New version of Sudoku Rules released

Spiralmile · 10-01-05, 03:13 PM

Spiral Mile is pleased to announce the release of V1.7 of Sudoku Rules.

Sudoku Rules is the first and only Pocket PC Sudoku game to visually highlight how to solve each and every step of a puzzle at any level of difficulty - even the puzzles you enter yourself.

* NEW! Sudoku Blackout play mode - a new and unique twist
* NEW! Incredibly fast board generation
* NEW! Full sized board - and it looks great on VGA too
* NEW! Improved Full visual explanation
* NEW! Smart Undo/redo function that shows recent chain of numbers entered
* NEW! Timer with pause option
* NEW! Now four levels of difficulty, and a fifth is on its way...
* NEW! Customise board background and number/pencil colours
* 5 simple and powerful hint types: 3x3, Cell, Number, Shapes, Pencil
* Enter your own puzzles and analyse their difficulty in detail
* Load and save puzzles in multiple formats
* Choose between number-pad and number-strip entry of numbers and pencil-marks
* Auto pencil entry and removal feature
* No guesswork required to solve puzzles
* Option to highlight if you make obvious mistakes
* Automatically remembers game state when you re-start the application
* Plus extra game options, sound options, battery and time indicators...

Check out www.spiralmile.com to download.

magnolia · 10-01-05, 03:32 PM

I need just a .cab download. Why do developers use .exe files for things that should be simple .cab files?

firebrand · 10-02-05, 01:29 AM

This app is very cool. I'm puzzled as to why Mastersoft Sudoku gets all the attention on aximsite. The hinting engine in Sudoku Rules is second to none. If you need help, far better that you learn in the process, and get a chance to work it out for yourself...

Gambino P · 10-02-05, 03:53 AM

This is my favorite version of Sudoku, hands down.

veearich · 10-02-05, 09:19 AM

This update has made a great program the best.

Spiralmile · 10-02-05, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by magnolia

I need just a .cab download. Why do developers use .exe files for things that should be simple .cab files?

We now have CAB versions for direct PPC install on our support/download page at:

http://www.spiralmile.com/sudokurule...es/support.htm

magnolia · 10-03-05, 11:37 PM

I can't seem to get it to work. I installed it (both with the .exe and the .cab file) and it starts up, music and all. But nothing seems to work after that. I can't tap or use any buttons. Also, it's horribly pixelated. I'm using an x50v, but in standard VGA mode (as in the way it ships with no real VGA software). Any ideas?

Spiralmile · 10-04-05, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by magnolia

I can't seem to get it to work. I installed it (both with the .exe and the .cab file) and it starts up, music and all. But nothing seems to work after that. I can't tap or use any buttons. Also, it's horribly pixelated. I'm using an x50v, but in standard VGA mode (as in the way it ships with no real VGA software). Any ideas?

Thank you for your feedback - we were informed of this issue from a customer via our support email (support@spiralmile.com), as follows - this sounds like the same problem, though the user in this case is using additional VGA software:

(Support request from a user owning a hx4700)
I (and many others) use a tool like SE_VGA and ozVGA to use real VGA resolution. The user interface looks great but tapping the screen is a problem. If I want to tap position (x,y) then I have to tap position (0.5x, 0.5y).
It's hard to explain, but it's like tappable screen is still QVGA and is located in the top-left quadrant.

We have released an updated version (V1.07a) now available from our support site in .exe and .cab format, here:
(http://www.spiralmile.com/sudokurule...es/support.htm)

Please let us know if this does not resolve the issue you have experienced on VGA.

magnolia · 10-04-05, 10:15 PM

I don't know if you have access to your server's httpd.conf file, you if you do, you should put an AddType application/cab .cab line in there so that people can download .cab files directly without having to right click (if I were using my PPC to download, I'd have trouble). :)

magnolia · 10-04-05, 10:40 PM

It works great. The graphics are still a bit fuzzy, but very nice. Easy was too easy. I did it all in my head pretty quickly. Gotta try harder ones... But the hard ones can take me several hours and my Axim's battery wouldn't be able to take it!

Spiralmile · 11-25-05, 06:29 AM

Originally Posted by magnolia

It works great. The graphics are still a bit fuzzy, but very nice. Easy was too easy. I did it all in my head pretty quickly. Gotta try harder ones... But the hard ones can take me several hours and my Axim's battery wouldn't be able to take it!

We have released v1.08 which is compatible with WM5 and square screens, and uses VGA graphics. Hope you enjoy the new 'race against the computer' scramble game mode and the full text explanations of solving steps too!

darus67 · 12-05-05, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by magnolia

But the hard ones can take me several hours and my Axim's battery wouldn't be able to take it!

What's up with that, anyway??

I've been checking out the demo. I like the program a lot, but it runs my battery half way down in 20 minutes. WHY??! What is going on in the background that is so resource intensive?

Spiralmile · 12-10-05, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by darus67

What's up with that, anyway??

I've been checking out the demo. I like the program a lot, but it runs my battery half way down in 20 minutes. WHY??! What is going on in the background that is so resource intensive?

Hi - we knew of some battery usage issues in versions prior to release 1.08, so we spent a long time analysing the code and made significant changes to the screen-refresh mechanism - basically the whole screen was being redrawn 15 times per second including multiple draws for transparency regions, whereas now only necessary parts of the screen are drawn once when needed. This seemed to significantly reduce power usage.

I personally ran a test:

* on a standard PPC2003 HP2215
* with the game installed on a 512Mb storage card
* with bluetooth switched on
* backlight set at roughly 50%

Without the game running, but leaving the PDA powered on with backlight on, the power drain was
6% in 20 minutes.

With the game running and actively being played, power drain was
12% in 28 minutes = 8.57% in 20 minutes.

This is almost 6 times less drain than seems to be occurring on your device - could you give us some more detail about the conditions under which you experienced this power drain?

darus67 · 12-12-05, 12:15 PM

I did some quantitative testing this weekend.

In short, I exaggerated a fair bit in my original post, but the actual battery usage was still higher than I would expect.

My equipment: Axim X50v with a standard 1100mAh battery, bluetooth and WiFi both shut off and the processor set to auto speed.
The OS on my Axim is WM2003

I did 3 tests, each time starting with the battery freshly charged.

1) A baseline test with the backlight on and the Axim idle on my desk for 30 minutes. The battery started at 100% and had dropped to 92% at the end of the test.

2) 30 minutes playing "Jawbreaker" the battery went from 100% to 92%, again.

3) 30 minutes playing Sudoku Rules the battery went from 100% to 80%