're about to burst, they'll turn bright red for a second, giving the player time to get out of the way should something hazardous be inside. This is a real lifesaver and makes one late-game adventure (Patrick, you know the one ) much more tolerable.

Audio - Now, okay, there's not a whole lot to comment on here because not a whole lot has changed since WA1 and MoFI. There are a few minor changes that I think are for the better - For instance, if the player character flies into a wall (via spring or such), they now have a small "oof" voice clip, and NPC's now each have a different voice clip when talking to the player, as opposed to just using the player's voice "Hello!" sound.

In terms of new elements and their audio, there's not much to say - The sounds all fit quite well. There are a few sounds in there for Z-Bots that I find quite amusing, I think it's best if I just let you guys wait and see.

When it comes to the music: All of the new tracks sound great. There are five or six that I remember, and they're all fitting for where they're used (for that matter, Muzozavr, well done on the Uo soundscape, it's excellent. )

Story - Without spoiling anything, the story is well presented. It's done in a way where people who haven't finished MoFI can get into the game just as easily as people who have.

There are a few callbacks to the classic trilogy (okay, like, two, but still), as well as some references to the other Adventures games, which really helps "complete" the Adventures trilogy.

Gameplay - Oh boy, where to start?

All the new elements cooperate with each other very nicely, as well as with older elements. While there are a few elements that act similar, every single one has a "purpose" to it. I can see some people coming up with devious puzzles once the Editor's released.

I think there's a relatively good balance of puzzle/action levels, as well as a mix of the two - Saying that, it's probably safe to say it leans a bit more towards Action than MoFI did.

Speaking of MoFI, that brings me to the last thing I feel I should comment on...

Difficulty - Now, okay, I suppose you could say this is really just part of the Gameplay section, but I don't care, here it is.

To begin with, the difficulty curve is definitely smoother than MoFI's. I'd say PoTZ generally sticks around a difficulty level between WA1 and MoFI, which I feel is just perfect.

Saying that, some of the endgame adventures most certainly rival MoFI in difficulty - However, there's generally a bit more "visible logic" in them. That's not to say that MoFI's adventures are bad, or that having a cleverly hidden solution is bad - Neither of those statements are true. As much as I've moaned about MoFI's difficulty level, I still love it, it's still a good game.

What I mean is that even in some of the harder PoTZ adventures, it's generally a bit easier than MoFI to piece things together properly. (unless you're me, in which case half of these adventures come down to "omg is this possible")

One potential issue the player can run into here is that there's no "set order" for adventures in this game. Rather, after the "intro" section, the player ends up in a "central hub" where they can choose to head off to a few different areas in whichever order they like.

Thing is, some of the areas the player can go to are a bit harder than others. It's nothing too major, here - Generally everything around this "mid-section" it on an equal playing field, so the player won't have too much trouble.

In terms of length... Bearing in mind that it's variable, PoTZ ended up taking me about 13 and a half hours, about an hour longer than WA1. I'm not going to get into how long MoFI took me, because the answer would be "far too long".

TL;DR - PoTZ is great you should all buy it 11/10 points

I like your categories Qloof, so I'll copy that part of your review
But I'm no way nearly as thorough as you, so my review will be much shorter

Graphics - Lots of beautiful, interesting and stunning new places to visit and explore. I think it's looking really good.

Audio - The music tracks fits really well to the area in which they are used and adds lots of ambiance to each place. Other sound effects fits well too - and some of them are hilarious

Story - The story shouldn't be difficult for new players to understand. For former players of WA1 and WA2, lots of questions will be answered and tied neatly together to form a whole. And with the usual dose of Midnight Synergy humor, you'll have lots of laughs as well.

Gameplay - Lots of new elements to get acquainted with. Although some elements are similar they are at the same time different enough to warrant individual existence. And when elements are combined it works very well - it's almost like magic

Difficulty - The difficulty level is hard to assess without referring to WA1 and WA2 - so I won't try! In difficulty I'd place WA3 somewhere between WA1 and WA2. With WA3 leaning a bit more towards action than puzzle solving than WA2 did. Not that it's all mindless running away - you still have to think to get through. And a puzzle lover (as myself) will still enjoy playing.

Overall - Wonderland Adventures - Planet of the Z-bots is a really good game worth many hours of entertainment! But be careful: it's as addictive as all the other Wonderland games...

