Help us improve accessibility of our game Idle Crafting Kingdom

Hi Michelle,
I tried uninstalling and re-installing the app, but it didn't work.
Is there a work-around besides that?
Thanks.

Hello Michelle,

I've been playing the new update since its release yesterday in the App Store... I must say that I really love your game. I have been waiting for something like this for some time. I am really greatful and appreciate the effort that was put into adding accessibility in the game for us. I however am finding myself getting frustrated since this recent update. I'll do my best to be as informative as possible... with that though, this post will be long winded. So I put in almost two hours of non-stop gameplay this morning during which the game crashed, causing me to lose what progress I had made during those two hours... two very long and slow hours. That is probably what frustrated me the most. Anyway onto my Observations.

Here is what I have noticed while playing. Responsiveness seems to have gotten worse as well as lag, VoiceOver loses focus often... and every time when VoiceOver stops talking, there is a very short pause in the music in which everything is non-responsive in the game. This applies to every aspect of the game. Here are some examples. I think it best to start with the VoiceOver Speech causing non-responsiveness in the game... I think that this particular issue may be a, or the reason why VoiceOver loses focus, and why there is lag in the game... though I could be wrong in my assessment.

So lets say that I want to see how much product I have in storage then go to the Lumber Yard to start production. VoiceOver starts on the Back"" button. I swipe right to where it says how much product I have. Due to game responsiveness I have to go slower then usual, but if I am too slow and VoiceOver stops talking, then there is half of or a full second when the game just stops responding... no music, unable to interact with the game like swiping or activating buttons. After said time the game sort of wakes up again. At this point a few things may happen... first and most acceptable is that nothing happens and you are still on the spot where you left off. in this case we should be at the point where it says how much product we have in storage. Another thing that may happen is VoiceOver loses focus and either takes you to the "Back" button or to the very last element which should be the "Estate" button. It is a bit more difficult getting to the Treasure Chest because of this, so I am glad for the extra time added before they disappear.

Off to the Lumber Yard then. I have six product slots here, so it takes some time to start production for each. Several things can happen here. I start on the "Back" button as usual. If I swipe down once, it will usually take me to where it says how much gold I have. I swipe down again and it will either take me to the first production slot or to a production slot in the middle... four or five for example. It may also take me to the very last element which is the button used to purchase more production slots.

Lets start producing some logs and timber then. I usually like to start at the last product slot as it is the fastest way to get producing. When I get to the sixth production slot, I'll swipe right to go to the "Produce" button, start production after the usual pause in the game then swipe up. This should take me to the fifth production slot... then I swipe down to go back to the sixth production slot then swipe left once to the "Produce"button, which starts producing on the fifth production slot. I'll continue on to the fourth production slot and so on. During all this there is lag time and difficulties with responsiveness... I again have to go slower then usual, to the point where I have to wait until VoiceOver stops talking which causes the non-responsiveness in the game... no music, no interaction like swiping or activating buttons, lasting for about half or a full second. When this happens I usually wait for the game to play catch-up. I either get left on the "Produce" button that was last activated or I often get the same difficulties with VoiceOver losing focus.

Lets say I want to change what I want to produce, from Logs to Timber for example... or select a product to produce for a product slot I have just purchased as well as purchase the automate feature. Lets assume that I have purchased a seventh production slot in my Lumber Yard... I swipe until I find "Product Slot Seven" then I swipe right to the "Select Production"button. A new window appears allowing you to select either Logs, Timber, Ladder, and Fishing Rod... with the ability to purchase the automate production slot feature as well as see the product information like what is needed to produce said product, how much it sells for and how long it takes to produce. This is probably the place where VoiceOver focus is continually getting lost. I think I spent a good five minutes trying to unlock an item, read its information as well as purchase the automate feature... this was due to VoiceOver losing focus. There is no way to swipe up or down to get to the different sections, all you can do is swipe left and right. I have also noticed that at times a selected item somehow becomes unselected in this window... causing me to have to select the item again.

