PowFish (probably final) Beta
(http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac242/wheeethefibble/webpics/PowFishTitle.jpg)
Please test PowFish on your Android device if you have one. The download is here:-
Android version: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WT2KJK4C (full version now released. See Android store)
Let me know if it crashes or is too slow to play on your device. There is a frame counter at the top right of the screen. Let me know if you get the full 60FPS or if it is slower than that. Thanks. :)
If you don't have an Android device but are curious to try it you could try the Windows version:-
Windows version: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K4CSQBOT (full version now released. Free at my website)
This is most probably the final beta version. Some time today I will finish the High Scores screen and balance out the high scores system, challenges system and game modes a little. If there are any bugs found or suggestions please let me know.
This game should have been done and dusted a year ago! I have trouble finishing things, obviously. :-[
runs on touchpad android with
60 fps down to 50 fps on the top left corner .
Initial run of the game took about 10 seconds with a black screen, but after that startup and load was quick. Runs well on HTC Evo 3d at ~55-60fps, doesn't drop below 55. The screen res for the Evo 3d is 540x960, so the game only takes up a portion of the screen on my device. Otherwise it runs well. Great game, good luck with it!
I wonder if its possible to have a startup graphic (much like the iPhone) ? Mind you, I've never seen an Android application have one, so it may not be possible.
I get 30 - 37 frames/sec in game, runs nicely with no problems
on an:
orange san fransisco/ zte blade
QuoteCPU: 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset
MEMORY: 150 MB storage, 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
Sounds good so far.
Quote from: clx on 2011-Nov-28
Initial run of the game took about 10 seconds with a black screen, but after that startup and load was quick. Runs well on HTC Evo 3d at ~55-60fps, doesn't drop below 55. The screen res for the Evo 3d is 540x960, so the game only takes up a portion of the screen on my device. Otherwise it runs well. Great game, good luck with it!
If the app only appears in the top left corner that would worry me but presumably the app sits in the middle of the screen? If it was resized to fit the entire area it wouldn't be ideal on a larger screen.
Here is a video preview (of a slightly older version that the download:-
Unfortunately the games screen appears in the top left corner on my device.
how do you handle multiple screen sizes/resolutions for android with glbasic?
Quote from: clx on 2011-Nov-28
Initial run of the game took about 10 seconds with a black screen, but after that startup and load was quick. Runs well on HTC Evo 3d at ~55-60fps, doesn't drop below 55. The screen res for the Evo 3d is 540x960, so the game only takes up a portion of the screen on my device. Otherwise it runs well. Great game, good luck with it!
If the app only appears in the top left corner that would worry me but presumably the app sits in the middle of the screen? If it was resized to fit the entire area it wouldn't be ideal on a larger screen.
[/quote]
Quote from: clx on 2011-Nov-29
Unfortunately the games screen appears in the top left corner on my device.
how do you handle multiple screen sizes/resolutions for android with glbasic?
Darn and blast.
There are some settings in AndroidManifest.xml file in the distribute/Android/ folder that gets created when you compile for Android. The different possible settings and what they do can be found here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/supports-screens-element.html (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/supports-screens-element.html)
After that is sorted the handling of the multiple screen size / resolution is probably best done by the app itself. Reading GETDESKTOPSIZE will give the values for the resolution that has to be worked with. Because I'm being lazy I was hoping that the app would rescale automatically on any compatible device (Froyo and up). I'll have to look into why that isn't happening. Pity I can't recreate the problem here for testing. :(
I can test future builds for you on my device to get this working if you want.
That would be sooooo helpful :) I'll compile a couple tomorrow with different AndroidManifest.xml settings. If you test them and tell me if either of them look different I'd be very grateful.
Megaupload is down! :o DNS 'Seizure' Takes Out MegaUpload (http://torrentfreak.com/dns-seizure-takes-out-megaupload-111129/)
So, will have to use box.net for now. Here is another download: http://www.box.com/s/ycr53bp84pucdjqgqqk5 Obsolete, see latest post by me.
That one should, in theory, allow screen compatibility mode. If it doesn't I'll have to include some code to see if the app starts up in compatibility mode, and if not, resize the drawing routines accordingly. I'm reluctant to do this because it will be slower (I think).
Thanks clx for your help
:( App appears in the top left of my 7" 2.3 gingerbread (800x400) with both the original and the compatibility mode versions. Second beta seams to start slightly quicker and both versions run at 57 FPS.
Gah! Ok, I give in. Android version will launch a little later than iOS and WebOS. I'll add a little extra code to scale up the drawing of the screen without trying to use screen compatibility mode. If the screen width is very large it will put a black border around the edge.
The downside is I'm fairly sure this will reduce the max FPS. Oh well. Nothing's perfect, eh?
THIS version of the Android app should work on any resolution, including tiny resolutions (e.g. 240, 320):-
http://www.box.com/s/77y5k5of556c28uu88jb (http://www.box.com/s/77y5k5of556c28uu88jb)
It will create a box around the playing area if the width exceeds 480 or height exceeds 720. Don't know how / isn't possible to check for pixel density yet so on some very high pixel density screens the app may look small.
Tested out the FinalBeta apk, the loading screen is now smaller in size and still takes up a portion of the screen at the top left corner.
The main game screen now looks how you intended, it is centered with a black border around it. All screens from the main menu are consistent with this.
