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Work in Progress / Soma - 3D Cube based puzzle

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baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 01:44 Edited at: 20th Jul 2010 15:21
This is a 3D cube based puzzle by Piet Hein (1936)

The idea is to make a 3x3x3 cube from the shapes/parts provided. Early stages as yet so all ideas welcome.

There are 240 possible solutions and I'm just working on the part of the game that works out if you've just done a new solution (that you haven't done before) so please don't expect that part to work yet!!

Updated 20th July 2010 (V1.1):
https://forumfiles.thegamecreators.com/download/2050777



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baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 01:45 Edited at: 18th Jul 2010 01:45
Here is a screenshot:


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baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 01:46 Edited at: 18th Jul 2010 01:46
...and another:


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baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 01:47 Edited at: 18th Jul 2010 01:48
...and the last (for now!):


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C0wbox
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 02:27 Edited at: 20th Jul 2010 03:04
So, how many WIPs are you going to make this year? :S

- I would test this but I'm sorry I just can't stand the game type. xD Puzzles for the sake of puzzles do my head in; puzzles in adventure games and action games make my head explode with awesomebubbles.

baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 09:46
When I get to 100 I'll stop...

Have you tried the game? That's kind of why I posted it...

Matty H
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 14:24
This is a really good concept, although I am finding it hard to work out the puzzle without being able to look from different angles or is there a way to look from different angles?

A small tutorial to get the player used to the concept and controls might be good, perhaps doing a 2x2 or 3x3 cube just to learn the basics.

Anyway, looking good so far, good luck.

baxslash
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Posted: 18th Jul 2010 22:19
Quote: "or is there a way to look from different angles?"

Yes, you need to hold the middle mouse button while you move the mouse. If you press "H" it should show the 'help' screen.

Quote: "A small tutorial to get the player used to the concept and controls might be good, perhaps doing a 2x2 or 3x3 cube just to learn the basics."

Good idea.

Quote: "Anyway, looking good so far, good luck."

Thanks for the feedback!

Levanthus
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 14:08 Edited at: 19th Jul 2010 14:18
I have to be honest i LOVE it! My sort of game, although myself i would have done the controls slightly different, constantly holding the middle mouse to rotate the view, in my opinion, is quite awkward, I probably would have the arrow keys to rotate the camera and use another key to cycle through the blocks, personally i'd leave the mouse out of it totally. But that's only my opinion

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

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baxslash
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 14:19
Quote: "I have to be honest i LOVE it! My sort of game, although myself i would have done the controls slightly different, constantly holding the middle mouse to rotate the view, in my opinion, is quite awkward, I probably would have the arrow keys to rotate the camera and use another key to cycle through the blocks, personally i'd leave the mouse out of it totally. But that's only my opinion, and i can't really criticize when i'm too wussy to put up my own WIP."

I'm glad you like it!

You know I was unsure about the controls myself TBH but I do like mouse movement to control rotation, maybe I'll just use a key to select blocks like you said though so that you don't need to hold the middle mouse button (I'm used to it from CAD but it's not ideal). Either way I'll try out your suggestion, thanks!

Anyway I'm just improving the solution checker and have added a short intro after resolution selection which shows how a cube might be built up. I don't think I'll be adding a full tutorial but I'll try to simplify the controls somewhat!

Levanthus
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 14:23
O.o i just managed to break a block also... somehow i've managed to make it not on a 90 degree angle and now i can't complete the puzzle.

Maybe a reset option?

Sorry i don't wanna be telling you how to make your game.

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

Windows 7 64 bit, AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition, 4 GB Ram, Radeon HD 4650, 540 GB HDD
baxslash
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 14:26
Quote: "O.o i just managed to break a block also... somehow i've managed to make it not on a 90 degree angle and now i can't complete the puzzle."

Well done, I haven't managed that yet!

I'll just put in a check... If not rotating and angle<>div(90) then... blah blah

Don't worry about giving me ideas how to fix stuff...

Levanthus
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 14:32
Yeah i just got one constantly rotating too... it wouldn't stop spinning....

I'm going to be playing this for hours... too addictive....

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

Windows 7 64 bit, AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition, 4 GB Ram, Radeon HD 4650, 540 GB HDD
Matty H
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 15:39
I got one in a constant spin too, I'm not sure how I done it and I couldn't seem to re-create it.

Also, you should be aware that my laptop(and many others) don't have a middle mouse button. I downloaded to my desktop PC so I can play it but just thought I would point out that issue.

One more small thing, it slows down on my PC in windowed mode, when I go full screen it runs fine though.

baxslash
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 16:59
Quote: "I got one in a constant spin too, I'm not sure how I done it and I couldn't seem to re-create it."

