Messages

1

Tidalis / Re: Important Poll: Is version 1.004 working well for you?

« on: August 18, 2010, 08:16:08 AM »

Bubba's "outie" bellybutton scares me, but that's been there since early in the beta.  Otherwise everything has been running smooth like butter.  Or silk, I guess. 

-cc

2

Tidalis / Small Point of Praise

« on: August 10, 2010, 09:54:02 PM »

For all that worked on Tidalis...

I'm a fan of match-3 titles.  I gravitate towards frenetic titles.  When a title offers "puzzle" mode, I tend not to bother.  Just not something that I wholesale enjoy.  When I learned that the story mode had a lot of puzzle levels, I kind of put Tidalis off to the side.  When it went v1.0 I picked it up again and played a few of those puzzle levels.  I'm well into the 3-n's at this point. 

Gotta say that I really have enjoyed going through those puzzle levels.  No matter how challenging, I still want to get through them.  I like the dynamic of being able to try your solutions until you get it right without penalty.  I like the congratulatory music, too!  You implemented that very, very well.

And no less impressive are the frenetic levels - I'm into the 50's and have not seen one repetitive level.  All have been fun.  I don't know how, but every single one has been interesting. 

Good job folks...
-cc

3

Tidalis / Re: Hardest level(s) encountered?

« on: July 29, 2010, 08:35:33 AM »

I'll chime in on a different note - I actually welcome the challenge the randomness-y brings to the levels.  I like being presented a non-scripted situation and attempting to succeed.  I'd prefer leaving the difficulty at where it is for the moment.  I'm on level 50 or so, and I've had a few challenges, but nothing that has scared me off. 

'Course, I also advocated for difficulty in AI War and routinely get my space-butt teleported to me. 

-cc

4

Tidalis Technical Support / Re: Tidalis Updater Error

« on: July 28, 2010, 09:29:58 PM »

unfortunately i also tried to download beta 2 through the main menu and received the same error as the first beta.  When the update runs it attempts to install to c:\program files\tidalis if m bouiemory serves.  i bought it through your site. 

-cc

5

Tidalis / Re: Beta 1.001 (Guided Tour Improvements, Fullscreen Resolution Additions)

« on: July 27, 2010, 08:49:14 PM »

I almost feel like I should put forth my real name.  Okay, here goes.

-  Margaret Thatcher.  No, that's not going to work.
-  Doctor Joyce Brothers.  Nah. 
-  Lindsay Lohan.  Oh, forgot she's in prison.
-  The-artist-formerly-known-as-Prince-who-then-went-back-to-Prince-and-made-fun-of-the-Internet.

I like that.  Rolls off the tongue. 

It's either that or CautiousPants. 

-cc

6

Tidalis / Re: Beta 1.001 (Guided Tour Improvements, Fullscreen Resolution Additions)

« on: July 26, 2010, 08:38:25 PM »

I, too, am getting that error.  Here's the dialog text:

"There has been an error.
Error reading file c:/Program Files/Tidalis/RuntimeData/updates/updatelist.txt
The application will exit now"

-cc

7

Tidalis / Re: Official Praise Thread

« on: July 21, 2010, 08:32:02 PM »

x4000,

I just caught the review at out of eight - a perfect 8/8 score.  This is one of the review sites that I really have confidence in as the author focuses on a wide range of titles and is fair and comprehensive in the write-ups.  After eight was what got me hooked on the 8/8 Dominions 3 title (which is just way cool and bizarrely complex, but way cool). 

When I saw that Tidalis received 8/8 I was both confident that my enjoyment of the title was legit and happy to see that you guys are getting critically strong praise.

Congratulations to you and your team!

-cc

8

Tidalis / Re: Tidalis + Touchpad = Challenges!

« on: July 18, 2010, 11:29:56 PM »

Well, thank you!  I didn't want to come back here and whine without thinking things through. 

I was quite surprised at the amount of remapping you had provided.  And the number of options in the game (play options) are also surprising.  I love the custom game setting "surprise me with something". 

cc

9

Tidalis / Tidalis + Touchpad = Challenges!

