A new game has been announced:
http://www.tapstargames.com/games/bould ... y-edition/
It's made by Chris Grey with the help of Peter Liepa! And it's the first official release with a level editor.
I really hope they do not screw this up this time (as FirstStarSoftware always did)!
Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary!
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Chris Gray announced to me that an early version of this game has been released in The Netherlands and Denmark.
He appreciates if any BD fan from these countries could play/test the game and provide feedback. The game is available in the local Apple App store for iPhone and iPad. As I am myself not a user of these platforms, I'm not able yet to play/test the game.
Soon the game will be available in more countries and also an Android version (an later a PC version) will be released.
He appreciates if any BD fan from these countries could play/test the game and provide feedback. The game is available in the local Apple App store for iPhone and iPad. As I am myself not a user of these platforms, I'm not able yet to play/test the game.
Soon the game will be available in more countries and also an Android version (an later a PC version) will be released.
---- Boulder Dash Fansite ----
Chris mentioned to me a short gameplay video of the version Tapstar has been working on for wider release in a few weeks. Check it out here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ecrpe8nx12xum ... 0video.mp4
As mentioned before, this games is currently available only in the App stores of The Netherlands and Denmark.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ecrpe8nx12xum ... 0video.mp4
As mentioned before, this games is currently available only in the App stores of The Netherlands and Denmark.
---- Boulder Dash Fansite ----
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benjamind2011
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I see it has a level editor as well, that should keep the game going for some time once people have finished off the cave sets.
I've always liked the idea of having boulderdash that is really playable on Android, and this comes closest to that dream.
On the PC I mostly use GDash, as it is the best Boulderdash out there bar none. I wonder if it's possible to export levels created in GDash and play them with this game?
In the level editor can one change the colors of the boulders, sand, bricks, etc?
I've always liked the idea of having boulderdash that is really playable on Android, and this comes closest to that dream.
On the PC I mostly use GDash, as it is the best Boulderdash out there bar none. I wonder if it's possible to export levels created in GDash and play them with this game?
In the level editor can one change the colors of the boulders, sand, bricks, etc?
I just learned that the level editor will be part of the PC version. At least if the Kickstarter campaign is successful for it.
But I wonder how they designed the caves if they are starting a Kickstarter for the level editor now that was promised to be included right from the beginning!?!? Seems to be money-making only to me...
But I wonder how they designed the caves if they are starting a Kickstarter for the level editor now that was promised to be included right from the beginning!?!? Seems to be money-making only to me...
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benjamind2011
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Shit! That doesn't sound good at all!
I thought the level editor was included at the very start. Now that we know they were bullshitting us, I wonder what else is in store?
I'm a bit concerned about the future of Boulder Dash if this is the attitude that they take!
Thank God for GDash...I just hope it gets worked on again, it hasn't been touched in 18 months.
I thought the level editor was included at the very start. Now that we know they were bullshitting us, I wonder what else is in store?
I'm a bit concerned about the future of Boulder Dash if this is the attitude that they take!
Thank God for GDash...I just hope it gets worked on again, it hasn't been touched in 18 months.
In my own oppinion - if FSS is involved it's all about money, money only. At least it looks like that way if you consider what they did with Boulder Dash since Peter Liepa left.
They certainly made the levels with the level editor. At least this would be logical. And now they want a Kickstarter? See above...
All in all, if you think about it, a level editor is not in the best interest of FSS - the could not sell as much cave packs if people could do their own levels. And therefore see above...
They certainly made the levels with the level editor. At least this would be logical. And now they want a Kickstarter? See above...
All in all, if you think about it, a level editor is not in the best interest of FSS - the could not sell as much cave packs if people could do their own levels. And therefore see above...
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benjamind2011
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Of course they made the levels with a level editor, hell it would have taken them an eternity to put 200+ levels together.
And they are bullshitting themselves if they think that just because they include a level editor that they won't sell as many cave packs. They will, because people will want to play them, especially dedicated fans like myself.
But I may not bother with them, now that they've decided to be smart arses about not including the level editor as they initially promised.
It'll be up to GDash development from here on in, I think.
Wish I could say that they want to include a level editor for their new creation...but it looks like they really don't want to, otherwise they'd include it, or even charge extra for it...but they don't seem to be interested in charging for it. C'est La Vie!
And they are bullshitting themselves if they think that just because they include a level editor that they won't sell as many cave packs. They will, because people will want to play them, especially dedicated fans like myself.
But I may not bother with them, now that they've decided to be smart arses about not including the level editor as they initially promised.
It'll be up to GDash development from here on in, I think.
