Ann & feedback request : Shapy

[frozax]

Hello guys,

I have just released my first game called Shapy.
It's a puzzle game that comes with two modes (speed and puzzle) and a level editor. I released it yesterday and I am looking for feedback.
Screenshots: 1 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh14.jpg) 2 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh12.jpg) 3 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh6.jpg) 4 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh5.jpg) 5 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh4.jpg) 6 (http://www.frozax.com/images/sh2.jpg)
Download link: here (http://www.frozax.com/download.php?file=1&src=inga)
Home page: here (http://www.frozax.com/shapy.php)

Thank you for your time.

[Emmanuel]

Hi,

Shapy seems to have trouble here (1 Ghz PIII Mobile, 640 MB RAM, ATI Radeon mobility, 8 MB VRAM), see screenshot (http://www.funpause.com/shapy.jpg). The whole game behaves like this, dirty regions aren't restored, or you have a texture problem of some kind (depending on how you've programmed it). If you do use textures, my card, like many in circulation, supports up to 1024x1024 just fine but square textures with w = h = 2^n only.

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[frozax]

Hi,

Hum, I am using Popcap's framework and it seems that hardware has not been recommanded for your computer and the game runs in software. I removed software option from the menu as I had some performance problems (and therefore I didnt maintain it) but the framework could launch it. I will try to correct software rendering and upload a new version.
Do you know if you can play games such a bejeweled 2 in hardware?

Thanks a lot for this report!



Hi,

Shapy seems to have trouble here (1 Ghz PIII Mobile, 640 MB RAM, ATI Radeon mobility, 8 MB VRAM), see screenshot (http://www.funpause.com/shapy.jpg). The whole game behaves like this, dirty regions aren't restored, or you have a texture problem of some kind (depending on how you've programmed it). If you do use textures, my card, like many in circulation, supports up to 1024x1024 just fine but square textures with w = h = 2^n only.

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[Emmanuel]

Hi,

Zuma and bejeweled 2 play fine, and with hardware acceleration, so does Beetle bomp (which svero stated uses the popcap framework for the low-level rendering). Chuzzle does too, but I don't know if it uses the popcap framework or not. This ATI chipset isn't very cooperative, but I guess it's a good test for your game. I'll run as many more tests as you need.

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[Anlino]

Was running just fine here. I was a bit confused on what to do in the beginning, but when i understod the concept, it was quite entertaining. Good game.

[TheFakeCow]

I was a little annoyed at how long it took to make a quick exit from the program (as far as having to click 'yes, i really want to exit'), but that's probably my fault for trying it at work.

The idea is really interesting. I dont play these types of games too much, but I'll definitely give it some more time this weekend.

Eric Walker
Ominous Development

[frozax]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

@Emmanuel : I spent some time studing the popcap internal code and I think there should be an Error and/or Warning string in your registry at HKLM\Software\Frozax Games\Shapy\Test3D. It is created by popcap's framework and may give me informations on the problem. If that's only a warning, I will have to check if its not that important and accept 3D accel.

@TheFakeCow : fastest way to quit is definitely Alt+F4 but your problem seemed to be ressource unloading.

[Bmc]

what version of the framework you using? i know in older versions there was a problem with detecting the hardware capabilities of some cards.

Quote for 1.2 Framework
"Changed 3d test to not require "nvidia", "ati", or "radeon" in the name of the driver for recommending the video card if the video card driver's year is >= 2002."

[frozax]

I am using the last version (1.2).
I have uploaded a new version of Shapy at the same url, it should now enable Acceleration in some cases if it has been detected and not recommended by the framework. Moreover, software rendering is enabled (either if failed to detect accel or if selected in options menu) but is quite slow, even on high CPUs.

what version of the framework you using? i know in older versions there was a problem with detecting the hardware capabilities of some cards.

Quote for 1.2 Framework
"Changed 3d test to not require "nvidia", "ati", or "radeon" in the name of the driver for recommending the video card if the video card driver's year is >= 2002."

[Martoon]

Fun game! A couple of errors/bugs:

In name entry, pressing the shift key typed an "8" instead of shifting the key I pressed with it.

In the tutorial, when it refers to "clockwise" and "counterclockwise", they're reversed (the clockwise click it has you do rotates in the opposite direction that a clock runs, and vice versa).

You really need a better name than "Shapy" ;) .

[Emmanuel]

The new version that you posted works fine (and with hardware acceleration).

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[frozax]

Thanks, I fixed these two bugs and uploaded the new version.

Fun game! A couple of errors/bugs:

In name entry, pressing the shift key typed an "8" instead of shifting the key I pressed with it.

In the tutorial, when it refers to "clockwise" and "counterclockwise", they're reversed (the clockwise click it has you do rotates in the opposite direction that a clock runs, and vice versa).

You really need a better name than "Shapy" ;) .

[frozax]

I just got my first sale of Shapy !
That's a great feeling! :)

[Falcan]

congrats to you frozax!:) It's really great feeling to get first sale, hope you get more shortly!

[frozax]

congrats to you frozax!:) It's really great feeling to get first sale, hope you get more shortly!

Argh, instead of getting other sales (still stuck at 1 :o ), I just found today that my game is available with a crack on 3 forums :(
I discovered that by looking at my website log and finding access to screenshots on my website from strange sites.
Can't believe people even hack games that does not sale...

[Kaos]

Argh, instead of getting other sales (still stuck at 1 :o ), I just found today that my game is available with a crack on 3 forums :(
I discovered that by looking at my website log and finding access to screenshots on my website from strange sites.
Can't believe people even hack games that does not sale...

it happens to everyone. seems that the developers that get the least amount of piracy have switched to systems like softwrap, software passport (armadillo) and trymedia, but even they arent immune to piracy.

If @ all possible, make a new version of the game but dont change the version # on the exe, so the crack wont work.

If you have this crack for your game, I would assume you can engineer a new exe/dll. that will immunize from the crack procedure.

Just a thought, happy sales!

[Escapee]

I like the music alot ..