New BreakQuest Beta, and official release date announcement

[NuriumGames]

Nurium Games is happy to announce the official release date for BreakQuest. If nothing goes wrong, game will be released on November 15th.

Full version will be available from our website for $19.99.

A new Beta version (1.2.0) is now available for download. This new Beta comes with some new additions and fixes.

+ Arcade and Quest mode are now enabled. Adjust game parameters to your liking in 'Arcade Mode' (to enable levels for Arcade, first get the keys in 'Quest Mode').
+ New paddle function, use right mouse button to enable the gravitor and force the balls down, also handy to finish the lasts bricks (remaining energy at screen top left corner).
* Adjusted difficulty settings. 'Normal' is slightly more difficult, and 'Hard' is harder.
* Improved paddle/ball collision.
+ Many little additions and bug fixes.

Get new Beta version 1.2.0 from: http://www.nurium.com/getbeta.php

Thanks for the Feedback. Really. Many of the new additions and fixes are here thanks to the feedback I received here and some other places.

[z3lda]

Your game rocks!! :D

[Jim Buck]

This game is awesome. Both last time and this time I tried the beta, I could only play 4 levels. Is this the case, or am I missing how to get the key on the 4th level? :)

[tolik]

Great job, It's another time when I can say that I really like your game.
The only thing I can blame about is keyboard control sensitivity that has some kind of thrust factor which differs from mouse and makes keyboard controls useless.

[BantamCityGames]

This game is awesome. Both last time and this time I tried the beta, I could only play 4 levels. Is this the case, or am I missing how to get the key on the 4th level? :)

Yeah, I thought this was a little unclear as well. Does the beta repeat after 4 levels or is there some way to get to level 5? If it ends after level 4, a nag screen should pop up.

As for the game itself, it is an awesomely fun game and I think it will sell very well.

[EpicBoy]

Wonderful little game, and really well polished. Personally, I would include more than 4 levels in the demo. I was having a blast and then the demo ended ... maybe 8 levels? I understand you don't want to give too much away, but at the same time, I'm not sure 4 levels is enough to really drive me to buy.

[oNyx]

Ye thumbs up from me (again). That 'f' thingy is there and yea it got indeed a bit harder. Good job.

Just two things:
#1 If you click on adventure mode there is some loading. I waited... rolled with my eyes... wondered if it might have crashed... wondered what I should try... esc, alt/tab, alt/f4, ctrl/alt/del... and just before I pressed something (I decided to use the almighty alt/tab->ctrl/alt/del->kill task combo), the levels appeared on the screen. Duh. So put some loading indicator there (or get rid of loading anything at that stage).

#2 You also have keyboard controls. Naturally you should be able to enter your name via keyboard, too. (Either way I prefer mouse control, but I also prefer entering my name via keyboard).

---

I agree that a little info box after you have finished the demo levels should avoid some confusion (in the worst case the user might asume that he/she is unable to proceed for some obscure reason [eg that they failed to accomplish some hidden goal like breaking a specific score/timelimit/catch all 150 pokémon etc]... they will also asume than that they won't benefit in any way from buying the full version).

Oh and that gravity thing is nice. Actually it's more powerfull than the glue powerup. So there is a slight difficulty shift, but it needs some skill therefore it isn't a problem (from my pov at least). Well, I'm not sure about that graphical effect... however that sound effect doesn't really fit. It's a clicky thing... something clicky is natural for programmers, because you know that it's just a tiny/short impulse force you kick in. But players won't perceive it like that... it's *the* force... the jedi mind trick. A slightly longer... rather deep... power down ish... sound effect would be a better fit (dunno if that explaination was helpfull at all - well I tried it ;)).

[NuriumGames]

Again, thanks for the feedback.

The Beta has 4 levels (sorry), I'm currently uploading a new version (1.2.0b), that adds a Nag Screen after the last level, and fixes a typo (Mystery pill was Mistery).

The demo version (this is Beta demo), will include probably 6 levels, most of them different from the Beta version.

[Jim Buck]

I wanted to add that I also thought this game was very well-polished. The music was great.

A question - what's the difference between quest and arcade mode other than in quest mode you unlock the levels and arcade mode you have a zillion knobs to adjust the game? :) (I did notice a check box in quest mode something like "play intro", but it didn't seem to do anything.)

