WordScoop With Gelato the Otter news & patch notes

Happy One-Year Anniversary!

This sure has been a crazy year! Lots of stuff has happened. It simultaneously feels like it's been both longer and shorter than twelve months. I've had three different jobs, and I've worked on lots of different projects!

That said, I wanted to make sure I got something out for WordScoop on its one-year anniversary of being out on Steam! This update is focused on accessibility. The changes I've made to this one are all about making the experience of playing it more smooth and welcoming!

Saving/Loading

In the older versions of WordScoop, you were expected to play it all in one go. This is the case no longer! Now, you can save the game and return to the Play Menu. From there, you can pick back up again.

Controller/Keyboard Support

Not every device has a mouse easily accessible, and translating input can be a pain! To alleviate this, I added the ability to play the game using a keyboard or a controller. When you press the "confirm" button on your input method, the game switches to the proper mode on the fly. This makes it easier to play the game on consoles and handhelds, or even if you just don't like using the mouse.

Customizable Scoops

A few players have pointed out that the colors of the scoops can make it a little hard to focus, and I can definitely see where they're coming from! To alleviate this, I added a few different options for tweaking the scoops' appearance. You can choose between three different textures (creamy, smooth, and flat) and two different color schemes. You can also choose between every color individually for a monochrome look!

Dictionary Tweaks

Older versions of the game had a bug where entering certain innocuous words would return a definition containing offensive synonyms. I've retooled the filtering system to check for offensive words in definitions, as well! Not only that, but I've used that code to generate a list of problem words to rewrite the definitions myself.

I hope these tweaks and fixes make the game a more enjoyable experience! Thank you for your continued support of the game.

Howdy! Meander Forth, my platform-adventure game, now has a demo available on Steam! This demo features the first three chapters of the game, and can be played here:

This game tells the story of an otter named Garret, who must reluctantly use his ice powers to save his friends from a curse and his town from a devious villain!

I hope you give the game a try, as well as leave a review for the demo! I've been working hard on it, so any feedback helps a ton!

Hey folks, quick update! WordScoop! With Gelato the Otter has been updated to version 1.0.3. This is a small update that makes some Quality-of-Life tweaks for an overall nicer experience.

Changes:

• The game has been migrated from Godot 4.4 to Godot 4.5. This fixed certain visual and performance issues as a side-effect.

• Gelato's sprite on the title screen has been refined to be more on-model with their finalized design.

• Volume has been reduced on certain sound effects, making them less jarring to headphone users

• Certain words in the dictionary have been added, filtered, or updated to be more accurate and appropriate for the game.

I hope this update makes the game a more enjoyable experience!

--WhiskerFjords

Hey, folks!

Thank you for your continued feedback. Because of it, I was able to catch a few issues that flew under the radar when the game first launched. This update brings the game up to version 1.0.2. 

Changes:

• Fixed VOID spawning to mitigate the bias towards the left of the Matrix

• Fixed a graphical oversight where Gelato's gloves change color when they clap

• Toned down ring, sparkles, and glow effect of sprinkles in Reduced Motion mode

• Enabled Godot's "Snap 2D Transforms to Pixel" setting to mitigate artifacting for sprites at fractional positions. This may have unintended effects.

• Changed the definition of "CAT" to not refer to Biblical methods of torture. Dunno how THAT got in. 

Fingers crossed these changes make WordScoop a more enjoyable game!

Hey, folks!

WordScoop! With Gelato the Otter is finally available on Steam! It is a paid release for $5.99.

If you're unaware, it is a word-search game in a style similar to casual games from the early 2000's! Your goal is to find as many words as you can in a matrix of ice cream scoops while preventing mischievous VOID creatures from reaching the bottom.

This game was originally developed as a college capstone project, and was finished up after graduation. I hope you give the game a shot and leave a review. Your feedback means the world to me!