Poetry Slammers V4 -- A bunny and an alien enter the chat!

Version 4 added both content and changes that I felt were the next natural evolution of the prototype I was building. 

I asked a couple of friends at work what the next character should be for my campgrounds circuit. One of my friends at work is named Sue, but everyone calls her Yogi. I'm not sure how that nickname came to be, but Yogi loves bunnies more than any other animal in the world. She owns seven of them and makes yearly calendars featuring her bunnies. Her desk at work is covered with ceramic bunnies, plastic bunnies, bunnies made out of metal, etc. 

As we were talking it kind of became apparent who and what my next poetry judge would be modeled after. I actually reached out to my coworker in secret and asked her to give me some common phrases she says were and incorporated them as judge reactions to poetry, which is another thing I added in Version 4. Before, all judges shared the same pool of reactions to poems; now each judge had their own reaction pool so they would be more unique.

Yogi liked prepositions in this version of the game.

One thing that was a little weird was how the "Word Wheel" would create words that would then be used in the poetry phase, but . . . why? The answer to that was that the Word Wheel was really a Magnet Maker! In my mind, I was visualizing a sticky label maker that was making magnets instead of sticky labels. I added a little output tray next to the word wheel and a vibrating top piece to simulate the mechanical action of printing out a label when you made a word. Then, when you transitioned from the Magnet Maker phase to the Poetry Making phase, your magnets would rise up and slam down into position.

With a buzz and a shake, the magnet maker prints out magnets for your first five words

All mobile games need a shop of some kind, and now that I had a new "overflow" currency for when you really nailed both the Magnet Maker phase and the Poetry Phase, I needed a place to sell stuff to the player. I just want to take a moment here to say I almost gave up on the game at this point. I was having the absolute worst time trying to get ChatGPT to make a scrolling menu that didn't look broken. After a good night's rest, I woke up with an art answer that solved everything. I gave ChatGPT a pat on the virtual bum and said, nice try, but I got this.

Trey was the name of my new alien shopkeeper. For the first iteration of the shop, I decided to sell two buffs and an unlockable skin of the shopkeeper so you could play as him. 

Trey only has eyes for you

Whoa! I just realized I never explained the "Inspire me" button. Waaaay back in the initial prototype, I realized that a significant portion of players might just completely shut down at the poetry phase, not knowing what kind of poem they should make. I had my old boss from WIMO playing, and he called it "analysis paralysis." If you clicked the Inspire me button, the game threw down enough magnets to get you a two-star poem without you having to do any creative work at all. 

In this build, one of the buffs sold in the shop was an improved Inspire me button. What this did was make it so if you clicked the Inspire me button, the game would now throw down enough magnets to get you a four-star poem. There was also a buff he sold that would just automatically start you with a star word at the start of the poetry phase, saving you some stars in exchange for Happy Tears (the new overflow currency).

Also, for the tutorial, I decided to double down on the game's charm and added little three-panel comics at key points in the game to explain concepts to first-time players. There was a tutorial comic to introduce you to Slamtown, a tutorial comic to show you how to use the Magnet Maker, a tutorial comic about making a poem, and a tutorial comic about performing your poems.

Welcome to Slamtown!

And finally, I realized that the Align Magnets button from Version 3 actually made it so you couldn't add words between existing words without dragging and dropping every word, so I changed it to be a toggle.  Press the button once, it compresses the magnets. Press the button again, and it expanded all the magnets so you could throw words in between other words easily.

Here are the notes:

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Poetry Slammers v0.4 -- Campgrounds, Happy Tears, and a Whole New Shop

Poetry Slammers v0.4 adds a whole new circuit, more Slamtown personality, a new Happy Tears economy, temporary buffs, a shop, better score feedback, and a fair amount of mobile-friendly polish.

• Welcome to the Campgrounds!
• The Campgrounds circuit is now open!
• This brand-new expansion adds 15 more puzzles and poems to create, bringing the game up to 60 puzzle-poems across 12 Slam Spots.
• You can also unlock Yogi, the newest slammer in charge of the Campgrounds. She has her own judge personality, reactions, favorite word types, and campground-flavored commentary.
• The Word Wheel Is Now the Magnet Maker
• The old Word Wheel has officially been rebranded as the Magnet Maker.
• Your first five words now print out as little word magnets with some extra flair before joining the tray. It gives the puzzle phase more of a physical “making poetry supplies” feeling before you move into the writing phase.
• Judges Have More to Say
• Judges now give more specific challenges about the kinds of words they would love to hear in your poem.
• Use magnets from the requested category and you can earn a bonus star during your performance. The requested magnet rows get a little starburst treatment to help point you in the right direction without making the system feel too heavy-handed.
• You can also tap a Judge’s portrait on the campaign map to learn more about their personality and the kinds of words they prefer.
• Happy Tears and the New Shop
• Poems that go beyond a five-star performance can now earn Happy Tears, a new overflow currency.
• Your current currency total is always visible in the upper-left corner of the header, and the new Shop button can be found at the top center of the screen.
• Meet Trey, the alien slug shop assistant. 
• Trey is also a slammer and is happy to help you spend those Happy Tears on useful goodies and new unlocks.
• The shop currently includes:
• Trey Skin — unlock a new playable slammer.
• Star Word Buff — start each poem with one free Star Word for one hour.
• Better Inspiration Buff — Inspire Me will build a poem with enough scoreable magnets to earn at least a four-star base poem for one hour.
• New-Player Intro
• Starting the game fresh now introduces a little more of the world of Slamtown and what you are doing there.
• There are three new comic strips that teach the basics of the game without turning the opening into a giant wall of tutorial text.
• Better Score Details
• The Poetry Performance screen now provides a clearer breakdown of where your score came from.
• You can see the contribution from your poem itself, judge challenges, bonuses, and any Happy Tears overflow more clearly after a performance.
• Expand and Collapse Your Poem
• The old Align Magnets button has been upgraded into an Expand / Collapse toggle.
• Collapse your poem down when you want a clean reading view. Expand it again when you want to slip another magnet between existing words and keep shaping the poem.
• Mobile Polish
• This update also includes some mobile touch improvements:
• More forgiving touch targets for Magnet Maker letters.
• Larger invisible drag targets for especially short word magnets during the poetry-writing phase.
• Improved Star Word purchase feedback, including a clear “Out of Stars” message when you cannot afford one.

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Tomorrow we'll talk about version five, where social sharing came alive and a new circuit brought some spooky vibes to Slamtown.

Happy Dueling~