I have gotten to the point where I need some mass testing done, to get peoples reactions and impressions on if the game flow is too fast, too easy, too boring, etc.
I am still working on a few of the user interface screens, but I should be done in the next day or two, so check back here for a link to download and test the game.
I am using the DX Studio engine, so you will need to download the DX Studio player in order to test the game. I am actually going to use their 'Build Installer' feature to export it to an installable package.
The basic concept of the game is:
You have a 1 min timer that ticks down every 1.0 seconds of game play.
There are shapes that drop into the game field from the top, and slowly drop down. There is a 'next' screen, this is the part that is similar to Tetris.
As the shapes drop, you can use WASD to move and rotate the shapes into a desirable position. You can also use Space to drop the shape.
Once the shape has landed, either on existing pieces or the bottom of the field, a cascading feature kicks in and any pieces left hanging will cascade down until it lands.
Once all parts have finished cascading down, all pieces of 'like color' will form bonds, and become what I am calling 'paths'.
If you fill a complete horizontal line, those pieces will be removed from the field, and all the existing pieces will move down (like in Tetris).
If a path has 4 or more parts bonded, you can click it to remove it from the game field to get points, and you will get +1 second of game time for each piece in the path.
For each level (1-20), there are 'missions' which you need to complete in order to go to the next level. The missions are to create a path of a random color 5-8 pieces long.
This is the level breakdown:
1: 3 colors, 1 path of a random color 5-8 long.
2: 4 colors, 1 path of a random color 5-8 long.
3: 5 colors, 1 path of a random color 5-8 long.
4: 6 colors, 1 path of a random color 5-8 long.
5: 7 colors, 1 path of a random color 5-8 long.
6: 3 colors, 2 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
7: 4 colors, 2 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
8: 5 colors, 2 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
9: 6 colors, 2 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
10: 7 colors, 2 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
11: 3 colors, 3 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
12: 4 colors, 3 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
13: 5 colors, 3 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
14: 6 colors, 3 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
15: 7 colors, 3 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
16: 3 colors, 4 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
17: 4 colors, 4 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
18: 5 colors, 4 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
19: 6 colors, 4 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
20: 7 colors, 4 paths of a random color 5-8 long.
For now the drop speed stays a consistent .5 seconds between drops.
The game play itself is quit fun and challenging. On Friday a friendly artwork competition is ending, and in a week we will know the default Color Set we will be using (we are having a community vote).
Here are a couple screen shots of game play, so you can get an idea of what happens:
(internal testing of path bonds)
(a Color Set entered into the competition)
(another Color Set entered into the competition)
[Edited by - BUnzaga on September 30, 2010 1:47:00 PM]