Awesome. Thanks for testing. The loading screen was kept the original way for comparison. I can now deal with that and some minor bugs. After that its submission time. I'm excited!
hi, just downloaded it from the post
Quote from: Wampus on 2011-Nov-30
THIS version of the Android app should work on any resolution, including tiny resolutions (e.g. 240, 320):-
http://www.box.com/s/77y5k5of556c28uu88jb (http://www.box.com/s/77y5k5of556c28uu88jb)
It will create a box around the playing area if the width exceeds 480 or height exceeds 720. Don't know how / isn't possible to check for pixel density yet so on some very high pixel density screens the app may look small.
it`s very very nice. I really like the grfx and the sounds. Works really good on my htc desire, with android 2.2. thumbs up for this game though it reminds me on some other games we all know ;)
I have tested the windows version.
The game runs good, is playable and makes fun. Using fishes instead of gems is a nice idea. I also like the bouncing text stuff and most of the fishes. Respect for this.
The music, sound and the graphics are acceptable, but I think the graphics could need some improvements (main menue, game menue, maybe backgrounds). Also I think the windows version is a little bit too small.
All in all I think this game is worth to finish it and (If you have planned to sell it) you should be able to earn some money with it.
Well done
Glad to help, hope the game is successful!!! :good:
Thanks to everyone for testing. It was
very helpful. :happy:
If the game is successful a big graphics overhaul will most likely be included as part of a future update. The graphics and menu layouts are the weakest link imo. I'm not happy with them. I could do better. Someone specialised in graphics could do a heck of a lot better. I hate doing graphics. The next app I release will have a dedicated artist take care of that.
I agree that the Windows version is too small. There are some graphical artefacts that occur when the playing area is expanded for higher resolutions too. Resizing issues will be addressed in the very next update.
Quote from: hotzenplotz on 2011-Dec-01
...though it reminds me on some other games we all know ;)
Why people are saying this sort of thing is a mystery to me. :whistle:
Quote from: svenart on 2011-Dec-01
Using fishes instead of gems is a nice idea.
I have no idea what you're talking about. :whistle:
hey wampus,
I have meanwhile tested the beta also on my samsung galaxy ace and archos g9 101 tablet. The game is running at acceptable speed on both, no problems at all.
I think on this both devices it´s a little bit more funny than on pc and also the graphics looks somehow "better". All the fishes are pretty nice.
a few questions/test results
- I played the game for about 10-20 minutes to reach highscore, but I was not able to enter my name. Is this a bug or normal?
- When I press pause and then will continue, the music is not running anymore.
- How have you made this wobbling background? The effect is very nice as well as the rising bubbles.
btw. you have forgot to add a link to the final game in the "android marketplace" thread here in glbasic forums.
I also checked your website/blog and have seen the "Shadow of the beast" demo... great :booze:
I didn't include naming for highscores since 1) I don't expect people to share devices that much, 2) I was busy being lazy. Definitely room for an update to the game later on.
PAUSEMUSIC had a problem on Android. The release of 1.0 fixed this since, on Android, STOPMUSIC was used instead. At least, I think it was fixed with the first release version.
The code for the wobbling background is from this thread: http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=5007.msg48105 (http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=5007.msg48105)
Fixed the lack of linkage on the Android Marketplace thread. Thanks. :)
Alright, tried the Windows version. Fun! Especially like the soundtrack. :good:
Thanks. I'll pass that on to the girl who composed the soundtrack. :)
Am finally able to submit to iTunes. Had a problem with the name PowFish and had to wait for support to review my situation before I could use it. :( Still, that is all sorted now.
If anyone can test for their Pixi or Pre (or HP tablet), here is a copy of the free version: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T1W3P8P0 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T1W3P8P0)
I'm concerned whether the sound and music will work as intended on the Pixi - stuff like that.
I can try it on all three of those (Pixi, Pre and TouchPad). I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow :)
Awesome! Here is the tablet formatted version, which I can't test at all from home (yet):-
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PTBLD4O0 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PTBLD4O0) for HP Touchpad
All versions (Pixi, Pre and TouchPad) appear to run correctly (I did not test every mode) :)
The Pixi version is a tad slower than the other versions, which is to be expected, but it still works really well.
The TouchPad scales appropriately, but is not full screen (double size?) but is still nice and smooth.
Nice work.
Thanks Ian. :good: I owe you one. Submitted to the WebOS app catalog.
I don't suppose someone, maybe Ian, could test the latest updated version on the Touchpad? Some major things have changed about how it saves data and reloads the last game position. Been a bugfix too. I got slammed over some bugs that hit the WebOS version. Ouch! All sorted now though (I think).
The free TouchPad updated version is here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=15JZBFGK (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=15JZBFGK) updated 1/2/2012
Also the free Pre/Pixi updated version is here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T4ORBHS4 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T4ORBHS4) updated 1/2/2012
I'm happy to give both a quick play, but I won't have time until Tuesday.
What specifically do you want me to test? Give full details and I can then check out those bits first.
:)
Thanks :) Please note the downloads I set up yesterday are now obsolete. The latest I put on Monday evening.
Just these few things need testing specifically:-
* The game should save its exact position on exit and resume play on start, unless the app was running for less than 1 second, in which case the player is taken to the the starting menu.
* It should save and successfully reload the challenges and high scores data.
* Previously when the gesture area was touched while in a game it immediately shut down. I think ALLOWESCAPE FALSE should have fixed that but I'm not sure.
There was a bug before that either prevented saving of player progress on some devices or wiped it out after 5 or more challenges had been completed. The code that handled loading and saving has been completely rewritten, so if there are problems, they shouldn't be repeats of previous problems.
Looks great, I was just wondering though.. how did you get the water wave effect in the background? :good: it looks so cool!
Do you use 3D vertexes with the background image as texture? Or do you only use the 2D functions and move "slices" of a bitmap image? Any chance of posting an example in the Code Snippets section?
The water effect is already posted in the code snippets section :) Click here (http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=5007.msg38258#msg38258).