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Program Announcements / BlockVerse V1.2

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 04:08 Edited at: 19th Apr 2006 20:26
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I proudly present, BlockVerse.
[EDIT] This is BlockVerse v1.3!!!! The game is DONE!!!! [/EDIT]

you can find the two wip threads about it here
first: http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=53731&b=8
second: http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&b=8&t=62964&p=0

This was made entirely in DarkBASIC Classic!!!
The 3D cartoon multi-dimensional puzzle adventure. Eight clever story levels and two unique bonus levels. This version has near perfect block collision, and runs laps around the demos fps-wise. I've put a lot into the presentation of this game, and I'm quite proud of it. There's simply no comaprison between this version and the original compo version.

Here's some eye candy for you;





Edit: Here's another screenshot I just added to the second page:


Here's a slower download link that requires no registration...

Click to download the finished BlockVerse v1.3
http://www.cusound.com/download/games/BlockVerse1.3.zip

The download on my site should be faster, but it requires a registration, however the registration requires very little information of you.

Go to my website to download:
http://www.bizargames.com/

NOTE TO ALL, BUGS!!!:
(these may or may not have been fixed by version 1.3)
-These bugs seem to be related to dbc itself, and not my code, so I unfortunately cannot fix them-
A bug in the tutorial has been reported where the game suddenly quits on a small number of computers. This error seems to permanently disappear if the game is restarted however, so it's not a serious issue.
If the game suddenly freezes and the music starts looping every second or so, I suggest re-starting your pc. This error should not occur after that.

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Mattman
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 04:20
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Stunning visuals my man. Cannot wait to try it out tomorow. I know how much hard work you have put in this, looks like it all payed off in the end

Why make sense when you could make brownies?
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Flindiana Jones
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 04:25
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Downloading...will review tomorrow.

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General Sephiro
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 04:48
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Hmm i think i'm the only one that gets a severe error

I was all looking forward to playing this


http://www.hybridwolves.co.uk
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Flindiana Jones
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 14:56
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I got a very bad error after beating the third level...It repeated a little tiny snatch of the music forever. alt-ctrl-del, alt-f4, and esc couldn't do anything to fix it. otherwise, my only suggestion is; why not make you be able to hold down the direction keys, to continue going in a direction without having to frantically tap the arrow keys?

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zzz
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 17:24 Edited at: 6th Mar 2006 19:05
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yesyesyesyesyes!

I´ll download this soon!

[Edit] Nice work dude! Just as great as usual.

Two thingys I noticed:

When I quit the game and open it again, my previously saved games are GONE!

The "robot-movie" in the beginning of the demo is still located in the media folder...

Otherwise, this game is great!



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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 6th Mar 2006 23:35
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Thank everyone!

about the errors...

@Sephiro, where did the error occur? I need to know so I can fix it or at least note it.

@Flindiana, hmm, I just tried the download and got the same error!! Strange, because I did test the game before building it into an exe.

@zzz, well, the first bug isn't really a bug... I got tired of trying to get the saving code to work, so I just decided to releases it now, and add the saving after a bunch of bugs had been found to fix. If you know how to get arrays to load and save correctly in dbc, I'd really love to know. As for the second thing, thanks. I'll check the media and make sure there are no other extra files before I load the fixed download.

Oh yes, the media is NOT free. If you wish to use it for any purpose, you must first get the permission of Bizar Games (me, at the moment), or for the music you must have the permission of their composers. Only the db sounds (I believe) and the freeplay music (although not for shareware things) may be used without permission. I not saying that I think people are going to rush to steal my media, but I wanted to make it clear that you can't just take it.

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Manticore Night
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Posted: 7th Mar 2006 01:14
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I can't even download it just gives me a page full of HTML code.

[center]It's amazing how much TV has raised us. (Bart Simpson)

He's back! With 20% less intelligence!
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General Sephiro
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Posted: 7th Mar 2006 05:41 Edited at: 7th Mar 2006 05:42
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As soon as the game loaded, didn't hear nor see anything but a black screen then came the... "Severe Error"

Could you have reset the display mode, to one that my pc cannot handle? I'm not to sure what could be causing the error...


http://www.hybridwolves.co.uk
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Jeku
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Posted: 7th Mar 2006 07:31 Edited at: 7th Mar 2006 07:31
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I would *love* to know how to do cartoon shading. I'm a bit out of the loop on that

GREAT job on the game, as always


Automaton Games website has been revamped! Check it out!
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zzz
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Posted: 7th Mar 2006 17:16
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Bizar Guy:
It´s quite simple to save and load arrays. It´s just one thing, if you used a load of variables in the beginning of your coding of blockverse and the whole program is full of different variables instead of arrays, then the easiest thing you can do is to update all known variables with the array when loading and to give the array the values of the variables when saving. This is not the smartest way, but it´s good if you´re lazy (like me) and have a quite large program. If it´s the basics of saving arrays that you´re having problem with (which I don´t think), then I can make an example code for ya(If no one else does it before me).


