Here are my comments on QUACKLE:
I am running Windows 2000 on a 600mz pentium II processor with
256M storage.
High priority issues with Quackle:
1. It is not clear how to stop the simulation process. It seems
that sometimes just clicking the RESET button does not work.
I seem to have to click it multiple times. I just noticed
the RESET button has the T underlined. So, I tried to use a
KEYBOARD entry to simulate hitting the RESET button. I tried
ALT T and--lo and behold--somehow, two moves were made on the
board! YUK!!! Not intuitive--sure looks like I need to read
up on the QUACKLE more. It is not clear the RESET button is
even supposed to make the simlulations stop. Sometimes I
can't stop the simulation process and must abort the QAUCKLE
program.
2. I CAN NOT REARRANGE THE TILES ON MY RACK. Yes, I can use the
SET RACK, but I have to remember the rack, since using that
removes my rack display. I can also type in the rack area,
but what I can't do is what I do when I play scrabble:
juggle tiles manually. This, I feel, is the greatest problem
with the current QUACKLE. And my version is? Well, not
easily sure... the HELP/ABOUT QUACKLE button doesn't tell me
my version. Perhaps the version number should also diplay in
the TITLE bar.
Problems that would be nice to have fixed or considered:
1. It would be nice if I had more options for the arrangement of
the tile on the rack. Personally, I prefer an ALPHABETIC
arrangement.
2. Currently, I see no way to reset the tiles on the rack to
their default arrangement. Perhaps this is something the
reset button could also be assigned to do. Or, maybe another
button near the rack buttons: reset rack. (That is, after a
few shuffles, if the "default" order is alphabetic, I would
like to be able to revert the rack to that order.)
3. The tiles on the rack would be easier to visualize if they
were (a) Done with a FIXED font, so each was the same width,
like real tiles and (b) spaced a little further apart so the
letters did not almost touch. Points on the tiles would be
nice, but that might make the product too much like some
so-called copyrighted "scrabble crossword game".
4. When viewing the details window after a simulation, it is
difficult to realize which selection I am viewing in terms of
rank, since I can not see all the data at once. (a) make the
window sizeable or (b) number the items in the window or (c)
do both.
5. Having the letters already on the board enclosed in
parentheses in the choices window seems only to make things
less readable. A fixed font for the that window would also
help readability of it's words, letters and numbers. I am a
big propronent of things lining up nicely.
6. Equity values in the choices window should all have the same
number of significant decimal digits. Again, readability.
And, a trailing zero is a significant digit.
7. The windows which display the RACK and where one may enter a
MOVE are too wide. Make them more the size they need to be
only and move the buttons over to the left. This would allow
for the TRACKING TILES display to wider and move like on used
in real life. Now, in retrospect, I see these two windows do
shrink as i increase the width of the statistics (left) area
of the screen. Nevertheless, the TILE TRACKING area is far
to small in comparison to its importance.
8. Option: Allow for a vowel/consonant sort of the tracking
area. Or possibility vowel/common
consonants/highpt-consonants. This one is real low on my
wish list, but something to think about.
9. The "show plain text board" feature is extremely nice. I
question, however, whether I would like to see non-premium
squares as a blank (as they are) or as a period.
10. EXCHANGE when bag contains less than 7 tiles. The window
says bag must contain at least 7 tiles for an exchange". No
problem. The answer is YES. But, what is the question?
(That is, why the YES/NO buttons here? There should just be
a single "okay" button.)
11. There are clearly problems with updating the CHOICES data
while running simulations. It sometimes does not update the
display until I choose DETAILS. Perhaps this is a function
of my Pentium II 600 megahertz processor, but I would hope
not.
12. When I initialize QUACKLE, the window is RESTORED. I would
like the window to be the way I left it when I closed the
program (restored, maximized or minimized).
13. Someone commented that having to "enter a move" and then
committing the move is cumbersome. I disagree. (1) Entering
the move makes the move a choice that is simulatable, without
having to make all the intermediary moves choices as well.
(2) That is much like the real game--(a) putting a move down
and then (b) committing oneself (by hitting the clock).
Thanks
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