Hi everyone,
I'm one of the developers of the game Crafting Kingdom.
We just released the game today and we would love to know what you think, especially in terms of the game's accessibility.
The game focuses a lot on crafting resources, producing goods and then selling them.
You start out small, chopping logs in your lumberyard. Eventually you will work your way up unlock new products, buy new buildings and production facilities which allow you to produce more valuable goods.
You can also build out your own estate, if you have the necessary construction materials.
The game is incremental, which means one of the gameplay mechanics is that you need to restart your progress every now and then to get ahead. You complete quests and earn bonuses like faster production and higher sale prices for your next restart.
The game is free. There are optional ads, but no in-app purchases. The ads are voluntary rewarded videos, which will give you a powerful boost for watching (for example double log production for 10 minutes).
You can find the game here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crafting-kingdom/id1190611967?ls=1&mt=8
We tried to make this game as accessible as possible, but know that there are probably plenty of things that could be better. We would really appreciate some feedback on what could be improved. Any feedback is welcome.
Please note: The game uses Unity and the Unity Accessibility Plugin (UAP), so not all VoiceOver gestures are supported.
Comments
Hi Jim,
Hi Jim,
I can understand how that would be helpful, but it isn't really practical. There simply isn't enough room for that. The game has a total of 32 products. I'm afraid that would seriously clutter the screen if a list was listed in every production screen. The more different products you have, the longer that list would become.
Quest
The highest quest quanity objective I've gotten thus far is 600,000 for logs and $100,000,000 to increase the bag of gold. I did restart about 6 days ago though to insure I would get the quests I wanted to go through first such as logs, bag of gold and boosts.The reason being that if you open up too many resources when you start the game, the other resources will potentially take up one of the 6 quest slots, causing you to not see the one you want for quite some time.
As for the lag with running timers, perhaps a stop production button would be beneficial. I've gotten into the habit of waiting until my storage is full to either restart or change the type of production I want to create. This is due to the fact that even though the timers are still running, it isn't shown and there for doesn't seem to cause the game to lag. This of course is something I've noticed only for my game play experiences and do not know if this is the same for others.
I've also noticed that I can temporarily fix the error when watching ads by turning off my Wi-Fi and then using my phone providers internet connection. This is not a 100% fix, but I've had success with it. You can also try to reverse the process if your data plan connection is giving the error as well.
Videos
Hi again,
I got a small number of questions about the videos and thought it might make sense to answer this here. Most of you will already know this, but it can't hurt to explain it anyway.
The videos that can be watched in exchange for a boost are advertisements for other apps on the app store. These videos are provided by different advertising companies, Depending on what developers have ad campaigns running, the internet connection, your language and country, there might be no videos available sometimes.
If you are in the US and have internet, there should almost always be a video available. If there isn't, usually within 30 seconds you can try again.
There are other factors that could cause no videos to play. You might have the location or GPS of your device disabled, or you might have an ad blocker running.
Freeze
Hi Michelle,
I'm finding that my iPhone 5S freezes when I play the videos and I have to shut the game down and restart it. Is there some way to diagnose and get you more information?
quests!
wow 600k logs! I really wonder what's the max quantity a resource will reach in a quest before it will permanently disappear. michelle can u enlighten us on this? I am currently half way towards my next estate expansion, that is to make 1200 armor and 1200 silver bars and 100 million gold! really enjoying the process hahaha!
On screen text
Hello all,
Because VO isn't speaking whole number amounts beyond 99000 I couldn't figure out how much gold I needed for my next astate upgrade. So, I had to ask my daughter to read the screen and let me know.
Uh, once I turned off screen curtain that is. :)
Anyway, she was unable to read the tiny string of numbers and text, she actually had to use a magnifier! My daughter is in her 20's and is a university student, and has 20 20 vision.
So my question is, normally she can read my phone just fine, is the text truly this small for all sighted gamers who play Crafting Kingdom? Its rather hard to believe.
If this is not the norm, what could be wrong with my display for this game?
Thanks for a better understanding. Also, is there a way to get VO to speak higher amounts than 99k without reading by single digits?
Thanks!
Hi Mike,
Hi Mike,
No, the numbers are not normally this small. When accessibility​ is off, the numbers​ are formatted with commas and decimal points, and abbreviated. For example 60.5K for 60500.
