We need a Windows port!

If you're able to find someone who can build it, then we'll be happy to host it.

I've downloaded and compiled the game; it looks very cool! I do have a problem, however. I'm using a Logitech Dual Action gamepad on Ubuntu 8.04.1 (64-bit), and while it detects the controller fine, it has the third and fourth axis (the right-hand joystick) reversed. This is really a problem for me because it means that I can't control the camera angles in a coherent way. More specifically, starting the axis count at 0, axis 2 should be left and right, and axis 3 should be up and down. In the game, these are reversed. The gamepad functions well in other games, and I'd really love to get it working in Blob and Conquer. Any suggestions? Thanks.

With a Playstation controller plugged in via a USB adapter, the controller axis reported axis 2 and 3 as being the wrong way around. I assumed that this was just an absurdity of either the way SDL was handling it or the way in which joypads reported their axis. Sounds like its the joypads now.

A quick fix is to make a small change to the source code,

In system/CEngine.cpp reverse lines 155 and 159, so that,

axis2X = event.jaxis.value; and axis2Y = event.jaxis.value;

react to the other directions. I'll see if I can find a more long term solution, like a command line parameter.

Thanks! Worked like a charm. Would it be possible to email me if/when a new/fixed version comes out? dmutters @T gmail .DOT com (spam resistant spelling, I hope...). Great game!

Thanks for your effort. Metal blob solid was one of my favourite games.

Best wishes

This doesn't seem to work for - on a AMD64, Ubuntu 7. The source builds without problems, but when I run it, I just get a huge window about twice as big as the actual desktop, and the the xterm I sterted it in shows lines like:

[DEBUG (18176)] SHOW_NARRATIVE (250)
[DEBUG (18188)] WAIT (1500)
[DEBUG (33444)] HIDE_NARRATIVE (1500)
[DEBUG (33460)] WAIT (150)
[DEBUG (34960)] SHOW_NARRATIVE (150)
[DEBUG (34969)] WAIT (1500)
[DEBUG (49960)] HIDE_NARRATIVE (1500)
[DEBUG (49966)] HIDE_IMAGE (1500)
[DEBUG (49975)] WAIT (150)
[DEBUG (51475)] SHOW_IMAGE (150)
[DEBUG (51481)] WAIT (250)
[DEBUG (53984)] SHOW_NARRATIVE (250)
[DEBUG (53990)] WAIT (1500)

A bug is causing the game to default to 1920x1200 instead of 800x600 when the game is first run.

This is an easy thing to fix. It's actually just one line in src/cplusplus/Graphics.cpp,

Line 70 should read: currentScreenResolution = 0;

Either that or edit ~/.parallelrealities/blobAndConquer/config and change resolution to 800x600. The game will reject arbitrary values, so best to put that in rather than something else.

when i try to install the game it finishes but theres no link to it in any of the menus and i cant find the programs folder or files

The menu entries can vary from distro to distro, so it might not always show up. To run the game simply open up a console and type,

blobAndConquer

Hmm, think this could be ported to the Pandora? http://openpandora.org

it is laggy in the 1st level for me, but fine in the training. and in the one room in the training i noticed that if you move the camera out of the walls (i think the first one with the clear walls) it zooms out to a view of the room, outside. it's kind of hard to explain, but is that a bug? it doesn't do that on the second room like that.

No, it's not a bug, it's just the way the game engine works. It's not the best ever, as you could imagine. The first level is slower than training because there are enemies around they are using up processing time.

ok, but will all the levels be slow? and why in the training, when there is enemies, that shoot (at the end) is it not slow?

Hello !!

First, I want to say a huge thanks to the developers for this game !
This is my favorite game and I love it!

Also, I have a problem...
I began the game on a amd64 ubuntu ( I compiled the game) with the version 1.0.
Recently, I changed my computer and I am now on i386 and the game is in version 1.03 (I installed the *.deb).
I copied the folder ~/.parallelrealities on my new laptop.
And what I found is that I can't load my previous saved games !
(the program crashes saying something like segmentation error...
I am so disappointed not to resume my game...
Is there any way that I can load my old saved games ??
Or if someone has got a saved game on level "Flooded Tunnel 2" with the version 1.03, is it possible to send it to me please ? (hcoohb A.T gmail D.O.T com)
Thank you to anyone who can help !

