Now with hints! And try story-focused Immediate Hint mode
I finally got a chance to add something that I always thought might help out players of Interstellar Connection: hints!
Why hints?
When working on Interstellar Connection for Ludum Dare #46, we decided on the attribute-matching mechanic early on, and Rose spent a while designing a look that would be sleek and eye-catching while providing enough visual distinctiveness for the puzzle. I'm really happy with the final look, but I understand it's not always easy to parse through the relays looking for a match. Just like in any matching puzzle, you might get stuck and need a hint.
Default hint behavior
A hint highlights the relay you should pick next. In the default setting, a hint will trigger after fourteen seconds of inactivity. That seemed long enough that the hints won't distract you when you're focusing, but will show up to help when you're actually stuck - but as always, I appreciate feedback on this.
Immediate hint mode
Adding hints also seemed like a great opportunity to make a story-focused mode where the puzzles are less of an obstacle. I didn't want to offer the option to skip the puzzles - this is a puzzle game, and I think the story works best when broken up by puzzles. Instead, you can turn on immediate hints that guide you through the puzzle. Hopefully, the puzzles still feel engaging without being as demanding.
Settings menu
You can change the hint timing or turn hints off at any time in the settings menu. Here's how it looks in the normal view and on mobile:
I hope that having hints makes Interstellar Connection more fun to play, and that the immediate hint option is a helpful alternative! Please let us know what you think.
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
very nice game! :) I like how neet it is, and how you managed to integrate the puzzles to serve the narrative.
The hints system is realy cool, but I would have prefered if the hints arrived much later (like two-three times later).
The puzzle seem easy in design but sometimes the patters turn out quite complex (which is a compliment! :) ) and when I was trying to solve such pattern I found the hint to arrive too soon.
Thank you for the feedback, that's really helpful to hear. I went ahead and extended the time before a hint to 14 seconds. I had also been thinking that if you didn't want to be bothered by hints, you could just turn them off under Settings - but maybe that option isn't very obvious.
It's hard to judge these things as someone who's played the game a thousand times, so it's a huge help to hear your thoughts! Thanks for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed it.