Alphabet You Bet

Occasionally when I show people my concept for KanaKana, they will ask me if I plan on making the game for other languages further down the line. While this is a possibility, it probably won't happen until I've had a chance to study those languages and seen how they work.

That being said, I've had an idea for the first such spin-off.

Alphabet You Bet
A game designed to aid in helping Japanese people learn the English letter system.

It won't take much to make once KanaKana is ready. A simple palette swap at best. Replace the English menu with one in Japanese, and change the letter sets from ひらがな (Hiragana), カタカナ (Katakana), and Romaji (Roman letters, the alphabet) to UPPERCASE, lowercase, and カタカナ (Katakana, the foreign word system).

Both languages involve the use of two letter sets (as well as the home language letter set), so I won't have to monkey around with the code to get it to work. I have gone with another play on words (that no one will get) for the tile, to keep in line with KanaKana.

For now it's just something to think about, but one day I'll try and make it a reality.

Final week

Time sure has shot by.

Not that long ago, I started this blog to document my work in my university course, and now that course has reached the end. I've done so much and kept so busy, but still it feels like I've only just begun.

It's hard to believe that it is over. Nothing left to do but wait and hope that I've done everything right.

Even after my course is finished, I intend to continue posting my work on this blog. I also plan on working on KanaKana until it is a finished game capable of being fun as well as being a useful study tool.

In honour of the occasion here is the link to a build of the game I will be submitting.
KanaKana final build

KanaKana in focus

The long day is over.

I have managed to rewire KanaKana several times over. Out of the things I was hoping to do, I have managed to:

• Add the option to choose which character sets are in use
  
• Add a colour changing function
• Add a letter set function
• Add a decent menu (still needs work though)
• Make the labels handle a lot better than before
• Include a Splashscreen (the one up /|\ there)
  
• Redo the help section to be a lot more accessible
• Fixed the graphics on the tiles
  

Not bad for a single night's lost sleep.

After having it examined today, I've received a good number of suggestions on where I can improve it better:

• Change out the Go board for something else (the grid pattern is distracting, especially with the different sized tiles)
• I should move the score counts to the bottom of the screen and move the collected tiles into a cushioned area over the side so that the connects can be observed easier.
• Add a review mode so people can study how the letters connect in greater detail.
• Have it as an unlockable web as the player passed each set.
• fix the new game menu, so that it is more clear what each option does.
• Have the discarded letters appear as bonus pieces (we, wi, wu, ye, yi)
• Give people a chance to review the characters to be learned, by having them appear more often.
• fix the textures so that there isn't pixelation on some and not on others (get rid of the bevels)
• fix the random colour issue (too many of the same colour appearing in random mode)
• have completed letters disappear from the HUD (some sort of wipe)
• fix the speed so the longer you hold the faster it goes
• lessen the accuracy if this is going to be more than just a learning app
• decide on an actual theme and start working from there.

A lot done, and a lot yet to be done. But first to sleep.

End run

Reaching the end of my 24hr battle.

As I am running short on time now I shall be focusing on the art a bit more thoroughly. First up is the Helpscreen. I've received some complaints about how I had it set up before so not the are helpful visualisations included to help.


Hopefully I'll have this fully integrated as well as a proper splash screen by the time it's due.

At the crack of dawn

Coming up on 6am now.

I somehow managed to make it through the night without going mad. I have made a lot of progress over the night, adding some features I knew I was in need of.

Here goes:

Added a colour changing option. Players can now select from 3 gameplay modes.
Pair (colour coded)
Mixed (random colours)
None (plain white)

Set it up so that letter sets can be changed in game by clicking on the Set display.

Fixed the options menu. Now the class swapping, colour changing, and set switching can all be done in the one place.

Added a random letter mode to the letter sets.

Still have a few things I'm going to try and fit in while I still have time but otherwise KanaKana finished. The main game is functional, there are options to adjust gameplay, and it has all the letters needed to learn Hiragana and Katakana.

2 minutes to midnight

Approaching midnight now.

Have been working pretty much nonstop since this morning. I have gotten a fair bit done, but have spent even more time fixing the code every time it broke (pretty much when ever I tried to do something).

I did a quick test and discovered that 35 is the maximum number of tiles you can have on the field and still have it playable. (For an idea I'll have to look into later)

Setup a larger display picture for the highlighted symbol and added a set display. (Hoping to add the option of choosing which set to study)

A functional in-game menu.

The options screen still needs some work, but now you can choose which letters you play with.
Romaji (alphabet) & Hiragana (curvy one)
Romaji & Katakana (pointy one)
Hiragana & Katakana

While I have spent a lot of time rewiring the code, I think in the long run it will be worth it. The way I had it all laid out before was very limiting. Now coming into the final stretch I am hoping for some luck at getting the rest of the features in.

24hr Sprint

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end.

I intend to have KanaKana ready for display by this time tomorrow. Henceforth, I plan on spending the next 24hrs sitting down in front of the computer doing nothing but work. Nonstop.

I will be starting at 10am (Brisbane time), being 00:00zulu. Hopefully I'll be able to show my progress throughout the day. Here goes.

KanaKana update:

• Fixed the letter handler so it can now load all the letter sets.
• Added a loading screen (doesn't show up to often ... if at all)
• Optimised the letter textures to lessen load time
• Fixed the problem with letter clicking
• Letters clear as soon as they hit their partner