When accessibility/VoiceOver is on, this formatting is turned off, because it would confuse VoiceOver. And if the language is English, the numbers are even converted to text. In both cases the numbers become so long that the UI makes them really small in order to make them fit into the allowed space.
The last update with the textual conversion should have fixed the reading digit by digit. It's possible we missed some numbers though. If you can you tell me where this happened, I can ensure it will be fixed in the next update.
Are you playing in English?
treasure chest and gold reports
1. Better to make it not disappear at all since you're not fighting with others for it. Oddly enough it doesn't always seem to disappear. It tends to happen to me when it's right up top. If voiceover lags in reading the various buttons I'm likely to lose it then.
2. The places where the gold report is off are numerous. I didn't know adding proper commas would confuse voiceover, figured that might actually help, but I've never developed anything at all. I've got a six-digit balance right now while I try to get the next estate upgrade, so let's see.... It reads as single digits in the main screen, production yards, estate and city and castle. Pretty much everywhere. It's a slightly annoying bug, but I don't have trouble figuring out the larger numbers.
3. I agree a stop production button would come in handy. I just had to buy another storage level even though 600 was exactly what I need for the current estate upgrade since we can't make installments because after selling some of my meat off when storage was full, it produced another one, which threw off the symmetry since there isn't a button to sell a single. There should be, for one and five, to allow for the greatest storage management.
5s
Hey Jim, I typically use a 6s+ for game play, but I still have my old 5S and noticed that it lags considerably more as well as freezes when I use it. I can't say for certain, but I bet it has to do with the older components in the 5S. To me it feels like I'm trying to ride a bike without oil on the chain.
Hi,
Hi,
One thing that is very tedious is having to go to my various properties, start up the automations for each slot. Let's say you have 5 slots of logs, one slot of timber, two slots of grain in the farm, etc. You first have to start the automatic produce in lumber forest, then start up the produce of food/whatever else. I believe it would be less tedious/more productive if we could have a start all automations button for all the buildings/produce we currently have. Just my thought.
Also the flicking is very buggy on my end. Running on 6S plus. Sometimes flicking works, other times you have to flick with some force, it works the same if VO is turned on vs off.
HTH
Re: on screen text
Hi michelle,
I was using the previous version of crafting kingdom that's out now, and I think the main problems that were causing this tiny text issue was having both accessibility mode on and VO on as well. Oops! :)
Had we known I'm sure the text would have read as you indicated. Yes, I'm using the game in English.
I'm really hoping the dev team comes up with a way to get these great boosts other than the videos, because they're even causing issues with my game. lol
I'm forced to double tap the get button in the ad, "if I can find it..." and then close ap store in the ap switcher, and half the time I have to close out crafting kingdom also and restart it. Rather time consuming and annoying in short. :P
Still no problems with flicking either left/right or up and down. Double tapping is ok too though again, the extra force is required, but I doubt that's fixable.
Thanks for all your hard work on our behalf, and keep up the great work! Really looking forward to a new update! :)
Whenever I play a video to
Whenever I play a video to activate boost voiceover doesn't respond at all. Anyone else having this issue?
Video boosts and voice over
Sometimes VO stops speaking while I'm focused on a video as well. I eventually have to double tap anywhere to get the ap store to open up before I can get the game focus back. Its dang tricky to get going again. lol
For a while there I was able to tap on the L button which acted as a back button and it would close the video and return me to the game with no more problems. Rarely do I see/hear that L button any more.
Again, I hope the dev team can come up with another way for us to aquire these boosts. Perhaps it'll come down to a subscription based fea where we're allowed any of the boosts so long as we're subscribed to received them.
I kind of hope not because this means sighted folk can just run a free video and get the same boost we're paying to get because of the accessibility issues. hmm, sometimes ya just gotta pay to play. Wish I had a better solution for this. :)
Are there still openings for beta testers?
Thanks for all the work you've been doing with accessibility of this game. I'm pretty well hooked. I spent a bit too much time on it last night. Just curious, are you still looking for additional beta testers? I'd be glad to sign up. Thanks again.
ads in the boost area, not blind friendly.