Jeku:
Bizar guy revealed that in the last thread. Just copy the 3d object in the modeller you´re using and invert the vertexes positions or look for a "flip" button or something like that.

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Manticore Night
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Posted: 7th Mar 2006 22:51
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I still can't move on the very first level. What do you press to continue the conversation with the ghost?

[center]It's amazing how much TV has raised us. (Bart Simpson)

He's back! With 20% less intelligence!
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General Sephiro
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 01:44 Edited at: 8th Mar 2006 01:47
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Jeku, i'm soo dissapointed in you, i always thought mods knew the basics

Search up cell-shading objects, it works with both DBC + DBP, sadly it will double the number of polygons used but usually worth it...


http://www.hybridwolves.co.uk
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 03:19
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@Manticore Night, well, when talking to the ghost, you press spacebar to continue. When he says to hit the 'h' key, you hit the h key, and when he tells you to get the key or pick up the block, the controls will work.

@Sephiro, severe error seems to be related to loading objects. It appears to be happening randomly, so I suggest trying the game again. If you already did that, all I can say is wait until I'm ready with the less-buggy version.

@zzz, I have 18 variables to save, and I basically did them like this:

so that means the arrays should return the same numbers as the variables... But this is the code I'm really having trouble with...:

It gives me an error every time, even though acording to what I've looked up in the code index it should work.

@Jeku, what zzz and Sephiro said. Or look in this thread. I explain it twice. http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&b=8&t=62964&p=0

@Mold Rat, Trust me, I wish I could upload it here, but the forum gives me an error each time I try. As for the registration, the only personal info it asks you for that you really need to tell the truth about is your e-mail address and that so you can receive your activation code. Other things it asks for are your name, username, and password. That's all I think I made required. If you can't spare an extra three minutes though, then I guess registering might be too much to ask. And I'm going to set up a small forum there once I've got a shareware/commercial game underway, so registering now may eventually come in handy.

Bug squash is going well, but I've got other things on my mind at the moment.

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Manticore Night
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 14:13
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I tried hitting the space key and nothing happened.

[center]It's amazing how much TV has raised us. (Bart Simpson)

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zzz
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 18:08 Edited at: 8th Mar 2006 20:44
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Could the answer be this simple?
Old: load array saved,save(18)
New: load array "saved",save(18)
It seems that you forgot the "", it´s a string you know.

[Edit]
If it still doesn´t work use one of the example files to learn the basics. If you want to save different types of arrays and variables then you can use the "Open to write"-command, I did that in my mwdb converter and it worked great.

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Barnski
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 19:03
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I tried it, worked well on my PC.

Very nice intro and graphics, and I like the black object outline too! I always wondered how to achieve this effect in my game. Thanks for sharing your idea

Well I stopped in level 4 because I did not see a way to get to the key (the exit was not that difficult.. but then, how to get to the key?!)
and well yea, would be nice if you can save the things. I dont see what the problem is with saving/loading?! have you dimed your array before using the load array command?
if it still dosnt work, why not just writn eachelement of the array in a for loop and load it also that way? just a thought..

greets,
Barnski.
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 8th Mar 2006 23:31
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@Manticore Night, where exactly in the toturial are you (what is the ghost saying)?

@zzz, heh, I've never done saving before, so this is the first time I've had to bother loading an array. Thanks for helping, I'll try that and hopefuly it will work.

@Barnski, well you don't have to get the key to beat the level, just to unlock the bonus levels. But I think I know where you're stuck so I'll say this to everyone. The door is not solid. You can walk through it. I'll try and make the door so it doesn't obscure the path in the update.

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Drew Cameron
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Posted: 9th Mar 2006 12:31
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Bizar Guy, I haven't yet had time to play this for you, but would you like it hosted on Drewsgames.com?

It's not a problem, I can handle remote linking etc.. and bandwidth is fine.