Sorry, no. Save games are not compatible between 32 and 64 bit versions, prior to version 1.02. Before then saves were binary, so they can't be [easily] transferred.

As for the game being slow, it's difficult to say how it will ultimately run because its dependent on your own system.

seems to be a problem where (in a timed level, forgot level number), the game randomly crashes and won't let me leave. Further more, that particular level is unfair in that there is no apparent way out. After pushing boxes, what is supposed to happen?

I guess you're referring to Mission 11 (Biomech Supply Rear Exit). That level was prone to crashes prior to v1.02, so make sure you have the latest version. Also, when pushing the blocks you need to make sure they land on the pressure plates in the water, which is the point of pushing them off. After that the way out will be clear.

Hello,

Thanks parallelrealities for creating a good quality game for linux. You're awesome. But i've a problem.

The game starts in window, not in fullscreen. I've looked at the code but couldn't succeed. Yeah, i know there's a parameter -fullscreen but i need it by default in the code or somewhere. Do you have a suggestion?

For fullscreen you can either press F10 or select it from the Options menu.

The game will use the last screen state it was in when you exited the game.

Hello everyone =)

Well, thanks you very much for that perfect game (Yes, I love it) and now, I have no problems or bugs with the new version 1.0 and I can finish Blob and Conquer with a lot of pleasure.
And, I have found a very "funny" bug : During the fight against the final boss, load the level when you are against the Fire Blob and Ice Blob and... tadam! The final boss is here, with the two other boss and attacks you (only work if you a save of the Bosses Battle against the Fire Blob and Ice Blob).

Sorry for my bad English.

Best wishes !

Man! I loved the first game, Metal Blob Solid! I finished it saving all possible Blobs. Now I discover there is a sequel, I can't wait to play!

cheats don't work!

type in leavebritneyalone an nothing happens

Hey, is it possible to translate this game? I wish start a french traduction of the text of the history mode.
Is the game supporting translates?

Has anyone compiled it for windows?

- Not sure if there are any Windows builds. If so, someone let us know and we'll post it.

- The game supports GNU GetText, so you just need to download the sources and play around with the pot files (which are there, hopefully)

- There's a bug with the cheat code. The game is expecting a character buffer to be completely filled. So, the easier solution now is to just type in the leavebritneyalone and then press a few other random keys on the keyboard... ;) We'll fix that in our next release (no eta for this at the moment, though)

I need help, I can't find the "Service tunnel security Keycard" on the Biomech Tower level 28. Can someone help me with this? I also can't find a place to use the second C4, Can someone
tell me where the second weakend wall is? if so Thank you.

Is there any cheat mode for version 0.96? If so please let me know!

Can you combine the programs beetween the first and second programs?

- I'm not sure what you mean about combining the programs - They are separate games with different design architectures and code bases.

- I don't believe there is a cheat mode in 0.96. It may only have been added in version 1.0

- The second C4 is needed to get to a keycard used to access the roof. The container holding the keycard is located on the upper level of the third floor, by the laser gates.

Very good games, it's very funny to play.

Just a problem in game, where is the blob hacker because i searched and didn't find him.

You'll have to be a little more specific - which level?

Enemy Base 2 Courtyard

You have to destroy each of the four generators in the towers. Once you've destroyed those, the hacker blob will teleport in automatically.

Each tower requires a key carried by one of the enemies, which activates the individual bridges on the upper walk way that is needed to access them.

well, the reason i ask is that there's a makefile.windows in there. but i don't know how to compile it from windows and don't really have much access to anything else.

i did it, but the hacker blob didn't come

Patrick - Just tried it and it should work fine. Try using the RESTART LEVEL option and giving it another go.

Matthew - The Windows makefile was my own attempt to get the game to compile under Cygwin, but it never really reached much fruition. If you're not too familiar with compiling, it might be best to save yourself a world of pain and leave it to someone else to do ;)

What I mean by combining the programs together is taking both programs and setting them up so that after you deal with getting through the first game it sets you up on the second game and being able to save on the first game.

