A few issues

[Redglyph]

Launching the game:
- I had to press a key several times for different loading parts, I'd suggest to remove the press-a-key requirement since there's no value for the player but to make them wait for nothing.

Settings:
- a good point for supporting international keyboards with a direct access to keys instead of using the translation layer :-)
- on the other hand, for the graphics it proposes, it is a bit more GPU-hungry than expected. Maybe some optimization or settings could help. (I know it's Unity and I feel your pain, sorry)

More impressions in further posts below, I'll try to list the few issues I've spotted in case that helps.

Pre-mission:
- ANNOYANCE: What is the deal with the "kill the rats quest"? Removing junk seems like a cheap intro, sorry. Just get to the main game directly.

1st mission:
- ANNOYANCE: just switching on/off the fuses one by one reveals which one is in the bathroom. The description of the screwdriver is not really clear, but if it is one equipped with a light, it can be used to detect voltage. Also, regulation makes it mandatory to label fuse boxes. In any case, revealing the fuse is unrealistic.
- STANDARD: The colours of the wires are suspicious (IEC 60445). I first thought both wires were the power lines.

2nd mission on workbench:
- BUG: I have the screwdriver (in slot 1) but as soon as I select the game device to repair, it disappears and I have to buy another. If I leave the device, my screwdriver reappears in slot 1.
- BUG: zoom doesn't work anymore when selecting the device.
- ANNOYANCE: the rotation of objects is not well done, you should fix the vertical axis so that the user can easily rotate the object back. It's a common mistake in simple 3D demo but it should definitely not be like that in a game.
- BUG: it is not possible to test the device before screwing the case, which is unrealistic and now how we usually proceed.
- DISCREPANCY: there is a disassemble mode and an assemble mode, but not in the other missions.

3rd mission with new house:
- STANDARD: Socket: I'm not sure about those colours, again.
- SUGGESTION: when we take one wire, is the correct place automatically highlighting. I would suggest to put the labels on the socket, and up to the use to connect the right wire to the right place (and test without putting everything back in place, once again). Or to provide a very simple guide, which would be more immersive and gratifying.
- BUG: it is not possible to interact with the socket under the desk, which is not working.

I'll stop here for now, seems like there is still some missions to do :-)

Overall, a bit too simple and somewhat unrealistic but not a huge problem, I just think it should teach good methods. It doesn't really seem similar to the real job.

[Metallos]

Originally posted by Redglyph:

- ANNOYANCE: just switching on/off the fuses one by one reveals which one is in the bathroom. The description of the screwdriver is not really clear, but if it is one equipped with a light, it can be used to detect voltage.

The screwdrivers with light are unreliable, if you stand on a very good isolating grond then it doesn't light even if you've voltage on the line. You always use a tester with two poles: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:LED_Spannungspruefer.JPG
And you use it (again) after switching off to make sure the line is really dead (3rd of the 5 safety rules*)
And about finding the fuse: You can use the main fuse, it's also told in the game. Ok, in real it's not correct.

Originally posted by Redglyph:

- The colours of the wires are suspicious at best. I first thought both wires were the power lines. And it's unlikely a wire from the power will come alone, and even less likely that it will come from the same tube as the lamp wire (again, only one wire), it means there is a hidden wire in the walls somewhere.

Normally you have a junction box below the ceiling and from the juncion box a cable for switching L goes down to the switch and N (and PE) are connected through inside the junction box. Installation on wall would look like this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Leitungsverlegung1.PNG

*) The 5 safety rules (in order, taken from German):
1. Switch off (Freischalten)
2. Secure against (accidentally) switching on (Gegen Wiedereinschalten sichern)
3. Check for voltage free (Spannungsfreiheit feststellen)
4. Short and ground (Erden und kurzschließen)
5. Cover nearby live components (Benachbarte, unter Spannung stehende Teile abdecken oder abschranken)
(4 and 5 is mostly not needed in home installations)
How it would look in real: https://youtu.be/0hSIfA8VRq0?t=190
(It's in German but you don't need to understand, "Niederspannung" is low voltage below 1 kV, "Mittelspannung" is middle (high) voltage 1 - 50 kV and "Hochspannung" (high voltage) is all above 50 kV.

