DCSquares

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:57 pm

Our latest game is out! Check out the all-new, addictive DCSquares!

Instructions, screenshots, cd covers, and binaries for the Dreamcast, Windows, and MacOS X are available at the DCSquares homepage!

Have fun!

-Sam

impetus · Post by **impetus** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:00 pm

hey sam

i'll definitely download this - I played the flash Squares 2 you guys linked to and it was mucho fun.

bizzle · Post by **bizzle** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:05 pm

Hey c99koder, nice to see your still around. I'm downloading the Windows version now.

Edit: Just played for a few minutes, it's pretty fun! Nice work!

ragnarok2040 · Post by **ragnarok2040** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:00 pm

I win.

http://www.c99.org/dc/dcsquares/scores.php

This game is addictive :L, got that score when I collected about 310 squares or so.

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:14 pm

Woah, congrats! The highest we managed here was around 20,000. Did you use the Dreamcast or a PC? It's a lot harder with a Dreamcast mouse or controller

The highest score the password system can generate is 999,999 so hopefully noone breaks a million!

ragnarok2040 · Post by **ragnarok2040** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:26 pm

I was using a pc mouse, it's all that counter-strike practice *_*... among other things...

Number Six · Post by **Number Six** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:14 pm

High score is (temporarily, I'm sure) mine!

Counter-strike...

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:17 pm

Hmm. Looks like I need to add some varying difficulty levels to the next version. "Counter-strike" and "goes outside sometimes"

j/k congrats guys. If someone does make it over a million, I'll update the PC versions to add a few more digits to the passwords. I was gonna offer a signed CD or something if someone gets a million points, but it seems like it's easier than I thought.

We have some additional powerups/powerdowns planned that should make things a bit more challenging, too!

-Sam

*still can't get over 29,108*

Midgey34 · Post by **Midgey34** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:34 pm

Wow, that flash game is insanely fun. If the DC game is just like than I may have a new favorite homebrew. Unfortunately I suck at is with a score of around 8000.

Number Six · Post by **Number Six** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:46 am

Sucks that your high score table won't accept codes over a million. My score of 197,765 on the table should actually read 1,977,65x. (<Bug report!>To minimize the game I have to use the Windows button, click on the dcsquare...thingy[brain fart, what are those called next to the start button?]...then use the arrow key up to Minimize. If I Restore it, all I get is a black screen.</Bug report!>) I couldn't remember the last digit due to the problem described above. I still have the code if you want proof!

Other suggestions:

-Music selections a la Tetris
-Remove the bug where if the spin-square is moved off screen, the score keeps going. I can foresee quite a few inflated scores appearing due to this.
-Different game modes. One for points (how it is now), and another that only counts squares collected. This would force people (or at least me

) to play less conservatively and chase down squares they might otherwise ignore.
-Make it so that if you collect the round piece and get one of the power-ups with a timer (Slow Motion, Invincibility) and you collect another round piece while the timer is counting down it could refill the timer bar. This has potential for insanely long runs before the timer is out, randomness permitting.
-Have a counter that tracks how many consecutive black pieces you collect before losing one off the screen. Then when you finally do lose one, you get some sort of point bonus multiplier or something. OR, make this a timed power-up from one of the round pieces maybe?

Let me know if you need any beta testers.

PS: I love this game. On the addiction scale, it's somewhere between "crack" and "heroin".

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:06 pm

Thanks! I fixed your score in the database, I just set the last digit to zero (noone's gonna top it anyway

).

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definatly implement a few of them as well as update the passwords to handle higher scores.

A new version should be out soon! I'll make sure the site accepts both old and new passwords, so Dreamcast users wont need to burn a new CD if they don't want to.

-Sam

Smiles · Post by **Smiles** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:58 pm

Would it be possible to make the DC anlong sensitivy adjustable. Or at least make it less sensitive. The DC version is REALLY hard with the controller.

It would be cool if the highscore list indicated what system the score was achieved on. DC/PC/MAC

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:48 pm

Smiles: I'll decrease the sensativity on the DC's stick.

The new score passwords also encode the system they were earned on, so I'll be adding more charts to the score page: top 10 overall, and then top 5 for each platform.

Also, because of the potential to cheat in version 1.0 (moving the mouse off-screen), I'm going to have to have the site reject version 1.0's passwords and reset the ladder.

I'm also increasing the maximum speed the game will get, to make it more challenging

Version 1.1 should be out soon, and will include a ChangeLog so everyone knows what's new/different.

Thanks for the feedback!

-Sam

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 5:05 pm

DCSquares 1.1 is out! This release fixes several bugs in 1.0, as well as adding several new features. Check out the ChangeLog on the download page to see what's new! Also, due to a bug in 1.0 that could allow cheating, the high score ladder has been reset and will only accept passwords from 1.1 or newer.

-Sam

Number Six · Post by **Number Six** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 6:01 pm

Crap!!! So long 1.9 mil!!!

j/k

bizzle · Post by **bizzle** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 6:38 pm

w00t I have the best score!!

Mr. Jones · Post by **Mr. Jones** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:25 pm

HA! I think you might start another DCEmu rank, C99koder - DCSquares Master!

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:37 pm

LOL. I'm glad everyone's enjoying it

I shouldn't need to reset the ladder again, I really don't think people will get over 100 million points, and if they do I'll try to find a way to adjust things without losing the old scores.

It should be easier to get back up to a million with the added combos and extended powerups, though the game can get twice as fast as it did before, and your square can also get bigger, so better hope for those slow-mo and minisquare powerups

We still have some plans for more powerups, and maybe automatically submitting the scores for you so you don't have to type, but those will wait for a while. Unless something else critical is discovered, 1.1 should be around for a few weeks at least.

-Sam

Number Six · Post by **Number Six** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 11:58 pm

Sam,

I'm diggin' the new level of difficulty. It feels a lot better now. And:

-Have a counter that tracks how many consecutive black pieces you collect before losing one off the screen. Then when you finally do lose one, you get some sort of point bonus multiplier or something. OR, make this a timed power-up from one of the round pieces maybe?

Why the hell didn't I just say "combo" in the first place?!

PS: Number Six is the new #1! And 2...and 3...

c99koder · Post by **c99koder** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:19 pm

It's ok, I play a lot of DDR

As soon as I read that suggestion, I thought of the DDR announcer yelling "THREE-HUNDRED COMBO!!!"