OMG, I think I made a game!

[Guest SpaceRain]

Now, I might be the only person who thinks this is kinda funny, but I have never actually touched or even SEEN a Smartphone, but I ordered an SPV E200, and I should have it Tuesday or Wednesday.

Anyway, of course I'll want to see what I can code for the thing so I downloaded some stuff from microsoft.com and lucky me, it came with an emulator! So, I've spent the last couple of hours trying to get something working, and I actually think I've succeeded. While I can't take credit for the idea behind the game (saw it as a Java-game online somewhere), I did all the coding myself. (I used hello.cpp as a template, it came with whatever it was I downloaded, eMbedded Visual C++ or something.) Now, while this might not be the funnest game anyone's ever played, I'm still very proud I actually made it, before I even got my SPV. :) If it actually works on anything other than that emulator thing, then I'll be even prouder. :)

It's made for Smartphone 2002, and I hope someone will test it for me, mainly:

1) Does it even run?

2) Are the screen updates good or do they look like crap?

On a side note, what's the fastest way of drawing graphics? Can someone point me in the direction of some documentation, guides, tutorials, discussion threads etc. on doing fast graphics, please? I think the way I'm doing things now is very far from optimal.

3) Does the icon work? It shows up in Windows 2k, does it show up on the Smartphone too? Should it be 32x32 as it is, or another size?

4) Does it ever crash? (It hasn't crashed a single time on the emulator, but I'm not sure how much I can trust that thing.)

5) When I do something like this, distributed in a single .exe file, should I then put it in an installer? I figured this way people can just copy the file to their phone and delete it when they're tired of it, but I don't know if there's some unwritten rule that says to ALWAYS distribute an installer or whatever. :)

6) Anything else I should know?

Oh, about the game... The idea is to get rid of all the boxes. You do this by selecting the boxes that are connected to one or more surrounding boxes of the same color, that will remove all the boxes with the same color in that group, and everything above will drop down into the empty spaces. If you remove an entire column, everything to the right of it will move one column to the left. If you remove all the boxes, you've won, but this will require you to think a few steps in advance, so you don't leave any boxes behind.

Thanks for your help, if everything works out, this should be my first game of many for the Smartphone 2002 OS, and hopefully they should all be more interesting than this. :) I'm thinking of doing a racing game of some sorts next. Thanks for your time. :)

Edit: Get the file in my post below if you want to try it out, this one was compiled for the wrong processor type, d'oh. :)

[Guest ivor biggun]

Ive just copied the boxes file into the games folder on my mpx200, clicked on the icon and........

It didnt work! It just said ''boxes'' is not a valid Windows CE application. :?

[Guest SpaceRain]

Crap, then I guess it won't work for anyone else, either. Well, thanks for your time never the less, I hope to be able to figure out what I'm doing wrong when I get my E200, still hoping for Tuesday or Wednesday. :)

Thanks again. :)

Edit: Does anyone know if there's any settings that should be changed in "Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++" when going from testing in the emulator to using it on the actual phone?

[Guest ivor biggun]

If you've made this game for 2002 OS will it run on your E200 running 2003 OS :?:

[Guest SpaceRain]

I would hope so! Windows 95 games run on Windows 98 too, right? :)

Edit: Here's a screenshot so we can all be sad we can't play this amazing* game.

P.S. * = Not all that amazing :)

Another edit: Hmmm, maybe this one works? The other one was compiled for "WCE x86" and this one is compiled for "WCE ARM". I guess smartphones don't use x86 processors. Damn, I'm a n00b. Well, anyway, feel free to test it, but please don't feel obligated, I will be able to test it myself in a couple of days anyway. :)

boxesARM.exe

boxes.gif

[Guest meatgrinder]

smartphopne 2002 stuff runs on smartphone 2003 :) - ce.net (part of smarpthone 2003) doesnt run on 2002 tho :D

hope this clears that up

Dave

[Guest meatgrinder]

aah, btw, the WCE ARM version works fine on my e200, which probably means it works on all smartphones!

congrats SpaceRain, good job

Dave

[Guest SpaceRain]

That's awesome, thanks a lot for your help! I'm sure all the people who, unlike me, actually know what they're doing will laugh at me distributing x86 executables for smartphones when they wake up. :)

[Guest ivor biggun]

Works fine on my mpx as well now, nice one :)

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Nice app and a late welcome to the site and irc :)

[Guest martin]

Thanks a lot SpaceRain :)

I hope you get your phone soon :D

[Guest Vector]

Nice one SpaceRain :)

This game has made it onto the smartphony.org front page :D

[Guest SpaceRain]

Yeah, thanks, someone told me on IRC, I'm very proud. :)

[Guest Scarfman007]

V.good, especially considering this is your first game and that's how long it took!

Scarfman

[Guest phonesmarts]

great job, spacerain! great game and hope more is in the works...

this game is addicting, like Jawbreakers was for the PPC...

[Guest SmartphoneFrance]

I made a CAB file who is available here : http://www.smartphonefrance.info/mobile/do...ad.asp?ID=Boxes

[Guest welshkid121]

great job. must be weird making a game u cant actually use on ur fone yet.

welshkid

[Guest SpaceRain]

Thank you, thank you, everyone, you're very kind and very newbie friendly. :)

And yes, it's a bit weird, welshkid. :)