Wanted - help beta testing my browser game

[carlosp_uk]

Hello fellow XDAers!

I have ported a WinMobile game to Silverlight and I am really desperate for some beta testers – having been immersed in the project now for over 500 hours it's getting hard to see the wood for the trees.

If you're keen, the URL is www.squarepeggame.com

As an (attempt at an) incentive, I will reward useful beta testers with free copies of the game when it's released. Currently, things I would really like to know are:

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
- Comments on useability and interface.
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
- Anyone have access to an Intel-based Mac? Does it run on that?

There are separate forums on the game site to post any questions/bugs, I am of course happy to reply here in this thread too, providing it doesn't get too cluttered.


Thank you in advance!

Carlos

PS: I'll soon be on the look out for paid level designers as well, if this is something that interests you, just sign up in-game as a developer (see the website for more info)

PPS: You might need Silverlight 2, but it only takes 30secs to download & install the plugin

[Mr_Gee]

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes
- Are you able to create an account,
haven't tried (was not required
and is your level position saved when you re-start?
When I clicked the x i restarted, but when I clicked the x again the screen stayed white, nothing happened
- Comments on useability and interface.
I though the pregame pointers (in training mode) disapeared a bit too quickly
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
see my 2nd comment

[carlosp_uk]

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes

Hi there

Thanks very much for this, I'm nearly ready to release it - anybody else fancy giving it a go? http://www.squarepeggame.com

What would be very helpful would be if somebody wanted to use the level designer to make their own level for the game - doesn't have to be anything complex - and let me know how you get on?

C

[sracercelica]

I will try right now

[character]

hmm seems like ppc has a new level to achieve ... will try

quite heavy on my memory eats up a lot of ram; was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address

[ahuskins]

Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Prof. Yaffle]

Runs well on Firefox 3 with Silverlight 2 for me. It allowed me to create an account and login. Haven't tested saving yet. Will do in a moment. Likewise with the level designer. The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.

[Prof. Yaffle]

Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.

[red_hanks]

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?

It runs, I am using my bro's core2duo laptop with firefox 3.0.5

- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?

Yes, I used red_hanks also and it says I am logged in with that name. Still waiting for the game to start for 15minutes now, it says "please wait" with a square spinning around. It is not my internet connection because I have a high-speed broadband. Silverlight was installed also and system is up to date with Windows Update.

- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?

Looks clean, like in nurserys... (just the first page where it says START, INSTRUCTIONS...)

- Comments on useability and interface.

None at the moment

- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)

It is not loading???


Oh it's loading now...Playing it...nice game...hit thr back arrow button and it went back to the first page...playing again...hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...

[Prof. Yaffle]

Hmmm... the level editor crashes Firefox for me as soon as I click in the email box. Also happens in IEtab and Internet Explorer 7. My machine is Vista Ultimate with a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 2gb RAM. I've also had it go to a blank screen in the menus but I see this is a listed bug on your forum.

[carlosp_uk]

eats up a lot of ram.. was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address

Thanks, I'll look into any ways of further minimising RAM usage, although could be a browser thing too. Lots of sounds and pics to cache too, but will definitely investigate.


Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.

Level 7, really??! The one on the tutorial is really easy, so maybe you're talking about the actual "first hundred" playlist? Hope you cracked it! Let me know if you can't get there and want me to developer-enable your account so that you can try out the level designer.


The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.

This is an interesting comment - I will try to get it to centre in the browser rather than left-aligning. It's funny as I had just assumed that people would move or resize the window rather than maximising it! But I want it to be as helpful as possible to the user so you're right, it should align to the middle of large browser windows.


Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.

These are all excellent suggestions, thank you - and typo now fixed. (the joy of all the levels coming from a SQL server is that this was a relatively trivial thing to do - if you've ever tried deploying and staging an Azure server site you'll know how long it can take...)

The volume controls might not make it into the beta release but will definitely be added later.




Hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...

Thanks for this, red_hanks. Can't replicate the error but could easily have been the webserver being down. Calls to WCF services from Silverlight are a little tricky and I think I need more error handling for when they don't work. I don't think you have tested the level designer by the way, just the game, in answer to your comment.



Thanks everyone! As I said before, if anyone fancies trying to design their own level using the level designer and wants to let me know the name, etc, I'd be interested to (1) play your level and (2) hear how you got on with the level designer!

There's forums over at www.squarepeggame.com too if you need help, tutorials still being made but some are there.

Carlos

[Prof. Yaffle]

Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.

[carlosp_uk]

Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.

Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!

When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?

C

PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.

[DaveTheTytnIIGuy]

It runs along fine with very few issues on my Sony Laptop (Model VGN-CR240E with Windows Vista/7 partitions, 2 gb RAM, 2 gigahertz Centrino Duo, and a 1280x800 LCD screen. I have not actually tried it on Vista, only on Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8 Beta It doesn't crash under those circumstances on FireFox (Windows 7) though. However, these issues could also be attributed to the fact it is a beta OS running a beta Browser. The game seems more stable on FireFox. I will try it on Vista later, and see if that makes a difference using IE7. As for the UI, it's fine but if you added a way to go back to the main menu after you choose the green "Start" button, that would make it even better. Accounts work fine as far as I've used them. And I have not noticed any RAM issues with the game, according to Process Explorer. The game is amazing overall, and you'll have yourself a real winner when this is done. Good luck with the game

Dave

[ND4SPD]

Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
It works fine on my HP laptop. I'm running Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 and using IE 8 Beta 2

Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?

Yes. I created an account and the level position was saved

The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?

I haven't been able to login to it.

Comments on useability and interface.
Nice UI. It's simple and intuitive

General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.