Ooookaay..... i am on the biomech tower perimeter and if you mean the gate after you get by the third checkpoint i've tryed to use the C4 on that gate. If you say to restart the level, I've already tryed that twice. I am on version 0.96 on a version of fedora that is not being supported. Also I have this problem that unless I put the screen resolution up to the highest one or set it to windowed it will stay at that resolution when i quit the game. it acts as if I've zoomed in but cant zoom out. If you say that i have to set my screen resolution to the highest that makes the game less playable. if you can find a different answer for me, please respond!

Hey Patrick to teleport Anderson (the hacker) in after dealing with the shield generators in the corners of the upper level in the enemy base 2 courtyard, watch the cutscene. Do not skip it watch it and Anderson will teleport in. I know it from experience, believe me.

Hello everybody, i have a problem, after defeat the spider blob commander (mission 16) i have not idea what i have to do, nothing happen the back door is locked, someone can help me!!

How many times has this happened? What version of the game are you on? Did you dump the Commander into the lava pits three times?

Blob-Gamer: the C4 is meant to be used in two places - Just outside the observation tower so you can get around the sealed gate and also to access the maintenance tunnel at the very end.

Yeah...But how do I get to the Service tunnel keycard? Could you give me specific instructions on how to get to where to use the second C4 starting from the third checkpoint? and How do you get to the three Spider blobs after the fourth checkpoint?

Blob-Gamer: The version of the game that you're playing is 8 releases out of date, you need to upgrade to v1.04. Could you download the RPM or Deb file and use that one instead, since lesser versions have issues such as missing items, etc. that you are facing.

Yeah about the missing items... Is the bay checkpoint keycard in the biomech storage facility outskirts supposed to be missing so that its more of a challenge? and in the same level i found a way to get Sylvester without getting the teleporter keycard. You go up the ramp with Teeka press Retreat and jump to the corner of the platform. As soon as teeka gets to the corner press Wait and then jump on teeka and use him to get up.

Yes, that missing keycard is intentional.

Running the game for the first time, I'm getting a segmentation fault when exiting training. The last terminal outputs read:

[DEBUG (352943)] Going to mission 'TITLE_SCREEN'
Segmentation fault

It's happening consistantly at the end of training. Any way to enable more debugging or a known reason for why I'd be getting a segfault?

Which version of the game are you using? Did you compile from source?

I've just tested against 1.04 and there don't appear to be any issues. You could get more information by running it through gdb and seeing where it crashes.

With gdb installed:

> gdb blobAndConquer
> run

when it crashes,

> where

Does it crash when you are playing the actual game too (i.e. - New Game)?

I'm using 1.04, precompiled, from the debian package on your site.

The gdb output from training is:
[DEBUG (126342)] Going to mission 'TITLE_SCREEN'

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
[Switching to Thread 0xb77a28d0 (LWP 11334)]
0xb7ded0b0 in Mix_HaltChannel () from /usr/lib/libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0
(gdb) where
#0 0xb7ded0b0 in Mix_HaltChannel () from /usr/lib/libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0
#1 0x0804c3c9 in Audio::haltChannel ()
#2 0x080856b2 in mainBattleLoop ()
#3 0x08105e03 in main ()

In the game, when Bob dies, I get a segfault if I select "quit" - I have not yet tried playing thru to a level load so I cannot say whether they work. GDB output from quitting after death:
[DEBUG (110974)] addWeapon() - Uzi [128, -639.794617 -1854.561768 -48.968750]
[DEBUG (110974)] Minimum Health = 0.00
[DEBUG (110974)] getAdjustedHealthChance() - 1 (min = 1)
[DEBUG (110974)] Cherry chance: 0
[DEBUG (110974)] addItem() - Cherry [129, -639.794617 -1854.561768 -48.968750]
[DEBUG (110974)] Minimum Health = 0.00
[DEBUG (110974)] getAdjustedHealthChance() - 2 (min = 2)
[DEBUG (110974)] Medipack chance: 0
[DEBUG (110974)] addItem() - Medipack [130, -639.794617 -1854.561768 -48.968750]
[DEBUG (110974)] Not dropping grappling hooks
[DEBUG (110974)] Bob has been killed
[DEBUG (110974)] fireTriggers() - 'Bob' (1)
[DEBUG (110974)] fireTriggers() - No camera in group...

