Watch my full review for details: (Coming soon)
UPDATE - PATCH
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Well I never! Developers who not only listen but also implement the suggestions and requests from the community....Bravo!
Wat`s new in the game?
The Undo button. (Ctrl+Z for Undo or Ctrl+X for Redo) -- Tested & working perfectly
Rotation hint displayed during creation of a workpiece. -- OK this is better but I was hoping to rotate on the Yaw axis...a work in progress but progress.
No more level resets and camera dislocation after pressing stop button -- Excellent! Bravo!
You can manage time scale in game mode -- Yes this is brilliant, excatly what I was hoping for, perhaps even better than that!
Well done DEVS ++1 Excellent work. I look forward to the next patch, would love to hear from you guys what you're planning next?? I hope it is to look into the bug where adding a new marble then changes the behaviour of the pre-existing marbles.
Thanks again very good work!
8 hours Later Updated Review
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This is such a wonderful idea of a game and the good bits are exceptional, but there are some serious limitations to the game and I need to highlight them for any potential buyer.
For a while I started thinking is this a puzzle game? Is part of the game thinking outside of the box to try and solve potential issues?
Repeatedly I would be able to solve a problem, like a marble coming off on a sharp bend....simply reverse a section of wooden 90 degree piece and create a tunnel. Problem solved.
There is seemingly an issue with the physics, it must be a bug. A section of track I built worked excellently everytime without fail, I tweak honed and made sure that it did. Then for no reason whatsover it stops working, the marble stops or flies off the track suddenly. No modifications made and no alterations to anything remotely near the marble in question??
This in itself is not s big problem, but this is where the limited and hugely restricted capabilities of the game begin to cause issue. You cannot modify and redesign a section of track because you cannot build in reverse, you cannot turn an object and you cannot tweak easily beacuse of this ilimitation.
The other most noticeable thing is the lack of track options...there needs to be more, way more. A hill section to slow a marble down. A section to make two lanes into a single lane. More mechanical elements and a way to adjust the cannon without breaking the track.
Don't get me wrong though I love this game, 8 hours of fun without doubt and just a few major pains in the butt. I like it and I will continue to play it but OMG, these issues need to be resolved.
Please developer, I know what it is like, I too am a developer. To go back in and fix things after release is painful, but you have built 80% of an amazing and fantastic game that I would add to my channel and have weekly marble races...If only I could; you need to add more curves, tunnel sections, magnetic mechanical arms, splitters, joiners....c'mon don't leave us hanging like this make this game as great as it can be!!!!
The other most annoying issue is this, rotating pieces do not fit correctly with the existing track pieces, why allow rotation if it doesnt then connect???
I for one Really, really hope a big update is on the cards.
This good game is almost an amazing game, please make it so.
FIRST LOOK REVIEW
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Do you remember playing marbles as a kid? If not then you're probably too young to have ever played with marbles as a child.
For the rest of us though there was a time when watching a set of marbles roll around in the rim of your mothers upturned washing basket was actually quite fun!
If you're in either category then here is a game (if you want to call it that) which will reignite that old school fun factor that marbles used to provide.
The core mechanics are pretty decent; there are enough pieces to enable you to make some pretty awesome contraptions, or runs I think they are called.
You can watch mine here: (Once I have finished it!)
The game has a few minor issues which I will mention here in the hopes that the developer will read and address them;
1) We need an undo button.
2) Instead of having a 90 degree left and a 90 degree right....just allow us to rotate pieces please.
3) There are some serious restrictions about building backwards, you need to fix this (watch my full review for details).
4) Allow WASD movement, it’s just the done thing.
5) There is an odd rotation option available (not sure what it is for?) but it would be better if we could press and hold the key to rotate rather than press = 1 single movement.
6) We could benefit from a better, more in-depth tutorial + perhaps some examples (I know there are some on Workshop).
7) When I stop the marbles don't reset the camera to the start, leave it where I had it please!
8) Better save + overwrite process, it looks and feels a little less than polished.
9) More pieces and Loops perhaps? Tunnels, side angle pieces lots of options!
10) Maybe think about controller support??
11) Slow Motion option...for building purposes.
Regarding everything above, there is a chance that some parts of what I have mentioned are available and that I just have not figured it out yet....hence the better tutorial request.
CONCLUSION
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At first I was impressed and intrigued. Soon after I felt a bit numb, and I was not that impressed. Then I decided that for the review I ought to have a go at building some kind of interesting and perhaps impressive marble run; to show the viewers what is possible, and that's when it happened.....!
I suddenly cared about what I was building, that childhood memory of the upturned wash basket popped into my head and I was off!! I found myself tweaking, adjusting changing & OVERCOMING the limitations of this game.
I started thinking outside of the box about how I could make it do what I wanted and the daft thing is the mechanics are there just the UI and control mechanism which is a bit lacking (can def be fixed and I hope it will be).
I finally found myself building an intricate, complex marble run ensuring that different ball types, dropped from different starting points all met up at the same time to begin the Sim UK Marble Race EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!!!!
Then my daughter walked in, she is 5, and she was instantly WOW! Can I see that again? Can I watch the blue ball this time? Can I do it? Where does that go?....
At that moment I knew that this game had to be a recommended by Sim UK game....I really hope the issues above get fixed though.