I've also had the same difficulties in the City and the Castle. VoiceOver focus jumps around or gets lost if I wait too long and VoiceOver stops talking. If I can't handle the lag of the game I'll wait to let VoiceOver stop talking, give the game a second then continue. In the City for example... let's say I want to see my inventory and how much total storage I have. I can swipe down to see my total storage then swipe down again to Logs, then swipe right to see how many Logs I have and so on. VoiceOver focus may go right back to the first element... the "Back" button, or a random element. Then again it may not. It gets worse if I want to sell something. Same thing in the Castle. If I want to see the quests and their information... VoiceOver focus often jumps to another element or the first element... the "Back" button. It is similar in the Boost window. If I swipe down from the "Back" button, it says how much Gold I have then another swipe down may bring VoiceOver focus into the middle of the Boost selections... causing me to have to swipe back up through everything.

In the Princess and Estate windows I did not notice so much loss of VoiceOver focus. If I however wait to let VoiceOver stop talking, there is the usual loss of game responsiveness... no music, no game interaction for up to a second.

I know that some of these issues are being addressed, and I am again really grateful for the hard work and effort you and your team are putting into this game! I am sorry for the novella, and I am really sorry if I was rude. I hope that you have a great day and thank you so much again!

Yours, Yokose

Hello Michelle,

I forgot to ask... I am wondering if uninstalling the game and reinstalling it would resolve many of my difficulties? I just updated from the older version without uninstalling it first. I actually didn't want to lose my progress which is why I did it that way. Thanks so much for the help again.

Yours, Yokose

I was just reading about problems, losing focus, lag etc, and the music was mentioned. One of my foibles is I always, always play games without music, I can't deal with music that plays over and over on aloop! I'm wondering if people having really bad issues would find it easier if they turned music off, which can be done in the options menu. I did that first off, and though I've had issues, they haven't been anywhere near as bad as some I'm reading about here, I'm just wondering if the music has something to do with it.

Hi,
I would be interested in having two separate volume adjustment volume sliders in the options menu. I like to be able to set the volume level of the game music and game effects to where it's comfortable to play the game without having to struggle to hear Voice Over while playing. I don't like to adjust Voice Over's volume level louder for me to play the game. I have the Voice Over at a comfortable level to play.

Will there be a way to adjust the speech rate for the fall back voice?
Thank you,
JoAnn

Hi Michelle, I was wondering if there's a way you could add a gesture that would stop the voice-over from talking?
What I mean is, for example, I would sell my products in the city market, and I would double-tap on the "sell 50" button over and over until I sell all my products.
I would have to wait for the voice-over to finish saying "you received 6,000 coins" about ten times for me to be able to interact with the game again.
I would flick up, down, left, and right to try and stop the voice-over to tell me the message over and over but it doesn't work.
I'm not familiar with the Unity program you guys are using, so I'm not sure if this is possible.
I think if voice-over would stop what it's saying when we do the next flick gesture, this might help with the lag issues.
Is this possible to do?

I also have been having problems with voice-over losing focus and jumping around the page.
My music is turned off ever since I started playing the game.
Like Yokose was saying, I'm experiencing a lot more issues of voice-over jumping around the page after the update.
I would end up at the bottom of the page when I want to be at the top. and it would take me back to the middle of the page when I'm flicking to get to the treasure chest at the bottom, or taking me to the quest list when I'm trying to get my boost.
It would also keep taking me back to the previous boost item, for example, when I'm trying to find the boost I wanted.
This "jumping around" behavior happens on almost all the pages that I would use.
Other than that, the update was great.
I love it that I can add production slots now, and I like the addition on how long my boost will be on now.

Thank you for all your hard work in making this game accessible for us. Keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see what other things I can do with the game.

Hey Michelle,
I'm using an iPad Mini 1st generation running iOS 9.3.5.
It is connected to a wireless LAN network, with the latest version of Crafting Kingdom installed.