DDRW FILMS - http://www.DDRW.com - My films (more coming soon)
Drewsgames.com - http://www.Drewsgames.com - My games, including Dumbo & Cool
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Manticore Night
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Posted: 9th Mar 2006 23:45
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Quote: "here exactly in the toturial are you (what is the ghost saying)?"
It's right at the beiginning as soon as he starts talking

[center]It's amazing how much TV has raised us. (Bart Simpson)

He's back! With 20% less intelligence!
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 10th Mar 2006 05:24
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That's ok, Drew. If I need to I can easily just allow all users to see the downloads. Hopefuly I'll be able to do that for the next update, as well as post it here.

@Manticore Night, . I'll get right to work on figuring out what the heck could cause that to happen.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 14th Mar 2006 01:42 Edited at: 15th Mar 2006 06:03
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Almost done with the less-buggy version, I'll hopefully have it done soon.

@zzz, the code all works now, and I've learned all I need to from the examples I forgot to check earlier. But I still can't make the game load the information when I open the game in a standalone exe or db. I currently have something like this:
(it's like this because I've been lazy and don't want to change a bunch of my variables)
Should I change it to
?

Edit:
Quote: "why not make you be able to hold down the direction keys, to continue going in a direction without having to frantically tap the arrow keys?"

because while that sounds like it would work better, it just makes it a lot easier for the player to make mistakes, espectialy when the directional keys also control the movement.

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zzz
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Posted: 16th Mar 2006 18:53
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I don´t really understand, but if you load the game shouldn´t the code be like this?

One thing you can do to check if it´s working, is to write a separate program that reads the savefile and then print the values to the screen.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 19th Mar 2006 17:32
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@zzz, oh wait, I figured it out... forgot some stupid command in the main menu...

Alright, BlockVerse V1.2 is fixed!!!! Check my site to download. Also, I've listed some bugs that seem to be more related to the screwiness of dbc on my current computer that to my actual code in the first post. I can’t be certain that all the bugs are gone, but I think I’ve gotten rid of all the ones people mentioned or at least figured out when they occur. If you find any bugs, post them here of course. However, check to see if it's one of the bugs in the first post before mentioning it.

The forums still wont let me post the download here...

Here's my site again: http://www.bizargames.com/

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QuothTheRaven
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Posted: 19th Mar 2006 21:52
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Would you mind providing a direct download link? I see no reason to have to sign up for something to download a game, unless you're desperate for forum members.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 20th Mar 2006 04:10 Edited at: 22nd Mar 2006 00:06
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Wait... Alright, I've got a link set up. Check the bottom of the first post. However, the link on my website should be much faster than that one.

Oh yes, I have no forums as of yet... Registraition was a precaution, however I shouldn't need it for this latest version.

Edit: I'll post the link here as well.

Click to download the finished BlockVerse v1.2
http://www.cusound.com/download/games/BlockVerse_v1.2.zip

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2006 23:30
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uh... so is anyone going to try the hopefuly done version? I need to know if there are any serious bugs still left...

Here's an add while I wait...


And again, here is the slower but registration free download.
http://www.cusound.com/download/games/BlockVerse_v1.2.zip

if you're registered on my site, the download there should be much faster... http://www.bizargames.com/

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QuothTheRaven
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2006 00:24 Edited at: 23rd Mar 2006 00:40
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I played up to level six so far, and I have to say that this is definitely one of the better games presented on these forums. The level design is very creative and well done in terms of problem solving, and I'm a huge fan of the calculator block dude, so I just had to try this out. The graphics are great and the puzzles are well done.

Now, here's my overly critical list of problems:

There is a VERY steep learning curve in this game. Blockdude had the advantage of being 2D, but in this game there's literally hundreds of things you can try per level, creating a few problems. I beat level one in about thirty seconds and level two in about 8 minutes, which is a BIG difference between early levels. For someone who's been playing the game for a long time (such as the developer), puzzles might seem easier because A) you designed them and B) you've played so many it's easier for you. But for the beginner, the game is very difficult to figure out. Barnski had to stop at level 4 because it was too hard...this shouldn't have to be the case. I'd recommend more simple levels with simple setup to introduce the player to ideas like building stairs off of the level and how to deal with floating blocks, etc etc.

