The improvements to the core gameplay is amazing to see, but there's loads of stuff throwing me off.
- The character movement is really smooth, but I can't help but feel like movement should be allowed when aiming the magnet.
- I immediately started using left click to pick up the magnet and tried to switch polarity with right click. I feel like that should be at least one of the suggested alternative controls.
- Visually, the (+) symbols in the blue field were threw me off every single time I glanced at them. It felt more intuitive for the (-) symbols to be moving towards the blue. The association of red with (+), and (-) with blue helps greatly with intuitiveness.
- I'm sure you've thought about it already, but it having the same symbols repel feels like it should be present just as strongly as attraction is.
- The one way platforms really shouldn't be letting the magnet through. It really didn't fit the way I thought things worked. They could be redesigned, or the levels should be edited so that they aren't needed in that way, such as in Level one, just making the platforms further away from each other.
- I left a lot of the levels feeling like I hadn't found the right solution. (levels 4 and 6 especially). In level 6, maybe the magnet gate could be shifted further left, covering the gap more. I initially completed the level by jumping on the magnet gate as it turned, which is obviously incorrect.
- The soft locks were super frequent, which felt really limiting. One way to solve this is, where it wouldn't cheat the level, have a button to teleport the magnet back to you, or a magnet dispenser, or a rewind button, or a checkpoint, or anything which doesn't completely remove progress.
- For the regular buttons, which are held down, and for switches (on and off) perhaps a pulsing animation could play in the wires in the direction of flow, when the button is held. This would make things super intuitive in levels have more than multiple buttons/wires. It also makes it intuitively clear that it needs to be held down. Either way, a directional indicator on the wires makes things way more readable.
- The switch / slanted button could really be visually reworked.
1) It looks too similar to the regular button. Making it a different colour (yellow) could really help (along with the wire). This way, it's easier to spot which wire leads where.
2) It also doesn't have to be slanted. I find myself and the magnet sliding off of it too often. It could just be the same shape and alternate between two different colours. Every time I run over the slant I'm worrying about reactivating it on the way back. Both the button and the slanted button are too tall. It would be smoother if I could run over them both without feeling stuck. If I am not supposed to be able to run over them, it should also be made clearer.
3) The options being light green and dark green give the sense that it's turned off, which works in some cases and not others. Perhaps the switch should be a different colour depending on the situation. When it activates a red/blue field, maybe it could be coloured red/blue, along with the wire.
4) Something which would really help is if the buttons pulled the magnet (no matter the polarity) towards them slightly. This helps when throwing from a distance, so that the magnet snaps to the button. It can help the action feel more intentional.
Still, the progress you've made is really amazing to see! Can't wait for the next demo.