I could help you test the beta versions Michelle, my email is:
tunmi12@icloud.com.
Thanks.

I have been playing ever since the initial post. I turn voiceover off. With the latest update I find the speech that the game provides is quite slow. I would like an option to set the speech rate. Otherwise, we have been needing or wanting a simulation game and this is a great one. Wonderful work! Lots of fun!

Hey Michelle,
I thank you for this game from the bottom of my heart.
Many other developers that don't really care about accessibility, not to be offensive, do not come to AppleVis to see people's tastes in games, and also how they love navigating the different elements.
But I'm happy that you are updating your game with new things all the time, it just brings tears to my eyes watching you respond to everyone and assuring them that the next update, or the update after that, will fix so and so.
So, long story short, thanks a lot for this great game. :)

Hi Michelle:
I am loving this game. I like that I can build and produce products with out having to fight or kill other people or creatures. I have a couple of questions/suggestions.
One: is there a way to automate a production slot? I did my first automation slot and I didn't have enough gold to automate it; now I do and I am wondering if I can automate it so when I go to activate the other production slots I can include this one.
Two: I have completed several quests and I have gotten a hint that I should restart the game so I can get the rewards and upgrades. My only problem is that if I restart the game I will loose all my gold and stuff. Are you planning an update where you can complete quests and boosts without loosing everything and having to start all over again?
Three: it might be interesting if more sounds were included in a later update. I don't have any ideas of what kinds of sounds at the moment but if I do I will let you know.
Again, thank you for a fun and challenging game.
Nancy

Hey Michelle,
Sorry about that I gave you the wrong Apple ID for beta testing. It's not tunmi12@icloud.com, it's tunmijubril12@gmail.com.
Thanks.

hi all, i am loving this game, but my query is, why can't I sell? i restarted the game just to see what would happen, and reset my progress, but now i have 31 logs in storage, and 0 coins, when i go to the city it itates the sale price, but no sale bujton. what am i doing wrong? after i have automated bog production, is the general idea to add new buildings, and just to keep producing in all areas of the kingdom? is there an end or this is an infinite title?

i assume the unlock it title could not be made accessible as you have done with crafting kingdom?

hi michelle, did i say i won't speak to you again big smile, your game is so addictive!! seriously, what a fantastic title this is. i have, as you have seen just started this and am only a newby, still battling with the lumber yard. assume it will get more challenging, the more i unlock. i assume also that these lags are a unity issue and not a voiceover bug per say. finally, as i speak french having studdied at university, half of the game is in french, and half still in english, so i would hear you have 2000 coins not vo? avez 2000 coins etc. just a small niggle, i still primarily play in english. i look forward to the sell all button, but having not gotten past the lumber yard as of yet, am not sure what other suggestions i'll have, but sure more will come. the adds as well, when i withatched one do not auto-close so am stuck in the app offer for the program the vidoo mentioned. maybe it could auto-close, and we could then hear what we had received by watching the video. sorry to ramble, but great job!! would love to maybe in the future, play unleck it? or other titles you may produce. i am alerting my friend to this title now, and am sure he will comment!

michelle, can i be added to the testing team too? my e-mail is
Wlomas88@outlook.com

hi all when i keep producing and selling the logs, is the basic principle here, to keep using the money to start producing more compbex materials like timber etc. or, should i be keeping itemi in storage, when starjing out, what is the purpose of storage, other than to sell items? restarting after my first quest completion of selling 1000 logs was an achievement, however, to build back up again takes time, but this is the appeal of this title. finally, i sometimes hear the kling sound for treasure yet i do not see it on the map.

hi lulu are you going to be podcasting this game foh applevis, or linking it to your laircast podcast only asking as i think a podcast from yourself, or someone who has played this more than me, will spread the word even more. and thank you Michelle, for adding me to test flight

Hi, not sure if this question has been answered I did try asking earlier but haven't spotted a reply, is this game actually winnable? or is it just open ended so its how long I want to play for before giving up. are there any actual big goals so something like say marry the princess or buy the castle, become ruler of the city etc, I do quite like goals such as these as well.