I think I have a fix now for that.

Quote: "Also, you should be aware that my laptop(and many others) don't have a middle mouse button. I downloaded to my desktop PC so I can play it but just thought I would point out that issue."

Good point, I'll make sure there are a few options...

Quote: "One more small thing, it slows down on my PC in windowed mode, when I go full screen it runs fine though."

Odd. I don't know what might cause that as it should be running the same amount through the graphics card... I think...

Matty H
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 17:54
Quote: "Odd. I don't know what might cause that as it should be running the same amount through the graphics card... I think... "

I've noticed this issue on some of the games I make also, they run slower when the window is not fullscreen.
There must be an extra calculation somewhere to display everything slightly smaller, I don't know, just guessing.

My latest game uses a resolution of 1024x600 for use with netbooks, this can slow the game down alot on my laptop but when I go fullscreen it will run fast, I presume that since 1024x600 is already fullscreen for a netbook this will not be an issue.
Anyway, I think darkbasic has a command to go fullscreen so it may be a bit of a non-issue

baxslash
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 19:15 Edited at: 20th Jul 2010 12:01
I'll add an option to run fullscreen soon then.

Anyway, here is update V1.01!!

Added:
Game Intro and brief explanation
Amended control system to allow for use without mouse!
Fixed solution finder (To be fully tested)
Fixed "Puzzle complete" check
Several small tweeks...

Let me know what you think!

EDITutdated link removed... updated to V1.02 in first post!

Levanthus
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Posted: 19th Jul 2010 22:45
I love it, I love it alot

I like the new controls, i find it feels alot easier and more... fluid? not sure if that's the word i was looking for.

Still i'm getting terribly addicted to it and it's distracting me from my own project... i been playing it for hours...

I like the intro, very nicely done and it gives you one solution already! hehe

Still very awesome!

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

Windows 7 64 bit, AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition, 4 GB Ram, Radeon HD 4650, 540 GB HDD
baxslash
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 00:29
Quote: "Still i'm getting terribly addicted to it and it's distracting me from my own project... i been playing it for hours..."

Don't forget to eat and sleep! I'm really glad you like it

I haven't had a chance to really test it yet so I'm glad you're spending some time on it, thanks!

ghostkrashers
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 01:18
I haven't played the game but here are my opinions on the screenshots.

It actully has a nice layout. The idea is lesser used but very fun. The backgrounds are great, reminds me of the Monkeyball games. Overall, I like the concept.
Levanthus
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 01:24
well i've been up for 36 hours solid working on my thing... so i guess it's ok if i play with bricks a bit

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

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baxslash
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 10:53 Edited at: 20th Jul 2010 10:54
@ghostkrashers, thanks! I'm actually going to add a few more backgrounds and block textures at some point.
EDIT: By the way my backgrounds are all made using another WIP "EnviroSCOPE" (click my sig to download it it's free!)

Quote: "well i've been up for 36 hours solid working on my thing... so i guess it's ok if i play with bricks a bit"

...hope you finally got some sleep! Did you get to test the solution finder? It should incriment the number of solutions found when you find a new one (or even if you 'mirror' or 'rotate' a solution [/hint])

baxslash
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 12:00
Sorry for the double post but I just updated the link in the first post with V1.02. I finally fixed the error in the "Solution checker"...

It was a schoolboy error, my check was counting solutions as being the same if any parameters were the same instead of if all parameters were the same!! Working now here:
https://forumfiles.thegamecreators.com/download/2050777

Levanthus
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 13:27
Hey i just downloaded your V1.02 and got stuck right in! Unfortunatley i solved the puzzle and.... nothing it's not recognising that i've completed it.

Quote: "There are 240 possible solutions and I'm just working on the part of the game that works out if you've just done a new solution (that you haven't done before) so please don't expect that part to work yet!!"


I'm guessing it has to do with that?

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

Windows 7 64 bit, AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition, 4 GB Ram, Radeon HD 4650, 540 GB HDD
baxslash
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 13:35
Quote: "Hey i just downloaded your V1.02 and got stuck right in! Unfortunatley i solved the puzzle and.... nothing it's not recognising that i've completed it."

Did you put the new "exe" in the same folder as the old one? The game makes a text file called "Solutions.dat", if it's a solution you already completed it wouldn't count it as a new on unless you deleted the old "dat" file...?

