Multiplexity: Crashblock

[AthenaOfDelphi]

I got it working by ripping some DLL's from other SDL based entries.

The missing DLL's appear to be (although I'm not sure of the exact combination):-

libpng1.dll
libpng12.dll
libpng13.dll
zlib.dll
zlib1.dll

But its suffering from slow frame rates.

[jasonf]

Hi Guys, I've managed to get my internet connection set up at the new place quicker than I expected.

I'm a little concerned that people had trouble running the game, although I should have mentioned in the Readme.txt that the game relies on SDL, SDL_Mixer, SDL_Image etc.. I'll update it for the next version.
Slow framerates? What numbers are you getting on the left hand side of the screen? the one in the middle is the frames per second, it's clamped to 30, perhaps this isn't working as well as it should be.

The age old, 'It works fine on my PC' is cropping up here, My PC is an Athlon 800 or is it a 1200, with 512mb of ram and a GEForce3. Either way, it's over 4 years old and I wouldn't expect anyone to get slower framerates than I do.

What does it run like on your second PC Athena?

[Sascha Willems]

Please upload an update version with all needed DLLs before deadline of stage 2. Judging all entries takes a lot of time and if it won't run out of the box I don't want to invest additional time in searching missing dlls to get it working.

P.S. : If you have trouble finding out what DLLs exactly are needed by your game try out Dependency Walker.

[jasonf]

I've uploaded the latest version with the DLLs included, hopefully this will help. The dependancy walker doesn't seem to work for some of the DLLs though, I think things like ogg.dll, vorbis.dll libpng.dll jpeg.dll etc only get included when they're needed and dependancy walker can't see them.

I've uploaded the submitted version to my site, just in case. This also contains all the DLLs. If some kind soul could test it and let me know

Click on the link above

[Traveler]

Works like a charm for me, now.

[Huehnerschaender]

Ah! Now it works...

Very nice!

I am very curious about the combination of the current gameplay with the "jump&run" part... It already looks very polished for such a short time. I am indeed impressed

[jasonf]

It already looks very polished for such a short time. I am indeed impressed

That'll be the varnish I used on the wood, it really brings up the grain in the wood I find

Thanks for the comments guys, I've got some changes to make for the next stage.. one of them is find out why some blocks don't want to fall properly. Another one will be different coloured blocks, My wife and Technomage have both pointed out that it's hard to see the blocks when they're the same colour as the background.

I think the jump & run part will either make or break the game, there will be 3 modes to play. Standard Tetris Mode, Avatar mode (the tetris/flashback hybrid) and vindictive mode where you play tetris and attempt to squash the avatar :twisted:

Hopefully, I'll have time to get all this sorted out :lol: deadlines eh? Can't get away from them

[jasonf]

Last night, I did no work.. although I did drink a fair amount of Guiness and eat a nice Curry

The noght before however, I did some work.
Clearing bomb blocks now spawn a bomb object which has an arming period, followed by a fuse (with animation) and finally an explosion.
This doesn't currently destroy any blocks, but it will do. Bomb blocks destroyed will release more bombs which arm and detonate.. chain reaction.

This work has also paved the way for the scoring system. When a bonus item or bomb is released, it flies up to land in the first available space, sitting on top of any blocks that exist. If a block lands on them, they fly on top of that block too. This means that the player should always be able to get at the bonusses to collect them.

I've worked out how I'm going to do the scoring too. Each block when it is removed from play will release a bonus item for the player to collect. these items dissappear after time and the player misses the chance to collect the score they have earned. These items might be coins, cherrys, hour glasses etc.. some blocks have a x2 and x3 marker on them, if a line is cleared with x2 or x3 markers, multiple bonusses are released.

Hour glasses slow down the degradation of the chain, giving the player more time to move around.

The only question seems to be, how do I calculate the bonusses?

There are 8 blocks accross each has the potential to contain a x3 bonus
Bonusses are only applied on a single horizontal line. Clearing multiple lines will multiply the amount of score items are worth.

So, if the bonusses are multiplied and each block releases the number of bonus items prescribed by the bonus ((3x3x3x3x3x3x3x3)=6561) x 8 = 52488 items generated.. Too many by far..

If the bonusses are added ((3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3)=24)x8 = 192.. a lot more manageable but not very intuitive

If the bonusses are not added or multiplied at all, but generate multiple items only for bonus blocks then the maximum number of items will be 24

Alternatively, I multiply the scores and only release 1 item per block, so if they were multiplied and the player collected all of the bonus items, they would be worth 52488 points at (6561 * number of lines cleared) each.. but doesn't looks as spectacular.. I could make super bonus items glow of course..

what do you think?

It will make it a very high scoring game though

[Traveler]

what do you think?

I think you need to sleep on it for a bit.
Nah j/k, I believe the solution will pretty much become clear by playing and testing what works best. Because to me, it actually sounds more like a balance problem.

I dont think you should give too high a bonus to players who are scoring combos all the time, because others that dont will fall behind way too quickly. (ie, the points of two minutes worth of playing against the same number of points of 2 big combos in less then 10 secs)
The same goes for the items. To me, even 24 items sounds like a lot of items.

Then again, I dont have a good grasp of how it will be in the game, so I can´t say for sure, if this makes any sense at all.

[WILL]

Hmm... I thought you have to join them by 3 in a row to make just those segments disappear. :?

What makes the bomb segments do their thing?