GZ: beta test

[Taxxodium]

Hey,

I have been working on a new game and I'm close to releasing it. Ofcourse no game is complete without having some sort of a beta test. So here's your chance.

If you see any bugs or you have comments on the game, please post them here.

Download (http://www.edot-studios.com/downloads/gz_beta.zip) (57k)

Here's a list of things that aren't there yet but I plan to add:

- an undo/redo option
- sounds
- a Read Me file (since this is a beta version, I haven't added one yet)

Enjoy

PS: gameplay should be self explanatory, if there's need to add an explanation I will write it down here.

[Shivers]

I'm hooked. The gameplay is solid, but I do have some little suggestions.

I don't like the tile graphics. To be frank. If you need some help with that, I'd be happy to make some for you. The way they don't "tile" is upsetting to the eye, but could be easily remedied with some simple borders. Borders are probably a good idea regardless.

I'd like to see a figure of the remaining tiles to be removed. This should also be displayed when the game is over.

There seems to be a bug in the "no more moves possible" algorithm. Sometime, but not always, when I have no more moves left and there is a row of 3 "trapped," the game doesn't register it as no more moves.

I really enjoy the gameplay, but don't expect it to last long (replay wise). If you want to extend it, try adding more levels.

[Taxxodium]

Weird bug there, I'll check it out asap.

About the graphics, I changed the tiles a bit giving them a little 3D bevel. Here's a screenshot:

http://www.edot-studios.com/images/dev/gridzone/screenshot.jpg

[isgoed]

I played it. Everything worked fine.

And your todo lists is ok.

[arekkusu]

I also don't get the "no more moves possible". And I agree with the complaint about the tiling. I'd just nuke the swoosh in the tiles, it reminds me of the *expletive deleted* Finder buttons.

Also: if I drag buttons, it works fine. If I click over a button, pause, and then drag the button, then click again to drop, it works fine. However, if I click and then immediately drag, usually the button doesn't get picked up properly. It starts to drag but then snaps back to the original spot.

And finally, this game eats 100% of the CPU. You need to fix that ;)

[Taxxodium]

And finally, this game eats 100% of the CPU. You need to fix that ;)

That's probably because of the timer that also calls the game over check. I'll fix it asap and post a new beta.

Thanks for the comments.

[codemattic]

very nice Taxx! Now add: multiple levels, multiple backgrounds/tilesets, high scores by time and by moves, undo/redo, maybe an editor? and make the game over check only happen once after a move - and you have a very solid shareware title.

[blobbo]

Nice one! I remember playing this game over and over and over when I was a kid. Add levels, high scores, and "hints," and you've got a sell-able game.

[Taxxodium]

Wow, good ideas. Although my original idea was to release this game as freeware, I might make it a shareware game. It's about time I got some money from Kagi :p

I'll release another beta which I think solved the game over bug. I'm now working on the undo/redo features but I have problems with it. Basically what I need to do is reset the array which contains all the pieces back to its previous state.

Does anyone perhaps have some sample code on how to do this? I do use the NSUndoManager with the registerUndoWithTarget method giving my array as the object, but it doesn't really work well.

Thanks for testing.

[Taxxodium]

Ah yes before I forget. Should I add music aswell or are sounds more than enough?

[Taxxodium]

I'm very close to releasing this game, just need to do some more stuff and then I'm done.

Meanwhile, here's a new beta for you to try out. The changes are:

- fixed game over screen bug
- added highscore system
- tweaked the tile graphics a bit

There are other changes but they are not visible in this beta. I cannot figure out how to add the undo/redo system, it should be pretty easy but it doesn't really work.

Anyway, download here (http://www.edot-studios.com/downloads/gz_beta2.zip) (68.9k)

[codemattic]

oh crap

http://www.macgamefiles.com/detail.php?item=18380

just after you released yours. Weird.

[Taxxodium]

Just downloaded and played that game. It's not because it's my game, but I feel Grid Zone is much better than that one. Graphics are better too.

But I'd like to know the opinion of the others, I think that would be more fair.