Release of "Jewel Match Aquascapes" on BFG

Started by Pingus, May 09, 2021, 16:28:16

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Pingus

Hi fellow devellopers.
Suricate Software is proud to announce the release of our latest game : "Jewel Match Aquascapes".
The PC version is made with Blitzmax (vanilla) while the mac version is builded with Blitzmax NG.
Demo can be found here.
https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/14944/jewel-match-aquascapes-collectors-edition/?pc
https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/14944/jewel-match-aquascapes-collectors-edition/?mac

Btw, I take the opportunity of this post to thanks Brucey and Derron for their help bringing Blitzmax a kind of second life with NG.

therevills

Congrats on another release!  :)

Just wondering why you opted for vanilla BMX for Windows if you had a build for the Mac with BMXNG?

Pingus

Good question.

1- Dev is faster because it compiles faster.
2- DX9 engine used since more than 10 years and proves very stable, why change something that works  ::)

Are there reasons to use NG for a PC release ? I mean is it supposed to be faster, smoother, more stable ?

Derron

some stuff:
- is faster (as GCC optimizes the generated C code, not FASM optimizing ASM code Mark Sibly's BCC generated).
- is slower ("generic" generated C code when transpiling)
- does not work like in vanilla (order of globals initialization within a file's types).
- does work better I think (GC can tackle circular references - a.child = b; b.child = a; a=null; b=null --- this is not caught with old GC in vanilla)
- compiles faster or "safer" (reworked incbin - to recompile on incbinned file changes - and only then)
- is fixed from vanilla to NG (check brl.mod and pub.mod changes)

NG has the SDL backend which is better for Multi-Monitor-setups (eg centering on the main screen, not "in the middle of all screens" like vanilla does.
NG offers "audio.mod/soloud.mod" as audio engine to allow streamed audio (and other thingies) - should almost be a drop-in replacement (for freeaudio and maxmod2.mod/rtaudio.mod).
NG offers simple replacements for the borked up brl.random (which does not generate the same random numbers across computers when given the same initial seed - in NG you can use random.mod/* PRNGs).
NG builds can be aware of hiDPI.
NG builds ... can be 64 bit (Mac ... and even Linux distros think of skipping 32bit ...)
NG should be able to compile Mac builds via github actions (free usage of cloud computers) - dunno if vanilla could.
NG contains brl.vector and other stuff (with lightweight structs for "ready to be trashed" vectors - compared to custom types)

NG offers structs (see above) which allow to have certain elements nicely grouped with methods etc - but without the overhead of having "types" (think of particles - for now you better have a reuseable pool to not stress the GC ... which you surely do, my game did and surely still does too - much texts to draw, many positions to calculate, pass around ...)

NG offers brl.objectlist which is a nice mix of arrays (lightweight) with lists (convenience) - should outperform TList in many situations.
NG has brl.io which allows virtual files (think of a "DLC"-folder which you transparently map over an existing folder - it then reads the files from there (if existing) etc).
NG optimized string usage (especially string comparison is now done via a precomputed hash instead of "char by char")
NG should crash less often when doing filty things with brl.mod-objects (eg creating zero-dimension images :))

Think there are also fixes for alt-tab scenarios (so you could suspend the renderer and reload textures if missing etc).


Of course there is a lot more - and most of them are more "convenience" than really needed (especially if the engine is already coded).


bye
Ron

Pingus

Quote
NG has the SDL backend which is better for Multi-Monitor-setups

That could come in a handy.

Quotereuseable pool to not stress the GC ... which you surely do

Indeed  :P

Xaron

Congrats to the release, looks very polished!

Out of curiosity, how are those games working in terms of revenue lately? I can imagine there are thousands of those out there now. Is it "worth" it? Do you have some ballpark figures if you don't mind?

therevills

Quote from: Pingus on May 10, 2021, 14:03:13
2- DX9 engine used since more than 10 years and proves very stable, why change something that works  ::)

True  ;D

I do believe that BMX NG has a DX9 driver too, but as you said it's very stable!

Good luck with you game!

Quote from: Xaron on May 11, 2021, 08:28:18
Out of curiosity, how are those games working in terms of revenue lately?

I can't talk about Match 3 games... but for Solitaire the revenue has been dropping over the years for new releases, I put it down to more casual gamers have moved over to the mobile platforms.

Pingus

QuoteI can't talk about Match 3 games... but for Solitaire the revenue has been dropping over the years for new releases, I put it down to more casual gamers have moved over to the mobile platforms.

Same for M3 of course. We manage it by trying to make more releases/year. It means less time for research and creativity. But casual gamers are not keen about too much new things anyway so it is a balance to find.

Xerra

Quote from: Pingus on May 11, 2021, 16:44:45
QuoteI can't talk about Match 3 games... but for Solitaire the revenue has been dropping over the years for new releases, I put it down to more casual gamers have moved over to the mobile platforms.

Same for M3 of course. We manage it by trying to make more releases/year. It means less time for research and creativity. But casual gamers are not keen about too much new things anyway so it is a balance to find.

Did I read this wrong or are you suggesting that your solution to over-saturation of a specific game type is to hammer out as many releases in a year as possible, while changing as little as you can?

I'm just gob-smacked if this is your thinking.
M2 Pro Mac mini - 16GB 512 SSD
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Latest game - https://xerra.itch.io/Gridrunner
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Pingus

No that's not what I'm thinking. I do as much changes and polishing as it is possible to do. Each of our release include incremental improvments which are not obviously visible on a quick glance but that required months of work. Each scene is made in 3D, highly detailed, scripted with fx and animations. Each level is new and is tested by several beta testers... We can do more releases because our framework is stable and we do not have to reinvent the wheel each time.
You can consider that the genre is 'useless' or over-crowded, which I can hear. But the same can be said about platform games, RPG etc...It is a competitive market but there is no 'over-saturation' in the meaning that people still enjoy the m3 mechanism and are eager to get some new one.

therevills

Congrats on the success at Big Fish Games! Reaching #3 in the top 100, great result!  :)

Not bad for a little Match 3 game  ;)

degac

If there's a problem, there's at least one solution.
www.blitzmax.org