Bloxorz

[Rapetou33]

Hello,

Wonder if someone has recent news about Bloxorz release?

Is this delayed?

[hcmffm]

Bloxorz is delayed (IIRC, Frank posted in the Facebook group in August but I can no longer find the post).

[Rapetou33]

Thanks Helmut...

[50tbrd]

www.facebook.com/groups/vectrex/permalink/835074480036264/

[Nic Lobo (pucpuc)]

update:
/posts/2278484

[hcmffm]

A mail with Kickstarter update #10 for the Bloxorz projekt just arrived:

title music integrated

Geposted von Frank Buss (Projektgründer)

Sorry for the long delay, was a crazy time with other business projects, but now I have more time again.
I integrated the cool title music from Der Luchs. Needed longer than expected, because I had to convert the *.asm format to the *.s format, and some more magic was needed to link it to the existing C project, but now it works. If you have a flash cart, you can hear it on your Vectrex, the new code is in the github repository, see the binary file.
Works in emulators as well, but doesn't sound as great as on the real machine. So I recorded it on my Vectrex, where I removed (most) of the buzz with a LM386 amplifier board and where I added an audio jack for best recording quality with the line-in of my RME Babyface USB soundcard (see here for details). Then I added a little bit reverb, in case you listen to it with headphones. This is the result (including the Vectrex start sound and the game sound effects at the end) :
soundcloud.com/frankbuss/bloxorz-title-music-and-sound-effects
The PC/Mac/Linux/mobile version will use this sample file as well for best audio quality, instead of the AY-3-8910 emulation.
I need still some time to finish all the levels, but I keep you updated weekly now. Maybe I can finish a first version with all levels until next week.
I will release the PC/Mac/Linux/mobile version first before shipping the cartridges. This version implements a full Vectrex emulation (based on vecx, ported to C#, running with MonoGame) and runs the original binary file, so if you test this version and when all bugs are found, the game on the cartridge should work exactly the same.

[Nic Lobo (pucpuc)]

Hi Helmut

also a new binary online
github.com/FrankBuss/bloxorz/blob/master/Vide/bin/Bloxorz.bin

[hcmffm]

A mail with Kickstarter update #16 for the Bloxorz projekt just arrived:

new Bloxorz menu and arcade mode

Geposted von Frank Buss

The arcade mode is done. You can choose 1 of 4 level sets, and a timer runs while you finish the levels. Demonstration in Vide:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEzHEYRnwfg 

For testing I used just 2 levels for the first set. I think it will be a good idea to use different difficulties, like set 1 is just 4 easy levels etc. Should have some good names then as well, like easy, medium, hard, crazy. The timer can run until 999 (16 minutes), until it stops. This should be enough, or you have to practice harder :-)
I also changed the buttons. During the game you can always go back to the main menu with button 4. In puzzle mode you can jump to the next level with button 2 and to the previous level with button 3. Button 1 is now used to swap the blocks in split mode.
I think the game logic is now done, but feel free to comment if you have more ideas or want something to be changed. Final step will be to integrate the faster line drawing functions from Malban with the calibration feature.
For the Windows / Mac / Linux / iOS / Android version I'm trying to port it to Unity 3D. I can't get the project to work on all platforms with MonoGame, but I have already done projects with Unity 3D, and deploying a project for the different platforms is just a mouse click with it. The Vectrex emulation is already written in C#, the programming language Unity 3D uses, so shouldn't be too difficult to port the graphics functions and audio output.

[hcmffm]

Here's a direct link to the Kickstarter page of Bloxorz. (No news, atm).

[TrekMD]

Haven't received any updates for some time about the game. I'm curious where things are right now.

[hcmffm]

In the past two years Frank made various updates to the Bloxorz project. Latest news is that Frank with some help from Malban found a way to increase framerate to 50Hz which means that we will play a flicker-free Bloxorz one day. And this applies for all levels including the complex ones.

See Kickstarter page of Bloxorz for recent news.

