Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
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File: tilez12.zip (1.4 MB)
Downloaded 51 times.
License: Other

Tilez v1.2
The game is finished.
I couldn't find the old thread, but it's pointless to resurrect it anyway

Anyway, I want to know what you think. The biggest complaint I've had is about the last level.

--Rob
New version 1.2

Graphical changes, bugfixes.

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 04-22-2006 07:39 PM]

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
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Interesting game... The instructions are a little unclear. For example, I thought that the ball would move onto an arrow and then change direction (I've played another game that had similar mechanics) rather than changing on the square before the arrow.

I'm just playing through the first couple of levels, so I'm pretty new right now. However, a couple of thoughts on controls:
Holding down a key doesn't repeat the key (in otherwords - I have to press up 5 times to go up 5 squares)
It would be nice if you could play totally with the mouse. Perhaps clicking on a tile will pick it up, clicking on another square will put it down (assuming that the tile can move to that square from its current location).
Also, having to move to the ball to make it go is a pain. Perhaps another key could be used to make the ball go without having to move onto it.

On Gray 4, I used only one arrow (the right arrow).
On Gray 5, I didn't need one of the up arrows.

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

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[Last edited by stigant at 11-06-2005 04:36 PM]

Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 548
Registered: 01-04-2004
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Good game. If you fix the small inconveniences that were mentioned above, this game would be great!

I have a site that could host the file, if you want.

____________________________
“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Chalks
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 267
Registered: 04-17-2005
IP: Logged

also, since I'm assuming this is freeware, many sites will host it for free. Gamehippo.com is my favorite.

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
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Gray 4 will be fixed in the next version.
Gray 5 is supposed to be that way. In fact, you only need two
tiles.
I need someone to write new instructions. Any volunteers?

Mouse control will be implemented soon, don't worry.

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Nillo
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 548
Registered: 01-04-2004
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I need someone to write new instructions. Any volunteers?

Sign me up!

____________________________
“Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the 'Ellie May,' a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.”

Krishh
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 282
Registered: 06-05-2004
IP: Logged

Really good game, with the most notable flaw being the awful menus. They contain eye-piercing color combinations, hard to read letters, oddly mixed keyboard and mouse control, and you can't see which levels you have completed. (and the pop-up mouse menu for level selection just isn't too good-looking either)

And the istructions could use a little work. There's even no mention of the R button.

stigant
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1182
Registered: 08-19-2004
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I'm not sure if this is intended or not, but horizontal movement is slightly slower than vertical movement. On a level with two balls, I set up one ball moving vertically and the other horzontally. They eventually get out of synch. This doesn't happen if both are moving in the same direction.

____________________________
Progress Quest Progress

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
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I'll work on the menus and the horizontal/vertical bug.

If anyone finds any other bugs or trivial solutions, let me know.
Thanks.

--Rob

EDIT: I plan on renameing some levels.
Perhaps I'll find two to name
Flawlessly Consistent: Part 1
...and...
Flawlessly Consistant: Part 2
as a subtle tribute to the forum.
Sound good?

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 11-08-2005 02:32 AM]

John259
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 57
Registered: 11-18-2005
IP: Logged

Only my humble opinions but here goes:

Game idea: Excellent.

Levels: Excellent. Some are evil but that's how it should be.

Addictiveness: Very good.

User interface: Ah, ummm. I don't want to seem rude and I do fully realise how much work, time and skill it all takes, so I'll just say that to me, the UI seems to need more development on it. Guess you don't need any details...

Instructions: I found details of all the different types of tilez a bit overwhelming at first. How about changing the instructions so as to just give enough info for people to play the first level, then explain the new tilez for each level as people get to them? Just an idea.

Potential: Great!

John

____________________________
2006 A DROD Odyssey: "Open the pod bay doors Halph" - "Not possible!"

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
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John259 wrote:

User interface: Ah, ummm. I don't want to seem rude and I do fully realise how much work, time and skill it all takes, so I'll just say that to me, the UI seems to need more development on it. Guess you don't need any details...

Actually, I would like details, since I'm revising the interface now. What did you have in mind?

--Rob

P. S.


to the forums!

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 11-20-2005 03:58 AM]

Krishh
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 282
Registered: 06-05-2004
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Things I would like to see about the UI:

Menus should be either completely mouse-driven or keyboard-driven, or preferably both, but definetly not a mix of the two.

A Jumper 2 style level select. If you haven't played Jumper two, it features a small button for each level organized into categories (materials in this case), which change color depeinding on whether or not have you completed it, so you can see your overall progress at a glance.

Better help, possibly explaining the features one at a time as you go.

