Crashblock - Open Beta test.

[jasonf]

Hmmm... it should be a lot faster than that. It's a hosted download, not hosted on my machine..

[Huehnerschaender]

Thats what I get when downloading it... and I have dl-bandwidth of 16000 kbit/sec

[jasonf]

That's it! I'm moving to Germany

[jasonf]

OK, I've uploaded a new version of the exe. I've tested this on my machine with the locale set to Germany, I managed to reproduce the error like that, so hopefully this should fix it. I've also included version information on the main menu.

http://www.crashblock.com/test/download/CrashBlock.exe

Sorry about the schoolboy error bug. ops:

[cairnswm]

OK Downloaded new version (Temp registered version 1.0.0.3).

The Unlock and Register menu options were the ones that bugged me the most And they are gone now. Note that the next and back buttons dont have the problem at all.

14. Another comment on the menu screen. The tool tips look as though they should be the same level as the background, but the flying blocks go under the text. Just looks a little funny to me. (Also I think you should use a different wider/taller font for the tool tips - maybe a font size bigger and bold)

Ok - exact comments on text in help screens(10): (this may not be all - but are some iof the grammer/spelling/irritation issues I picked up when going through it again):
15. Page 1 of help: First two lines are one paragraph - should not have a new line after the first sentance. From what I can see there is a new line character after every fullstop. Makes it difficult to read as these aren't bullet points.

16. Page 3 - what is a "bombis" - you are missing a space there! What word is becuase - spelling error me thinks. "Be quick though,...." shouldhave the comma added.

17. Page 4, you have 2 full stops, either this should be one to indicate sentence end, or three to say "and then" - two just looks wrong The x2 block is over the text of "Stamped"

18. (Sorry lost count of page) - "It is a point worth noting that it is impossible to die from falling too far

(in Crashblock..."
Too many open lines. The brackets are a comment on the previous line and should be part of the same line - and there should be a full stop after the closing brace.

19. Next page, also is missing a final full stop.

20 Next Page - The second sentence should start with a capital letter. "Once again..."

21. First Blocks page - I dont like the way the first sentance is written. rather say how to do it. "Press the Return key to call the crane." reads better and is less confusing. (And isn't return dead and buried? - On all six of my keyboards here it is marked Enter)

22. "There are some items which can be re-used once they have been collected.
The Bomb and the Timeout."
Why are they re-used - how have I used them already. The first sentance should end with a colon as the next two items are the subjects to which you are referring.


On responsiveness:
On the first level, it takes almost 4 seconds to move from the one side of the arena to the other (without having to climb anything) - this to me just felt too long. One of the beauties of tetris was being able to play frantically, and I dont really feel that in CrashBlock. The game was not at all sluggish. The animation does look like it could do with a few more frames but I have seen a lot less smooth animations in other games so I amj not complaining about it.

Unexpected death. I have no idea how I died. I never placed any bombs and I got no feedback on why I had died. I'd suggest in at least the first few levels to put up a sign as the player falls down into the areana again that tells the player why he died. "You were squashed", "The bomb exploded to near you" etc. Then I'll be able to tell you why I died

Comment on your point 8 reply? Mouse Huh? The game plays with keyboard, why the mouse suddenly? - does that mean as the bricks stack I'll see more and more of the top layers of the background? Ok that sort of explains it Still feels to me that the brick image is where the brick should be falling from - maybe because I have never got to the point where I can see the top layers (And remember people playing for the first time will have the same experience.)

I am available to help a bit tomorrow night if you'd like to chat directly on MSN - william at cairnsgames dot co dot za

[Huehnerschaender]

Works now... I played some levels and I did not recognize any issues (I cannot say for sound because I played muted!)

The animations could be a bit smoother (more frames), but thats it. Cool game and nice implementation!

[pstudio]

Encountered a new bug:



As you can see on the screenshot the bomb block doesn't really stop Jenny. This happens when I climped up from the left side. Everything worked normal when I climbed up from the right side. I hope that it's useful information.

I also experieced a crash after completing the Stoney Temple levels. I just pressed next on the 'score' screen as usual, but the game crashed. When I started the game up I could see that the Ice level as unlocked.

[paul_nicholls]

Hi Jason :-)
I have downloaded and run the game (menus only), but not played it yet.

I have a question - is there anyway of running the game as a window instead of fullscreen (with desktop resolution change)? I would find this a very handy option :-)

keep up the excellent work, and good luck with the IGF competition

cheers,
Paul.

[jasonf]

@Paul. Yes, you can run in a window, but you need to have started the game first as I haven't put any command line switches in.
Go to the options screen, there's a video option. You can switch to windowed mode there.

On windows you have to restart the game because the SDL toggle fullscreen method doesn't always (or at all) work under Windows. It works under Linux though. Not tested it under Mac.

Do you think I need a command line switch for this?

@PStudio,
Interesting bug.. I'll look into that. Thanks for the screen shot, it helps enormously. Looks like you're powering through the game too, you're on the Inca Temple level not bad. :clap:

@Everyone,
There is a new version uploaded. Just the Exe, the resource file hasn't changed at the moment. So if you want to get 1.0.0.4, go to http://www.crashblock.com/test/download/CrashBlock.exe

This release fixes the tooltip in front of the blocks on the menu and adds a few new things to speed up the player experience. I would like to know how people feel about this new version as it changes to the speed in which Jenny moves.

I've not had time to address any other issues tonight, I'll do more tomorrow.

[paul_nicholls]

Hi Jason,
I think a command line switch would be handy to save going through the video options the first time.

cheers,
Paul