Catching up the devlog a bit . . .

So, I actually did two Devlog entries in one day a while back and somehow the second one disappeared. User error, I presume . . . Anyhow, that was discouraging enough that I quit updating for a while. But here's a few tidbits on the current release, but not grouped by interim release versions.

1.  On request of a user, added her actual first name to the Dictionary (with associated audio and icon , of course.)  That really worked well, since it was hugely motivating and she already knows how to spell her name so she could pick put the right letters right away. Followe3d up by adding the brother and the dog! 

2.  Added motivational audio when an entire word is spelled out (vs  shortcut of just clicking on an available word icon to add it to the train.) Made an array of encouraging clips, presented randomly. Biggest challenge was getting some enthusiasm into the audio--couldn't get that with AWS Polly, so used an beta-stage service discovered on Reddit, with decent results. (I will try to attach one of the clips to this Devlog post.) 

3.  Added more audio: when the player selects a letter from the alphabet audio of the spoken letter is played. Remember, the players are pre-reading, so hoping connecting the selection of a letter icon with corresponding spoken letter accelerate the player's association of the two.