Hi, I'm loving playing Crafting Kingdom, however, some of the ads come up like a blank screan. I have to tap around, and once I've closed the app store and clicked back into the game, my wife has to find the back button. can this be fixed? it's a real pain, and it's keep ing some of my friends from using the boosts. Thanks, Tom.
having to restart annoying at this point ...
hi all, i have just unlocked the quarry and have a sizable amount of gold and storage, but what is the purpose of restarting just to gain some rewards? surely, the further i get it will be more tiresome having to act like i've never played the game; to build up a good strategy and storage space etc., only to have restart again and build up again? may complete my 50 automations then restart, as then all current quests are completed. Great game but just loathed to restart lol
It's the Way the Game is.
I wondered, I think most people may have wondered, about having to restart when claiming our quest rewards. But having done it six times now I am beginning to see the purpose of it. Oh sure, it bites, as you get further and further along it bites harder, but I think there's a purpose. For myself, with each new restart I do things better, try things I've learned in my last playthrough, work out the way I want to do things with each restart to make building up faster. I learn what I need to get in place first, like storage, for example. This is only my thought, but for me, restarting the game and replaying it stops it from ever getting dull. I have new rewards to use, new things to put in place, new strategies to try. And as estate expansions and quests get harder to complete, I know my empire will get bigger before I need to do each new reset.
Totally agree with you, Lulu
It doesn't result tiresome having to restart the game when claiming quest rewards because, like Lulu said, it gives us the chance to implement new strategies or new schemes. To me it is very interesting because every time I restart The game I find new ways to make it easier. The concept of the game is really good and I don't mind having to restart at all. In fact, I like it because it gives me the chance to surpass myself every time I try it. The more I play this game, the more I like it. I think that if we got to keep gold, storage room and all those things we lose every time we restart the game would make it too easy to finish the game, therefore, it would become less appealing to some of us. I love the challenge it bbrings every time we restart the game. Besides, you don't lose everything because you get to keep your permanent storage room and you are also building up your state.
totally agreed there AppleFan
yup totally agree with u too! I actually always look forward to restarting because I wanna know what new quests I will have to do, and then will decide will my next play through be a longer one which usually involves completing most of, or if not, all of the 6 quests, or just complete a few quests and then restarting again. the only thing now is that daily princess reward seem to max out at %40. hopefully in future there will be new rewards coming soon.
Future of Crafting Kingdom
I was wondering what the future status of this game is going to be, since we have heard nothing from the developers or beta testers.
There have been several legitimate questions asked in the forums that haven't been answered.
I will ask some of these questions again, and maybe add a few of my own.
Let's start out with the ads. I realized you can play the game without the boost, but it does make it more fun to use them.
However, when you have to actually close the game entirely, and then reopen it, select play again, and then go to castle, find boost and select it, it takes up a lot of time and it's annoying.
I am sure that sighted people, if met with a dark screen everytime they chose to use a boost,and have to do the above steps, they also would be annoyed.
There are other games out there that allow you to watch ads for different things, one of which is Dice World, and their ads are very accessible.
I for one, am still losing focus, granted it's not as bad as it use to be, but nonetheless it happens.
This is troublesome especially when you have large numbers of product saved up for your expansions. If you hear you are on product "logs" and swipe down to "sell all", double tap and POOF! all of your metal parts that have to be refined 3 times is gone.
I find that the verbage when using voice-over still is not reading the numbers correctly. Is this going to be fixed?
When using the system voice, I find that the focus is better, not perfect, but better, and the verbage is correct. However, there are not controls to speed up the rather slow system voice.
The daily "Princess" awards are stuck on 40 percent, are they suppose to be?
Myself ,and others want to know if the "sell 1" button will be reimplemented?
It is very useful when you have to sell off a certain number of products to reach a given number. For example, if you are trying to complete an expansion, you may need 900 each of two different products, and you only have 1800 storage space
If a product needs to be refined more than once, it is almost impossible to do without the "sell 1" button, or buy another storage space that may cost well over a million coins. I am pretty sure that when designing the game this wasnt yur intent, or the sell one button would have never been there.
Someone asked if Facebook could be added to the game to receive and give gifts to friends.
I think this would be a good idea as a player because you could receive daily gifts from friends. I think it's a good idea as a developer because it would give you a broader advertisement platform.
I do like the game and think it has lots of potential, but in its present state, it's very frustrating to play.
In closing, as I said above, I am just wondering what the future status of this game is going to be because there have been so many apps that have been abandoned.