EDIT: fixed humorous typo

hard to assess

I fixed the typo in my quote, but fix it in the post as well. I was laughing way too hard about this.

I'll post my review later, maybe tomorrow.

Congratulations guys!

Qloof234 wrote:For instance, if the player character flies into a wall (via spring or such), they now have a small "oof" voice clip, and NPC's now each have a different voice clip when talking to the player, as opposed to just using the player's voice "Hello!" sound.

Will... will I need to make a new custom voice pack?

Graphics - Very, very nice graphics in the game. The new level textures and the scenery/design details of the game levels are just awesome!

Audio - The music of the game is very ambient, and atmospheric. The composer did an amazing job and it fits the game very well.

Story - The game is designed so that even the newest players could pick it up and start playing immediately, with little to no knowledge of the previous games. It's clear to the player of what has happened, and what they will need to do.

Gameplay - Ah, the gameplay. Lots of new toys to play with. Some are similar to what we already have, but I can assure you that you're going to have tons of fun. So many new possibilities for puzzles.

Difficulty - Like others have said, it's between WA1 and MOFI. It's not too easy, but it's not extremely hard either. It's a very fine balance of difficulty.

Muzozavr wrote:

hard to assess

I fixed the typo in my quote, but fix it in the post as well. I was laughing way too hard about this.

I'll post my review later, maybe tomorrow.

I'm also laughing way too hard and I just woke up. I should burn in hell.

Everybody said what I wanted to say, so I will just add on:

Graphics - TYPOS AAAAAAAAA

Audio - Awesome as usual. Dan and Joanne are two very talented musicians.

Storyline - I was honestly expecting the plot to be more tight-knit, but the current plot works just fine and does serve as a great ending to the trilogy.

Or is it...?

Gameplay - New elements are fun to play with (especially with Flash), but *REDACTED*. The right-click-to-swap-item finally gets an introduction in PoTZ (I didn't know this was in the WA engine until PoTZ told me ).

The worlds could have been much bigger, with more places to explore, but that's kind of a common flaw for the WA series.

Final rating (as fanboy): tau/pi

Final rating (as myself): 8.5/10

Hi all,

Another grand adventure is about to begin......are you ready? (Well of course you are!!!)

Graphics: The same vibrant colors used in previous Adventures, with lovely new scenery everywhere! The many planets/areas are unique in each their own way. Very atmospheric.

Audio: Don't play with the sound off! Great music, with scary, funny, well placed sound effects. The first time you encounter a ********* and it ********, you will jump out of your chair! Ambient sounds are right on.

Story: Concludes the trilogy nicely.

Gameplay: New Magic is fun and very useful! Old Magics are still great fun. In my opinion this game is a little more action based and less
puzzle oriented. But it FITS the urgency of this game.

Difficulty: As I still have 17 adventures I have not completed, spread out quite evenly through the game, I can at least say I am not tired or frustrated with playing them over and over......I'm soooo close!

Fun Factor: As with all Wonderland games I can give it a 10/10!
Always appreciated are the humorous dialoges, signs and asides.

Thanks Midnight Synergy for another outstanding game.
jg

I found several places to get stuck......but I'm sure that's all been taken care of, so you won't.

I'm not sure I'm liking the idea of the game being more action and less puzzle based. If there are too many quick movements needed I won't be able to play it. My hands are riddled with arthritis and no longer move how I want them to. This is the reason I prefer the WA games to RTW because I can use the mouse for most things but sometimes a mouse just isn't fast enough is it?

I do hope I'm not going to be disappointed, but if it's too hard for me then it'll be going in a stocking for someone's Christmas present.

popo wrote:I'm not sure I'm liking the idea of the game being more action and less puzzle based. If there are too many quick movements needed I won't be able to play it. My hands are riddled with arthritis and no longer move how I want them to. This is the reason I prefer the WA games to RTW because I can use the mouse for most things but sometimes a mouse just isn't fast enough is it?

I do hope I'm not going to be disappointed, but if it's too hard for me then it'll be going in a stocking for someone's Christmas present.

Don't worry - puzzles are still the majority.

Yeah, I'd still say it's a puzzle game fundamentally. The only real "run first, think later" levels I remember are optional; there are some others that require quick thinking.

tyteen4a03 wrote:

popo wrote:I'm not sure I'm liking the idea of the game being more action and less puzzle based. If there are too many quick movements needed I won't be able to play it. My hands are riddled with arthritis and no longer move how I want them to. This is the reason I prefer the WA games to RTW because I can use the mouse for most things but sometimes a mouse just isn't fast enough is it?

