Sigmore Mines 1.06

Hi, I've just posted to portals a new version of Sigmore Mines 2.
It's bugfix update only. On some phones (tested on Nokia 5310) the game was hanging while selling items and while displaying the about dialog - now it works fine.

Sigmore Mines 1.05

Hi,
I've just posted new version to the portals (better latter then never ;) ). As for tweeter. It didn't worked for me. This service is a bit of crap.. All what I've got were people who follows thousands and were followed by thousands - in other words some spam-links_farm stuff.

Ok but back to the main topic. 1.05 release is important one. It fixes bug with overload penalty discovered by "animate". In previous versions even when the game was telling you that you were punished for carrying to much stuff, you actually weren't because, monsers' action points where not refreshed after their turn (only after player's turn). Now they are, and this affects also spells rest time, this probably rendering game a bit more difficult.. Anyway and as always, have fun :).

Sigmore Mines 2 Nightly builds

Hi,
I have a bit of motivation to work on new features of SM2. The result of this is a nightly build version of Sigmore Mines 2. If you want to live on edge and see today test upcoming features, go to my forum and download latest nightly build. Here is the direct link : click.

SM2 1.02

Sigmore Mines 2 - Version 1.02

* Fix : Corrupt save game when book was in inventory while saving.



New version is now posted to all three portals (GetJar, Mobilerated, Phload), how soon it will available for download depends on portals' processing time.

Sigmore Mines 2 v1.01

Today I have posted a new version of Sigmore Mines 2. I don't know how fast each portal will update its content, but I think it is a matter of hours.

What is new in 1.01?
- I fixed a spelling error.
- Not recognizing that final quest was finished is fixed.
- Introducing normal and hard difficulty setting.

Hard difficulty is the difficulty of SM2 v 1.0
Normal difficulty means:
- more chances of getting gold from killing a monster
- more chances of hitting a monster (+10%)
- few monsters have less mana, attack rating, defense rating

Previous save game is compatible with this version, when old save game is loaded it is treated as a game on hard difficulty setting.

Future plans

Hi all. I have on my hard-drive SM2 1.01 version with minor fixes. Actually with fix for misspelled "Strenght" and sometimes when you kill final boss, the game didn't recognize his death.. Yeah there are persons who have finished the game ;), but due to the number of feedback regarding of difficulty of the game, I have decided to add a difficulty setting in the options menu. Current difficulty level will be a hard one, and normal will be a bit easier.

After a month (well almost)

Hi all,
It is almost a month from release of Sigmore Mines 2 and I must admit, I'm happy how the things are going. Looks like there are no show-stoppers bugs in my game, and the game itself was well received, by the players :) (thanks for the mails guys!:) ). I am also surprised that Sigmore Mines 1 is not dead. I thought that when I release SM2, no one will buy SM1 - guess what, I was wrong :).

Looks like even with this beta testing phase, I still managed to include such thing as "Strength" instead of "Strenght".. I don't want to release a new version only to fix spelling error, so I think I will implement new functionality also. Someone suggested such thing as high-score table. I really like the idea, especially when connected with posting score online. I am just not sure what player actions should be incorporated into a score and how to weight them.



By the way. Maybe someone know free subscription system which I could use to notify the participants of a new versions of my games? What do you think about building community around my website? How would you like it to look like?

Sigmore Mines 2 featured on Phoload!

Looks like Phload like my game so much that they have decided to put it on the main page:). I don't know for how long it will be there, but I'm happy that they liked my game so much to put it there:).

PS I've just arrived to Vienna, I will answer all mails tomorrow.

First day of waiting

I am still waiting for portals to process my game. Getjar product information is saying that SM2 is active*, but the link they gave me is still not working. On mobilerated my game has "pending" status.

What was a nice surprise for me is that even if the game still cannot be downloaded from portals, I have got sales! (yes sales - not just one :) ). But please people, wait for the game, be sure it's working on your phone before you buy it, ok? I am doing it for fun and fame ;) but as a lone game developer, I don't have all the handsets of the world and I can't ensure that it's working on all phones. So first download the game (when it will be possible), play it a bit and if everything is fine, but it ;). But still those sales were a nice birthday present :).

* The getjar site is a bit of lottery now.. if you have "Application not found" page, just hit refresh until it "finds" the app..

Sigmore Mines 2 Released!

