bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« on: September 07, 2008, 07:17:52 PM » |
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Hold me closer, Giant Dancerv1.6 - Beta, Silent ControlsLeft/Right - Move Up/Down - Move, only while grabbing, don't forget diagonals Space or C - Jump X - Grab, can only grab Green Z - Shine beam to find Monsters Z + Direction (close to monster) - Sword, stab White Sigils Demade for the TRS-80 Model III (probably before your time)
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« Last Edit: September 24, 2008, 11:45:44 PM by bigpants »
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Noyb
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« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2008, 07:38:23 PM » |
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Looks spiffy, but it crashes within 5 seconds for me after multiple tries. First the text disappears, then it gives a "Run-time error 91: Object Variable or With Block Variable not set". I'm on Vista, if it matters.
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Anarkex
Level 1

Still dope.
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« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2008, 09:06:48 PM » |
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I get the same error as Noyb, and I run XP.
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2008, 10:40:45 PM » |
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EditI've been able to duplicate the error on some machines. You can forget my original idea of updating the core VB dlls (below). I think that was a red herring. I believe the error is caused by the fact the monster bitmap I allocate (Win32 GDI CreateBitmap) is simply too big for some graphic cards. The first monster is a 780 x 1050 bitmap. At 32-bit color, he takes ~3MB of Video Card Memory. While that's not a lot, I just learned that it must be contiguous. Judging by the errors people are experiencing, the odds of finding an unfragmented 3MB chunk of Video memory is not good. I will fix this tonight by dividing the monster into several smaller bitmaps. Popcap does this, but I thought my monster was small enough that I could avoid it. --- Original, Probably Irrelevant Troubleshooting IdeaDoes the game work for anyone? Sorry about this. I did test the game distributed correctly, but obviously I missed something. The game relies on core Visual Basic DLLs that both XP and Vista ship with. I believe you're missing them, or have outdated versions. Microsoft provides this setup program that installs the latest core VB DLLs: Download Visual Basic 6.0: Run-Time Redistribution Pack (vbrun60sp6.exe)It's absolutely safe to install on XP and 2000 (done this many times, and many corporations use vbrun). Additionally, based on this Microsoft support article, it's supported by Windows Vista. If you could install this and let me know if the game worked, I would really appreciate it.
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« Last Edit: September 08, 2008, 12:16:04 PM by bigpants »
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Pishtaco
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« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2008, 10:56:43 PM » |
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Runs for me (on XP, and I didn't install update anything extra). I like the atmosphere and the sense of scale.
The instructions disappear too fast for me to read them, and the second time round I went for ages without finding a colossus so gave up.
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2008, 05:59:08 AM » |
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Holding Z when you're not near a monster will light a path from you to the monster. That way, you always know which direction to go in. I tried to stay true to the source material  Additionally, I modified the game (and re-uploaded it) so the instructions will stay on the screen for a long time. Thanks for the feedback.
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« Last Edit: September 08, 2008, 07:19:54 AM by bigpants »
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2008, 12:16:53 AM » |
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The BUG hath been VANQUISHED!!!Let's forget the past and start fresh.The Monster is no longer one giant bitmap. Unbeknownst to you, he's now 20 small bitmaps that conspire to form one angry blob. I believe this will fix that nasty problem some people were encountering (hold off buying that new video card). For the record, I would have fixed this before the deadline had I known it existed. There are 6 monsters to defeat, and the reward is vast. Dare ye?Seriously... the ending is worth it.
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Terry
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« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2008, 12:28:05 AM » |
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Sorry, I'm getting video card errors with this build too 
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2008, 12:56:41 AM » |
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HA hA hA!!! You almost had me you prankster you. I mean, if the game still didn't work, I'd... I'd...
(insert tragic meltdown here followed by 5 years of intensive therapy)
I have returned! I've uploaded yet another version of the game, which is available at the same download URL. This .zip now includes a LastChance version of the game (in addition to the latest build). LastChance has less background graphics, which may free up enough Video RAM for the monster.
Terry > Could you download again and try the LastChance version. Let me know what happens... or maybe not.
Satan > The deal is OFF.
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Terry
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« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2008, 01:05:15 AM » |
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Sorry man, I'm still having problems  I don't have much in the way of a graphics card on this old laptop, that's probably not helping matters...