[Ico_SK]

- BUG: it is not possible to interact with the socket under the desk, so it's not possible to repair it.

What socket you mean? I don't have any problem with all parts of game, if socket is ok then isn't reason to repair it (game shows what is needed to repair).

[Redglyph]

Originally posted by Ico_SK:

- BUG: it is not possible to interact with the socket under the desk, so it's not possible to repair it.

What socket you mean? I don't have any problem with all parts of game, if socket is ok then isn't reason to repair it (game shows what is needed to repair).

When I plug the lamp, it doesn't switch on, and there's one remaining socket to fix on the list. I'll have to try this mission again, I was running out of time.

[Redglyph]

Originally posted by Metallos:

The screwdrivers with light are unreliable, if you stand on a very good isolating grond then it doesn't light even if you've voltage on the line. You always use a tester with two poles: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:LED_Spannungspruefer.JPG
And you use it (again) after switching off to make sure the line is really dead (3rd of the 5 safety rules*)
And about finding the fuse: You can use the main fuse, it's also told in the game. Ok, in real it's not correct.

I agree, it's not full-proof. I had one (when I was a kid) that triggered on AC, so you didn't have to touch anything special, but it's not the most accurate tool. I'm always using a trusty multimeter anyway, and I have the diagram of the house or at least the list of fuse with what they do.

Yes, the general would do. It's just bad when you have some devices that don't appreciate loss of power. Anyway, what bothers me is the "holding the player's hand too much" part. Maybe it's just me.

Originally posted by Metallos:

Normally you have a junction box below the ceiling and from the juncion box a cable for switching L goes down to the switch and N (and PE) are connected through inside the junction box. Installation on wall would look like this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Leitungsverlegung1.PNG

*) The 5 safety rules (in order, taken from German):
1. Switch off (Freischalten)
2. Secure against (accidentally) switching on (Gegen Wiedereinschalten sichern)
3. Check for voltage free (Spannungsfreiheit feststellen)
4. Short and ground (Erden und kurzschließen)
5. Cover nearby live components (Benachbarte, unter Spannung stehende Teile abdecken oder abschranken)
(4 and 5 is mostly not needed in home installations)
How it would look in real: https://youtu.be/0hSIfA8VRq0?t=190
(It's in German but you don't need to understand, "Niederspannung" is low voltage below 1 kV, "Mittelspannung" is middle (high) voltage 1 - 50 kV and "Hochspannung" (high voltage) is all above 50 kV.

Exactly :-)
And thanks, I updated my first post, the installation with 2 wires make sense for just a lamp. Some electricians like to provide more wires to avoid rewiring everything, but it's probably not a general behaviour.

Now it's just a game, but it would be nice to take advantage of it to show how it's done properly, as long as it remains simple things. Makes for a bit of roleplaying and it's more immersive. Even if many DIY-ers don't follow those rules (I know I've not always done so).

I suspect the colours change with some countries. I'm not a professional electrician (rather in microelectronics) and even less an expert on certification, so I may be wrong. The norms I know:

EDIT: check IEC 60445 for the wiring colours, it's the same in most of the countries.

blue = neutral, label N
yellow / green = ground / equipotential, there's no label
yellow, green are thus forbidden for other uses
brown, black = phase, label L
three-phased norm: brown = L1, black = L2, grey = L3.

Older colours were black for N, red for L, or (red, yellow, blue) for three-phase, and the same yellow/green for ground.

I'll have to check in the game again.

[Redglyph]

On the positive side so far:
- I really like the 3D approach which makes it more immersive and shows real-life issues like finding something, or reaching a difficult place, having to move and spend time, having to switch on/off, plug/unplug and so on.
- The assembling/disassembling is nicely done, both in "house" and "workbench" modes.
- The simulation aspect is engaging.
- The gameplay loop is varied enough and shows the main elements: you have a customer with specific needs, you need equipment that you sometimes have to buy, there's the field work and the workbench work for more complex tasks.

[Redglyph]

I restarted the demo, but apparently I have to redo all the missions, including the cleanup at the beginning. Oh well.