Today are my birthdays and as a birthday gift, I have decided to release Sigmore Mines 2 :). Website is up and game files are posted to portals (getjar and mobilerated). Now I have to wait and see how players will like my game. Anyway happy playing :)

Hunting bugs

Even now as I'm writing this post, someone is (probably) playing SM2 trying every wired combinations to find bugs which I couldn't find before ;). Looks like I have bugs in level generation code, too powerful spells, something called "null crossbow" ;) and few other things. But everything is being fixed sooner or later. Yet I must admit, I did not expected to have so much minor mistakes in my code.. oh well.

Sigmore Mines 2 ready for tests!

Okay, I think I have something what can be called release candidate 1 :). No I'm waiting for testers and in the meantime I will prepare official website :). So again, I need 2-3 people with Midp 2.0 and CLDC 1.1 phones with ability to load jars from computer to phone (because I will be emailing you the game). What I expect :

• feedback about gameplay issues like game to easy/hard
• feedback about bugs
• other tips (although I may or may not use them)

If interested, please write me an email or use the contact form - both can be found on my website.

Save is working,

I think that save game is working now (although I haven't tested it all). Touch screen support is done in about 80%. I'm working now on the sprites for buttons to represent main menu, spell casting, etc. Too bad I really suck at graphics..

Almost finished?

I must admit "It's been a long road, getting from there to here" , but my todo list is shrinking rapidly and I am near release. I have replaced all gameplay pauses made by showing the messages screen with embedded text (see previous post's video). I have two more tasks on my list : 1. make save, 2. touch screen support. Also after I make save game support I will start looking for beta testers, not much, just two or three people (Uthar I'm counting on you).

Sigmore Mines 2 - Animated Messages

I think it is time for some new information about my recent work on SM2. I worked on it a bit in the past few days and now I think I have all monsters implemented, some of them use ranged attacks, some use magic, some are poisonous and some can set you on fire. I also finished two main quests. First quest is a final boss monster in the first dungeon, he represents the ending of demo version, second main quest is.. final boss monster in the second dungeon.. (on level 50). I don't remember if I have written about this but second dungeon is generated with different way from first one and it contains hidden rooms. Today I started working on the replacement of this ugly message screen displayed after every action. I think that by making this information messages more "embedded" in game will make SM2 more appealing, I hope you agree.

Here is a new video, these are results of my todays work:

A new baby ;)

I have become a proud owner of Toshiba Portege G810 :) and it means that, I will probably also focus a bit on the touch screen support for Sigmore Mines 2.

What can I say about the device? It's niffty little thing, 400MHz CPU, 128MB Ram, Windows Mobile 6.1, GPS and GSM Telephone, WIFI, FM Radio. I'm still playing with it (or on it.. look for "pocket ufo" in google :) ). I can't wait to finish SM2 and start developing for Windows Mobile platform :). Upgraded with Opera and TCPMP (video player with ability to play DivX and Xvid movies) it becames trully multimedia gadged :).

Hidden rooms.

Still working on the SM 2 so don't worry ;). Just today I have added "hidden rooms". Actually hidden rooms are just rooms with doors looking like normal ordinary wall. This rooms contains usually some chests and no monsters. If a character with high enough ingenuity is within the visibility range of such hidden door, then the icon will appear notifying the player that such doors are nearby. Such doors are normal doors with just different graphics so even if character doesn't have enough ingenuity he still could find (and open) such doors by accident, by stepping into a wall :).

Dungeon generaition algorithm

I forced myself to work a bit on SM2 :). I've added new algorithm for level generation. With this algorithm cyclic connections of the rooms are possible (A->B->C->A). Actually I think that I'm not that far from the final version :) just a few thinks and I'm done. :)

Things what happen around me

So, I'm in Wien :). On Friday I'm going to my interview, keep your fingers crossed for me folks ;). In the meantime I'm making small projects, website here, application there.. generally nothing interesting. Oh, that company I want to work in is called VrVis, you can look at their website if you like:). They have some interesting projects in VR field I think:).

In the meantime I have moved a bit Sigmore Mines 2 project foreward. Nothing fancy was added but still it's counted as a progress right? ;)

Little progress of SM2

I want to thank for your comments, here and via my web page :). I can't promise that I will use all of your suggestions, but for sure some of them have made this "yes this is it!" feel in my mind:).

I already have mentioned it in one of my replies to the comments, but let me say it officially :) I have graduated from my University :), now I'm holding the title of Master of Computer Science :). Now, paths of my life are leading me to the Vienna in Austria, hmm anyone form there? ;).

As for Simore Mines 2:

1. I have implemented quests mechanics, thay can vary from killing a monster, or finding an item.
2. Potions temporary boosting player's stats.
   
3. Traps on chests.
4. Boss monsters mechanics.

Now I'm planning to make more areas, like forest and final village.