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
[Switching to Thread 0xb777e8d0 (LWP 11310)]
0xb7dc90b0 in Mix_HaltChannel () from /usr/lib/libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0
(gdb) where
#0 0xb7dc90b0 in Mix_HaltChannel () from /usr/lib/libSDL_mixer-1.2.so.0
#1 0x0804c3c9 in Audio::haltChannel ()
#2 0x080856b2 in mainBattleLoop ()
#3 0x08105e03 in main ()

Perhap's its an issue with the audio? I'm also not getting any sound, but wasn't as worried about that as the crashing. Sound works in gnome and other apps, lib-sdlmixer-1.2 is at 1.2.8-1ubuntu0.1; libsdl1.2debian-alsa is at 1.2.13-1ubuntu1. The soundcard is just a HDA Intel onboard chipset.

Certainly looks like an SDL sound issue. Do you hear sound and music in the game? It could be that the game is attempting to stop playing a channel that isn't running (although, that's usually never an issue).

Steve, the Download files you were talking about... Are they update files?

If you mean, are they patches, then, no. They are the latest version of the game (v1.04 right now).

Okay thank you Steve and I don't mean patches.

Three things; 1, Is blob and conquer version 1.04 on Fedora 10? 2,Exactly How many levels are there? and what are there names? I know the names of the first through twenty-eighth levels, 1 Cherry Fields*, 2 Inner cave Network Part 5, 3 Biomech Outpost, 4 Biomech Waste disposal, 5 Sewers, 6 Flooded Tunnel 4, 7 Blob home base Outskirts, 8 Boss level 1 Eye droid Commander, 9 Biomech Storage Facility Outskirts, 10 Biomech Storage Facility, 11 Biomech Storage Facility Rear Exit, 12 Boss Level 2 Biotank 3.0 Beta, 13 Enemy Base 2 Outskirts, 14 Enemy Base 2 Courtyard, 15 Enemy Base 2 Interior, 16 Boss Level 3 Spider Blob Commander, 17 Ancient Tomb 5 Outskirts, 18 Ancient Tomb 5, 19 Life crystal shrine, 20 Boss level 4 Galdov 1, 21 unknown, 22 Flooded Tunnel 2, 23 Boss level 5 Galdov 2, 24 Biomech Assimilator Outskirts, 25 Biomech Assimilalator+, 26 Biomech Assimilator Storage Yard, 27 Boss level 6 Frost and Flame?*, 28 Biomech Tower Perimeter, and I'm guessing that level 29 is The Biomech tower Maintenance Tunnel. and 3 Are there any update files to download?

I have no idea if version 1.04 is on Fedora 10, but if not then you have a choice: either download and install the 1.04 RPM or build it from source and install. The game contains 31 missions.

I have the latest version 1.04, i do that several times, and always he's coming out, i bit him 6 or 7 times, i also locked into the lava pit or into the weapon room and nothing, after all the last time just work, so i don't know what's wrong, thanks anyway!! right now I'm in the mission 26!! by the way i have 8.10 ubuntu version.

I have a new problem i'm in the mission 27 i kill Blaze and Froze but when i kill Galdov the game is closed, do you have some idea? that's happening several times!!!

That's a bug - Galdov is not supposed to be there, except in the cutscene!

V1.05 of the game has just been uploaded, which fixes that bug, as well as a few others. However, if you can't go back to the level previous to the Blaze and Frost fight, you'll need to click the "RESTART LEVEL" option, to ensure that Galdov is not involved in the fight.

This is because the save game will persist the level information for restarting and reloading games, but Galdov should have been told not to be persisted. The real time cutscene has always been updated so that it behaves properly. If you can, reload the previous mission and move onto the boss fight that way, to avoid needing to constantly click "RESTART LEVEL".

Wow.......galdov with blaze and frost.....wow
Okay back to the main issue...Steve, I made a mistake... I am version 0.91!!! I just figured it out. so I am 13 (with 1.05 out now 14) releases out of date! and with me being stuck on the biomech tower perimeter, I decided to restart the game and I just got into the sewers. With dying on Cherry Fields; 0, on Inner Cave Network part 5; 3, On the Biomech Outpost: 1, and in the waste disposal: 0. Normally I don't die at all on the cherry fields...but if i am REALLY UNLUCKY, I cannot go through without dying. What about you?