This new version has some major changes, but one of the biggest unveilings is not really in the new version, but rather in the addition of the new High Scores Page. The game records your score even if you don’t enter your name, but there is also a form to enter your name at the end of the game. Read more for the rest of the changes.
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Go Tetris! 0.8 Alpha
A couple of minor updates tonight.
- You can now rotate counter-clockwise! (With the “u” key.)
- Fixed that pesky bug where the last character of the score was cut off if you got more than 1,000,000 points.
Thanks to stillflame for the comment about how to implement the “rotate left”. It’s a bit of a hack, because all the spaces for all three right rotations have to be empty for it to work… so there might be some weird behavior if you’re rotating at the last minute, but it’ll have to do for now.
For that matter, thanks to everyone who has left comments!!! I love hearing everyone’s thoughts and suggestions.
My next feature will be either a high score list, (with “submit your name” functionality), or possibly expanding the number of empty spaces that can be considered for an eye. I know how I’m going to implement that one, but it’s still going to take me an afternoon or two. That means I probably won’t get to it until I have a good solid day to spend.
Thanks for playing!
History of Matching Tile Games
I was surfing over at the indiegamer forums, and found this link to an article titled “Swap Adjacent Gems to Make Sets of Three: A History of Matching Tile Games” written by Jesper Juul.
After pouring through the article, here are my first impressions.
Living Stones “Two-Eye” Tutorial
Here are some screen captures that illustrate how to make two eyes in a group of stones.
In Go Tetris!, eyes can only be the size of one stone.
Above is one of the smallest two-eye groups possible.
Leave a comment if you have any questions!
Go Tetris! 0.7 Alpha released!
Well, it’s taken me long enough, but I’ve finally finished the “two eyes” feature. It’s a big one, and one that I think really changes the gameplay. The only other change is that it now takes MUCH longer to go up a level. The next level is now reached when your total captures and total “living” stone captures equal LEVEL x LEVEL x 10. So to get to the second level, you only need ten captures, but for the second you need 40, and third you need 90. This means the game will get harder only very slowly, especially for new players.
I also added a check for those pesky “floating” stones that were basically hanging in mid-air all by themselves. Unfortunately, it’s much harder to check for groups of hanging stones, so those could still occur in the right circumstances.
I do think the new gameplay is very forgiving, and should make for a less stressful experience overall. More time for strategy and thinking!
A forthcoming post will explain how to make captures with two-eye groups.