The setup of the camera makes it very hard to determine the setup of some levels. You may have wanted this to be intentional, but it's really working against the player in a bad way. For example, in the Jungle level, I fell into the hole on the right side of the level and couldn't get out. I had about 10 minutes of progress on that level trying to figure it out and suddenly I had to start over because I fell into a hole I had no idea was there. Here's why this doesn't fit into a puzzle game: there's no way a player could have known about the hole. You should be able to solve every level logically, never having to guess and check. A random end-all dead end isn't a good game play mechanism at all because there's no strategic way to avoid it. It's just dumb luck. One fix for this would be to allow for the player to increase the height of the camera to see an overhead view (also being able to zoom the camera to and away from the player would be VERY handy). Also, ghosting blocks between you and the camera would make a LOT of sense. I understand that the ability to turn the camera would ruin the control setup, but you don't have to let it turn, just orbit up/down around the player, and zoom in and out. In Blockdude you could see the entire level from your standpoint by holding [2nd] and moving the arrow keys (it would scroll the screen around). How are you supposed to be able to beat a strategy game when you have no idea what blocks you'll need for the next part of the level? It might be dumb luck that you left a block over a laser beam that let you advance to the higher part that you couldn't see before, and that shouldn't be the case. Do you understand what I'm saying?

The controls are also a bit sluggish. Again, as a Blockdude reference, holding the arrow keys would make you move continuously. In the rain and lava levels the biggest annoyance comes from having to TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP frantically to move around. It also causes the suspense the level needs, but that should be left entirely up to problem solving to climb, not having to mash the keyboard because the character responds slowly. You should implement a system where holding a key lets you move continuously with no more than a half second delay between turning and moving. It doesn't make sense that I have to keep tap tap tapping to move between squares, and gets kind of annoying really.

Also, in some sense there's a lack of continuality in the game. What I mean by this is things don't all seem in the same style. The music for example: level music is MUCH different from the style of the through-the-door music and they seem from different games entirely. I love the door flythrough sequence, but I don't like the music and it also bothers me that the entire sequence seems like it came from a completely different game. Maybe add some free-floating, slow spinning blocks in the background of the portal to tie it into the level? Going from a cell-shaded game character to a 3d-rendered movie character doesn't seem to flow well. Also, the music on level 5 was pretty annoying to be honest, and seemed just like a 45 second looping clip recorded from a keyboard.

The opening sequence should definitely be skippable, and you need clearer instructions as how to handle the voice at the bottom of the screen. Manticore couldn't even figure out how to move, and I admit I fumbled with the keyboard looking for how to make the voice go away to start playing. Either A: You need to make it absolutely clear that the game is paused and you need to hit the spacebar to read what the dude is saying (such as on screen text saying "PAUSED, HIT SPACEBAR TO CONTINUE") or B: You need to let the player be able to play during the talking and have it come and go in real time so that the player can choose to read it.

Another problem is that on the Jungle level I had a massive frame rate drop, probably due to all of the cell-shaded blocks. I have a relatively good system (ADM 2400+, Radeon 9800 Pro, gig of RAM), and yet drawing an extremely low polygon level lagged me to what seemed like 20 FPS. Perhaps consider a system of hiding blocks you can't see, or not cell shading all blocks (the black outline doesn't really add anything to the level, as long as the character is cell shaded then it seems cell shaded). There's also a VERY easy way to create a black outline around an object in a 3d program: Clone the object and scale it up however thick you want your outline to be. Then select all of the faces of the scaled up object and flip the normals of those faces. That way when you look at it you will see the normal object, and the outline will come from the faces drawn behind it from the flipped object. Try it out in a 3d program, you'll see what I mean.

Also, the robot's legs don't have any animation to them. Compared with the movement of the player that just seems a little like lax design.

The only reason I'm giving you such a detailed list of problems is that based on the quality of what you've produced, it's obvious that you're capable of an amazing game. Most DB games that come out nowadays are so far from the game play standards one would expect that listing all of the basic problems wouldn't even begin to cover what's wrong with them. You've shown that you obviously have a strong grasp of the language and that you are very competent in your abilities to produce a game, but it just needs a little tweaking to become a gem. This is truly a wonderful play on the Blockdude concept and with some work it will be perfect.

Man that felt like an essay.

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zzz
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2006 18:10 Edited at: 23rd Mar 2006 18:35
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Woohaa! That´s one BIG post!
(downloading)

[Edit] Yippee! The save/load works! Awesome, Bizar guy!
I this game!

