Chains the puzzle game

[dopeman]

Chains is a puzzle game with a unique feel and distinctive vector graphics style. The object of the game is simple - to link adjacent bubbles of the same color into chains. As you progress through the physics-driven stages it becomes increasingly more challenging and your speed, strategy and skill will be put to the test.


http://www.2dengine.com/chains/screen1b.pnghttp://www.2dengine.com/chains/screen2b.png
http://www.2dengine.com/chains/screen3b.pnghttp://www.2dengine.com/chains/screen4b.png
(http://2dengine.com/chains/)
DOWNLOAD THE DEMO (http://2dengine.com/chains/demo.zip)

Features
20 levels each focusing on action, strategy or flow
Physics-driven gameplay
3 difficulty modes
Unlimited replayability value
Unique art direction with beautiful vector graphics
Soundtrack from the Belgian electro band Silence


I am most interested in technical issues that you may have with running the demo. Also, I'm especially proud because Chains is the first game made with the AGen 2D (http://2dengine.com). The game is 100% Lua scripted.

Thanks for your time.

[vrnunes]

I like this type of game, will take a look when I come back to home. It somewhat remembers me of Locoroco (PSP), that is a very nice game...

[dopeman]

The new beta is out:
http://2dengine.com/chains/demo.zip
http://2dengine.com/chains/Chains_Install.exe

Here's a list of the changes:
-the timers issue has been fixed so the game should no longer run slower than it is supposed to
-some new visual and sound effects
-records screen
-'tooltips' reminding you of whar the level goal is
-various bug fixes
-the game can run even if your audio card fails
-in game dialog which reports various system errors

[dopeman]

Final version of the game is out:
http://2dengine.com/chains/
We've made a lot of changes (too many to list) since we started beta testing.
Lastly, you can now buy the full version for USD 15.00

[dopeman]

Just want to let everybody know that we've dropped the price of the game (http://2dengine.com/chains/) to $9.95.
Also, the latest version includes an optional fix for the colorblind.

[dopeman]

I'm happy to announce that our little game got an 89% score in the 3rd issue of Indie Game Mag: http://www.indiegamemag.com/2009/02/issue-3-now-available.html

Also, check out a video of the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK2W6SOx_0E

[geon]

Congratulations! I would have tried it if I was on a win-box.

The video looks GREAT, though. Nice choice of music, and a very pleasing visual style too. The sharp primary colors are not easy to pull of without making it look like "programmers art". Interesting gameplay.

[dopeman]

Thanks a lot geon,
I should mention that a Mac port of the game is on the way

[dopeman]

We're happy to present an early port of Chains for the Mac.
It's a 32-bit universal binary, but for now it's Leopard only.
Backporting to Tiger is on the way.

We'd really appreciate any feedback on whether or not it works on your machine:
http://2dengine.com/chains/demo.dmg.zip ~18 MB

[geon]

Won't run here... :'-(

It seems to exit immediately after it starts.

[dopeman]

geon, do you mind telling me your CPU and OS version?

Also, if you could post the results of "$HOME/Libraries/Logs/Agen.log" that would help us out a lot, thanks!

[geon]

[agen] starting Agen [1.2.5] built on [Apr 25 2009 21:49:02]
[agen] loading plugin [/Volumes/Chains/Chains.app/Contents/PlugIns//libAgenOGL.dylib]...
[agen] loading plugin [/Volumes/Chains/Chains.app/Contents/PlugIns//libAgenHID.dylib]...
[agen] loading plugin [/Volumes/Chains/Chains.app/Contents/PlugIns//libAgenOAL.dylib]...
[agen] found default video [GMA 950]
[agen] found default keyboard [Keyboard]
[agen] found default mouse [Mouse]
[agen] no default joystick found.
[agen] found default audio [Built-in Output]
[agen] will load file [/Volumes/Chains/Chains.app/Contents/Resources/Scripts/main.lua]
[agen] engine initialized, running lua global code...
[agen] failed to set display mode
[agen] entering main loop
[agen] finalization started.
[agen] releasing audio...
[agen] releasing mouse...
[agen] releasing keyboard...
[agen] releasing video...
[agen] lua state released.
[agen] audio plugin unloaded.
[agen] input plugin unloaded.
[agen] video plugin unloaded.
[agen] all interfaces released. Exitting.



I have a Mac Mini running Mac OS X v10.5.6
1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo
1 GB RAM
GMA 950 integrated graphics with 64 MB VRAM

[dopeman]

Hey, thanks a lot for the reply.
The following step seems to be the problem:

[agen] failed to set display mode

Do you mind also posting the contents of the following file:
/Volumes/Chains/Chains.app/Contents/Resources/Save/settings.lua

[geon]

resx = 800
resy = 600
refresh = 60
windowed = true
sound_volume = 0.8
music_volume = 1

[Nils Pipenbrinck]

Dopeman, the game is very very nice...

Cheers,
Nils

[dopeman]

We are proud to announce that Chains will now be distributed by Canadian publisher Meridian4.
http://www.meridian4.com/games/chains/

You can download/buy the game here:
http://2dengine.com/chains/

[dopeman]

We're happy to announce that Chains is now available on Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/11360/