pembo.co.uk

Tetwiis Update

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

I’ve finally opened up the TetWiis source code again, started to fix a few bugs and add in a score board!

Long live the slug

Posted by pembo under: Information.

It’s dead no more.

Was the PSU under volting.  I’ve replaced it with one of these and it now boots 

NSLU2 Update…

Posted by pembo under: Linksys NSLU2.

My SLUG is dead…….  kind of half powers up before dying.  I’m going to give CPR later with a hard reset just to see if I can shock it back to this world, but I fear it has gone forever

Long overdue NSLU2 Post

Posted by pembo under: Linksys NSLU2.

I’ve finally got my NSLU2 back up and running properly again!
I’ve ultimately reverted back to unslung after a dabble with Debian and OpenSlug but whilst these were much better and much more complete of an OS than uNSLUng, unlsung is much easier to use and repair when anything goes wrong!

Expect more NSLU2 posts as I start to do things again with it!

TetWiis v0.2b Released!

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

I am pleased to announce the release of TetWiis v0.2b.

Download TetWiis

This release contains the following changes:

• Improved Block graphics
• Addition of ‘changing’ background depending on progression through the game
• Reset/Power button callbacks now implemented
• Menu options now rumble when you point at them.
• Minor bug fixes.

TetWiis Update

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

Following the first beta release, and with (so far) no reports of any issues, I’ve been continuing development of TetWiis.

To start with, I’ve changed the blocks to now use a graphic rather than simply drawing sqaures. This has made it look so much better!

Next up, I’ve started to add backgrounds into the main game. I’m going to make the background images change at various level changes. A quick sample of what the first level screen looks like is shown below.

TetWiis v0.1b released!

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

I am pleased to announce the release of TetWiis v0.1beta.

Download TetWiis

Please note: this is a beta release so that I can get the game tested by more than just me! and also gather feedback!

TetWiis is freeware, can be distributed freely and should never be charged for. If you distribute this elsewhere I’d appreciate being informed

This has taken a considerable amount of time to create. If you would like to give something back, you’ll find a donate link below

After downloading, unzip straight into the apps folder on your SD card.  The zip already contains a ‘tetwiis’ folder so there is no need to create one.  Once unzipped, either take a look at the Wiibrew page for TetWiis, or the readme.txt file for more details about the controls.

Below you’ll find a youtube video of TetWiis in action!

TetWiis update – when is random not a random!

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

Answer – when its a rand() function call on the wii!

I was aware that there may be some frailties with the rand() function, but I didn’t expect to come across what I found!

My original code did the following to determine the next block

return (rand()%7) +1;

Which all seemed good and well.  I understood that it was only pseudo random, though what I didn’t expect was if I called it consecutively within quick succession of each other, that it would suddenly start returning the same number!  I noticed that if I dropped the blocks quick enough, that I could get 2 or 3 of the same type to appear in the list!  It took me a few goes to test this and make sure it wasn’t just chance, but sure enough, I could recreate it!

The solution – I decided to implement a mersenne twister random number generator!  I’d read about these types of generators before and searching the interweb, I came across http://www.bedaux.net/mtrand/ where sure enough, a simple enough implementation of it exists that I could pretty much take as a whole (Thanks Jasper!)

My randoms now really are random no matter how quickly I do it which obviously makes for a much better game of TetWiis

TetWiis Update

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

My ToDo list is as follows.  Anything struck out has been done!

Screen shot below todo list!

• Increase drop speed with level increase
• Fast drop of piece (rather than having to hold down)
• Hold piece
  
• Pretty up the blocks so they are not a solid lump of colour (in progress!)
• Preview of piece where it will drop
• Animate and ‘graphicalise ‘ the game over and pause text
• Make the start screen so you can click on the menu items
• Add an options screen where you can set the following (and maybe more):
  • ingame BGM
  • ingame BGM volume
• Score board (maybe online!)
• Sound effects
• Test, test, test!
• Support for classic controller/GameCube Pad

TetWiis Update

Posted by pembo under: Wii Homebrew.

I’ve now after spending some time finally got the 6 block preview pane to start showing the blocks so you can see what is coming next, and i’ve just added the queue initialise (not tested yet!) so that it changes on every new game.  I’ve also re-jigged the background graphics a little to make the blocks fit in the preview panes, and to fit the game onto the screen properly!

I’ve also finally coded the scoring and levels/number of lines counts.

Next to do is following:

• Increase drop speed with level increase
• Fast drop of piece (rather than having to hold down)
• Preview of piece where it will drop
• Animate and ‘graphicalise ‘ the game over and pause text
• Make the start screen so you can click on the menu items
• Add an options screen where you can set the following (and maybe more):
  • ingame BGM
  • ingame BGM volume
• Test, test, test!