1st mission
- SUGGESTION: colours are not always clear, the reflex would be to take the flashlight, but it's not possible when disassembling something. In reality, that happens all the time, so it's best to hang a light nearby.
- BUG: I also see that pressing ESC re-assembles everything by magic, perhaps something you want to fix.
- STANDARD: wires are L1 (red?) and L3 (black), as you can see above those labels are reserved for 3-phase. Anyway, the box should be remade with the diagram shown by Metallos above.

2nd mission
- BUG: why are there 3 outlets (I suppose you mean sockets)? In the customer's descriptions there are only 2, so how could the "journal" deduce there's a 3rd?
- BUG: the mysterious 3rd socket seems to be suggested by the last photo of the alarm clock and the bed, but this socket is working just fine when I test it. The one under the desk doesn't work, as said before, so it's awkward and a bit ridiculous to see the cable being extended from one of the available lamps / alarm clock to test this socket. I suggest to put a device on the desk (or better, have the so-called electrician have proper testing gear).
- STANDARD: near the TV, I see yellow = PE (forbidden colour), blue = N (OK), brown? = L1 (wrong label, should be L)
- BUG: I have repaired the 2 sockets: one on the left of the TV, one beside the tall lamp in the bedroom. There are 2 remaining sockets that don't work: one beside the couch and one under the desk. The latter cannot be interacted with so I can't repair. The former can be repaired.
- BUG: end of mission is detected if I test the TV with another socket than the one repaired.
- STANDARD: this last socket, yellow wire instead of yellow/green, as above.
... and where is the key gone? It just disappears once the door is open ;-)

[Redglyph]

3d mission (game device)
- same bug as before regarding the screwdriver that disappears
- how do I know the battery is "broken"? There's no testing
- BUG/WEIRD: I see a percentage on the screwdriver, going down to 90% when I replace the cover. Is that supposed to be wear? Because I never saw a screwdriver wear down so fast (nor cost so much), it's completely unrealistic.

Then I had to leave. When I launched the game again, I couldn't find how to continue with the next "missions", apparently nothing is saved. I'm doing going through all the first missions again :(

[Ico_SK]

In level with Bedroom and key, 3 sockets:

1. left of TV
2. left of couch
3. near lamp that need to be then tested ON as good repair of this socket

Is any other problem you have? Sry if I missunderstand something...

[Redglyph]

Originally posted by Ico_SK:

In level with Bedroom and key, 3 sockets:

1. left of TV
2. left of couch
3. near lamp that need to be then tested ON as good repair of this socket

Is any other problem you have? Sry if I missunderstand something...

My post is only to inform the developer, don't worry about it. I described where the sockets were two times: the one with the problem is under the desk.

[abletudu]

where is the bedroom key?

[Redglyph]

I have reviewed my posts above after replaying the demo (but not entirely since I couldn't save and ran out of time).

The devs haven't replied, so I hope they see this one day and that it's useful to them.

[abletudu]

"Then I had to leave. When I launched the game again, I couldn't find how to continue with the next "missions", apparently nothing is saved. I'm doing going through all the first missions again :("

I totally agree. There should be a save option even if it is only a demo. The lack of a save option turns players off because they have to repeat the same things over and over again no matter how far they have gotten.

[Quickear]

Hello, and thanks for your extensive feedback :) We are a pretty small team, and it's hard to keep track with all the feedback flowing towards us currently :)

We have noted everything, and we will brainstorm over it soon :)

Originally posted by Redglyph:

Launching the game:
- I had to press a key several times for different loading parts, I'd suggest to remove the press-a-key requirement since there's no value for the player but to make them wait for nothing.

Several technical and user-experience reasons make a few extra clicks less of an evil. Sorry for the nuisance :)

Settings:
- a good point for supporting international keyboards with a direct access to keys instead of using the translation layer :-)

noted

- on the other hand, for the graphics it proposes, it is a bit more GPU-hungry than expected. Maybe some optimization or settings could help. (I know it's Unity and I feel your pain, sorry)

We will fight for better optimization to the last keyboard key! :D

Pre-mission:
- ANNOYANCE: What is the deal with the "kill the rats quest"? Removing junk seems like a cheap intro, sorry. Just get to the main game directly.

