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If you want a subject to be “closed” and moved to “solved” – please post a message accordingly, than I can move the topic.
Thank you for creating the sub-forum, Malban. Perhaps this is an overkill because until now we have personal threads and not so much topics per issue/problem/bug. Let’s see how this continues and works out…
Thank you for your open words and sharing your thoughts. I sort of expected that my suggestion would mean quite some effort – effort which should better and first used to progress the overall game.
Perhaps as a good solution are some minor changes to the existing lists. E.g. display static arrows which indicate scrolling (single arrow) and paging (double arrow). I’ll have a closer look and will make some more suggestions.
Again, thank you, Malban, very much for your being open to suggestions and your explanations.
Great to see you around, GeoAnas, and good that you have received the PCB, now!
Other testers – what do you think?
Hard to say: I’m not very familiar with Vector Blade, yet. To me it’s still a bit like a lottery game and each game seems to be pretty different. I like consistent rules and I like games that you can handle because of your skills and not because of luck. Adding random push back when fighting against bosses would mean even even more luck in playing and again even less skill. So I’d tend against a random push back.
That’s just my 2 cents…Gees – don’t you guys find enough bugs anymore? Now you want to add something new?
We testers are inventive and have cool ideas and day dreams – haven’t we? And sure enough we want to find out what it takes to drive you crazy. 😉
Ah o.k.. I didn’t know about this reward. And I’m pretty sure that I’ve reached “Lieutenant” at some stage.
Does this forum software support folders? If yes, it might be a good idea to create a folder “Resolved”. Then, resolved issues like thise one could be moved there.
First time start – it wants a calibration – every other start should be with title screen.
O.k.. Perhaps a title “- Vectorblade Calibration -” or just “- Calibration – would be good.
Calibration: Swapping up/down
Currently, when moving the joystick upwards, the text moves downwards. And when moving the joystick downwards, the text moves upwards.
Suggestion: Moving of the joystick should match the moving of the calibrated/straigthened text.Various issues for the desktop screen:
Octagon and viewing area
Currently, the size of the octagon (=big screen, Kinoleinwand) and its contents (movie, Film) do not match very well: The drawn octagon is much larger than the contents. I guess it will look better if sizes (more or less) match.Script
EDIT: In beta18 the script has changed, already, so my suggestions below are obsolete.
I like the astronout running to the control panel and activating the display of the description of the power-ups. But all in all I think the script (animations, …) should be more consistent. Perhaps the script can be changed:
Suggestion A:
1.) Octagonal screen is blank
2.) Transition effect (the same transition effect that is shown right before the descriptions of the power-ups are shown) is shown on the screen and then “Vector blade” and the other stuff appears and scrolls down.
3.) After a while the astronout appears for a second time.
4.) Transition effect is shown on the screen and then the description of the power-ups is shown.Sugestion B:
1.) Octagonal screen is blank (no menu arrows)
2.) Astronaut appears and runs to the control panel and turns on screen
3.) Transition effect is shown on the screen and then “Vector blade” and the other stuff appears and scrolls down. Astronaut runs away. Menu arrows fade in.
5.) After a while the astronout appears for a second time.
6.) Transition effect is shown on the screen and then the description of the power-ups is shown.Calibration works nicely on my non-buzz Vectrex- Well done, Malban.
Perhaps there is not a 100% certain way to detect but perhaps you can try to detect it and then show this as a default (still needs confirmation). Just an idea… …ideally the software detection would do this job. Perhaps a way can be found, still.
The game starts right away with calibration – that’s a bit embarrassing. I would have expected a title “Vectorblade”, first. But o.k…..
ps. can you imagine if it ends up with 8 testers here all typing things all day and night like i typed above.. lol
imagine the time it would take to read through everything .. there would be none left for coding 😀This is what is supposed to happen: Testers will find bugs and make suggestions. At some stage Christopher will make a cut and define that the game is finished graphics and functionality wise. From then on, only bugs will be fixed and if no more bugs are found the game will release.
(if you thought the ‘warp failure’ screen was tough when it is full of enemies, that will seem like a holiday compared to this forum … heheh)
Right, dealing with all the output of testers can be quite challenging. But I think everyone here is aware that it’s always Christopher’s decision what will be changed and fixed and what not.
Welcome, Nico, good to see you’re around, too!
sometime I can’t buy certain items in the shop menu (not marked as n/a and I have enough money)
The user interface of the “shop” is also on my list for improvements. I’ll post various suggestions, soon.
The Galaxian/Galaga style overlay looks really cool.
The non-parallel lines at the left and right are a bit distracting and create a bit of a perspective which would fit to a pinball game but not to a vertical shooter. Would be interesting to see a draft with parallel frame lines.
Thank you, Christopher, for looking into this. Right, the difference inbetween two step is indeed big. I’ve just ordered a TL866II+ programmer unit which will arrive here on Wednesday. Then, I can do testing if you want. EDIT: And I can run small a test program on my VecMulti. I’ll download and run your VIA test program tomorrow.
The only downside is, that you have to tell the calibration routine that you have a no buzz. There is no automated way (that I or Thomas know about) to figure it out.
FAIK, all non-buzz Vectrexes have newer bios with a special bios checksum. Wouldn’t this a way to find out? Alternatively, you could ask the players for the serial number of their Vectrex. FAIK, all non-buzz Vectrexes have a serial number starting with 31 or 4.