[NuriumGames]

> #1 If you click on adventure mode there is some loading ... So put some loading indicator there

Yes, I'll put something there, or better I'll try to avoid the delay :)

> #2 You also have keyboard controls. Naturally you should be able to enter your name via keyboard

You can use the arrows/space to enter the name with keyboard, don't know if will change it.

> Gravity: Well, I'm not sure about that graphical effect...

Was a quick hack, I'll change it too, when I did it seemed decent, but now I don't like it.

About the sound, maybe you're right, but I like the clicks, so I think I'll add a Grave Bass loop while active and leave the clicks for on/off.


> A question - what's the difference between quest and arcade mode

Other than the mentioned, in Quest mody there will be a Intro/End sequence, so there is a plot for the Quest :) (the 'show intro' does not work yet, as there is no intro in the Beta)

[Larry Hastings]

Nurium Games is happy to announce the official release date for BreakQuest. If nothing goes wrong, game will be released on November 15th.Ah, my birthday! I don't suppose you'll be sending me a present...? ;)

November 15th is generally regarded by retailers as the last day you can have something ship to stores for it to be considered "available for the Christmas season". Notice that the Xbox and many other consumer products shipped on November 15th.

It's also a birthday I share with Ed Asner and Petula "Downtown" Clark.

[oNyx]

After playing some more I got two ideas or to be more precisely... two alternate patterns for two parts of the game meachnics.

#1 That gravity power bar. Instead of constant recharge a full recharge on contact with the ship and some less "power units" (maybe half as much).

What would that change? Well, it's easier to get a feeling for that, because the (timed) math behind it is easier. So no need to look at that bar anymore (after some minutes of playing).

#2 The initial straight shot. You could for example make it possible that you can change the position of the ball ("glued" to the reflector) by moving the ship (inertia). With the proper timing you can shoot it exactly in the direction you want to. The first shot just became something like a mini game. And everyone who wants to fire it just straight up can just move the ship in position and wait a bit for the ball snapping back to the centre (of the reflector).

[Sunshine]

This game just absolutley rocks, I will probably buy it on the day it comes out.
:) Good Job! :)

[NuriumGames]

Sorry Larry, no Birthday promotions at the time :D , anyway Have a nice day on October 15, with or without BreakQuest.

Hi Sunshine, you speak savvy :cool:

@ oNyx
#1 -> I think a timed version is better, because one of the best things of the gravity is being able to avoid to wait for the ball to came down if it gets too horizontal, if you had to wait for the ball to contact the paddle for refill, it would be useless.

#2 -> I've thought about it, if I have time I'll do it, if not, it will came with some later patch.

About keyboard controls, there is a Turbo button, (left alt by default) and you can adjust the sensibility in the options menu, but the Mouse always offers much more control.

By the way there is a little new update (basically squashed a few bugs :mad: )

- Fix crash with 'minimal' arcade mode, thanks Zagrius.
- Fix music and sound volume bug.
+ Arcade modes 'disable scenes' function now works.
* Quest mode scene loads faster, thanks oNyx.
* Changed a bit gfx effect for 'Gravity'.
* Add little pop up at the end of last scene (4th) to clarify the number of included levels in the Beta version, now appears after getting the scene key, not before.

Again, thanks for your support and comments. ;)

[DangerCode]

Get new Beta version 1.2.0 from: http://www.nurium.com/getbeta.php

Thanks for the Feedback. Really. Many of the new additions and fixes are here thanks to the feedback I received here and some other places.

First off, let me say the initial reaction was "not another Arkanoid clone!", but comments from others had convinced me to download the demo.

I've got to say, this is one polished game. It really stands out.

Here are my humble opinions:

1) The user interface and game menus are really slick. I like them. Alot. But, I found switching between fullscreen and windowed modes to be very unintuitive (make my selection, then exit the game, then relaunch). Also, I prefer to type my name for high scores as opposed to clicking on characters ala console games.

2) I experienced a couple of stutters while playing. The game would freeze up for about a second. This only happened twice during 10 minutes of play so I don't think it's that big of deal. Still, you might want to look into it.

3) I accidently exited the game twice, despite the intructions on the pause menu. You may want to go with something that follows the standards of other games/applications.

