*BOOM* – A Sneech Update

I’ve not done much with Sneech over the past week. I did go 3 weeks where I was working full time (60+ hours a week!) Now, I’m back to a day or two a week for a short while. Part of the reason was my iPhone game BoXiKoN got featured on iTunes, and sales shot up, and money started flowing, and I got a bit lost in the  excitement!! I took some time out to make the most of the exposure while it was there. Now things have settled a little, but I realise I need to manage my development time a little better.

The other reason for the slow-down is actually good news… I’ve almost completed all of the features that are copied direct from the Amiga version. There are some more obscure things left to copy over, but most of the work left to do is redesign, and new features. This means I have to put some real thought into how things will work! This is a good stage to reach, but it’s taking a bit of time to adjust as new design is always tougher.

I’ll give you an example of a design change, and welcome any feedback.

The way Bombs worked in the original game was: you bought some Bombs, and then they got used up when you collided with other players. Most Bomb & Deflect action happened in the first minute or two (except for Bombs that people picked up.) Back then, we used joysticks where 4 directions and a button were all we had. With all the different weapons and power-ups, it was just not possible to work it any other way. Now, I’m thinking of doing things differently. I’m thinking of having an on-screen display (a Bomb icon), showing you how many bombs you have. Bombs would be activated at the start of the game, and activated whenever you decide to use one. Activation could be a tap (on iPhone), or a keyboard, or extra button on a usb controller. I can’t see much fault in this idea so far…

Extra design decisions follow: I thought it could be fun to actually see a black ‘Bomb’ icon on the head of your snake, or perhaps some kind of glow or other visual clue that you’re armed and dangerous! This could add a new level of excitement to the game because victims know exactly what’s coming, there’s no surprise. I think knowing you’re being chased by a bomb, is better than a surprise. Especially when the victim knows he has a deflector!!

Perhaps the Bomb takes 5 seconds to ‘initialize’ , making a locking sound, so everyone knows you’re loading up a bomb for use. Perhaps once a bomb is initialized, there’s no way back? Too much activating/deactivating would get boring.

Well, you can see that even a simple feature can take quite  bit of thought, to get things just right.

As soon as I implement this new Bomb feature (and some other things), I will look towards releasing the game as Beta on the website for iPhone, PC and Mac. That could be 2 weeks away, but I think the move to open beta, and feedback is important at this stage.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Sneech Alpha 012

Sneech is now up to Alpha 012, although this and other revisions have not been released! There’s just too much changing so I’ve not been so keen to release new versions. It’s starting to stabilize now as the final features fall into place. I’ll explain…

The biggest news this past week is the game is now ported to Mac. Currently only Intel and OSX “Tiger” supported, but a Universal Binary will come too. If you run “Panther” and/or use a PowerPC Mac, let me know and we can arrange some tests. I do have an old G3 iBook myself, so I’m sure I can improve compatibility. This does mean Mac Betas will be released along side Windows and iPhone betas, so there wont be any delays there.

The Windows code has been completely rewritten this week. The Windows version previously used a Game Framework I’ve been developing for 8 years. I first created the Framework (known as Dexter), back in 2002 when I did the Mac port of Simon the Sorcerer 2! Since then, I’ve used Dexter for all my games, including commercial Mac ports, and all my shareware games. The Framework supported 8 different OS/Platforms, some of which don’t exist any more! It also supported other obsolete features such as 8bit rendering, and only did software rendering.

It was time for a fresh start, so all that code has been put to rest, and a new Framework (called Mandark) is being developed which uses OpenGL for rendering, and OpenAL for audio. The framework has already been used for my first two iPhone games (BoXiKoN and CornerChaos), but now the Mac and Windows versions are ready to roll. That means Sneech will be developed for all 3 platforms in parallel, (and a Linux version wont be too far behind.)

The move to OpenAL means more audio possibilities, so the sounds in Sneech are now played with dynamic pitch (drive sounds based on speed, and blockers appear with different pitches.) I will most likely support 3D surround sound in the near future also!

So, for the past week I’ve been working on all this System/OS code, which has been pretty boring and tough going, but now it’s back to core game development.

In addition to the above, recent changes to the game include:

• CPU Players purchase their own Shop items.
• After the final Match of a League, all unused Shop items are sold, and there’s a ‘Final Money Bonus’ round, which awards 1 point for every $50 you have remaining.
• Interest is awarded on any money not spent in the shop.
• The interest rate is variable (and shown in corner of shop screen.) The amount is based on how much money you have. So, if you’re very rich, you’ll get a lower rate. This is to discourage hoarding huge amounts of money, to benefit from exponential growth. It also helps award those who stay within a reasonable money range.
• The Opening Doors “Portal” effect has improved, and now you can see all items that lie close to the other side, including other snakes, blockers and slip mats.
• There is a (zooming into view) “Final Results” screen roughly copying the original.

Next to come is shop items, bombs, deflects, and more….

2nd Sneech Video (Alpha 009)

Latest alpha version of Sneech, running on windows.

This time I’m using Fraps to record the game, the quality of the RAW recordings are really cool, but I’m having trouble finding a codec that will keep the video quality. All the colour is washed out, and it’s a little bit blotchy. but It’s getting better!