John259
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 57
Registered: 11-18-2005
IP: Logged

Pinnacle wrote:
Actually, I would like details, since I'm revising the interface now. What did you have in mind?

Sorry, I only just saw your reply. I'll run the game and make some proper notes ASAP, but just off the top of my head being able to drag tilez with the mouse would be great. I know you've mentioned that as already being in development.
Very important: It's your game. You're in charge. Please ignore anything I say now or later which you consider to be wrong.
------------
BTW, Is Silver7 solvable? I'm totally stuck. A little clue would be greatly appreciated. I can get through the maze and back round to its entrance a second time but run out of Up tilez to get into the End square.

John

____________________________
2006 A DROD Odyssey: "Open the pod bay doors Halph" - "Not possible!"

John259
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 57
Registered: 11-18-2005
IP: Logged

Disclaimer: These are only one person's thoughts. I don't know what technical constraints your programming language might have. Blah blah blah... you get my drift.

First screen ("the first category6 development production"):
It would be nice if it also reacted to a mouse click.

Main menu screen (1-Go, 2-Help, 3-Quit):
It would be nice if the options could be made into clickable buttons, and the highlight movable between them with the cursor keys, with the Enter key invoking the currently highlighted option. The same design as in most standard Windows dialog boxes, really.

The Go menu:
Same comment, it would be nice to also be able to move a highlight with the cursor keys etc...

Whatever you decide about the menu screens, the key factor is strict consistency of design on all of them IMHO.

On each level:

It would be nice to have the level name displayed somewhere (in the title bar, maybe).

As aforementioned, dragging tilez would be great (far from simple to program, I imagine, but well worth the effort).

The tile dragging would have to be subject to the existing restrictions regarding which fixed tilez movable tilez can be moved through. More complexity!

An idea: could movable tilez outside of special areas be offered in a "bin" to the left or right of the playing board, from where they could be dragged? Perhaps there could be one "bin" icon per tile type, with the number of tilez of that type left in the button under it. Like in the classic game "The Incredible Machine". Actually, Tilez is similar in some ways to "The Incredible Machine", which leads me on to say:

Could a clickable Start button be added outside the main playing board? With a single key press which does the same as clicking it. Also possibly a Stop/Reset button which does the same as the "R" key?

These are only ideas. I might not have thought of some good reason why they are not practical. They are most definitely meant to be encouragements and in no way as criticisms. As I said before, your game idea and level designs are superb.

Sorry to waffle on so long. I do that. Good luck with the project.

John


____________________________
2006 A DROD Odyssey: "Open the pod bay doors Halph" - "Not possible!"

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
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File: savegame (12.2 KB)
Downloaded 61 times.
License: Public Domain

Silver 7 is not quite a fair level and may be unsolvable.
It will be banished into oblivion and replaced with a better one.
Here's a Silver 8 savefile for the meantime.
Put it in the TILEZ folder and select "Resume Puzzle"

EDIT: Opera wants to save it as "savegame.php" but it is actually just "savegame" (no extension)
IE downloads it just fine.


____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 12-04-2005 07:50 PM]

John259
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 57
Registered: 11-18-2005
IP: Logged

Pinnacle wrote:Here's a Silver 8 savefile for the meantime.

Thanks! Firefox 1.5 also seems to download it ok. - John

____________________________
2006 A DROD Odyssey: "Open the pod bay doors Halph" - "Not possible!"

bandit1200
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 290
Registered: 10-29-2003
IP: Logged

I noticed in the help that Game Maker is written by a guy called Mark Overmars, and the name seemed very familiar to me. I finally remembered - he wrote a B/W game for the Atari ST with high res mono monitor, called Super Breakout. Must have been in the late 80's and I spent hundreds of hours playing it. In fact I still have a copy that plays on various ST emulators.

BTW, Tilez looks like it'll be a good little game when/if some of the suggestions are acted on, though it's very playable as it is.

Dali
Level: Master Delver
Rank Points: 174
Registered: 02-05-2005
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File: tilez silver 7.GIF (27.5 KB)
Downloaded 60 times.
License: Public Domain

Pinnacle wrote:
Silver 7 is not quite a fair level and may be unsolvable.

Yes, it's propably impossible.
To fix the chamber (see my attached file) maybe you should change the Tile 1 in North instead of South.

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
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Yay, thanks. Done.

Next version soon.

EDIT: Somebody mod Dali up. I don't have enough

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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[Last edited by Pinnacle at 01-16-2006 05:56 PM]

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
IP: Logged

To quote Monty Python:

I'm not quite dead yet

Version 1.2 is ready. Small changes, nothing drastic. Silver 7 should be solvable now.
Can anyone help with the music?


____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary