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jp's Super Scribblenauts (DS)
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| [June 14, 2023 11:24:50 PM]
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Ok, the level creator is pretty cool - and much more sophisticated than it deserves to be, there's different templates for the kind of level you want to make and more! You can have a few saved on the cart - and my guess (didn't check) is that you can send them to your friends? (probably requiring that they have the game?)
So, I made a simple level where you had to guess 3 different words (concepts?) in a row. I was also able to write one hint (not like the 3 hints you usually get in the game), but was not able to figure out how to get players started - as in, give them an instruction so they know where to start from...I don't think it's the name of the level? (which is what I did) But still.
I don't get the impression that you can make levels of the kind in the game - just simpler ones...but I could be wrong!
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| [June 13, 2023 12:40:20 PM]
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Ugh...so I played a few more levels and ran into more "what does this clue even mean?" and "why did this not work? situations as well as a few more technically glitched levels...so, I think I'm done.
I did get far enough to unlock some special levels that are action (rather than puzzle) based in that you have to solve tings by interacting with stuff in the world.
Now that ChatGPT and all these significantly more powerful AI tools are out there - I wonder if all the hand-scripting I' pretty sure (from a podcast?) was done to get all the words and theirs possible meanings could be a huge boon for this game? Like, is it time for super-turbo-charged Scribblenauts? (could the predictive part of the AI model make sense of people's understanding/interpretation/intent when picking certain words and then say "yeah, that works even though we hadn't considered it"?
Weird/interesting/unexpected features in this game:
(a) It has a "trophy" system that rewards you for - well, dong stuff like most trophy systems. E.g. using different words, colors, etc. as well as a few that are "wacky" (connecting lots of objects to each other!). If I recall, trophy systems were JUST starting to become a thing at the platform level (achievements in xbox) AND - as I write this - I think that it's a weird feature in that I think they started at the platform meta-level and THEN made their way into individual games as a game-only in-game feature. What I mean is that Super Scribblenauts has "trophies" but they only exist in the context of this game - there's no separate online profile that reads them, connects to them, or anything else. If this is the case - it seems like an unusual design trajectory! (it going from big to small - as a platform-wide to single game)
(b) THe game has a level editor/creator! Like, WHAT?! I need to explore this further...
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| [June 11, 2023 01:04:51 PM]
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It's been such a long time since I played Scribblenauts that I'm not sure how what I'm playing now compares to the original game. They added adjectives - which sounds like a huge challenge and giant leap - but the overall structure of the game I'm less certain of. I'll have to back and look because it seems to me that the game's structure is better this time around?
So, the game is structured around challenges - each of them a puzzle where (at the least) you just need to type in an object that solves the challenge. Some challenges have multiple objects and others have a few steps - but so far nothing super complicated. If you create a correct object and then place it/use it correctly, a star appears and you clear the level. The challenges themselves are organized into groups called constellations, and (I think) as soon as you've clear a certain number of challenges (stars?) in each constellation, the next one pops up. So far (only gotten to the 3rd constellations) you don't to clear all of a constellation's challenges in order to unlock the next (I think this is a good idea).
How's it going so far? Mostly well, but a mixed bag or sorts...
(a) I've run into some issues where I've cleared a challenge (didn't notice that the star you have to pick up was available) and the hint system threw me off into thinking that I had not cleared the level.
(b) There was a level where I was almost unable to get to the star because there was a trampoline I had created in front of it, so as I walked to the star I'd bounce off the trampoline. Since the level was clear, I could not pick up the trampoline...so, I was able to clear it by creating a new item (hammer) using it to destroy the trampoline and then getting the star. I did feel clever, but also lucky that I did not need to restart...
(c) There's a challenge where you have to make a potion out of something sweet, slimy and beautiful. Then you're supposed to pick up the potion and give it to a beast. I was not able to pick up the potion (with the stylus) so I went down another path - creating a "sweet beautiful slimy potion" I then placed on the beast - assuming that would solve it. That didn't work - though the beast did change! Apparently I had to pick up the potion with the character - not stylus - wander over to the beast and hand it to them...
So, there's been a few puzzles that have felt like I was doing the right thing, but it didn't work...
On the other hand, some of the other challenges have been fun! I think for now I'll try to unlock all the constellations just to see how the difficulty ramps up.
Oh, I also like how the game scaffolds when you should focus on nouns and when on adjectives.
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jp's Super Scribblenauts (DS)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Technical problems
GameLog started on: Saturday 10 June, 2023
GameLog closed on: Wednesday 14 June, 2023 |
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This is the only GameLog for Super Scribblenauts. |
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