I really need me a beta of this asap.

I'm afraid I can't give you one until November 7th, unless I misunderstood Omnimaga's contest rules and I have to wait until after judging is complete. I certainly would be more than happy to have you test at that point, though! I see I still have two bugs with balls not destroying pieces that they should, though, probably because I'm setting temporary blocks incorrectly somewhere. Anyway, new progress includes main menu, spiffier Game Over screen, and more.

Surely I recognize that Game Over screen from somewhere... And the title screen isn't at all true to the original, but the original didn't have one at all, so it is understandable.

The main menu and game over screen looks really nice

That Game Over image is used in both Obliterate and NetPong. Thanks, but it reminds me of classic calculator game title screens, which was my goal.

Thank you! I did a bit of on-calculator testing, and I see I have but a bug or two left to find.

*bump* I think I may have found my bugs! I will keep playing throughout the day to make sure things are working smoothly, but here's a nice screenshot of what I have working now (ie, all of it). I also have been returning to getting the color version's graphics up-to-date with the monochrome version, and I'm getting close to having a sane screenshot to show you guys.

That looks amazing, I can't wait to get these onto my calculators for playing.

Thanks. Opinion question: Would you prefer the filled area to be solid black instead of having the grid markings left on?

I like the grid, having solid black would look alright I guess. As for the arrows, do you think instead of inverting puxels underneath it (xor?) could you just have it placed on top, so it looks more like arrows? Just my opinion. Looking great! Are you still planning on entering omnimga's contest?

That would certainly be great, but getting it properly rendered and erased in the face of simultaneously-bouncing balls would be a significant complication at this point. Yes, I am indeed.

I don't think it matters either way, it is filled in space regardless Would it be easier to just fill in completely, or cost less code?

It's exactly the same number of cycles for either option. I was just pondering if the fully-black fill looked better.

Edit: I submitted the version with the dotted grid in the filled area. I also designed a routine that essentially draws a ball-shaped area of the grid over balls to "erase" them, which should get me 99% of the way to good-looking ball movement. Here's a demo (as always, pretend it's full-screen):

Yay - I see a ball only removes the part of your wall on it's side of the cursor! That was a super-major flaw with the last version - removing the whole wall.

That color screenshot looks all sorts of fancy

That too - there are few games I'd want on my calc more than this one.

*bump* Having finished a grant proposal for school, and now back to work on my regular work, I managed to squeeze in some time to work more on the problem of erasing the cursor. I also implemented the red-and-blue walls that the original had. The left screenshot below shows the erasing assuming an empty grid under the cursor. The right screenshot shows the current state of affairs. I note only a tiny bit of glitchiness there.



Remaining tasks include fixing the color number display function, fixing up the main menu, logo, game over, and text display alignment and functionality, the aforementioned slight cursor issue, and final testing. I will be able to provide the monochrome and color versions for testing as soon as Omnimaga finishes their contest judging.

Edit: Fixed that cursor bug, worked on the text a bit:

Awesome! I remember the red and blue line bit now, that I see it I'm very happy to see you sticking so closely to the originals, can't wait for this to be on my CSE!

Thanks! I'm including some artistic license and originality in the game, for example in how the flood-fill algorithm functions, but I'm trying to include as many features of the original as possible for the sake of nostalgia. Question: I was just watching a video of the original Windows 95 game, and I noticed that after each level the game is paused and the fill score, time score, and total score are shown. Do you guys think Jezzball 1.0 monchrome and color should do that as well?

Well, I think that would give the game more of a purpose, get a better score than before, and all that jazz. I haven't looked at jezzball in so long, I don't really remember much about it.

Thanks for the feedback. Speed and fill bonuses are now shown at the end of the level in both the color and monochrome version, and in the color version, the balls rotate in place, just as they did in the original.