I'm looking for some feedback on a game I'm developing for both WM and Windows. It is written in C# on .Net so the same executable runs on both platforms.

At this point the basics of the game are done, I just need input on the parameters on gameplay, i.e., is it too hard, etc.

The game is called Frantic, and is available to download from http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~jmisurda/ppc/fr ... rantic.zip

Unzip and copy to you WM device or play on your PC. Both will require the .NET (Compact) Framework 2 to be installed.

The game is played as follows:



There are 6 hexagons that surround a center hex in which a colored wedge appears. Your task is to place it in one of the surrounding hexes before the timer bar fills up. A wedge can only be placed in a hex that has that particular wedge empty.

When a wedge fills up, regardless of the colors of the wedges, it is cleared. If the timer runs out before you place the wedge, you lose a life, and a new wedge is generated with the timer reset.

The colors account for scoring and bonuses. If you complete a wedge with a single color, you will gain an extra life. Additionally, if you complete a wedge of the same color in one of the hexes with a bonus button next to it, that bonus becomes available to be used.

The bonuses are: nuke - clears all of the wedges, slow - halves the timer speed for 5 seconds, and trash - discards the current wedge without losing a life.

The other thing that color contributes to is how many points you get for placing a wedge in a hex. If you place a wedge in a hex that is the same color as the previous wedge, you get double the points as for placing the previous one.

For example: empty hex, add one red, +1 points. add another red +2 more points. add a third red, +4 points. If we now add a green wedge, that is only +1 points.

A completed hex is worth 6 points.

A new level happens at 64, 128, 256,... points and decreases the amount of time you have to place a wedge. A fourth color, purple, is added when you reach level 5.

The current version is gameplay complete but needs tweaked for difficulty. I will likely add three levels of difficulty that tweaks the speeds.

I also will add a highscore table.

Right now it won't support landscape or square screen devices. It is VGA compatable though.

I am seeking beta testers to suggest gameplay ideas, and to spot any bugs that might be in the game. You can just post in this thread with your suggestions/bug reports/etc.

Thanks.

Jon

Just to force myself to actually remember to post these, I have two new freeware programs that I will be releasing soon. I still need to tidy up their interfaces and make some installers for them.

The first is CPUSpeedScaler which will be a freeware PXA-270 CPU underclocker(/overclocker). It will support the standard speeds, plus an advanced mode to let you screw up your device.

The second is PocketCite, a BibTeX citation manager.

Coming soon!

Jon

Reposted from me writing this in response to someone saying they'd buy the iPhone the day it came out:

It's funny, there's nothing that the iPhone does that a PDA or SmartPhone doesn't already do.

Jobs was mistaken in saying it has the best screen, my PDA does: 192 pixels per inch in a full VGA screen (640x480). The iPhone is only 160 pixels per inch in a 320x480 resolution.

Plays music. But only has 4 or 6 GB of storage, with no SD or CD card slot. Plus a large portion of that storage will be used for the OS and apps.

Full OS X? Microsoft in windows ce 1.0 back in the 1990s made the mistake of taking the desktop Windows paradigm and translating to a PDA small screen. It totally tanked. What's good on a big screen isn't necessarily good on a small screen. Plus memory management and power management are different for battery devices that you want nearly instant on.

No buttons. This is the complete opposite trend being taken from MS's smartphones and pocket pcs. That's certainly not a problem by itself, but why MS has changed is because people want to be able to use a device one handed. Think about how you use/dial a cell phone. Probably hold it in your hand and dial with that hand's thumb. Not going to work on the iphone. Plus you're going to miss the tactile sensation of dialing the appropriate numbers.

No dedicated keyboard. Just try to take a blackberry from a user. They'd beat you up just to keep the thumbboard at the bottom. No matter the form factor, data entry is the #1 problem in small form factor devices. The software keypad seems mediocre, and there is hardly any predictive input support that guesses words so you don't have to type them.

Yahoo 2 Go. Download for the pocketpc since August.

Google Maps. Download to any Java enable cell phone for months. There's even a version of Microsoft's Virtual Earth. Plus GPS solutions.

Movie playing. With 6 GB of storage? enjoy spending hours transcoding your favorite movies to play at an odd resolution so that they don't take up all your space. Besides, with a graphics accelerated pocket pc (the dell axims use a similar GPU as the Sega Dreamcast did) power usage and FPS is optimized.

Music playing. Yay it supports AAC. But not WMA. Vice versa for pocket pcs.

Wifi, Bluetooth. Meh, welcome to 2001.

Cingular. Meh. GSM for international use, but neglects the largest and best quality voice and data networks in the US: Verizon's CDMA and 1xRTT.

Is it all negative? No, Safari looks great. However again it is not true its the first desktop browser to be made for cell phones. Mozilla (firefox) has a Minimo version that is the full mozilla renderer. Opera also has a version of its browser for everything from cell phones to the Nintendo DS and Wii.

But wow it looks pretty. So pretty I almost want it.

But let's look at the math.

Axim x51v PDA (VGA screen, 620mhz processor) ~$350
2 GB SD Card ~$60
Motorolla RAZR ~$80 with contract
iPod Shuffle 1GB ~$80
=================
Total $570

and you'd have a lot better, dedicated devices.

Just my opinion though. I'd really wait to get one until some of the PDA sites get their hands on it. Apple does some good things, but they're not usually the best for price/performance.

Jon

Anyone ever see these:

Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/

It's a bunch of puzzle games that are self contained. Some normal stuff like minesweeper, sudoku, mastermind...

But some interesting games there too.

My pocket pc port is nearly complete! Just fix a few extended features and test.

Yes, I know I have a thousand projects incomplete. Yes, I will continue to work on them when I get time and inspiration. Sometimes I'm lacking in the former, sometimes the latter. My attention deficit is clear.

Jon

Here's something I'm playing around with...



I hate all the existing IM clients (specifically with AIM compatibility) so I'm playing with my own.

The name and icons will probably have to change, but there's a start...

Needs a ton of work still. But I already like it more than the old AIM client from AOL, plus it works on WM5 and will be totally VGA compatible.

Jon

I've updated PlaylistEditor to version 1.7.

It now has a button to launch the current playlist (without saving) with the program registered to handle that type of playlist.

It also has a new menu command to shuffle the items in the playlist in a random order.

Get it from the usual spot, click the link on the right sidebar.

Jon

I've updated the VGA version of GSPlayer to the latest normal release, 2.25.

This includes a WM5 version that uses the Soft Keys.

Just drop the new exe over the old one from the regular 2.25 install. Otherwise copy a version of gsgetfile.dll into windows to make sure you can browse anywhere.

As always, I have no idea what the difference is between the 3 version (regular, 64-bit, and xscale) beyond 64 bit should have better sound quality for high bitrate mp3s.

You can get it in the usual place, look on the right sidebar for a link.

Enjoy.

Jon

I've uploaded a new version of Radar Watch (2.3) that is compatable with the new urls from the NWS.

Let me know how it works.

Jon