Blokz RAVE released

[Phlogios]

Greetings! I have released a new 3D game for Mac OS 9.
https://phlogios.itch.io/blokzrave

It is a free tetris-like game with 3D graphics, designed to run on an original iBook or newer.
Let me know what you like or hate about it.

For the programming nerds out there: the game is written in C++ using CodeWarrior Pro 8.3, and is actually cross-platform and runs on Windows 98 as well, however that binary will not be released. The mac version uses Quickdraw3d RAVE for hardware accelerated graphics.

[Knezzen]

Wow! Nice! Will give it a go for sure

[Jubadub]

This one is fun, I like it!

[ovalking]

Great, except website doesn't seem to be accessible...!

[Knezzen]

Great, except website doesn't seem to be accessible...!

Works fine here. You need a modern browser though (or Crypto Ancienne/Carl and Classilla).

[Jubadub]

Great, except website doesn't seem to be accessible...!

Works fine here. You need a modern browser though (or Crypto Ancienne/Carl and Classilla).

Modern (or "modern-enough") browser only. While Crypto Ancienne works fine to access itch.io via HTTPS, Classilla 9.3.4b seems to have a problem in triggering the download link in a way that the download actually gets started, at least on my end. I don't know if using MacLynx instead could work, though.

Another option is Virtual PC, like Windows XP SP3 + Firefox (+ Crypto Ancienne if needed).

[Phlogios]

What I do is I just download the .sit from a PC and put it on a USB stick. You can also get the game on macintoshgarden but I don’t maintain that page so to get the latest version you have to get it from itch.io or have someone send the file to you over globaltalk. The game is completely free.

[Bolkonskij]

Cool, a new game! Couldn't grab the image with Classilla despite a SSL proxy. Probably because I have JavaScript disabled and it relies on it. Anyway, heaving over to the Mac Garden now ...

Thanks for your efforts, Phlogios! Any other projects in the making?

[Phlogios]

Thank you Bolkonskij. I have no other Mac OS 9 projects planned at the moment, been thinking of getting back into Nintendo DS homebrew…. If people like Blokz RAVE I might make another game but at the moment I am enjoying a vacation from the constant crashes and long compile times associated with classic Mac OS development this game is thousands of lines of code, most of it written in Windows 98, but the port was written on a PowerMac G4 and an iBook G3 Clamshell.

What type of 3D game would you like to see on OS9?

[Greystash]

Very cool, looking forward to playing it!!

[Jubadub]

What type of 3D game would you like to see on OS9?

An ultra-barebones Action RPG, with multiplayer support, maybe with hotseat available, but TCP/IP networking would be best. Might be a tall order, though. Can be 3D, or "2.5D", but even plain 2D pixel art would be fine, could even be black & white...

Something like this?


(Screenshot of Seiken Densetsu, the first "Mana series" game, for Game Boy, prequel to Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3)

Maybe it could look even more simple and blocky than this, I would not mind. Mechanics & core engine first!

Then you could even release that as your Nintendo DS homebrew project, as well... AND as a native Mac OS project simultaneously, all done using the same C/C++? *wink wink*

[Phlogios]

Version 1.2 has been released. It fixes some graphical bugs, most importantly the window dragging bug that was reported by some players. For the latest version, download from https://phlogios.itch.io/blokzrave

You can follow me for updates if you have an account on itch.io
It also lets me know that people are interested in my Mac OS 9 games.

Let me know if you find more issues!

[Bolkonskij]

Thanks for ironing out the few issues, Phlogios. Thumbs up from me!

As for new project ideas, there is the Zelda ROTH "Homebrew" that you may be aware of and that very much fits what Jubadub posted. It's open-source and would be an awesome port to have on Mac OS, since we never got many games of that style. Given assets and all are already there, it might be a reasonable project to take on?

[Phlogios]

Ah cool game, haven’t seen Zelda ROTH before. Unfortunately, for contractual reasons I cannot work on other people’s games, let alone one that uses Nintendo’s intellectual property. But it doesn’t look like it would be so hard for someone else to port to mac os 9, given that SDL 1.2 was recently shown to be compilable for OS9.

For my next game I’ve been considering exploring 3D a bit more, maybe make a silky-smooth space game.

[ovalking]

> You can also get the game on macintoshgarden

Thank you - that works!

From the ReadMe
>SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
>Physical macintosh (I don't think this runs in SheepShaver)
>Mac OS 9.1+ (I think? Maybe it runs on 8 with extensions)
>Graphics card that support RAVE 1.6
>300 MHz G3
>32 MB RAM

Apart from some minor drawing glitches, it runs acceptably on 8500/G3 OS8.1, built-in video. Well done!
Some basic instructions might be a helpful addition...˛

[Phlogios]

Thank you ovalking!
The newest version has instructions in the readme (but it is not on macintoshgarden)
I will definitely add in-game instructions, that is excellent feedback.

If you have rendering issues, please send me screenshots of what it looks like and I will try to figure out what’s going wrong. Unfortunately only my iBook works reliably at the moment so it helps a lot.

[Phlogios]

Version 1.3 added to macintosh garden. Thank you ovalking!

[ovalking]

Thank you Phlogios for adding the instructions so quickly.

Unfortunately the 1.3 update has broken the buttons - they don't respond to clicks. But if you click just below the Quit button it will start a game!
Also note the version number does not show in Get Info window.

[Phlogios]

Thank you ovalking. What resolution are you running the game in? I had the opposite problem with the buttons and 1.3 fixed my issue… for some reason GetMouse() does not return actual screen coords in fullscreen and the range seems to vary between computers.

I haven’t figured out how to display the version number yet.

[Jubadub]

Does anyone still have the older version 1.2? I would like to make some comparisons with it and the other versions.