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Sho Ryu Ken
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2006 19:42
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*Applauds to QuothTheRaven's amazing review*
Wow!

@Bizar Guy

Alas, I have played an early beta of BlockVerse, but I'm downloading the newest one now... From what I've played so far, it's awesome! Good work!

...And a question. I have great ideas for games in my head, but I always want to not work on a game and go play GameCube or something. And when I start making a game, the furthest I get to is left and right movement, then I don't know what to do next! I get overwhelmed! Tell me, Bizar Guy. What do you do to keep yourself on track while making a game?
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2006 22:15 Edited at: 23rd Mar 2006 22:18
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@QuothTheRaven, grr... because of your massive post, I'm now working on version 1.3 . I'd say I'm about half done now, so here’s a list of what I've done and will do:
The entire main menu has gotten a makeover
More tutorials
Acknowledgement of when you need to press space to continue
Improved some of the in-game menu visuals
More personality added to Block Man
A zoom view, which gives specified extremely useful views of the section of a level you're in
Fluid, non-button mashing controls
MUCH better transitions between levels
Got rid or that hole in lv7
...not sure if I've forgotten anything...

Things I still need to do:
Get lv5 music updated
Animate light drone
Increase fps in later levels... although I have no clue as of how to do this, as v1.2 already runs 12 times faster than the compo version, and I did the cartoon shading EXACTLY the way you mentioned (I'm using dbc, so that was my only option to begin with, and the fact that it's in dbc explains the slowdown by itself). And I'm not going to get rid of any of the outlines...
I MAY make the blocks hiding the view of block man disappear... It depends on how much it slows down the game, and how long it takes to program.

Things I won’t change that QuothTheRaven mentioned:
I will NOT make the intro skip able. You only have to view it the first time you start up the game, and it's important to the game, especially with all the extra involvement in it I've added.
I will NOT be hiding blocks you can't see, as dbc doesn't cull. If I learn some code to do it though, I'll definitely try it. The game already hides blocks off screen though.
I will NOT allow the player to manually zoom or adjust the height of the camera. Just way too many issues involved. My decision on this may change though depending one how well attempting to ghost things blocking the characters view goes.
...is that everything?

...And just so you know, although I have memorized the levels, I did create them with the player in mind, and I've had plenty of testers. I also solve these kinds of puzzles that normally are supposed to take an hour in two minutes... But I guess I never realized how big the learning curve was, so I've added a lot to help the less adept player learn how the game works.

And in response to some things you said...
Quote: "Barnski had to stop at level 4 because it was too hard"

Actually barnski stopped because he couldn't get the key because in that version of the game, the doors could be walked through although it doesn’t appear you can. The version you played fixes that problem... But your point is still valid.

Quote: "Manticore couldn't even figure out how to move"

From the way manticore described it, I think he ran into a bug, as he said pressing space did nothing at the very first text box. But again the point you were making is valid.

Quote: "I this game!"

Thank you!

Quote: "...And a question. I have great ideas for games in my head, but I always want to not work on a game and go play GameCube or something. And when I start making a game, the furthest I get to is left and right movement, then I don't know what to do next! I get overwhelmed! Tell me, Bizar Guy. What do you do to keep yourself on track while making a game? "

Comes from being an artist... I've developed an enormous amount of patience, so I have no trouble becoming absorbed in something or staying interested in it.


So there's MY essay.

Still nowhere near as long as yours though.

Edit: and still not exactly an essay.

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David R
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Posted: 24th Mar 2006 18:12 Edited at: 24th Mar 2006 18:13
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Quote: "I will NOT make the intro skip able. You only have to view it the first time you start up the game, and it's important to the game, especially with all the extra involvement in it I've added.
"


This is one of the major annoyances with the original game (the compo version)), and I out rightly refuse to d/load and play it until you make the intro skippable. I believe that making an unskippable intro is very silly indeed.

A game needs to have a good first 60 seconds (of gameplay, from launching the app) , otherwise the player will never play it again (apparently). If a long intro is completely unskippable, then that possibly doubles or even triples the amount of players that will play once and never again - or simply abort the app before the intro finishes. Neither are terribly good outcomes

Quote: "Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 25th Mar 2006 05:53 Edited at: 25th Mar 2006 18:46
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Quote: "A game needs to have a good first 60 seconds (of gameplay, from launching the app) , otherwise the player will never play it again (apparently). If a long intro is completely unskippable, then that possibly doubles or even triples the amount of players that will play once and never again - or simply abort the app before the intro finishes. Neither are terribly good outcomes "



Edit: Sorry about this post, I was very tired...... Kind of piontless...