To Frost
If you look at previous posts the developer stated on April sixth that they are looking at fixing lag issues. They said there will also be an option to pay to avoid the adds for boosts. As a software developer my self I realize that the developers are putting work into this game to make it accessible, and this is not something that comes for free. I'm sure the developers would appreciate patience instead of wondering about the future of the game when there may be many reasons for a five day absence from the forum including vacation, spending time coding the above mentioned changes instead of looking at the forum etc.
Next Update
Hi everyone,
just to give a quick update: We are very actively working on the game, and the next update will implement a lot of the changes I already mentioned. Currently we're waiting on a few translations and then will hand the update out to the beta testers, before putting it live up into the store.
We're also currently working on the performance, which is essentially at the root of the lag and focus loss that some of you have still seen occasionally. This is a bigger change to the game and it must be tested thoroughly - the risk of breaking things unintentionally is just to large. For that reason, this will not yet be in the next update.
By the way - we are receiving a tremendous amount of feedback on the game, in several forums, via Twitter and direct email. It's more than we could have hoped for, and it is awesome.
Unfortunately it means our response times have gone up severely. I just wanted to let you know that I still read every post and every email. And even if I don't always find the time to reply I often make notes and put feature requests and ideas onto my Todo list.
One thing that we would never change is the restart mechanic. This mechanic is the core that the rest of the gameplay is build up around. The idea is to improve with every new run through, get to where you were faster, and get further before restarting again.
However, we are going to tweak things a little. High level quests will get higher rewards, the amount of concurrent quests, currently limited to 6, will be raised, and we're considering lifting the cap on the princess, which currently maxes out at 40%.
re: next update
hi michelle. really looking forward to test running the next update. i got a question here. because i think i have gone pretty far in this game. all my farm products are already at plus 1 production, and my farm is already doing things 10% faster because of the 2 very high quantity quests that i have done which is something like selling 100 or 150k of one of the farm products. so my estate is also up to plus 100%. also got plus 1 production for coal, stone, logs, and timber as well. also have been doing relatively high quantity of selling armors, gold and silver bars in my last few run throughs of this game. so my question is, since you say that there will be higher rewards for higher level quests in the next update, so will all these higher rewards be added on automatically if i have already done those higher level quests once i install the new update? because there is no cloud save at the moment, will the game be able to recognise that i have already done certain quests and also adjust my rewards accordingly? thanks!
To Jared
Thanks for the insight. Do you have any apps that we would be interested in, in the App store?
I realize there was only a 5 day absence in the forum, and I saw where the option to buy the game will be upcoming.
In saying that, none of the other questions posted by other people on here were answered that I mentiond.
There have been inquiries on how the game will work without the ads, but there has not been the slightest explanation.
I have always wanted to play a game like this ever since all of my friends were playing Farmville.
I would gladly purchase the game, but not in its current state.
Again, if you have any apps that the community would be interested in, please let us know.
I'm not opposed to buying a good app.
One Star for Accessibility
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share something funny that we found in our game reviews today.
We received a one star review for Crafting Kingdom, and the review text said that the reason for the bad rating was the accessibility mode. The player said he found this weird voice mode annoying and also completely pointless.
I would like to point out that in order to enable accessibility mode this sighted player would have had to check a toggle in the settings. Directly next to the toggle is a text that explains that this mode is intended for visually impaired players. And even after the toggle is flipped, an additional popup dialog opens, letting the player know once more that this will severely change the controls of the game, giving him the option to cancel one more time. Accessibility mode turns on only after this dialog is confirmed, too. And even after that, a text is printed in the middle of the main menu, telling the player that accessibility is on, and how it can be turned off again.
Somehow, the reviewer managed to miss all of that, but he didn't miss the opportunity to give us a bad rating.
Just thought I'd share this, because we're still shaking our heads at it.
RE: One Star for Accessibility
Hello,
Wow, that is quite a puzzling review. Though silent, I have been playing and enjoying this game. I appreciate the accessibility features that were built into this game so that it could be enjoyed by a larger group of people. I commend and appreciate the developers for their efforts in this regard, and hope that such reviews won't discourage them (or other game developers) from coding these features into other games going forward.
Collected Questions
Here are the answers to some of the questions that have been asked and collected by Frost (thanks!):
Boosts without Ads:
The next update will give the option to buy away the ads once and for all. If that is done, all boosts are activated instantly. Everything else stays the same, the boost count and the boost duration are not changed. Just instead of watching a video you will instantly get the boost and keep playing.
