This version should run slightly faster than the previous one and hopefully rather good on most of the VGA devices: also it should work on WM5 devices too.
Thank you all for feedback and reports, always appreciated!
– Switched VGA approach: it will be handled only by using RawFrameBufferInfo information.
- It appears the WM5-platform runtime library implements the “rand()” function differently than on the WM2003/SE one, and also noticeably slower. This has been substituted with a “Mersenne Twister” random number generator (ref. “M. Matsumoto and T. Nishimura, ‘Mersenne Twister: A 623-Dimensionally Equidistributed Uniform Pseudo-Random Number Generator’, ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation, Vol. 8, No. 1, January 1998, pp 3-30.”).
v0.8.2 (WM2003/SE/2005)
( exe | cab )
Tags: pocketSand
22 Responses
num10ck
November 11th, 2006 at 8:24 1:) i tried the program’s earlier version and it grinded to a halt on my x51. this new version is much better optimized! good job and thank you for the fast response!
minor suggestions:
-add a ‘?’ icon on the bottom, probably above the power button, and have that trigger a quick help page. not everyone has seen this ancient software before.
-make the installation add the icon to the pocketpc’s games folder instead of programs.
VGA Version...
November 11th, 2006 at 9:02 2This new VGA version worked perfect on my Pocket Loox n560 :) . Keep up the good work :)
Jeff
November 11th, 2006 at 9:37 3VGA and WM5 support work fine on my Dopod 900 (HTC Universal)! Thanks for the hard work, although I’m still not sure how to win. (:
Scott
November 11th, 2006 at 15:41 4Genius!
Works great now as far as accuracy of stylus, and controls, and playability. It does seem a bit slow, but not sure how fast it should be, maybe I should check out a PC version. Let me know if I can help with any fine tuning, but I’d say its working perfect on my x50v but does seem like it could use some speed. (But I have a feeling theres alot going on there.
Also: I know the controls are somewhat self explanatory, but still unsure on exactly what some of them do. (even after using them)
Let me know what you would like specifics on, and THANK YOU for this, and some of the best support Ive ever seen in a freeware app/game!
Manuel
November 11th, 2006 at 17:03 5Oh well! I’m really happy to see it works fine on some more devices, and so pleased of your feedback!
All of your suggestion will be taken into account and wrapped up into a plan for the future releases: i just hope to have the time to implement it ;)
@Jeff
You haven’t to win ;) You just have to interact with various kind of elements in a sand-like form.
@Scott
I think i’ll release a PC version too but i’m sure the desktop version will be much smoother than on a VGA pda: that’s it, a VGA device has to perform the quadruple of the computations as a QVGA one, so its really expensive. If you look at the log file, the physics timestep on your device should get recalibrated to 16Hz instead of the usual 32Hz, this is just to unburden the device with so much calcs but you also loose some of the smoothness.
On a desktop pc, conversely, there are no problems to raise the physics timestep to 64Hz neither, so you got nice and smooth falling sand all the way.
A big thank you to all for the suggestions!
Scott
November 11th, 2006 at 18:59 6Manuel, your the best man!
I understand about the speed, and VGA device, it still rocks though, and is much fun!
Thanks again for your awesome talents, and time to make it work on our devices, your agreat person for this contribution!
Hats off to you my friend, let me know if I can be of any assistance in the future!
Manuel
November 11th, 2006 at 19:07 7Thank you Scott, i’ve been really happy of reading your words: also big thanks for being so helpful, i think you’ll ear from me in the future ;)
num10ck
November 12th, 2006 at 4:51 8(by the way, is Ogre3D for pocketpc? looks powerful hope you’re still active with it)
re: Falling Sand Game
(wikipedia has a quick page on it which probably will just confuse most readers but mentions some elements)
i know that this is still just a beta, but i’d like to point out that the exit credits are a usability problem. there’s plenty of space on the booting screen for the credit, and when we’re mobile and we’re stopping play, its usually because there’s something pressing to take care of. i’ve seen other PPC software do this but at the wrong moment its very frustrating.
other simple basics:
-a minimize/sleep icon
-a clear screen button
-portrait/landscape display
i can’t picture trying to render a desktop 3d falling sands game. there’s something so addicting about organic environments though.
