sciTunes Needs some Help! Please Beta Test my HTML5 Game on the Arcade

scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
edited November -1 in Announce Your Game!
Hi Guys,

I've been waiting for SOOOO long to be able to embed games on my sciTunes site in a format that can be played on PCs so that schools with PC computer labs might be interested in my curriculum.

So my first HTML5 human body game designed for middle schoolers (6th-8th grade) is ready to embed assuming there are no bugs. I've tested the heck out of it but it helps so much to have fresh eyes take a look at it.

So if you wouldn't mind please give it a go:

http://gamesalad.com/game/37800

A little info about it. When this is embedded on my site there will be a few instructions underneath the game. Such as "press the M key to return to the main menu at any time" and a vocabulary list to help with the in-game quizzes.

I'm interested to know:

1) If there are any bugs
2) General thoughts/impressions
3) Suggestions for improvement
4) Did you learn anything about the immune system?

Thanks so much!

Comments

  • scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
    I just edited the post above with a new link. There were some glitches with the way the music switched from regular to instrumental.

    Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks!
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    Hello mate, just had a go on the game. Like the concept, I like the idea of mixing education and gaming - we do it with our games too :)

    Some suggestions:

    Change the font to something easier to read.
    Maybe don't loop the music for the whole game but just for the menu.
    Have some audio clips that reinforce the vocabulary in the mini games. e.g the characters speaking on certain events. "Take THAT foul bacteria, you're no match for the might of... PHAGOCYTE!" Or something.
    Do you have options for different forms of the correct answers? e.g with hyphens + without hyphens.

    Shaz

    -------
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  • scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
    @Honey Tribe - Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of the different audio clips. The lyrics of the song are what ties the game to the rest of the curriculum. I had tried to mix things up a bit but I kept running into problems in HTML5 format. Everything sounded great in the HTML5 web preview (even when opened in a browser) but when I actually published it didn't work so well (timing was off due to serious lagging).

    Thanks for taking the time to play it!
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    No probs. Yeah the html5 games just don't play that nicely (in safari) compared to the iphone versions. I don't know why but they feel 'thin' and unresponsive. Not done one myself yet but just noticing the difference on the GS games I have on my device compared to their online counterparts.

    Is it the music files or sound files that gave you the difficulty? Or both? Our first game has loads of audio tracks but only 2 music tracks. So would be good to know what issues to expect!

    On a general note - the keyboard function + online is great for promoting learning. We can make games that tell the player to go find an answer on a specific page - wikipedia or wherever. And then we can give them bonus points or abilities in the game for bothering to do that...
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  • scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
    wow, cool idea to use other web pages like wikipedia! That really gets me thinking. What happens when you use a link in HTML5 games? I haven't tried yet. Does it open in a new window and pause the game? hmm... really got me thinking!

    About the music issue:
    I was trying to use a short sound file (not music) and loop it during the menus. I didn't want students trying to read while also listening to lyrics. I figured that it would be better to loop a short sound file rather than play a longer music file. But there was a pause in the playing of sound file that totally killed the beat of the loop. So I decided to use two audio files as music not sounds. One is instrumental for menus and the other has the lyrics for the gameplay. I realize that music with lyrics is not normally used in games but the songs are used in the classroom as notes and throughout the followup activities so I wanted them to be in the games to tie it all together.

    I remember you explaining the audio tricks you used for Honey Tribe and I would be surprised if HTML5 can pull it off, but you never know. ( I really like that game btw!)

    thanks again
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    Links are fine in html5 games depending on the browser. They've made the links popups (one of the GS devs was saying). As safari has a pop up blocker on by default - they links prob won't open for most (who won't be bothered with messing around with pop up options)

    At least it was like that for the launch of html publishing. Don't know if they've changed it with the updates.

    So you'll have to check in each browser and see if links are ok. Think IE should be fine, which is what classrooms will be using? Not sure it will auto pause the game but that would be easy to do with rules on touch of the link.

    Hmm, that's a shame about audio not looping properly. The whole sound design for Honey tribe is based around the tempo being consistent with seamless loops.

    Glad you're liking it though :) Will send you a PM about something.

    Shaz
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  • scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
    @Honey Tribe - just responded to your pm

    Anyone else feel like giving me a little feedback?

    Thanks!
  • MichaelRandoMichaelRando Member Posts: 16
    I think the safari link issue was fixed a build or two ago.
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    MichaelRando said:
    I think the safari link issue was fixed a build or two ago.

    Ok good to know, and glad it was fixed, cheers.

    @scitunes - PM'd you and will email shortly
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  • scitunesscitunes Member, Sous Chef Posts: 4,047
    @Honey Tribe - sent you an email

    Anyone else feel like firing off some snot rockets at viruses?
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