Number Formatting:
We're doing another pass on this, as it seems some numbers are still not read out correctly. It seems to both depend on the speech output and the size of the number, and it's harder to track down than one would think. We've actually gone the route of converting the numbers into written text for English, to avoid any issues.
Facebook and other Social Media Platforms:
While we really like the idea that someone posted about sending each other gifts via Facebook, like you can do in many other games - we're not currently planning on adding this into Crafting Kingdom. It would upset the balancing too much and raise new issues. If you receive a gift but your storage is full, what would you do? It would also meddle with the reset mechanic. You could send all of your products to a friend right before restart and then have them sent back right after.
However, we liked the idea so much, that we're planning to put this into our next game right from the start.
Cloud Save:
This is definitely coming. The next update won't yet include it - but this turned out to be one of the most requested features, and will be added in in one of the next updates.
Treasure Chests:
Because the treasure chest mechanic doesn't seem obvious, here is how they work. The game spawns them on the map in random intervals every now and then. Usually there's between five and seven minutes between chests. The chests then stay on the map for about a minute - longer if accessibility mode is on, to account for the need to swipe. After that they disappear.
If the chests appear while you are inside a building, the timer is started regardless. So it can happen that the chest disappears a few seconds after returning to the map.
This mechanic is the same for sighted players as well and there is indeed just some luck connected to it. Or you can regularly go back and quickly check the map. This is actually faster in accessibility mode, because of the chest's sound effect. A sighted player needs to search the map manually.
Sell One Button:
Yes, I am trying to find a way to squeeze this back in, but it is not as high a priority as for example the cloud save. If it is any consolation, sighted players have even less control over selling, as they only have a slider to adjust the product count to sell. When dealing with large quantities, it's very hard to exactly hit the amount to sell you need.
Other Games:
We don't currently have any other accessible games in the App Store. Crafting Kingdom is our first accessible game.
I have probably missed a few questions here and there - please feel free to repost and I'll catch them!
question about quest progress
Hi all, wondering if anyone happens to know the answer to the following question so I don't have to email Michelle directly as I am sure she gets enough emails as it is.
my question is about quest progress, now I know when you reset the game open quests remain active so any you have left over from your previous game stay on the books as it were, but my question is what happens to progress you have made towards filling that quest in your previus game? for example, I have a quest at the moment to buy 100 automations, I have bought 51 but they are becoming stupidly expensive now, I have finished all my other quests on this run so am tempted to reset seeing as I know the 100 automations quest will remain open, but I would like to know will my progress for this quest be reset to 0.
Certain quests definitely remain open
In answer to the question as to whether quests concerning automations remain open, I can confirm that they do. Before my last reset I had not quite completed a 50 automations quest, and I have been able to complete that quest in my current play-through, starting from where I left it. The same happened with a boosts quest I hadn't completed at the time of my first reset; I'm not sure whether quests to get a certain number of products stay open after resets, though, as I have usually completed those quests before resetting the game.
Quest Reward Changes
Hi Kelvin,
The game saves which quests you have already completed. Whenever we tweak the quest rewards, you will get the changed rewards right the moment you open the updated version.
Everything else would be unfair, since players that are further along, like yourself, would miss out on the higher rewards otherwise.
crash when trying to open crafting kingdom using braille screen
Hi, wondering if anyone can confirm if this is an issue, either way would be good to know if it isn't or if it is.
I have found that if I enable braille screen input from the home screen and try to use it to open crafting kingdom it opens briefly for some reason VoiceOver says the word estate even if the game was completely closed before opening, then it just closes and throws me back to the home screen.
Double tapping on the actual crafting kingdom icon opens the game fine though.
For reference I am using braille screen input on 6 dot UEB UK braille with orientation locked in screen away mode. If others can reproduce this then I will write and let michelle know about this in an email.
Unfortunately if it is an issue I guess she will find it hard to solve not knowing braille, especially as sometimes braille dots on screen can go walkies and show in totally the wrong place.
I am running the latest version of ios 10.3.1 on an iPhone 7 plus.
Braille
Hi Alex,
I can actually read Braille, because I learned it for fun a few months ago while working on the accessibility plugin. Unfortunately my Braille display is really really old and can not connect to any of my devices - it was the only one I could afford. This is going to make it hard to debug.
