New puzzle game WIP demo - PixeLink

[iprice]

Here's a small WIP demo of a new puzzle game I'm working on called PixeLink.

The aim of the game is to link cells with the same number and colour to form a picture.



The game is controlled only by the touchscreen at this point (I know people don't like using the touchscreen, but it is the most direct form of input and works well on the Pandora).  To play just click on a number and draw a line to a like number (and colour) cell. The line does not have to be straight. Going back over the line you've drawn will erase it. To remove a placed trail (if it's not correct) hold the stylus on the screen over the incorrect puzzle piece. You don't have to hold the stylus on the screen to draw - you can actually tap your next move.

This game is still very much WIP and has no niceties like title screen, sfx or music. It's likely to have plenty of bugs too - if you spot them and can replicate them, then I'd love to know about them.

The cells are quite small and I'm toying with making them a bit larger (in fact I've done 2 other versions with different size cells (2x and 1.5x), but I keep coming back to this one as I can see the whole picture without scrolling.

[EDIT] Forgot to say, as per my recent WIPs this isn't a proper .PND, but it will be. Simply unzip and place on your desktop and run it as you would any other .PND.

New version (v0.06) attached with in official .PND format. Simply unzip and place on your SD card (I recommend placing it in the desktop directory for easy finding).



PixeLink_v0.06.zip

 

[pmprog]

Ooh, my wife had a game like that on her DS. Looks nice, will try and give it a whirl

 

[iprice]

Update time -



You can now remove unwanted paths or painted areas by double tapping the screen so if you make a mistake it's easy to correct.

There is now a puzzle preview and a status area for puzzle info. Ignore the pause button  - it isn't coded yet.

.PND attached.

PixeLink.v0.05.zip

 

[comradekingu]

Looks smashing. Has a nintendo DS feel to it, really pleasant. Are you uncovering an image as you progress?

 

[iprice]

Are you uncovering an image as you progress?

Use your stylus to link colour & number clues together to form a picture.

Eg a blue 5 will only allow you to link to another blue 5 and you can only draw 5 links to chain them together. You can draw links in any direction from the first or last link that you drew.

Double tap on paths or painted areas to remove them (in the event of an error).

It's simpler to actually play than it may sound.

Has a nintendo DS feel to it, really pleasant

Cheers

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Looks cool !

 

[Silent-Hunter]

That looks cool! Once it's an actual PND, I'll gladly try it!

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

My wife will love this

 

[bzar]

Your games always seem to have a nice visual style. I like it.

 

[ElPoco]

My wife will love this

So will my girlfriend (probably)

 

[iprice]

Are the only guys that like puzzle games around here me and ED?

Cheers chaps

 

[Gandi]

Here is another guy... :rolleyes: !

Didn't have the time to test, though and will probably wait for the "final" release....

I did like Picross 3D on the DS so this will surely be something for me

(and for my wife - but she doesn't use my Pandora much).

 

[iprice]

Didn't have the time to test, though and will probably wait for the "final" release....

That's just it though due to the lack of interest in the demo, there probably won't be a "final" version. That's why I pushed it out as a single puzzle demo; to guage interest in this sort of thing. I know most people haven't got much time, but I also have this issue - I could spend months designing puzzles and doing gfx, sfx and music and stil have no interest. 4 downloads clearlyt indicates that my time might be better used on something else.

BTW The puzzle can be completed in under 4 minutes.

 

[Neelix]

I'm definitely interested,  but had decided to wait for the PND...  I suspect you would see a lot more downloads had you released it that way.

- Neelix

 

[edgex004]

Didn't have the time to test, though and will probably wait for the "final" release....

 4 downloads clearlyt indicates that my time might be better used on something else.

That is too bad. I like the look of the game, but can't try it out until more screens come into stock. My LCD is smashed, unfortunately.

 

[iprice]

I'm definitely interested,  but had decided to wait for the PND...  I suspect you would see a lot more downloads had you released it that way.

- Neelix

But it is a .PND and perfectly playable on the Pandora - it's just not in a format  that could be uploaded at the repo (not that I'd want to aat this early stage). I can add all the gubbins in to make it so if that's really the only reason for lack of interest. But somehow, I doubt it.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Are the only guys that like puzzle games around here me and ED?

Cheers chaps

Women are puzzling... that's why

 

[iprice]

Are the only guys that like puzzle games around here me and ED?

Cheers chaps

Women are puzzling... that's why

You're not wrong  But really, they do actually want and enjoy the same things  that you or I want. They just make it seem like they don't (unless it's shoes)!

 

[levi]

But it is a .PND and perfectly playable on the Pandora - it's just not in a format that could be uploaded at the repo (not that I'd want to aat this early stage). I can add all the gubbins in to make it so if that's really the only reason for lack of interest. But somehow, I doubt it.

Well, it's up to you whether you put it on the repo or somewhere else, but it would help validate you've a working PND. It also doesn't help that you've posted this in the development section - when I first saw the thread I assumed you were asking for technical help in coding or packaging, so I ignored the thread.


But having come to this thread and tried out your demo, I'm having more basic problems getting it working. You instructions state I should unpack the zip file, but on doing that I get a folder containing PXML and data, which is odd for a start, but it does contain a file that ends in .pnd, but if I try to run that the usual way, as you say, it is rejected by pnd_run. However, it appears that the file pandora-exe.pnd is in fact an executable, but with the permissions unset. So, I make it executable and run it, and it runs but it looks like it's not picking up its data as the puzzle had no numbers on it.


So it's not clear to me what you wanted me to do to test this file. It looks a little like to make it work as a pnd I'd need to make a squashfs iso of it and perform the usual packaging steps, but I'm not convinced it would run even then if I can't get the executable to pick up it's data in it's unpacked state (and your PXML is rather brief and doesn't mention anything about setting paths).


Actually, I have just got it to run. As before, I unpacked it and set the unpacked .pnd to executable. The I cd'ed into Media, as it was complaining it couldn't open data/4.dat, and I renamed 'Data' as 'data' as I'm running on a case-sensitive file system, and ran it from the Media directory (as '../pandora-exe.pnd') and it launched and gave me a simple level to play. But if that's what I need to do to get it working, you should really include those instructions when you post it.

 

[iprice]

but it would help validate you've a working PND

I clearly stated that it's a valid working .PND in my first post. Did the game image and attachments not give further evidence that this was working?

Did the title of the thread not actually give away what the thread might actually be about - you know, "NEW PUZZLE GAME WIP DEMO" - does that shout I need help? It clearly says there is a game demo. What more could I put in the title so that it doesn't scream "NEEDY!!!"?

I assumed you were asking for technical help in coding or packaging

Just because something's in development, it doesn't mean help is required - it happened to be the forum I felt this best fitted in.

It's so limited (in terms of completeness, not that it's not working as intended) that it would be wasting space on the Repo.

But if that's what I need to do to get it working, you should really include those instructions when you post it.

If you just place the whole folder into the desktop directory on your SD you can run it by clicking the icon, like any othe .PND. You don't need to fart around doing anything else. I did actually state that in the very first post...

So it's not clear to me what you wanted me to do to test this file.

I never expressly asked YOU to test this file - I put it up for anyone to have a look and a play to guage interest. Now I know, I needn't have bothered.

I've created a multitude of games for a number of open-source systems, Pandora, Wiz, GP2X, Caanoo and I've never felt any less gratitude for creating something than from your post. Cheers.