All it all, this one great product. I wish you much success with it.

Very slick.

[oNyx]

@ oNyx
#1 -> I think a timed version is better, because one of the best things of the gravity is being able to avoid to wait for the ball to came down if it gets too horizontal, if you had to wait for the ball to contact the paddle for refill, it would be useless.
[...]

Ooops. Ye, I've overseen that. Then maybe a combination of both? Auto recharge at half speed and full recharge on contact.

Having two recharge rules makes it of course a bit more complex. But I think it would be nice. After contact you know it's full and when it's endlessly bouncing around horizontally you *have* the time to take a look at the gravity bar.

That on contact rule simplifies things quite a lot... and well it also allows a riskier playing style... like "tunneling" the ball in the lower quarter of the screen to one side (nice in that b/w level with those rotating thingys).

Hmm... you could also throw out the gravity bar all together (= always gravity power), but I wouldn't do that, because it would remove one interesting task for the player.

[Devman]

Hi Felix!

Great game buddy. The only suggestion I have is the second screen after clicking arcade game (and quest mode I think) where you show the options screen. I was overwhelmed by all the options on this screen. I just wanted to play the game, but it took me about 30 seconds to find because of all the other options.

Perhaps you could make an "advanced settings" screen with lots of those settings and on the current settings screen prominently display the Start Game button.

I realize that so close to release you probably don't want to change something this big, but I wanted to give you my feedback in case it helps.

Very enjoyable game!

[oNyx]

After playing the new version...

The new gravity effect looks better, but that "tracktor beam" feels odd. I mean that it pulls the ball down and not towards you. You could for example have one ship with gravity and one with the tracktor beam, which really pulls the ball towards you (a bit less strong than that gravity thing).

>Quest mode scene loads faster

Indeed it does, but it kinda feels like loading and animation are blocking each other. If you let the level selection screens pop in (instead of fading) you can get a way with a much lower framerate (update when needed).

@Devman's suggestion

I guess it would help if the play button would stick out a bit more. Just using a different color (yellow) should already do the trick.

[NuriumGames]

Hi, and Thanks again for the feedback, and sorry for answering a bit late, I'm quite busy right now :) , but all the feedback is very appreciated.

@ DangerCode
> I found switching between fullscreen and windowed modes to be very unintuitive

Yes, it's not the best method, but would be too hard to solve it right now (my fault).

> I experienced a couple of stutters while playing. The game would freeze up for about a second.

This should not happen, game is designed for a quite stable frame rate. Probably (I suppose) you had some app in the background that used system resources once in a while. Never had any complain about this.

Does it persist? Does it happen with other games?

> I accidently exited the game twice, despite the intructions on the pause menu. You may want to go with something that follows the standards of other games/applications.

A fast exit was quite standard some time ago, and some people like it, but maybe 'esc'-'F1' would be safer that 'esc'-'esc'.

> I wish you much success with it.

Me too :D


@ oNyx
>Then maybe a combination of both? Auto recharge at half speed and full recharge on contact

This would make it too powerful, I think that the gravity (that probably will be a tractor beam) is fine, but in my opinion having that much gravity available would distort the gameplay too much.

By the way I'm thinking about adding a 'Gravity Reload Speed' parameter to the arcade mode, allowing much faster reload.

> The new gravity effect looks better, but that "tracktor beam" feels odd. I mean that it pulls the ball down and not towards you. You could for example have one ship with gravity and one with the tracktor beam, which really pulls the ball towards you (a bit less strong than that gravity thing).

I think I'll just change the gravity for a 'Tractor Beam' function.

> > Quest mode scene loads faster
> Indeed it does, but it kinda feels like loading and animation are blocking each other.

It's an optimization problem, related to how the bmps are grouped in actual files. Already solved in the dev machine (no more betas I hope)


@ Devman
> Great game buddy. The only suggestion I have is the second screen after clicking arcade game (and quest mode I think) where you show the options screen. I was overwhelmed by all the options on this screen. I just wanted to play the game,

Probably in the next version I'll disable the 'Arcade Mode' until you get some keys, I think 'Quest Mode' screen is quite straight (or is not?). Also will add some color to the 'Start Game' option for 'Arcade Mode', thanks for the suggestion oNyx.