But I wonder whether the Braille screen registers with the device like a BlueTooth keyboard? From a coding standpoint, I don't see why any connected devices would make the game crash, but I'd be happy to investigate down this route.
If anybody else is seeing this issue too, or can quickly give it a go and confirm that the crash happens for them too, it would be awesome if you could let me know.
Hi Alex,
Hi Alex,
I can definitely confirm this. I've only gotten it to go once or twice, but what I do is when i swipe right i then hold one finger till the phone makes the buzz like you are holding a dot down, then let go.
Hi again,
Hi again,
I think I misread your first post - you are talking about an on screen Braille keyboard, right?
I didn't know that VoiceOver had this. I am not sure how to use this properly and start apps, but if someone can give me instructions (preferably for dummies) I'll look into it.
However... since the game doesn't actually use VoiceOver, I don't think it would be possible to control the game using this kind of input. But it shouldn't crash either, obviously!
Thanks Michelle and one more question
I would like to thank you for answering the questions on the forum.
I do have one more question, does the princess rewards top out at 40 percent? Mine seem to be stuck at 40 percent, and I get my gifts everyday.
Thanks again, and we appreciate all the hard work that you do.
braille screen input for michelle
Hi Michelle,
sorry maybe I didn't explain what braille screen input is clearly enough, braille screen input doesn't need any sort of third party adons for your phone, instead Braille screen input is a software feature directly built into VoiceOver which can be activated when added to the rotor as an option, I don't know what happens then visually on the screen but as far as I am concerned the screen is then divided into 6 parts representing 6 virtual braille keys if you like which can then be used to input characters or other symbols. On the home page braille screen input can be used as a way to search for apps and quickly launch them, once activated from the rotor I begin to type the letters of crafting kingdom, so I type a braille c, then a braille r, and the list of apps is narrowed down till crafting kingdom is shown. then I have to swipe down with one finger to select crafting kingdom, then swipe to the right with two fingers is supposed to open it but instead it opens then just crashes. What should actually happen is once I swipe to the right with two fingers is crafting kingdom should open then braille screen input automatically deactivates itself and I can navigate the game using normal VoiceOver gestures.
Princess
Just taking this from Michelle's post: "...and we're considering lifting the cap on the princess, which currently maxes out at 40%."
Braille Screen Input
Hi Alex,
could you guide me through the steps to activating the Braille Screen Input on my phone or iPad?
activating braille screen input
Hi Michelle, yes I can help you get braille screen input activated its the same for both iPad and iPhone and works in the same way though you might have fun with the larger screen of the iPad.
So to activate braille screen input you first need to add it to the rotor, so do the following.
1. open settings and navigate to general settings then accessibility.
2. once in accessibility tap on the option for VoiceOver, then look for the option called rotor it should be to the right of the audio option.
3. tap on the rotor option, at this point you will see a bunch of things that can be added or removed from the rotor as needed you need to find the option called braille screen input and double tap it to select it.
4. we're not done with setting it up yet if you want to be sure your using my exact settings though I doubt this will make a difference I think the game just doesn't like braille screen input.
anyway back in the main VoiceOver options area where the rotor option was previously you next need to tap on braille which is located to the left of the audio option, in here ignore the stuff to do with braille displays, you need to set the braille screen input to 6 dot, and braille translation to English unified.
5. we are now done in the settings so you can come out of settings and close them completely, I am not sure but I guess you might need VoiceOver on to change its settings for braille screen input but not sure.
anyway back on your home screen do actually enable braille screen input, repeatedly perform the rotor gesture till it says braille screen input, now at this point your phone might start flipping between table top and screen away mode which are about how dots are positioned on screen, I have mine locked in screen away mode which means that the orientation of the dots will not change, and each dot is vertically going up and down the screen 1, 2 and 3 on the left and 4 5 and 6 on the right they are stacked vertically, table top mode would just have the dots in a straight line like a piano keyboard.
so to lock your dots in screen away mode tilt the phone till it says screen away mode, then swipe up vertically with 3 fingers over the width of the phone, VoiceOver should say orientation locked, screen away mode, this is now a permanent setting unless you change it. I suspect with an iPad you will find table top mode better.
