New Game in Open Beta: Acky's XP Breakout for PPC

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.isotope244.com/news.html' target='_blank'>http://www.isotope244.com/news.html</a><br /><br /></div>Breakout was the first game I every played on my ZX81 and I've had a soft spot for it ever since. I was therefore pleased when Stevehiner sent word that there was a new version available for the PPC, produced by Isotope244 (who are best known for the PPC game "<a href="http://www.isotope244.com/atomic_cannon_pocket.html">Atomic Cannon</a>"). It's called Acky's XP Breakout for the Pocket PC and is currently in open beta. You can get the QVGA version <a href="http://www.isotope244.com/files/Ackys-XP-Breakout-PPC-Beta-1.0a.exe">here</a> (1.3 MB in size) and the VGA version is <a href="http://www.isotope244.com/files/Ackys-XP-Breakout-PPC-HIRES-Beta-1.0a.exe[/url">here</a> (2Mb in size). Yes, that's right, VGA games are beginning to appear. (Remember, you will need Windows SE and a suitable VGA PPC like the Toshiba e805 or the HP 4700 to play the VGA version ;-)). There's also a <a href="http://www.isotope244.com/games/ab/ackys-xp-breakout.html">Windows desktop</a> version of Acky's XP Breakout if you're interested. You can find more information at the <a href="http://www.isotope244.com/news.html"> Isotope244 website</a>, including a video of the gameplay.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/ppc-shot0010.jpg" /><br /><br /><i>"The goal of the game is to make your way through action filled levels by hitting a ball around with a reflective pad. The game will be one of the first to support high resolution displays of 480x640. Acky’s XP Breakout features many graphical effects not common to many Pocket PC games including particle effects, object morphing, and alpha blending. The game will run on any ARM or X-Scale Pocket PC and will require 5 MB of memory. It will be released in many languages including English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese."</i><br /><br />If you do decide to give the VGA version a go, then bear in mind that this is a beta release and that it has not yet been tested, as the developer does not have a VGA device. Bit of a drawback that. ;-) So, you are playing/testing it at your own risk and should backup all device data before installing and running it. You have been warned! As usual, if you do spot any bugs, the developers will be eager to hear from you. Personally I plan to install the QVGA version this evening. Roll on more VGA games (for when I get a VGA PPC)! :mrgreen:

[dean_shan]

If Microsoft came out with a VGA version of Age of Empires I might have to upgrade my device. As for this brick shooter, it looks good but not good enough to get a new device.

[Jonathon Watkins]

If Microsoft came out with a VGA version of Age of Empires I might have to upgrade my device. As for this brick shooter, it looks good but not good enough to get a new device.

Sure, but I'm getting a VGA device for a whole variety of reasons - prettier games only being one factor. Is is a *good* reason however. :wink:

[Tierran]

Well, the QVGA version is darn pretty itself. Definately going to be a great game.

[Kati Compton]

I'll have to check it out. My FAVORITE version of the brick and ball games was MegaBalls on the Amiga. ;) But this looks good too. :D But this is exactly the type of game that I think would *not* do as well with a touchpad as a d-pad, btw.

[Janak Parekh]

But this is exactly the type of game that I think would *not* do as well with a touchpad as a d-pad, btw.
Most breakout clones on the Pocket PC actually just use the touch screen -- you slide the stylus back and forth on the screen. I'll play with it on my e805 and report back. ;)

--janak

[Jonathon Watkins]

I'll play with it on my e805 and report back. ;)


Brave man! 8O

Good man! :wink:

[alex_kac]

But this is exactly the type of game that I think would *not* do as well with a touchpad as a d-pad, btw.
Most breakout clones on the Pocket PC actually just use the touch screen -- you slide the stylus back and forth on the screen. I'll play with it on my e805 and report back. ;)

--janak

Seems to do fine with a touchpad here.

[stevehiner]

The stylus on screen works far better than the D pad. The D pad is very difficult to use just like any other breakout style games on PocketPC.

Since this beta only has 10 levels you won't get a feel for the strategy involved in playing Acky's. Unlike every other breakout game I've played there is actually long term strategy involved in this one. Most breakout games only involve breaking bricks without losing balls.

If you want to fully experience Acky's you need to pay attention to the bonuses you are getting. Once you fill up all the bonus bars you go into XP mode. Trust me when I say you're going to want to see XP mode. In XP mode the game just about goes crazy for a few levels. Your ball splits every 10 seconds so you quickly end up with a ton of balls on screen racking up new bonuses like crazy - it's really wild.

Acky's also keeps track of how well you did on each level so you may want to replay levels to get a better score overall.

By the way, I'm not associated with Isotope244 in any way except for the fact that I'm a big fan of Acky's on the PC and Atomic Cannon for PocketPC.

[Janak Parekh]

I was about to install it, but then I read this:

Update - It sounds like it is only working under WM2003 with the My_vga and Undead_hack utilities running. Several others with SE have tried it and none have gotten it to work so far, including using the SE_VGA utility. I will add more logging to the game in the next version. The good news is VGA mode is working and very playable. Getting it working under SE shouldn't be too much of a problem.

:| I guess I'll wait for the next beta.

--janak

[Zab]

having a blast so far on my dell X30

[DavidHorn]

A short video clip of the game has also been added to our video library at http://www.pocketgamer.org/video

Enjoy!