Vexed 1.0

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:31 pm

Vexed is a puzzle game in which your goal is to move similar blocks together, which causes them to disappear.
Block can be moved to the left or to the right.
When no block in under the current block, the block falls down.
Once all the blocks are gone, you've solved the level and you're presented with a new level to solve.

You can only access the next level when the current one is solved.

Vexed was created by James McCombe (Vexed at SourceForge.net) for the Palm OS.

Any kind of feedback is welcome, send an email to this address: [email protected]

Vexed.zip for luaplayer
Vexed15.zip for standalone 1.50 version
Vexed10.zip for standalone 1.00 version
All are containing the application, three themes and all (19) level packs

Commands:

In all screens:

Start: Exit the program, use Home in standalone application

In the game screen:

D-Pad: move the cursor or the selected block

X: Select / Deselect a block
O: Undo the last block move (Please note that no block will be with status selected after an Undo)
[]: Retry current level

^: Show all available levels of the current level pack
The best score done for the level is displayed at the left of the level name
R: Show all available level packs
L: Show all available themes

In the selection screen: (levels, level packs, themes)

up and down: select the line
left and right: page down and up

X: Validate selection
O: Cancel

Changelogs in v1.0

- Remove all not needed unmovable blocks
- Keep the selection if by moving a block other blocks have disappeared
- Code cleanup
- Added all available level packs
- Better GUI
- Improved the graphics on the two available themes (default and second)
- Added one more theme (jewels)
- Vexed can be played as standalone application (without luaplayer being installed)

Post by **Oobles** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:27 pm

I posted the news on the front page of ps2dev.org. In future feel free to post the news yourself. Log in using your forums userid/password and select "post news" on the home page.

David. aka Oobles.
http://www.livemedia.com.au

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:39 pm

Thank you. I put it here because it is developped with Luaplayer and I didn't know that I had access to the news on the site.

HaQue · Post by **HaQue** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:25 pm

Hi,
Nice work..
1 thing... You need to fix the links to the zips as your post points all the versions to the same vexed.zip.
Cheers!

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:22 am

Done. Thank you

HaQue · Post by **HaQue** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:46 am

No worries,

I went to bed last night and had a few games.. it got challenging quite suddenly :) I love playing sokoban, and its similar to that, but interestingly different. The graphics look nice an polished, as does the whole game all round.

The gameplay is nice and easy to learn and you can get straight into concentrating on beating the level instead of clunky gameplay.

Thanks for your work, a nice addition to the 6 or 7 HB games I keep on the PSP.

HaQue

KawaGeo · Post by **KawaGeo** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:36 pm

A good puzzle, indeed. Worth to play it on my spare time.

Your code looks well written.

May I suggest one or two things?

1. When selecting a block, the cursor should change to something else showing the block is selected.

2. Whenever the block is unable to move, deselect it automatically.

3. It would be better to have each level pack starting with the easiest and ending with the most difficult. NOTE. I was about to give up the third level in Classic pack. Rather difficult to solve at the beginning.

Anyway, in all, it is worth a several stars.

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:01 pm

Thank you HaQue and KawaGeo

For the suggestions:

1. No prob, will change this.

2. I don't see hwo to make it work nicely. Let say the user selects the block, the color changes, then I check and the block can't move, then the color changes again to unselected. I think that the user will then see this as a bug because he can't select this block. If you have an idea how to deal with this.

3. I took all the available levels as they are in the sequences they were created. I didn't create any level or levelpack myself, I just take the one from th PalmOS version. Also if I need to sort them by difficulty it will be hard for me because I will have first to complete all levelpacks ;o)

In the original Vexed there is an option to see the solution. Maybe I can do something in this direction. (I also have problems to complete some levels) You can go and look at the levelpacks .ini file (in the sub dir. levels). For each level teh solution is described a little bit coded but not so hard to find it out.

I will maybe also add a level editor. But free time is not what I have the most. :o(

HaQue · Post by **HaQue** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:44 pm

for (2) you should check to see if the block is moveable first. That should work ok.

for (3) you'd better get playing :) Seriously, It would be good to put it in dificulty, but probably not too important. I guess what 1 person might find very hard, another person could see the solution instantly.

Like sokoban, you might find other websites that have made levels for vexed. Even if they are in slightly different format it probaly would be easy to change too yours.I think you are taking on something you won't be able to finish, and it seems you don't know how to actually program, or program well. Im NOT flaming, just offering friendly advice!
*EDIT* I mad a mistake and posted somethiing that was for a different posts reply..

Regards,

HaQue
up the great work :)

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:05 am

Hi HaQue

I can't follow you for point 3. Certainly because of my english.
What I did is putting the Vexed levelpacks which are available on the main vexed project page (sourceforge) as they are.
The program is converting them in the way I want.
The levelpack structure is the same (as far as I know) to all version of Vexed for all systems (Palm, GP32X, one or the other mobile phone and now on PSP).
I seriously can't judge the complexity of one levelpack as a whole compared to the others and in one levelpack I assume that the level difficulty is increasing level per level. Here also the sequence is the same as the one used by the author of the levelpack.
Mainly you can see the diffculty of one levelpack by his name (Impossible, Children, etc...)

Also if I found other levepacks in another structure I will convert them, that's it.

Starting from this point

"I think you are taking on something you won't be able to finish, and it ...."

I don't follow you at all.

To what are you refering to with this:

Another example:
Quote:
4) how does the compiler now, where all included header files are? If I for example say "#include <pspctrl.h>" ... from where da hell does the compiler knows where the header file is?...and how can I out this into an IDE?

KawaGeo · Post by **KawaGeo** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:42 am

Suggestion #1 - Great!

If you felt suggestion #2 is not a good idea, just ignore it.

Since you aren't the author of level packs, my further suggestion is to let the users to skip any level if it is too difficult to solve. At any time, users can easily return to any skipped levels to try to solve.

Anyway, keep up a good work.

PS: Your English is better than mine, me an American. :)

cancan · Post by **cancan** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:25 am

Suggestion 1 is done (the cursor will switch from black to red)
For suggestion 2 I think I will add some music and sounds and in case the block can't move in one or the other direction a sound will warn the user.

I will add the option to skip one level, it's a god idea - I'm also blocked in certain levels and I want to see the others :o) -

PS: for the English ;o)