My first game: RotateZ

I have finally managed to finish my first game RotateZ, which I started programming almost 2 years ago as an exercise project in converting some old Blitz3D code I had lying around to BlitzMax.



It is freeware and very simple to play - being based on the old mobile phone game "Blockster Deluxe", in which you have to rotate tiles to make blocks of 4 or more of the same colour.

I have only been able to test this on XP - if anyone could let me know if it runs on Vista I'd be very grateful.

Download here.

PS: The backdrop images shown in the screenshots are not included in the ZIP file due to their size. However you can use any 4:3 aspect BMP, JPG or PNG images by copying them to the Backdrops directory (created when the game first runs) and selecting them via the Options menu.

Hey, well done. Looks nice. Downloading now...

Just updated the ZIP to contain a version which doesn't MAV on the hiscore screen. That'll teach me to make last minute changes without proper regression testing... :o/

Well I played the previous version and have a few comments.

It may be my crappy version of xp pro 2002 but in fullscreen the mouse pointer is invisible.
In the instructions screen the last line of text goes black, sometimes not the whole line.
The window in windowed mode isn't centered.
The game in easy mode was even too hard for me, I think match-3 is better than match-4.
Also, the controls seem strange, surely all you need is rotate clockwise or anticlockwise? Plus I would prefer mouse control.

Hi markcw.


That's strange - I have tested it on 5 PCs (all running XP Home SP2) without problems. In windowed mode the system pointer is used, while in fullscreen it is via DrawImage (I had to do this due to a lag which I could not get rid of when GUI boxes were being dragged).


Hmmm. That's even stranger - there's nothing clever going on, just the bog-standard DrawText command.


Yeah - I should probably change that as it's so easy to do...


Match-3's are definitely very popular, but there are loads already and I just didn't fancy doing another one.


Not sure I understand what you mean - all there IS is rotate clockwise and anticlockwise - and the ability to move the cursor round the grid?


Do you mean the cursor should be locked to the mouse, with right/left buttons being used to rotate? Hmmm. I could try to implement this...

Thanks for giving it a go and taking the time to post feedback :o)

Hi Chalky,

Just had a click play.

Well done, very good - plays quite similar to Bejeweled Twist..

I agree with markcw, that it should be match-3 instead of match-4, it'll make the game quicker to play... I know your reasons for match-4, but there is a reason why the others are match 3s ;-)

Put mouse control in for the game, it'll play lot better.

With you option screen, when turning on/off stuff use the same mouse button...

BTW I didnt get any of the problems markcw stated...

Cheers!

Yes, the drawimage thing isn't working here for some reason.

Well there are 4 keys AZSX which made me confused, it seemed to be flip up/down/left/right.

Yes, by mouse control I mean the box following the mouse around and left/right buttons to rotate.

Also, I think the Arrow keys need to scroll, with a time delay of say 1/4 sec before the scroll.

@markcw

Yeah - I see why this could be confusing. I can't even remember why I had two keys to do each function now - I will change it to just Z and X.


Ok - I will try to implement this over the weekend.


Good idea - will do this at the weekend too.

@therevills

Will hopefully be there by end of Sunday.


Thanks - will do this as well.

Following previous feedback, version 1.3r4 is now available for download. It contains the following updates:

1. Now only keys Z and X used for rotation
2. Cursor will now "scroll" if arrow keys held down
3. Mouse can now also be used to control cursor movement/rotation
4. Option screen now uses same mouse button for On/Off switching
5. Window in windowed mode is now centred on screen

Download here.

The control system is foobar here in windowed mode. Arrow keys don't work and the box keeps dropping to the bottom after I move the mouse.

In that case I'm stumped - because both keyboard and mouse work fine on my PC in both windowed (no matter what resolution I tried) and fullscreen mode. I also don't understand why you experienced graphical problems which I have been unable to reproduce on any PC I've tested it on. Just as well I don't write games for a living... :o(

Oh well, don't worry unless some one else reports the same problem.

At first there were no problems running the game here (version 1.3r4, on windows XP). I like how it plays, and compliments on the smooth scrolling of the credits too! The graphics look quite sharp.

But after restarting the game and trying to control it using the mouse, it seems that it keeps moving the selection rectangle downwards (like markcw said). Sometimes if you move the pointer around a bit, this behavior disappears, but it can also return. The problem only happens in windowed mode, not in full screen. (I say after restarting, but I think it was also the case when I first ran the game but I just didn't try mouse control.)

In addition I don't see a mouse pointer during the gameplay, only the 2x2 selection rectangle, both in windowed and full screen mode.

Perhaps you are not only reading the mouse but also setting its location, and maybe this in some way causes it to keep moving by itself? (Maybe because of small floating point differences.) However I don't have much experience with this myself yet in Blitz Max so can only make some vague guesses at what is happening.

If I could see a mouse pointer perhaps it will give a clue to what the problem is.

P.S. I think keyboard controls are fine for this type of game.

@Foppy/markcw:
Thanks for trying the game. Foppy - you are right about me setting the mouse location as I was centering the mouse on screen and then checking to see if it moved, applying any movement to the cursor-box, then re-centering the mouse. Despite working without problems on my PC, that is evidently not the way to do it! I have therefore modified the mouse handler so that it no longer moves the mouse. Having tested it on my PC in several resolutions without the box falling, I would be very grateful if you would download the new version and give it a try.

Btw - the mouse pointer is deliberately hidden when playing the game and viewing the credits. It should be visible at all other times. :o/

Download here.

Yes, the problem is now gone.

An issue now could be that, in windowed mode, the mouse pointer can move outside of the game and the player then loses control. The cursor box seems to move relatively to the mouse pointer, but this way it can happen that while the mouse pointer is at the right hand side of the screen, the cursor box is at the left; in that situation the cursor box cannot be moved to the right because the mouse pointer cannot go to the right...

A solution could be to show a small mouse pointer while playing, and make the cursor box' position the same as that of the pointer (but within the restraints of the playing field).

@Foppy
Thanks for testing that out - I'm glad the problem no longer exists.


Hmmm - I see what you mean. However, with this is mind I tested this several times by deliberately moving outside of the window and re-entering from the opposite side. I found that a very quick move of the mouse towards the box and back, and control was regained. During play, it's actually quite hard to accidentally move outside of the window since the grid is relatively small in comparision with the client rectangle, and the box is updated every time the mouse moves 4 pixels in any direction.

Hopefully this shouldn't prove an issue - if it does, I guess I will have to think again!