We wanted to make sure everyone could have an easy time familiarizing themselves with the game. Intro to the full release will look different but will follow similar logic.

- ANNOYANCE: just switching on/off the fuses one by one reveals which one is in the bathroom. The description of the screwdriver is not really clear, but if it is one equipped with a light, it can be used to detect voltage. Also, regulation makes it mandatory to label fuse boxes. In any case, revealing the fuse is unrealistic.

The screwdriver is not equipped with a voltage check. We want to expand measurements mechanics in the full version. Labels are good observation, but quite frankly, it's still relatively uncommon to find labels in house fuse boxes, so it's not far from realism ;)

- STANDARD: The colours of the wires are suspicious (IEC 60445). I first thought both wires were the power lines.

They are both power lines as it's a switch (there is a bug in labelling them though, will be fixed soon). To our knowledge, changing the phase wire's colour after the button when it goes to the lights is a good practice. It might vary, and we would love to hear more about it in different countries. Neutral and PE are invisible here.

- BUG: I have the screwdriver (in slot 1) but as soon as I select the game device to repair, it disappears and I have to buy another. If I leave the device, my screwdriver reappears in slot 1.
- BUG: zoom doesn't work anymore when selecting the device.
- BUG: it is not possible to test the device before screwing the case, which is unrealistic and now how we usually proceed.

noted

- ANNOYANCE: the rotation of objects is not well done, you should fix the vertical axis so that the user can easily rotate the object back. It's a common mistake in simple 3D demo but it should definitely not be like that in a game.

We received several complaints about the rotation of elements. We will investigate it soon.

- DISCREPANCY: there is a disassemble mode and an assemble mode, but not in the other missions.

We are pretty sure they appear in places designed for them to appear (electronic workbench missions)

- STANDARD: Socket: I'm not sure about those colours, again.

Those are standard colours for most European countries, and we are aware PE should be yellow-green.

- SUGGESTION: when we take one wire, is the correct place automatically highlighting. I would suggest to put the labels on the socket, and up to the use to connect the right wire to the right place (and test without putting everything back in place, once again). Or to provide a very simple guide, which would be more immersive and gratifying.

There will be more room for errors in the full release :)

- BUG: it is not possible to interact with the socket under the desk, which is not working.

noted

Overall, a bit too simple and somewhat unrealistic but not a huge problem, I just think it should teach good methods. It doesn't really seem similar to the real job.

We didn't want to present real challenges yet as the prologue is mostly an introduction :) Overall we have an excellent plan, sparky ideas and a fantastic community so we are pretty optimistic about the complexity and how fun the game will become :)

We need to find a golden ratio here as making the game too close to reality will simply make it boring even if the job it showcases is far from being boring.

[abletudu]

Here is a link to most of the wiring color codes of various countries, I hope it helps:

https://usa.p3connectors.com/electrical-wiring-colors/#:~:text=Fixed%20wiring%20electricity%20supply%20requires%20specific%20wiring%20color,orange%20and%20yellow%20are%20used%20for%20480%20VAC.

[Acheron]

Originally posted by Quickear_GF:

- ANNOYANCE: just switching on/off the fuses one by one reveals which one is in the bathroom. The description of the screwdriver is not really clear, but if it is one equipped with a light, it can be used to detect voltage. Also, regulation makes it mandatory to label fuse boxes. In any case, revealing the fuse is unrealistic.

The screwdriver is not equipped with a voltage check. We want to expand measurements mechanics in the full version. Labels are good observation, but quite frankly, it's still relatively uncommon to find labels in house fuse boxes, so it's not far from realism ;)

As an installer and repair person, I always always keep a sharpie on me and label as I go. (sometimes with wire marking tape as well)

doesn't make sense for early game, but perhaps for later game and more in depth complicated scenario, it would be nice to be able to label the fuses ourselves. simple text addition and maybe buy a 3 pack of markers for $10.

Love the demo, only lasted me 30 minutes though, cant wait to see more levels, tools, and mechanics!!!