Jeopardy
November 12th, 2006 at 12:30 9Works fine on my Qtek9000 (HTC Universal, WM5)
I’d like to see a possibility to run the game on half resolution (pixel doubling) on VGA devices (maybe release two versions?) to gain more speed, and a way to increase/decrease the painting tool size.
Also, the fonts and buttons should be bigger on VGA resolution, because they are now too small (usability suffers a bit).
But good work, keep it up!
Shane H.
November 13th, 2006 at 5:49 10I am having trouble running pocketSand on the HP hx2495. Once the icon is tapped it shows the application name on the title bar, then exits without an error.
Great app, hope that it works on my device in the future!
Manuel
November 13th, 2006 at 13:11 11Hi and thank you all for your the suggestions!
@Shane
This is odd just because i do know one friend is running it on his hx2495.
Can you send me your log file please?
Crayfish
November 13th, 2006 at 15:56 12I have the same problem on my Hx2490, program exits without an error just after launching. Log:
————————————————————————–
Aqua v0.6.0, logging started on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 14:51:14
Platform: PocketPC
OS version: v5.1.1702
OEM string: HP iPAQ hx2490 (unknown)
Unicode build: Yes
Configuration: Release
————————————————————————–
AquaSystem created, instance at 0×00060110
AquaSystem::createDisplayDevice( hWnd = 7C0857E0, Orientation: -1 )
Detecting available display access modes…
* Raw framebuffer: No
* GAPI: Yes
Detection done.
Trying to fine-tune the display driver by using model-specific strategies…
Manuel
November 13th, 2006 at 18:41 13I think i got it: thank you for reporting this btw!
Also, i plan to release a new version that will correct this problem and add pixel-doubling feature to VGA devices: hope to be able to do it soon!
Shane H.
November 13th, 2006 at 19:42 14My log file is nearly identical to Crayfish’s. With the exeption of the OEM string [ OEM string: HP iPAQ hx2495 (unknown) ], hWnd, and a few times and dates.
I tried running in landscape mode. I also tried installing the program to the device instead of the memory card. My device refused to run the app in each instance.
I hope this helps. Keep up the great work!
Manuel
November 13th, 2006 at 19:59 15Thank you Shane: sure you helped my alot in saying your log file is nearly identical to the Crayfish’s one: hope to release the new version this week!
iPAUL
November 14th, 2006 at 14:46 16New version definitely works in VGA on a Dell X51V. Speed is good also. I got hooked on the desktop version of this – nice to be able to take it with me to play on the go. Thanks for porting it over to PPC!
Aaron
November 17th, 2006 at 12:24 17Brillent this is!!!!
love it lol
my one and only things is that you cant save a lay out! i have spent ages setting up screens, that change water to steam and back to water and grow “trees” that get burnt and then regrow.
(takes me hours lol)
and i would love to be abble to save them.
Also a list of waht the different sands do and affect would be nice.
i assume they are earth,water,ice and some stuff that burns???
but i am still not quite sure.
Also the ability to turn the different streams on and off would be nice
Cheers
Aaron
bob the builder
February 10th, 2007 at 3:43 18…..YEAH,IT’S COOL BUT,I CAN’T DOWNLOAD IT ON MY CPU…
Giles
April 8th, 2007 at 19:17 19Great program =) many thanks!
works perfectly fine on my Tytn (spv m3100)
only weird thing is that when you are drawing lines, it lowers the speed by about half, not that it matters because when you release the drawing button it goes nice and smooth =D
look forward to updates! =D
Manuel
April 8th, 2007 at 19:30 20Hi Giles, happy its fast for you too: for the line-drawing (input) thing, i think your device’s manufacturer should optimize/rewrite the stylus input driver: i know some devices have an odd slow-down when the user is using the stylus, also my Acer n50 indeed has this “problem” but not so heavily.
I’ve no way to workaround that problem in a generic fashion, so i hope manufacturers will address this issue.
pocketSand v0.8 released at Manuel’s Coding Blog
October 14th, 2007 at 22:31 21[...] « pocketSand on the way Time of update! [...]
kyle
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 22hi,
when i tri and download it, it says “this is not a valid pocket pc application” help pleese
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