Levanthus
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 14:18
I downloaded it to my desktop

and i deleted all the old files before i put it there

I can see from your smile, you're not here for the sunset

Windows 7 64 bit, AMD Phenom II x4 Black edition, 4 GB Ram, Radeon HD 4650, 540 GB HDD
baxslash
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Posted: 20th Jul 2010 15:06 Edited at: 20th Jul 2010 15:21
Quote: "it's not recognising that i've completed it."

I think I misunderstood, so you're not getting the "Complete!" screen...?

That's odd. Maybe I need to increase the threshold a little as it just checks the area the cube is contained in (Should be less than 27.6 cubic units or something).

I think I'm nearly ready to upload V1.1 which adds the possibility of using your own backgrounds/textures and music, so I'll increase the threshold slightly and see what happens. Sorry for the inconvenience!

EDIT: Here's V1.1 so you can try the slightly more loose threshold and listen to your own music while you play! Also you can add your own textures and skybox images (I suggest using EnviroSCOPE for the skybox textures but it's up to you)!!
https://forumfiles.thegamecreators.com/download/2050777

Dr Tank
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2010 04:57
I kind of got one solution, but it didn't detect it. Some kind of thing to "stick" blocks together- sort of a relative "snap to grid" would be nice.

Your skyboxes are really nice. Think there was a problem with the ground part- it looks like it was taking the texture from my desktop or something. Also, change background key causes a crash.

Being able to set the block textures was nice though. Not nice enough for me to find all 240 solutions, but for what this is, it works well.
baxslash
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Posted: 22nd Jul 2010 09:16
hmmm, looks like I've got some work to do here.

Not sure how it showed your desktop background... sounds like the water shader might be causing the problem?

baxslash
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Posted: 9th Sep 2010 15:06 Edited at: 9th Sep 2010 15:07
Here's an updated demo I've produced to add as my second entry into the Intel Competition:
https://forumfiles.thegamecreators.com/download/2088764

I've fixed a bunch of stuff but it still needs some polish and maybe some extra tunes and themes.

Fixed the solution detection bug by using sparky's to detect the size of the cube.
Optimised a bunch of stuff to make it run a bit quicker.

This version is set at 30fps but I'll be getting some tests done on a netbook to see how fast it can run...

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JLMoondog
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Posted: 9th Sep 2010 15:54 Edited at: 9th Sep 2010 15:55
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=174751&b=3

If you need them.

edit: downloading now, going to try it out, will get back to you. didn't want you to think I was hijacking...

baxslash
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Posted: 9th Sep 2010 16:00 Edited at: 9th Sep 2010 16:14
Quote: "If you need them."

Dude!! I'd love to use at least some of these. My own textures are a start but these are great!!

I love you

The game allows for people using their own textures/music/skybox textures but if you don't mind I'll replace my textures with some these + some?

If I put a credits page in there you'll be mentioned for sure.

EDIT: Here is a quick screenshot with your textures Josh!


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JLMoondog
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Posted: 9th Sep 2010 18:46
Wow! It looks really good! Glad they were of some use to you.

baxslash
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Posted: 15th Oct 2010 11:46
I've just heard that "Soma" has passed validation and will be published to AppUp very soon!

This is my first game to pass validation

I guess it's because I stripped cloggy's d3d plugin out before I sent it for validation and I assume it doesn't use any Matrix Utility plugins... that's rather unlike me!

Anyway thanks to everyone who helped get me this far!! Have a beer on me

C0wbox
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2010 19:58
I'm not the worlds greatest fan of puzzle games like this but it looks nice. (You mentioned it was soon to be published to AppUp; did it ever get released properly?)

Quote: ""Hey, this persons, done a lot of work on this game and I can see that there serious about wanting to finish it, I'll give them some encouragement and let them know how good they're doing.""
- http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=37738&b=8

baxslash
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2010 20:55 Edited at: 22nd Oct 2010 20:56
Quote: "I'm not the worlds greatest fan of puzzle games like this but it looks nice. (You mentioned it was soon to be published to AppUp; did it ever get released properly?)"

Thanks for taking a look anyway. Version 1.0.1 is under validation by the AppUp team at the moment.

The process is very slow and far from simple to understand but there have been a lot of helpful people in the community who have made the learning curve a little less steap!

There are a few people at Intel who are really helping too. In fact they were asking for names of people in the community who might be interested in putting their games on AppUp a few days ago and I mentioned your name (and soharix) as someone/a group who produces a lot of interesting work. Hope that's OK...

EDIT: Expect a program announcement for all three of my AppUp comp entries in the next few weeks...

C0wbox
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Posted: 22nd Oct 2010 20:58
Quote: "Hope that's OK..."

Well, while we have tried now several times to make things appropriate for AppUp, we generally fail by making the games too complicated or graphically intense.

But thanks for the mention.

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