[frankbuss]

I'm working again on Bloxorz, now every weekend, streaming it live on Twitch:
www.twitch.tv/10x_programmer

I think final step is to finish the Arcade mode. I discussed this with Helmut, and last idea was this:

- in Arcade mode, every level has a maximum allowed number of steps. When exceeded, the game is over
- also every level has a time limit, and game is over when exceeded
- there is a score per level, plus a score for the remaining time

This allows fast tournaments, because it would probably end fast in the early levels for entry level gamers, but it would also allow for world records for someone who really manages to finish all levels.

Alternatively we could also just use a time limit per level. I know the mathematically optimal solution for each level, and I know how long it needs to play all the steps, so using the number of steps in addition to the time would be kind of redundant. Time could be optimal time +50%, or maybe +100% for the more complex levels. Obviously someone could learn all steps (I posted it as a Youtube video to demonstrate all levels), but this wouldn't be really cheating, but an amazing achievement of its own.

[hcmffm]

Great to hear that you continue with Bloxorz and a final release is in sight. And thank you for posting here about the arcade mode.

Arcade mode for Bloxorz
As organisator of the yearly Vector War I keep looking for new games for to be played in Vector War. Years ago I've provided feedback to Martijn Wenting (Revival Studios) for his Shifted. The outcome was really cool and Shifted has a survival mode which can be used for tournaments. Big difference between Shifted and Bloxorz is that Shifted is an action puzzle while Bloxorz is a puzzle game which requires a lot of thinking and trying. Introducing an arcade mode to an action puzzle game is more or less simple while for Bloxorz introducing an arcade mode is more difficult.

Some thoughts/facts:
- Games which are supposed to be played in a tournament need something comparable, e.g. a score or level.
- Bloxorz is a puzzle game which requires quite some trial and error and/or a lot of thinking
- Playing all 33 levels of Bloxorz without a pause would take quite a bit of time.

My initial ideas for an arcade mode were introducing a time limit and a maximum number of steps - see above. The more I think about it the more I think that this is not a good idea: Both limits put much pressure on the player and would change the character of the game. Therefore, I think there shouldn't be any limits.

Currently, the game's character and genre is "puzzle", i.e. a game were you play and try which requires time and thoughts. To keep the puzzle character of the game I'd suggest:
If a player can solve a level, this is a great achievement (especially for some of the difficult level). For solving a level the player should get a score. There could be bonuses for time and/or number of steps needed for solving a level. Actually, I would go for one parameter only, because two parameters will make score calculation more difficult, i.e. either steps or time. Less steps / time would be better.

Question left is what to do about duration: As written above it may take quite some time to solve a level. And solving 33 levels may take hours, I guess. Perhaps only some levels could be played in arcade mode?

[frankbuss]

Currently the arcade mode is implemented with different set of levels. Preview version for Windows:
www.frank-buss.de/tmp/bloxorz-preview.zip
The 4 sets are these levels:
1: 1, 2
2: 4, 5, 6
3: 7, 8, 9
4: 10, 11, 12
They are still pretty simple, so should be possible to solve in a tournament. Score is the time.

But maybe the sets should be changed. The last set would be for the hardcore players, and should have all levels. And I think might be useful to add a global time limit as well. If it would be like 10 minutes for the first set, it wouldn't change the nature as a puzzle game, but if someone just can't solve it, then it would at least end. For the last set it could be hours. There are many other puzzle like games with time limits as well, usually they don't matter, for example Boulder Dash, it is really just to avoid that someone plays forever, which is important for multiplayer. If someone doesn't like the time limit, then the puzzle mode is the right option for them.

[hcmffm]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your current preview version on Windows.

> The last set would be for the hardcore players, and should have all levels.
In Vector War it's good to have games that ramp up in difficulty and start (more or less) easy for beginners and end up very difficult for hardcore players. A set with all levels sounds good to me. Can the player end the game him/herself, too, i.e. if the puzzle is too hard for him/her? At the end of the game (when playing the full set) the achieved level is displayed plus the time, right?
PS: Your preview might answer my above questions but atm I'm lacking a bit of time.