Hi all,

We've just finished putting together Hamsterball 2.0 (which is just a free upgrade for anyone who bought Hamsterball). 2.0 has bug fixes and additional stuff in it, including multiplayer (splitscreen) and a battle mode. This will be the final update to Hamsterball until we decide whether new courses should go in an expansion or a sequel.

This new stuff is mostly aimed at the XBox version, so the interface might seem a little clumsy.

So, if you have some time, please try this out:
www.raptisoft.com/betaboard/installs/Hamsterball20Beta.exe

It's the locked version, because posting the unlocked one in Beta last time got me in a lot of trouble. You can *still* find totally unlocked Beta versions of Hamsterball on Kazaa. :)

If you have a crash, please use the crash report thingie to send the crash text to our server (it just sends the text in the window).

Thanks!

No crashes, but my dual shock analogue controls only half work. The menu selection goes nuts and it's pretty hard to select an option and it seems to control the ball only with small inputs. I doubt you've written it to deal with analogue sticks, but seeing as they partially work, I suspect anyone who is into console type games and has invested in a USB convertor for their PS controller will find it frustrating.

The other input issue was that while the controller button seemed to map to the menus, and allowed progress in the game there were points where I had to click with the mouse, and this seemed unintuitive to me.

It's a nice update of Marble Madness though.

The analog stick seems to be an issue with DirectX. If you open control panel, wiggle the stick, and close it again, it works fine. Had the problem with my own analog stick, and with some other testers. Not really sure of why this is so, but it'll go into the FAQ.

Oh dear lord - Rodent Rumble is my new favoritest thing EVER. If I were still in school, and had an XBox, this would replace Goldeneye as "The Best Ever Game to Play Drunk With Your Other Drunken Dorm Buddies". :D Somehow it just doesn't feel the same on the PC (same-screen multiplayer rarely does, for some reason), but it's still fun. Are the unlock spots for the Dizzy and Tower levels available in this locked beta version?

A couple of buggy kinds of things you should hear about, though.

1) First of all, I figured I'd install it over my old Hamsterball Demo. It overwrote my unlocked levels and best times (ARGH! And I had 18.7 seconds on Intermediate Race, too!) - since lots of your current customers will want to upgrade, you should make an upgrade version available that doesn't overwrite the data files. You've probably already thought of this, but just in case you hadn't, I figured I'd bring it up.

2) In the Rodent Rumble, if you lose your tail-less rat just before the end of the match, you still keep control of your Hamster while the Winner screen is up. No biggee, but it seems unintentional to have all of the other players frozen in place during the Winner screen while I fling my rodent to his doom over and over again :D

On another note, you mentioned that you were looking at releasing more courses - might I suggest a bundle pack, when you do? I just can't quite bring myself to spend $20 on what looks to be a dozen courses... but I could definitely spend $30 on, say, twenty courses. Just an idea!

Valkilos, I'm glad you liked the Rumble mode. :) It should be coming out for XBox this fall, and I agree with you on the split-screen multiplayer for console vs. PC. We did entertain the idea of making HB "real" multiplayer, but the game is too sensitive to lag for that to be possible without some *real* re-working.


Are the unlock spots for the Dizzy and Tower levels available in this locked beta version?


Yup... this Beta is actually the whole deal, just put out for testing before it goes live. In the readme.txt, there are some hints that give you an idea of where to look for the hidden spots.


1) First of all, I figured I'd install it over my old Hamsterball Demo. It overwrote my unlocked levels and best times (ARGH! And I had 18.7 seconds on Intermediate Race, too!) - since lots of your current customers will want to upgrade, you should make an upgrade version available that doesn't overwrite the data files. You've probably already thought of this, but just in case you hadn't, I figured I'd bring it up.


We've already got a fix in place for this, that we put in after the Beta upload. Sorry about your scores!


2) In the Rodent Rumble, if you lose your tail-less rat just before the end of the match, you still keep control of your Hamster while the Winner screen is up. No biggee, but it seems unintentional to have all of the other players frozen in place during the Winner screen while I fling my rodent to his doom over and over again


Yeah... Ironically, the amount of work it would take to make this not happen, because of the way the Hamsterballs are programmed, would be pretty wild. So we just figured it's a glitch that doesn't mean much.


On another note, you mentioned that you were looking at releasing more courses - might I suggest a bundle pack, when you do? I just can't quite bring myself to spend $20 on what looks to be a dozen courses... but I could definitely spend $30 on, say, twenty courses. Just an idea!


Nah, nah-- new courses will be a free add-on. We do them for fun, here, between other work. We'll probably add new courses until around Christmas, and then maybe have a go at Hamsterball 2. :)

Valkilos, I just took a look at the code this morning: your times aren't gone. If you download the "final" 2.0 when it releases, you will find them magically restored because of the scoring fix. :)

Originally posted by Raptisoft
Yeah... Ironically, the amount of work it would take to make this not happen, because of the way the Hamsterballs are programmed, would be pretty wild. So we just figured it's a glitch that doesn't mean much.

I suppose you could work around it, if you felt it was worth the work - maybe just make the respawn platforms grow little ridges around the edges once the Winner screen goes up, so while you can control your Hamsterball, you can't leave the little platform. Just an idea.

Nah, nah-- new courses will be a free add-on. We do them for fun, here, between other work. We'll probably add new courses until around Christmas, and then maybe have a go at Hamsterball 2. :)

Are there any plans to release an already-unlocked CD version? Hamsterball (especially with a few more levels) would make a great Christmas gift!

We had a box distributor that we were working with for a little bit... then they dropped the bomb: "Oh yeah, and we expect you to take down all online content."

So right now, the only way to get a CD is to buy it via eSellerate, which is ridiculously expensive.

But keep an eye on the site (www.raptisoft.com) because when we put in new courses, it'll be announced.

I just wanted to tell you I dug out my old Marble Madness Genesis game today and tossed it back since I've beat it so many times. Then I trip over this site, and find Hamster Ball. Made me smile. Very well done polished game. Extremely impressed. :)

I don't know if you're already aware of this, but Hamster Ball was mentioned in this month's Edge magazine in the UK, along with a screenshot. It was to do with the new XBox Arcade.

I don't know if you're already aware of this, but Hamster Ball was mentioned in this month's Edge magazine in the UK, along with a screenshot. It was to do with the new XBox Arcade.


Wha...But...who? No kidding!

Help! I need to get a copy of this magazine! Simon, what can I do for you to persuade you to mail a copy to me?

Send me your address and I'll see what I can do :)

hi, there's a bug still in it from v1
it's in the beginner race on the first curved corner helper thing. If you move near the righthand side of it you spin like a mad hamster and you can't get out of it. This isn't behind it either, just to the right of it.

Cameron Bonde
www.similarmusic.com