Hi, so just wondering when I expand my estate it says I get a storage bonus, does that work on the basis that your storage increases by a set amount each time or is it better to start expanding only once you have a large amount of storage for goods. like for example obviously if you have 100 storage is it guaranteed you will only get %10 extra storage for that first expansion, obviously if that's the case there isn't any point expanding your estate when you only have 100 storage. the greedy part of me wants to build a massive amount of storage before I begin expanding my estate so I get a bigger amount for the resources I input. I assume the more storage you have the bigger your bonuses are. ideally the money making part of me hopes I can get into a situation where I have such a huge amount of storage and enough automations I could leave the game ticking over for a day or two at a time. I assume that the game does run in the background as long as you don't quit it? oh and one other question is the amount of storage you can have infinite or again is there a maximum amount?

I also have two suggestions relating to accessibility, could it please be made possible to disable the help hints? like swipe up or down to navigate controls or to double tap to interact? I get for someone new they might need this but for a seasoned player it just adds to the noise.
a final thought regarding accessibility, could it be made possible under settings to also disable the announcement of controls as buttons? as basically all controls in the game are buttons, obviously both these accessibility ideas are suggestions and not to everyones taste so that's why I suggest settings.

Hi, thanks for that, so is storage a fixed amount is there like a maximum amount you can have? also I edited my comment with some accessibility thoughts, not sure if you saw those before posting your reply.

Hi, Thanks so much for fixing the a11y issues with this game. I love it so much. I play it all the time. I was playing the first day the update came out and stayed up almost the entire night playing. My wife looked at it and Jumped on it as well. She is fully sighted. Is there any way to change the volume of the system default voice as well as change the speed? Awesome job. Keep up the awesome work!!!

My storage space is now 715 and my Estate is now at level 3. Love it!!!

hi all, at present i am running through the game chopping logs selling, same for timber but do i need to store any of the resources to advance in the future part of the game? surely, there is more to this title from what can gather than just resourcing and selling on without keeping anything in storage? just curious

You will be required to have certain things to build up your Estate, such as 200 tembers, and 200 Leather strips, I believe, for your first build, then it goes from there. Such as 300 meat, and 300 coal for your next one. Keep in mind, each build up also requires a certain amount of gold.

Hey guys,
I'm finished with the game podcast. I'm currently editing the recording as best as I can.

Is there any way you, the developer, could give visual descriptions of the games world, and the places you visit there? It would help me to understand the world a bit better, and where the places are visually placed on the map. Also, it would help to know what the castle, city, lumber yard, ect. looks like. Thanks a lot in advance.

I completely understand your points and agree. I do really like the idea of the screen description button. that would be very awesome.

Yeah Timecrest does that, describes the pictures of the characters and the world around them.

I downloaded this game very early today and I must say that I am absolutely loving it. I also like the fact that the only thing I am killing while playing this game is time. I love the idea and the whole concept of this wonderful game. Thank you so much, Michelle, for creating and making these games accessible for us in the blind community. Please keep up the great job. We are all thankful to you and your team for all the wonderful things you are doing and your hard work is infinitely appreciated. The music and the sounds are great. Would it be possible to add a few seconds of sound identifying whatever buildings you're entering? For example, as sound that would let you know that you entered the farm, the furnace, your state, princess, the city, etc. It wouldn't have to be a sound that would stay there in the background but just play a few seconds just enough to give you the sense that you are going somewhere. Anyways, these are only my humble suggestions. The main reason why am here is just to let you know that I am loving this game. I also would like to be part of the test flight group. My email is the following: RulasV@aol.com
Once again, thank you for everything you're doing in order to make games accessible for the blind.