6. now I don't know how your braille typing is or if you even visually see a braille keyboard on screen, actually this would be interesting to know, but anyway to type a braille c, its dots 1 and 4 together, then your list of apps will narrow as I explained before, it might even be enough just typing that c, but if it isn't then an r is dots 1, 2 and 3 plus dot 5 all pressed together at once.
anyway to navigate the shortened list of apps on your phone just start flicking down with one finger till you hear crafting kingdom, then flick to the right with two fingers to try to open it and you will get the crash.
if you don't see dots on the screen what you can do is hold your fingers individually or in combination on the screen and VoiceOver will tell you what dots your holding your fingers on, though unfortunately dots can sometimes go walkies on screen and it can be very annoying sometimes trying to type something. If you get stuck do let me know or if I can be of any further help, I guess the test version when its available will also automatically send you crash reports so I can always deliberately make it crash for you a few times.
Braille Input
Hi Alex, and thank you for the detailed instructions. What a convenient way to navigate the apps on the iPad! Also, who knew that it would ever pay off to learn how to type in Braille!
Anyway, it worked exactly as you described. The app started and then closed again after saying something random. In my case it said the number 3 instead of estate, but the end result is the same.
Now that I can reproduce it, I can start tracking the bug down. Thanks for letting me know!
By the way, with Braille input on the screen is dimmed almost completely black and six circles with the numbers 1 through 6 are displayed in white. Depending on whether the iPad is in Screen Away or Table Top mode, the circles are in different positions on the screen. Every time I type anything, the circles adjust their position a little to accommodate where my fingers actually are.
Ah, thanks michelle. I'm not
Ah, thanks michelle. I'm not 100% sure if this applies to just your game, but i've noticed other apps crashing while opening them using braille input. Maybe that's just me, but it might be an iOs bug itself. I'm not exactly sure however. And yes, there are little circles that are in white when BSI is being used and the rest of the display is black, which I didn't pay attention till you said it and looked on my end.
Allright it's not a bug, it
Allright it's not a bug, it only applies to crafting kingdom, lol, my bad.
another quest question
Hi Michelle, glad you managed to reproduce the bug OK following my instructions, its a weird one as have never scene an app crash before when being opened with braille screen input, I wonder if it might be something to do with the underlying accessibility plug in your using.
actually just as a side question before I get on to my main question I have, is that plugin that provides accessibility for crafting kingdom going to be made open source or available to developers in some way in case they want to make a game or other app accessible?
I know its currently in beta but presumably it will come out of that at some stage.
Now on to my main question I have about quests, are quests given totally randomly or do you only get given a quest depending on what products you unlocked during your last game play? and if so, does that mean you have to keep unlocking products to get quests relating to them or are they just totally random so they could be for any product regardless of if you unlocked it or not before.
One other thing how do we know if all quests are completed like if we have finished them all is there a message that tells us this that there are no more quests, I just don't want to be in a situation where it loops back to the beginning and I haven't realized that all quests were finished.
Unity Accessibility Plugin
Hi Alex,
the plugin will be available in the Unity Asset Store, including the source code. Hopefully many developers will give it a try and make their apps accessible.
You bring up a good point about the quests. I don't know that anybody ever has completed all quests. However, if you do, you will have to restart one more time to collect your current quest rewards. If you don't receive any news quests, or less than six quests, you know that you have reached the end.
The quest are chosen at random, but but they take into account which products you have currently unlocked when you restart.
Joining the Beta testing team
Hi Michelle. I appologize if this has already been asked before, but I would definitely be interested in beta testing the latest releases of this game. Is the testflight group still open?
Now, for an accessibility question. Has anyone else noticed the occasional focus issue while using bluetooth headphones? I'm using AirPods if that helps any.
Beta Testing
Hi James,
sure, we're always happy to have more beta testers. We're currently planning to start the next beta round not before the next week, since the current update took longer than anticipated.
On the upside, we're working on improving the performance further, especially inside the locations. The side effect of this will be less swipe and focus issues, as those are affected by even slight drops in the frame rate.
Joining Beta testing team
Hi Michelle. How would I go about joining the beta testing group then?
Beta Testers
Hi James.
could you please write me an email: [email protected] - I need your email address to add you to TestFlight and don't want you to have to post it publicly.
Quick Question for Michelle
Hi Michelle, just a quick question. Would it be possible to speed up the system voice?
Thanks for your time.
Hi,
Hi,
The system voice the game uses on my end is quite fast. The only time it slows down is when VO is enabled then it goes back to whatever rate VO is using.