« on: July 18, 2010, 09:08:19 PM »

Hey folks,

So I've got one of them fancy touchpads.  You know the kind - either super-sensitive or not at all responsive (until you start typing)...

Anyways, it is difficult to manage the controls necessary to play Tidalis with a touchpad.  Left-clicking with one finger than attempting to navigate with the other finger on the same touchpad is somewhat comical.  It's just too small an area to have that many fingers trying to get things done. 

So, I went into the Settings section of Tidalis to try and bind the keys differently.  There really isn't a configuration for replacing/emulating the effect of holding down a mouse button to move/change arrow directions.  It's a bit frustrating in a way because it makes any game where speed is a factor just plain tough to play because of tripping up on the finger interface. 

I've got a solution, though, that really is working well, though it's not something that your average player is going to concoct. 

I'm using AutoHotKey to reassign my Tab key to be LeftMouseButton and my Caps Lock to be RightMouseButton.  The effect is magical!  I simply hold down one of these keys with my left hand and my right hand is free to navigate on the touchpad. 

Thought I'd post my experiences and solution for those that may be in the same predicament. 

cc

10

Tidalis / Distribution concerns at 400+ mb?

« on: July 15, 2010, 06:36:55 PM »

Hey there x4000 - I am in the process of downloading v1.0 and will shortly be purchasing the key ($10?! - I'd buy your games for much more than that.  Heck, if you offered a bag of broken weasels, I'd buy them just based on your attention to detail, quality, and the great interaction you've had on these boards).

Where was I...  Oh, yes.  So the download is 420+mb, which is huge.  You can plainly see that there's a lot of content there.  But do you think the size of the download will be an impediment to some of the third party game channels that you may be working with? 

When you look at other titles in the "puzzle" genre the magic size seems to be less than 100mb.  At 4x that size, do you think you'll have adoption issues by a) the portals and/or b) the consumer who may balk at bandwidth and download times?

Interested in hearing what you think, after you get past all of the pre-launch/launch activities.  No rush...

-cc

11

Tidalis / Netbook Ready?

« on: June 14, 2010, 10:36:37 AM »

Hey folks,

I did a quick search but didn't find anything concrete - will Tidalis support netbooks with a resolution of 1024x600?

-cc

12

Tidalis / Re: Random Levels?

« on: June 11, 2010, 11:38:32 PM »

That sounds great!  I'll pick up the demo right away!!
-cc

13

Tidalis / Random Levels?

« on: May 30, 2010, 06:57:41 AM »

Hello everyone,

I haven't visited Arcen Games in a little while and was checking out the new title.  Seems pretty interesting, and if it's in the same line of quality and detail as AI War, then it'll be great. 

One question I had was regarding the construction of the "puzzle" levels.  Are the levels scripted, meaning the blocks found in each one are laid out the same way for each game?  Is there any randomization in how the puzzles are presented similar to what you would find in most other block-type games?

Thanks!
cc

14

AI War / Re: Poll: First Expansion Name (Answer: The Zenith Remnant)

« on: September 25, 2009, 11:03:22 AM »

AI War:  Attack of the Rapid Enhancements?

15

AI War / Re: Expansion Pricing

« on: September 21, 2009, 08:59:34 AM »

I'm with Keith on the $19.99 tipping point.  If I'm on the fence about a game or only casually interested in a title seeing a price tag of $24.99 takes it off my list for consideration.  If it is a title that I played in demo for a significant period of time and really enjoyed it, that $24.99 price tag still puts some reservation in my buying consideration. 

I have the discretionary income to purchase games at much higher price points, but my expectations with indie titles is that you're not supposed to get the big-ticket high-budget experience you might get when you buy a mainstream title.  To be quite honest, the first version of AI War lined up with those expectations.  It's a much different, and better (in every way) game than when I first purchased it.  That's why I would spend a little more on the expansion, knowing that I'm getting top-notch support, an active forum community, and patches/enhancements like crazy.  But for the gamer new to the title, I'm afraid that the $19.99 barrier is still in place.

-cc