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Comment by lpnotes | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for your feedback about the octaves!

There is one question that I haven't entirely figured out how to ask but am curious about -- if we let you adjust the octaves, and if you select the correct note but the wrong octave, would you want the game to highlight the note as "green" (correct) when you submit the attempt? Or would you prefer to have to guess the right octave along with the right note before the answer is accepted?

(Unrelated side note: I am a desktop person, and thus surprised that so many people are playing it on their phones, haha. I'll have to check the google analytics for that.)

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Bottom line is: if it's the wrong octave it's the wrong note.

Recommendation: add a 4th color for correct note, wrong octave.

Err on the side of just making it wrong.

Another recommendation: make an easy mode in a single octave for practice. Allow progression to more octaves once easy mode is mastered.

> add a 4th color for correct note, wrong octave.

I really like this idea! Maybe the 4th color will be pale green (aka you're close)

> Another recommendation: make an easy mode in a single octave for practice. Allow progression to more octaves once easy mode is mastered.

This is unfortunately hard to do in the regular daily game cadence because I'd have to limit myself to songs that span only one octave within the first 6 notes, but I can definitely see it as an easy mode feature in "practice" mode. I'm also thinking that ironically, fixing the octave makes it easier for users because it limits the choices, so maybe:

1. easy: the octaves switch for you 2. normal, hard: you have free reign to switch octaves, but right_note && wrong_octave === pale green tile

Consider if you can simplify the game so that it's only played on one or two octaves, and the full range is shown at all times. I believe that's the best way forward.

Maybe a simple mode (one octave) and an advanced mode (more octaves..).

Thanks for the nice game! And because there is a keyboard right there to compare with the recording, this is just as much a game of relative pitch as it is perfect pitch. (With that said I don't mind the name, it is a fun one and can be good branding.)

I think your current implementation of choosing the octave for us is good, but it would be nice if it was possible to play the notes without guessing them, and thus causing the octave to change(ie moving to the octave of the next note).

If I understand OP correctly that should help with their issues as well. I don't know what an "e" sounds like, but if I'm allowed to play the tones,I can quite accurately decide if it's the correct note or not.

I didn't try hard mode yet, but I suppose one of the harder difficulties could be that you have to choose octave as well. That'd really make it difficult!

The wrong octave is the wrong note.

I don't think this would really be an issue, since anyone who played the sample and then played their entry would immediately hear that it isn't the same.

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