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QuothTheRaven
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Posted: 25th Mar 2006 06:46
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Well, let me put it this way. I was "forced" to watch the intro of Blockverse. I did in fact watch it all the way through. And I honestly have no idea what it was about. I was both caught up with a way to skip it and uninterested at the same time...I mean it's a puzzle game. I've never seen a puzzle game be focused on story before. A lot of puzzle games have cute but completely unimportant storylines just to give a little depth to the game which is fine, but the average user isn't going to take any interest in them. Even most games that are dependant on storylines allow you to skip cutscenes, regardless of whether or not it's the first time you watched them. Obviously it's the developer's choice whether or not to make it skippable, but speaking from an "average" user, I'm not going to put any thought into it while I watch it.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 25th Mar 2006 18:50 Edited at: 29th Mar 2006 03:57
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Well, after much sleep and unexpected complaints,

................................
.........I will consider..........
................................

Edit: alright, the intro is skippable, but it doesn't tell you that it is, you just have to press escape... like in a lot of games.

Lots is done, 1.3 should be ready soon.

Edit2:
Quote: "I've never seen a puzzle game be focused on story before."

I supose you've never played an adventure game?

BlockVerse boders on the edge of your average puzzle game and an adventure game, because it's more than just a bunch of mindless puzzle solving, and there's a reason for where you go and why you're solving the puzzles to begin with. Still much more of a puzzle game than an adventure game though.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 29th Mar 2006 05:00 Edited at: 29th Mar 2006 05:01
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BlockVerse version 1.3 will be released later this night, or sometime tomorrow.

It runs about three frames faster than 1.2, but I can't really make it any faster without a bunch of compromises. The ghosting of Block Man is the same, simply because it would increase the slowdown and take a fair bit of time to make it ghost objects in front of him at this point.

Unless 1.3 has some major bugs to fix that I can fix, this will be the last update. After 1.3, I'm done with this BlockVerse game.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 29th Mar 2006 16:43 Edited at: 30th Mar 2006 04:34
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Alright, BlockVerse v1.3 is DONE!!!!

Click this link to download, or go to my site for a faster download (I think)!!!
http://www.cusound.com/download/games/BlockVerse1.3.zip

Unless a serious bug is spotted, this is the last update.

If you have a saved game from version 1.2 you want to keep, you can copy and paste the saved file from the save folder in 1.2 to the save folder in 1.3.

Edit: I've sent BlockVerse to the tgc showcase thingy, so I've got my fingers crossed...

...Woohoo!!!

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 1st Apr 2006 19:52 Edited at: 1st Apr 2006 20:05
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Three days...

Has anyone downloaded version 1.3?

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Sho Ryu Ken
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Posted: 1st Apr 2006 22:17
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Downloading now...
No need to fear, Shouryuken's here!
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BENOJ
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2006 21:15
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this is pretty cool, hol long did it take you to think of the levels?

abit fatal1ty an8 sli mobo, ati radeon 1800 XT, 1.5GB RAM
250GB SATA HDD, AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200 (overclocked further)
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David R
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Posted: 3rd Apr 2006 21:49 Edited at: 3rd Apr 2006 21:51
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Quote: "The game is DONE!!!!"


It is!?

Well, I spotted a few little problems myself (yes, I did d/load an play it. Sorry about the boycott stuff..)

* Nasty black artifaction around sprite/bitmap fonts.

* When a level starts (especailly the tutorial/level 1) it doesn't inform you that you need to press psace to continue (when it shows the title of the level). I actually sat there for a few seconds before realising it wanted me to do something! (I assumed it was a timer-based wait or something)

* The water on Level 3/4 (not sure whether tutorial is counted as a level as such) rises much too fast. If you fumble right at the start of the level, your pretty much doomed. I reckon you should make the water rise quicker the further you move upwards. Although, I must say, I did enjoy that level quite alot - the fast pace was quite exilerating (sp?) and I really felt as though I had 'achieved' when I managed to finish that level. So otherwise its good. Actually, I don't think the water does rise too fast. I think its just that that level is a sudden jump in the difficulty curve. It feels as though there should be a slightly easier level in between. Just my opinion though (and I assume you don't want to be changing levels this far close to completion. So its still good)

Quote: "Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 5th Apr 2006 08:38 Edited at: 6th Apr 2006 06:00
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Quote: "this is pretty cool, hol long did it take you to think of the levels?"