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2008, 01:29:08 AM » |
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You have left me no choice.I'm bringing out the world's smallest monster. Right Click this image and save the picture in your Game/Monsters folder (do not change the filename). Does the game finally work?If yes, then you are doomed to battle dinky monsters (try making your own). If no, the problem is unrelated to your videocard - try installing the VBRun mentioned earlier. (Dinky Monster aside, I seriously appreciate the help)
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Hayden Scott-Baron
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« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2008, 04:13:58 AM » |
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I just watched the video! Amazing stuff, and great game title too! :3
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Terry
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« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2008, 08:41:51 AM » |
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Yikes; ok, I installed that vb stuff and tried it out with the dinky monster - and for a while it seemed to work! Then my computer crashed - like, worse than it ever has before. A blue screen of death, but one so bad that the display was all corrupted and stuff and it displayed one scanline at a time  I'm sorry, I don't think I can test any more builds of this... My little laptop has one year left till retirement!
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2008, 10:13:34 AM » |
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Thanks very much Terry. Very sorry for the heart attack. Please DON'T test anymore, your laptop scares me and you've already gone above and beyond. This has never happened before (and I've been installing VB games for many years). I believe I can explain what happened. With the previous builds, I was always grabbing way too much Video RAM for your little laptop, so the requests were outright rejected. With Dinky, the Video RAM requests were small enough to be accepted, but it put you right near the brink of having no Video RAM whatsoever. As time progressed, Windows and my game made some small bitmap requests until >boom< no Video RAM left period. This is a rare occurrence, and it sounds like the graphics card driver was unable to handle this exception gracefully. When graphic drivers have errors, you get all sorts of interesting experiences. 3 Final Questions1. What version of Windows are you running? 2. What make of graphics card do you have (ATI, NVidia, Intel graphics)? 3. How much Video RAM? Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Adapter > Memory Size --- If you're reading this thread, and are now afraid to try the game, I offer this:1. The game doesn't do anything permanent to your system. You just unzip files & run. Game does NOT have a setup program that installs and upgrades files. i.e. your registry, windows folders, and graphic drivers remain untouched 2. Visual Basic is a standard part of Windows. If Microsoft completely removed all VB DLLs, they would need to rewrite MS Office, Outlook and IE. VB is safe. It has to be  Dinky is one bad Mofo
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Cheater‽
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« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2008, 11:14:56 AM » |
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So, uh. I kinda downloaded this yesterday (before the bugfix) and it worked fine, yet the new bugfixed version doesn't (Last Chance does, however).  Also, I beat it.
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bigpants
Level 1
hi there, i'm happy mister bigpants
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« Reply #15 on: September 10, 2008, 08:57:05 AM » |
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Once again, I arise from the ashes.Let us begin anew. Long StoryBased on the feedback, my previous bug fix was good, but not good enough. Now all the bitmaps, including background bitmaps, are sliced into 300 x 300 bitmaps and then rejoined. Based on my testing, this makes the best use of fragmented Video Card RAM. If this version still fails, there's 2 more things you can try: a) Lower the display colour quality i.e. reduce from 32-bit to 16-bit b) Lower the display resolution i.e. reduce from 1280 x 1024 to 800 x 600 Both of these seriously reduce the amount of Video RAM the game needs. i.e. A monster at 32-bit colour takes twice as much Video RAM than at 16-bit colour. Short StoryIf you weren't able to run "Hold me closer, Giant Dancer" before, you should be able to now. Download and Enjoy! BonusFor your troubles, I've added 2 new monsters: Hydrus and the infamous Dinky. Thanks for the feedback, and the patience!
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policedanceclub
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« Reply #16 on: September 10, 2008, 09:18:25 AM » |
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Love the graphics, and the title. Good stuff.
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Anarkex
Level 1

Still dope.
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« Reply #17 on: September 10, 2008, 06:51:06 PM » |
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Tried playing the game again. It works fine now, but the first time I tried it I used my laptop, and this time I'm using my PC. I really like this game, it perfectly imitates and simplifies what was at the core of SoTC, both artistically and gameplay-wise. I had no idea something like this could be done with VB!
Edit: I beat it. lol'd hard at the ending.
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« Last Edit: September 11, 2008, 04:07:26 AM by Anarkex »
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astrofra
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« Reply #18 on: September 11, 2008, 10:58:18 PM » |
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The color scheme and the pace of this demake are perfectly fitted. Magnificient !
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samp420
TIGBaby
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« Reply #19 on: September 12, 2008, 09:05:49 AM » |
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The link only seems to have v1.1 which I still havent gotten to work. Really want to play this. It looks great!
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