Graphics on 7 by many

[Scouser1952]

Hi Alan,
I like the new graphics and the ability to move letters around.
As you noted in your comments, I also have had letters going missing , they reappear if I use the clear function.
This problem occurs on the other chihuahua games not just the 7 by many, and has only begun since the new amendments.
Not a big problem and easy from my end of the puzzle to correct. I use an iPad if this is relevant.

Thanks for your ongoing developments for this terrific puzzle.
Cheers,
Tony

[Willember]

I made a comment in chinwag yesterday.  I created an account here to further explain why the new format is problematic for me on a mobile device.  When the screen is in portrait orientation, the number of letters visible when entering a new word greatly decreases as the width of each letter increases.  Sure, I could zoom out, but that also makes the tapable letters in the circle smaller.  That means I have to choose between decent sized letter (and not seeing what letters have been entered as they extend off the right side of the screen), and seeing what letters I have entered (and dealing with a tiny board from which to select letters). I hope that makes sense.  Love the game, though, and appreciate all you do!
-Willem

[pat]

Mine's reverted back to the old format which, on balance, I think I prefer.

[TRex]

Mostly, I like the changes (only seen them on the phone), but it seems to have made the 'backspace' button (to the right of 'Shuffle' and above 'Mix') not work correctly: e.g. the first press seems to do nothing, subsequent presses remove the penultimate letter, the final letter retreating to the left but remaining.

[Maudland]

Hi Alan,
I play on my phone, in landscape format.
I liked being able to move the letters around. But the bubbles spread the letters out and made them smaller. I always zoom a bit but even so, they were smaller and the spacing made it harder to spot patterns. (I don’t think it needs making any harder?!) When I added letters to shuffle about (can’t remember who suggested that, but it’s great when you’re struggling!) the letters shrank to fit on the screen - so it was either little or fewer.
I was going to ask if there was an unreset button (playable word?) because I wasn’t enjoying the game nearly as much - and gave up …
I took a couple of screenshots if you’d like to see them?! Hope that makes a bit of sense, anyway.
Thank you!

[Alan W]

Yes, thanks, Maudland. I'd be interested to see your screenshots.

The decisive reason for reverting to the previous design for now is the errors that have been cropping up, on all puzzle types. Even though it's probably always possible to work around these errors, it's likely to annoy some players. And there's a possibility that new players may decide to abandon Chi because of occasional unpredictable happenings. I'm sure I can ferret out the causes of these problems and overcome them.

As regards the broader issue of whether the new system was an improvement, It seems inevitable that people's opinions will differ. That might depend on a player's style of play. Also, as a few comments have shown, the needs of someone playing on a phone are different from the needs of a player on a laptop or desktop computer.

Maybe the ideal resolution would be to give the player the option to choose the approach they prefer.

Thanks everyone for your input. Further comments are welcome. And thanks especially to Willember, who took the trouble to join the forum, to explain his experiences.

[Alan W]

Jacki, you started this topic by saying you weren't happy about how shuffling looked on the 7-by-many. I neglected to ask you to expand on that, but I assumed that putting some sort of boundary around each letter would improve things for you. But perhaps I was wrong. Certainly a few people are quite hostile to the circles around the letters.

Did you get to see the amended version? And if so, what was your reaction?

[Jacki]

Dear Alan. I have seen the amended version and it’s splendid. Sorry, I don’t play the 7 by many at the moment cause it’s so hard and time-consuming but if and when I do I really appreciate the changes!