Hi Zsom,zsom wrote:Hi.
In anticipation of bouldercaves +,
I decided to install Python 3.10.1 under Windows 10 Home 21H1.
Then Bouldercaves 5.7.2
Everything went well.
However, I did not like the game itself.
I tried both versions of the game, full screen and c64 versions.
I had feelings of slowing down at certain points in the game.
Although I have an i5-8300H processor and 8 Gb RAM and a GTX1050 graphics card.
Also, I couldn't exit the cave by stopping the flashing exit and pressing SHIFT, this doesn't work with Bouldercaves.
Also, I don't know how to run the game with a different set of caves than the standard BD1.
greetings
Yes, indeed, I had exactly the same concerns regarding the original BoulderCaves, and I'm happy to tell you that for the most part, the issues you mentioned are resolved by now
The original BoulderCaves doesn't have a true full screen mode as far as I know, it only has a C64 retro mode and a modern tileset mode. BoulderCaves+ addresses this by introducing a true Full Screen mode.
Regarding slowdowns - indeed, the original BoulderCaves wasn't built with optimization in mind, and it could slow down even on a powerful machine. BoulderCaves+ is quite optimized by now compared to the original, even though it still requires an adequately modern PC in order to function at full speed, especially in 60 fps mode, being a Python game. That said, your PC (a Core i5 from 2018, as far as I can tell, with 8 GB RAM) should be more than adequate to run full speed all the time, most likely without any optimization options necessary. Just in case you encounter some slowdowns (which you shouldn't), you can consider trying to run the game through an optimized Python implementation called Pypy3, that'll further boost the fps possible on your PC. But for the record, I'm able to play many caves at full speed without any optimization even on a Raspberry Pi 4 (except for very large or very busy caves with tons of dynamic objects), and a Pi 4 is worse performance-wise than many low-end office class laptops
There are many bugs in the original BoulderCaves. For example, you can collect falling diamonds Or you can't snap-activate the outbox, yes. Or, when you snap-activate a cell, you can't immediately change direction - this is actually a game-breaking bug. BoulderCaves+ fixes all of these and many more bugs from the original game.
In BoulderCaves, you need to choose a cave set by specifying a command line option. BoulderCaves+ simplifies this by introducing a graphics launcher where you can select a cave set from the menu.
I'm doing my best to fix the known issues with the original and to make BoulderCaves+ a less buggy and more mechanically correct implementation of the Boulder Dash rule set. As to how successful I am thus far, I guess we'll all see very soon
For now, keep in mind that the original BoulderCaves is no longer a good indication of how BoulderCaves+ is going to play or feel. The project has changed from a simple feature expansion to a pretty thorough overhaul and a partial rewrite. As such, even though visually they still look similar in many respects, internally/functionally they are probably more different than similar by now Still, the fact that you could run BoulderCaves, at the very least, ascertains the fact that you will be able to run BoulderCaves+.
- Agetian