I'm sure my newbie score is nothing compared to you guys, but I was wondering who has the highest ...

On standard I've managed 808

Who's the X-Marbles daddy?

To the author - GREAT game BTW - I love it

Thanks... I'll be getting back to it after I get MXM 1.0 out.

I'm also planning on a homebrew 3-D version of the old classic "Bosconian"

At least two of my colleagues are getting modded Xboxes this Christmas, we're all professional software engineers, so expect some cool stuff in the future

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 13 2002, 01:29 PM)

Thanks... I'll be getting back to it after I get MXM 1.0 out. I'm also planning on a homebrew 3-D version of the old classic "Bosconian" At least two of my colleagues are getting modded Xboxes this Christmas, we're all professional software engineers, so expect some cool stuff in the future

when is it coming out? lol

QUOTE (Cheerio @ Dec 13 2002, 02:30 PM)

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 13 2002, 01:29 PM) Thanks... I'll be getting back to it after I get MXM 1.0 out. I'm also planning on a homebrew 3-D version of the old classic "Bosconian" At least two of my colleagues are getting modded Xboxes this Christmas, we're all professional software engineers, so expect some cool stuff in the future  :D when is it coming out? lol

X-Marbles 1.0 or Bosconian... or are you referring to MXM 1.0?

Heh heh... I will hopefully get cranking on MXM this weekend and get my complex skin renderer working (after hitting some robustness issues AGAIN).

I've actually got a nicer version of X-Marbles here (soundtrack support), but I was hoping to get a few more things cleaned up on it.

Dunno if this is hard algorithm to compute or not ...

But a good improvement would be a box showing the maximum possible score per set of marbles. Like a target

Maybe then express score as a percentage (ability) not score (dependent on marbles)

Just an idea!

Cheers

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 13 2002, 06:29 PM)

I'm also planning on a homebrew 3-D version

Oh no. Not another 3D. I hope it doesn't smell like ass.

QUOTE (whiffin @ Dec 13 2002, 08:04 PM)

Dunno if this is hard algorithm to compute or not ... But a good improvement would be a box showing the maximum possible score per set of marbles. Like a target Maybe then express score as a percentage (ability) not score (dependent on marbles) Just an idea! Cheers

I'm not quite sure I'm catching your meaning here...

Do you mean compute as if "all" the marbles of the color highlighted were touching, then give the player a score based on the percentage he actually achieves?

When I update it, I could add different scoring modes.

What I mean - is once the marbles are set up, before the user starts getting rid of them, work out the maximum possible score that he/she could achieve if they clicked all of teh right marbles in the right order.

i.e. For some sets it may only be possible for a user to get 400 points, whilst for other sets 500 may be possible.

This way, at the end of the game, you could calculate the users score on how many points they've got AND the percentage this is to the maximum.

If the maximum possible score for a full set of marbles is 400, and a user gets 390 - this is obviously better than a user getting 410 on a set with 800 possible. (But the current point system says otherwise).

This way users can aim to get 100% each time.

Make more sense?

QUOTE (whiffin @ Dec 14 2002, 08:03 AM)

What I mean - is once the marbles are set up, before the user starts getting rid of them, work out the maximum possible score that he/she could achieve if they clicked all of teh right marbles in the right order. i.e. For some sets it may only be possible for a user to get 400 points, whilst for other sets 500 may be possible. This way, at the end of the game, you could calculate the users score on how many points they've got AND the percentage this is to the maximum. If the maximum possible score for a full set of marbles is 400, and a user gets 390 - this is obviously better than a user getting 410 on a set with 800 possible. (But the current point system says otherwise). This way users can aim to get 100% each time. Make more sense?

OK, I think I get you there...

But, yeah, it would be pretty difficult figuring out the 'best' way a person could play the game to get the maximum score for a board. If there was 5 possible selections, each leading to 5 more possible and so forth... for only about 20 or 30 moves, even though the moves get whittled down toward the end, you'd have trillions of possible 'plays' to calculate.


The user might not want to wait that long

It's an interesting idea, though. I might at least try it. It would be interesting to score it based on the maximum they could possibly get for the entire board.

I know it's hard, but you're a computer programmer, you must like challenges of trying to figure out complex algorithms. I know, I have a degree in maths + computing

Look forward to the next release

You could also calculate it in the background of a game ... user doesn't wait and that gives you a while.

I'm assuming marbles doesn't use the full procvessing power of teh XBox

QUOTE (whiffin @ Dec 14 2002, 10:18 AM)

You could also calculate it in the background of a game ... user doesn't wait and that gives you a while. I'm assuming marbles doesn't use the full procvessing power of teh XBox

Well, the next version will make full use of pixel shaders with environmental bumpmapping, radiosity lighting, and several new cutting edge techniques I've developed to make the next version totally photorealistic.

Unfortunately, it drags the framerate down to about 3fps on the Xbox.

I'm also making use of 3-D sound effects, you'll need 5.1 TOS digital link up to get the full effect, as well as a 1080i HDTV link up. I've added some killer combo moves, too, and the AI opponent mode is smarter than HAL 9000.





J/K

WOW all that in a game???? Maybee I need to upgrade my home theater system, to play marbles!!!!

Seriously. . .you do damned fine work Ben.

What's with this Ron Jeremy theme? Why not pick a hot Porn Star like. . . hmm. . .aren't any. . .

Hmmmn, this post has somewhat diverted from the original question (partly my fault I spose )

I wanna see how crap my score is compared to you gurus ...

808 so far .....