I do hope I'm not going to be disappointed, but if it's too hard for me then it'll be going in a stocking for someone's Christmas present.

Don't worry - puzzles are still the majority.

I agree with tyteen on this. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that the puzzles are not as mind-boggingly-almost-impossible-to-solve as in MOFI - without being too easy either.

Btw thinking about my review: I think the best thing I can say about the game is: although I have been playing quite intensely for almost 3 months, having completed everything more than once, I'm still having FUN while playing



@Muzo: thanks for spotting my typo - I also laughed when I saw it

Graphics: the visual fidelity is between WA and MOFI, but everything is always fun to look at. There are many colorful environments that will make your day. I still think MOFI had the most impressive visual design, but POTZ is quite close.

Sound/Music: the new sound features have been talked about, so I won't really discuss them. They do add a lot to the atmosphere. As usual there is a lot of "old" music from WA and MOFI, which is nice.

The new music is AMAZING - I can't speak about the Uo soundscape because I made it (and sampled WA/MOFI/WA3 music and a ton of my own sounds) but what's really amazing is the actual new music by Dan Reynolds, the MOFI composer. The electronic music fits z-bots perfectly and there's an absolutely MAGICAL "Beyond The Stars" track that... well, if you haven't already listened to it on Dan Reynolds' website, just wait and listen to it in the game. The moment you first hear the track and see the location is amazing.

References: way too many for anyone to catch all of them at once. Always hilarious.

Story as a whole: a great finish to a great trilogy of games.

Individual plot surprises: You are not ready. Each and every one of them is effective.

Gameplay: all the new elements are GREAT FUN to use. If you haven't seen the leak, you probably don't exactly know what the indigo magic does - let's just say it won't disappoint you. When the editor comes out, "Flash" will explode in popularity.

The puzzles are still challenging, but what's great about them is that the solving process is a bit more fun than it was in MOFI. MOFI has some puzzles that are less about "fun new ideas and concepts" and more "let's take everything we have and layer it into a gigantic multi-step puzzle until it resembles a tangled spiderweb or a Christmas tree".

That doesn't really happen in POTZ, the difficulty comes less from the number of steps and more from the way you need to alter your thinking when you go from one step to the next. I feel this is a better approach. I don't think it's that much easier fundamentally than MOFI. Easier, yes, but not by such a wide margin. I think that the process of overcoming the challenges feels much more fun and refreshing, which makes the puzzles seem easier in comparison.

As for the action/puzzle debate: there's a bit more focus on action than in MOFI, but I feel that the hardest WA or MOFI action-based levels are usually harder than the hardest POTZ action levels, with one or two exceptions. Aside from a few particularly troublesome optional adventures, I don't think the action elements are going to be a problem.

Overall: with a very long development time, with such care and attention to detail, there really was no question that this game was going to be good. It was only a question of "how good". The answer is "very". I feel that 10/10 is a completely justified score - WA3 does everything a fan of WA1 and WA2 could want and more.

Midnight Synergy wrote:Also, I'm asking Beta Testers to take a bit of a back seat when it comes to providing level solutions. They now know many levels inside and out, far better than a "new" player would for some time. Instead of spilling the beans on level solutions immediately, I've asked them to always wait and see if a non-tester provides a solution to a request. I think it is better, and more fun, if new players learn in sync with the rest of the community.

I forgot to ask, but are we allowed to upload public level solutions for YouTube instead of posting solutions on the forum (and not linking to the videos)?

Yes, of course - video solutions, walkthroughs and "let's play" videos have become a tradition with all the Wonderland games.

I have some video solutions ready (as you know) that I will be uploading soon.

Qloof234 wrote: the Floing bubbles - When they're about to burst, they'll turn bright red for a second, giving the player time to get out of the way should something hazardous be inside. This is a real lifesaver and makes one late-game adventure (Patrick, you know the one ) much more tolerable.

Which one are you talking about? Rescue Mission B? (Sorry to bump this topic.)

Yes, that's the one. I remember during testing I lodged at least one or two complaints along the lines of "i h8 this level".

Honestly, it's not that bad when you know a Floing bubble's about to pop. Having to rely on instincts for that makes it a huge matter of trial and error.