I was controlling the RED snake. I got some early kills in! I didn’t last to the end but I won on points, yay!

This video shows off the new camera zoom feature, and a bigger arena which is not really viable on an iPhone. The doors are also opened near the end but the camera is zoomed in a bit too much to see them. I had set the game to “exaggerated camera” for the video, which was perhaps a bad idea. It looks fun though!

Sneech Alpha 008 Released

(As usual, the testing of iPhone Sneech is limited to pre-registered testers only, so it will not install on any other devices. Feel free to contact me about joining in on the testing. The latest releases is available on the http://sneech.net/beta/ page. )

Another big update, with many changes listed as followed.

1. Added better League Set-up screen (similar to old Sneech Menu Screen) where you can select players, which CPU snakes you want (e.g. play against 6 x Mr.Pinks if you wish), and change the colour and mode (Learner mode not fully implemented) of your own Snake. You can also set-up a game with no human players and watch the game play out as a rolling demo (more demo, and “practice game” options to come.)
2. Worked on lighting/visuals. Added subtle shadows under snakes giving more of pseudo 3d look. Also worked on arena lights, as seen in the corner spot lights which affect lighting and shadows when you move past. I may also add some lighting to some new ‘blocker’ objects.
3. Speed and Size Bonuses, Kill and Damage bonuses, and Random Factor is awarded at the end of each game, similar to original.
4. Now, when  you quit a game early, the game fades out slowly for 4 seconds and you see the remainder of the game in rapid fast motion (with no sound effects), so the outcome of the match is the genuine outcome, as if you watched it in real-time.

So, the game has taken a big leap towards being aesthetically complete, and I guess it’s about 85% of the way now. The next big feature will be the shop screen, the proper league results screen showing the winners,  and some weapons/gadgets like Bombs and Deflects. I also need to add the ‘Kill Points’ display next to each snake at the start of a game.

Only a few more sounds left to add too!

Kill Points Explained

Today Sneech reached a milestone, as I added the Random Factor! I’ve added the “Bonus Awards” screens where Speed & Size bonuses, Kill & Damage Bonuses, and the Random Factor is awarded. I have the general presentation, and sound almost the same as the original. (New Alpha due on Friday!)

So, I now have the game keeping track of kills, and damage. It’s been fun trying to figure out how it all worked, and I’m sure there are subtle differences. I’ve not been able to look through the original source code, because it’s just too complicated!

The way it works now is: Kill Points are shown at the beginning of a game as before. The points are based on how well each player is going in the league, plus some random factor. When a player dies, the Kill and Damage points are calculated, and awarded to those who deserve it. First of all, the Kill points are given to the player who made the kill, usually the one in close proximity at the point of death, or someone who inflicted damage very recently. However, if two players are equally suspect, the points are shared 50/50.

Next, the Damage points… The Damage points are a “runners-up” prize only, so anyone awarded the Kill points are excluded from the Damage award. Now… every time you crash into another player, the game keeps track of the number of impacts (and severity e.g. Bombs/Deflects.) When you come to an untimely death, the game calculates who inflicted the most damage to you while you were alive. If one player caused a significant amount of damage, that player is awarded 50% of the Kill Points. If the kill points were previously shared between two players (50% each), the Damage points are reduced to 33%.

Lets say victim Mr.Red has 100 Kill Points on his head… Mr.Green causes a great deal of damage to Mr.Red but Mr.Chrome makes the final Kill. The points will be: 100 points to Mr.Chrome, and 50 Points to Mr.Green. In another example, victim Mr.Red has 100 points on his head… Mr.Chrome causes a good deal of damage, but Mr.Green and Mr.Blue jointly make the final kill, the points are awarded as: Mr.Green and Mr.Blue get 50 Points each, and Mr.Chrome gets 33 points.

Of course, if a player survives the whole game and escapes through the exit door, no Kill points or Damage points are awarded to anyone, no matter how much damage has been given!

Sneech Alpha 007

(The testing of iPhone Sneech is limited to registered testers only, but feel free to contact me about joining in. Apple force developers to limit ‘Beta’ versions to their Ad-Hoc system, which requires registering your Device with me, to be added to a list, which then lets you install subsequent releases.)

As usual, all releases are available on the  http://sneech.net/beta/

In Alpha 007, I improved the AI quite a bit. I added individual characteristics so each snake can have different style and preference. They will also start attacking you, but it’s basic stuff now. It’s more like “follow” you

I added a Shrink pickup (Red Box), just because I thought it would do no harm to have them! It’s hard to imagine when you might want to shrink down a size or two, but I’ve taught the CPU players to use them when they’re feeling too big The Shrinker shrinks you down by 33%.

I added the “Reverse” feature which is currently only usable if you “self-reverse”. It happens when you wrap yourself up into a dead-end and the head is surrounded by your own body.

I added explosion patches (damage “decals”) so when you kill a player e.g. Mr.Green, it leaves a green ‘burn’ patch. I tried to make it subtle and not too cheesy. I think it looks good. They shrink and fade away after a while. I will add more Decals later, for things like bombs which will leave smaller ‘burns’.

More sounds have been added, a new font (will be improved), and lots of cosmetic changes, and hidden changes under the hud!