Wish I could say that they want to include a level editor for their new creation...but it looks like they really don't want to, otherwise they'd include it, or even charge extra for it...but they don't seem to be interested in charging for it. C'est La Vie!
The game is really good - I think it's the best Boulder Dash remake ever released from FSS since the original game from 1984 (and I bought all level packs - they are not very expensive). But I do not understand why everything must be about money. Are there really no idealists existing anymore today?
The level editor is an essential tool. They should charge separately for it if they want to have more money for the product. But a Kickstarter for an existing tool is a really weird method to get more money out of it...
The level editor is an essential tool. They should charge separately for it if they want to have more money for the product. But a Kickstarter for an existing tool is a really weird method to get more money out of it...
Of course developers use a level editor to design their caves. However, there is a difference between a tool that a developer can use and a tool that could be given to the general public. E.g. the in-house editor might have a user-interface with lousy graphics, be non-intuitive or have some remaining bugs. Therefore I think that it is indeed an additional effort to develop a polished editor to be used by an everyday user.
To the game: I have had a look at the 30 minute video they posted on Youtube. I think the music sounds really awesome. The graphics look also very nice and the interaction with the objects looks fine. However I am wondering about the qualitiy of the level design. Boulder Dash is a game with a small number of elements with an endless amount of combinations to build incredibly witty puzzles. I don't see this realized in these levels here at all. Or maybe it's only because this is the mobile version for casual gamers? I hope the PC version will have some really good puzzles.
To the game: I have had a look at the 30 minute video they posted on Youtube. I think the music sounds really awesome. The graphics look also very nice and the interaction with the objects looks fine. However I am wondering about the qualitiy of the level design. Boulder Dash is a game with a small number of elements with an endless amount of combinations to build incredibly witty puzzles. I don't see this realized in these levels here at all. Or maybe it's only because this is the mobile version for casual gamers? I hope the PC version will have some really good puzzles.
The puzzels are getting better at later caves but are still miles away from the original game. They are too simple and I think they are too simple because of the way you control the game. Maybe it will get better on the computerized version. I have to admit that playing the new incarnation gets boring very fast. The challenging and exiting moments are missing somehow. And I noticed several "problems" I really do not like (e.g. the Amoeba is not reduced by exploding enemies, Diamonds do not behave as boulders as they do not harm the player when falling on him, no pushing delay for boulders, enemies move half as slow as the player, etc. etc.). I contacted Peter Liepa about several ideas to make the game more like the original one as he has some influence on development - but until now it does not seem that anything changed.
The biggest problem is that the whole game has been extremely commercialized. Everything costs money. Everything. New elements were added only because of selling additional stuff. And these things were included in a way that you need them at a certain point in the game. I think that's not a good development but I see this typical for FSS.
I really hope that the computerized version of this new game is more like the original game. Maybe a level editor can upvalue the game because external cave designers could be a great inspiration for players. And there are a lot of good cave makers here in the forum!
But I'm almost willing to think that the level editor will not be released ever. And think about it - a level editor is not good for FSS. They want to SELL new levels. If there are too many people out there releasing new cave sets, FSS can not sell that many new sets by themselves. I think this also a reason why the announcement for a level editor for BD 30th anniversary was removed from the website as soon as the game has been released. I want to be wrong but I fear to be right...
The biggest problem is that the whole game has been extremely commercialized. Everything costs money. Everything. New elements were added only because of selling additional stuff. And these things were included in a way that you need them at a certain point in the game. I think that's not a good development but I see this typical for FSS.
I really hope that the computerized version of this new game is more like the original game. Maybe a level editor can upvalue the game because external cave designers could be a great inspiration for players. And there are a lot of good cave makers here in the forum!
But I'm almost willing to think that the level editor will not be released ever. And think about it - a level editor is not good for FSS. They want to SELL new levels. If there are too many people out there releasing new cave sets, FSS can not sell that many new sets by themselves. I think this also a reason why the announcement for a level editor for BD 30th anniversary was removed from the website as soon as the game has been released. I want to be wrong but I fear to be right...
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benjamind2011
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Yep. They've borked themselves.
But hey, it's not my problem. It's theirs.
We can stick to GDash, like I said. At least that is the absolute original game.
We have to wait for some further updates. I was hoping some time this year, but maybe not until next. If I remember correctly it was a great deal of time between prior releases...so it might be another year.
It's already reasonably stable, but there could still be some bugs, improvements, to be worked on.
But hey, it's not my problem. It's theirs.
We can stick to GDash, like I said. At least that is the absolute original game.
We have to wait for some further updates. I was hoping some time this year, but maybe not until next. If I remember correctly it was a great deal of time between prior releases...so it might be another year.
It's already reasonably stable, but there could still be some bugs, improvements, to be worked on.