How did it run on an Intel iMac?
Once I get to my newspaper class 2 days from now, I'll update my post.

Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.

[blazingwolf]

Hello,

The game runs well on my Mac Book Pro with Firefox.

I was able to create an account with no issues.

UI is simple. Makes the games easy to learn.

Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves. Was able to restart from the beginning. This was prior to creating a login. After creating a login and then finishing level 8 of the tutorial I got a pleas wait icon. It then crashed to a white screen after about 30 seconds.


Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?

[Prof. Yaffle]

Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!

When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?

C

PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.

When it crashes it actually kills Firefox and I get the Mozilla Crash Reporter asking if I wish to report details of what I was doing. I've tried several times looking in the Error Console and there's nothing other than a couple of dead RSS feeds. If I clear it still nothing at all related. I have V2 of Silverlight installed but have just tried rebooting, removing it, rebooting again, re-installing it and still the same.

[stanglifemike]

Had to d/l silverlight- plays just fine
Created account and didnt have to log in as it remembered me and where I was
Nice game, looks good and is easy to use, though the levels get tough
No bugs that I have found
Using this on my HP 17" laptop running Windows XP
Thanks for this

[elazullizard]

Everything works perfectly using Silverlight 2 on an (intel) Macbook. The levels are tough, most definitely.

[carlosp_uk]

On Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8

Thanks Dave, and also for your kind comments / feeback on the game - all noted. I have not been able to reproduce this bug (IE8 beta 1 or 2?) so I'm going to put it down as a win7/ie8 quirk for now, unless I get multiple reports. How did you get on with Vista?


Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.

Thanks this worries me as if the game is not correctly developer-enabling accounts at all times we're in trouble. Did anything happen when you completed the tutorial? Any sort of message at all? I cannot reproduce the error as when I complete the tutorial on my machine a message box appears telling me "Congratulations!..." and my account is upgraded to developer status.


Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.

Sure, that sounds very interesting, if we can't get this problem sorted quickly let me know and I can manually developer-enable your account so you can have a crack at the level designer. In the next phase of the launch, we (ie me) will be paying out cash for levels as well.


Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves.

Thanks for this - this sounds like an error in code rather than comms. Can you remember what moves you made in the level? If you're able to reproduce this error and then (in firefox) go to Tools -> Error Console, hopefully there will be an error message that could help me to fix this bug. The other error you mention is a known comms exception that I'll be looking at.


When it crashes it actually kills Firefox

Seriously? Whoa! And this happens when you click anything in the login screen of the level designer, right? (I'm assuming you got the logo and login textboxes appearing with no issues) Does the Mozilla crash reporter give you any additional info that you could send me about the crash?

Thanks so much for re-installing, by the way, sorry this didn't help. This doesn't sound like it's something that's going to be easy to diagnose, in fact I already have a headache just thinking about it. Possibly a silverlight bug, a browser bug, or both. Do you have javascript enabled in Firefox, by the way? And have you tried logging in with Internet Explorer, does that work?


Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?

You know people, as we're now discussing multiple issues, and I don't want to abuse the charity of xda-developers for hosting this discussion, it might actually be better to gradually move things to the squarepeg forums. (http://forums.squarepeggame.com) I'll disable email account activation for a few days to make it quicker for you to set up accounts.

Of course if people would prefer to post here, that's understandable, I'll still gladly answer posts in this thread.

On a general note, thanks for all the testing so far (eg stanglifemike) - and I'm really pleased that the general impression of the game itself seems to be a good one... ...oh, and @elazullizard - thanks for the feedback... are the levels really that tough? Are you talking about "The First Hundred" or the tutorial?.. ..if it's the tutorial I'm now worried that I've made it too hard!

Carlos

[Prof. Yaffle]

Yes, I have Javascript enabled. The crash happens in Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer. There's not really much of any use in the Firefox crash report that I can see. I can click in the two input fields but as soon as I try and type anything or click the tick box it crashes. I'll try disabling antivirus (NOD32) later but I can't imagine that will help. I'll also try and post up the Firefox crash log. If I can find some software to do it I could post up a video of what happens if it will help? I'll post back in your forum later tonight / tomorrow.

[Gramon]

It runs fine on Firefox for me.

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes. Firefox 3.0.5

Both game and designer ran fine
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
Yes, It was not required but I did create an account and tested logging out, closing browser and relogging in. It did store my level information.

- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
Very cool, some trouble figuring out how to handle Transformer but worked through it. The vdeo tutorial link on they webpage gave an error in app page and would not display.

- Comments on useability and interface.
Very nice, simple look for the game easy to look at and play.

- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
I noticed sometimes if you click on an object just as it's appearing it won't select. This mainly happens after restarting a level and you know the one you want to move first.

- Anyone have access to an Intel-based Mac? Does it run on that?
No, sorry. Can't help with Mac



The game looks very nice and it seems very addictive now that I've been playing around with it. I will try to do more testing tonight when I'm not at work to try the more advanced level editing.

[Prof. Yaffle]

Sorry about the delay replying, I got sidetracked by birthdays and a concert I'd completely forgotten about this weekend :o. I've signed up on the other forum and posted a little video of what happens for me with the level designer.

[ND4SPD]

Sure, that sounds very interesting, if we can't get this problem sorted quickly let me know and I can manually developer-enable your account so you can have a crack at the level designer. In the next phase of the launch, we (ie me) will be paying out cash for levels as well.


I forgot to update: I can now login into the dev-portal for designing! I was having a problem on my side with IE8 Beta 2. As for the iMac update: it works on Leopard. I don't know what the build is since I mainly use Windows.