I think the longest level design took me an hour to create, however I've gone back to each level and optimized it and stylized it to its unique environment. The actually conceiving of everything took very little time, but getting everything to look just the way I wanted was took a VERY long time. I also didn't design the levels from the solution outwards like most people, but from the middle, so making the levels was a puzzle within itself. I think it gave me a lot more flexibility than working backwards, as when I started I really had no clue what a 3D level should be like, let alone what the solution should be. If you look at the other Block Dude-like game from the compo, you'll see we came to considerably different conclusions on how the game play mechanic should transfer to 3d.

Quote: "It is!?"

Definitely. Unless people spot as many and more things to fix as QuothTheRaven, not to mention a massive bug in the game, I'm done. I've already seen plenty of things that I can do better, but if I follow that chain of thought, I'll never complete a single game.

Quote: "Well, I spotted a few little problems myself (yes, I did d/load an play it. Sorry about the boycott stuff..)"

Don't worry about the boycott stuff; you got what you wanted anyways.
All your problems are valid, but they're simply no where near enough for me to want to make a version 1.4. That problem with the text is because they're jpegs. I would have fixed the problem long ago, but I sort of forgot about it as no one mentioned it during development, and it really isn't much of an issue. There should be some indicator to press space at the level start like you said, but I'm quite certain people will press the spacebar before they give up and try ctrl-alt-delete. I didn't change it in the last update because I didn't want to ruin the aesthetic feel in the end. And you're absolutely right that the learning curve is too big for the average player, but there's simply no way I'm designing more levels for this game. I've tried to lower the curve a bit with helpful level views and some hints from Block Man, but you'll have to wait for the potential sequel for new levels (yes, the ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel).

And I'm glad that so many people like the timed levels. I'll make sure to improove on the consept if I ever make the sequel.

Edit: wow, seven days and the tgc still hasent responded to any of my e-mails... Up till now I've always gotten a response within a day...

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Sho Ryu Ken
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Posted: 7th Apr 2006 00:44
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... Anyone able to solve the aquarium Fantasy Nexus level? I can't get it...
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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 19th Apr 2006 02:52 Edited at: 19th Apr 2006 06:06
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@Sho Ryu Ken, wow, you may be one of the few who has actually gotten to it yet. Unfortunately I can't tell you how to beat it, but I advise you ignore the three dimensional shape for most of the puzzle. It becomes much clearer when you pretend it's 2d... I actually spent the least time on that puzzle. I think it's kind of funny that it turned out to be one of the hardest...

Well, I thought I might take a screenshot from the zoomed view in the sixth level, as I rather like the view.


Edit: Sig test.

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Crazy Ninja
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Posted: 22nd Apr 2006 07:22
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downloading now...
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Tachyon
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Posted: 22nd Apr 2006 19:54
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I came to the good mood instantly when I opened the game!
The musics, so cute graphics and so funny quotes.
I was even in the better mood when I played it, it was brilliant.
The game is shining and finished from the start to the end (no I didnt finish it yet ;P)

Are you continuing the development of this -allthought I dont have a clue which could be done any better- that would get me to realy, realy good mood

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 25th Apr 2006 04:38
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Quote: "Are you continuing the development of this -although I don’t have a clue which could be done any better- that would get me to really, really good mood "

Well, this game is basically finished. But I do have plans drawn up for a BlockVerse 2 sometime in the future... which will be a bigger, longer, and even funner game than this one. It will also be programmed in dbpro rather than classic, so speed will no longer be an issue that takes forever to deal with.

NOTE TO ALL
I'd appreciate it if people could post the parts of the game they liked most, as well as things they'd like to see changed. I've already gotten a lot of this, but I'd like as much as possible for the sequel.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 30th Apr 2006 22:20
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DAMN you and your addicting game, its great, but an hour is enough for now Prolly the most addicting DB game I've tested since Piper

Yey! I removed the sig...
A Llama called Dalai
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Virtual X
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Posted: 1st May 2006 17:59
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downloading now... looks really good, well done!
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Diggsey
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Posted: 1st May 2006 20:23
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When I play it, the arrow keys/space don't work. the < and > are the only way to move and you can't stop moving! Is it supposed to be like that?

There are three types of people, those that can count and those that can't.
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