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amikazmi
zamadatix
The sand is going down. Each tick one bit of sand falls from the top left to the bottom of that valley. Over many ticks the sand from the top accumulates up the side of the valley, from over the "cliff". The strange bit is the pieces teleport in one tick one at a time. No matter how you do it you'll end up with some sort of tradeoff like that when using pixel grids instead of particles.
janosdebugs
Cool game, pretty hard too, I love it!
If you are trying to get it running on Linux (e.g. in WSL), you need libfontconfig, libxrender and libxtst installed. This worked for me on Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libfontconfig1 libxrender1 libxtst6
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=0
./Setris-1.2
Cu3PO42
WSLg (Microsoft's implementation of graphical programs for WSL) also uses RDP internally. So I wouldn't think that is the issue with the Sandbox, unless you set up some other way of X forwarding. WSLg is still hardware accelerated and Sandbox might not be, however.
janosdebugs
Good to know, but WSLg seems to be much faster that the graphics in Sandbox, even with GPU acceleration.
jjordan
And this is why gaming on Linux never took off.
passwd
It's an equivalent to not distributing the necessary DLLs in Windows, which is something that I've definitely seen happening before as well.
janosdebugs
I don't know, I had a pretty good experience with Steam/Ubuntu. Most games worked out of the box.
olodus
/ is only taking off now that a large corporation is backing it and unifying how to do stuff more.
VPenkov
This looks like a lot of fun. I'm curious, where did inspiration come from? I love playing creative versions of classic games like that and if something inspired you to build this, I'd like to try it too :)
This reminded me of a physics-based Tetris that a friend of mine built many years ago: http://phystris.pi-dev.com/
noobcoder
The yellow section in the video dissolved a bit earlier than I anticipated, around 0:23, but I noticed that there are a few missing pixels on the left edge. It could be due to lower resolution or the need for clearer indications. Perhaps improving either the resolution or providing clearer visual cues, such as eliminating shaded edges on the border, could enhance the experience. But sitll, I find this variation of Tetris with sand elements to be quite fascinating and a unique twist on the traditional game. Great job bro!
Liquidor
That's really cool :-)
I like how it looks and how hard it seems.
I see that you're into Java, so I was thinking maybe you could look into transpiring your game into JavaScript so it can be embedded on a website.
Checkout GWT for that: https://github.com/gwtproject/gwt
snerbles
The author mentions that they used LibGDX. It's been a decade since I've done anything with it, but I do recall LibGDX can be transpiled with GWT with a bit of work:
alex_duf
I had no idea GWT still existed!
kaba0
There are much better options than GWT, google’s closure compiler, teawm, cheerpj. Though libgdx might be problematic.
mslivo
It's coming
keyle
This is nutty, I love it.
One word of caution, I wouldn't mention the word Tetris anywhere, just use "falling block classic game" or whatever else, as it's one of the most trigger happy IP I know of after Nintendo.
That said it's so far detached from the original you might be fine.
bena
Just looking at the gameplay video, they have a bit of work to do to avoid a DMCA request from maybe both The Tetris Company (I think that’s the name) and Nintendo.
The game lifts a lot of design elements from the Game Boy version of Tetris. Clearly to evoke the nostalgia. Down to specific graphical elements like the style of the blocks and fonts used.
The Tetris Company would have a point here. The game wants you to think of a very specific version of Tetris. I forget where Nintendo exactly was involved in the game, but it’s possible they hold some rights to the Game Boy version as well.
I’d strip out all the Game Boy elements. I doubt you’d get by on a parody claim.
thegabriele
I suggest Darude as an alternative, memeish, name.
tim_hutton
Sandy Crush
Biganon
Even a word that sounds like Tetris, such as Setris, can be enough for a trademark issue
fuzzythinker
I like ugh's suggestion - Sandtris
thund
Sandrise, should be far enough and still close enough
userbinator
Or as the Chinese seem to like to call it, "Russia block".
falcor84
In Soviet Russia, blocks rotate you.
sethrin
Complete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris
keyle
Yeah block stacking, physics based line assembling, all sorts of names. Everyone is very careful not to say the word Tetris.
Same with the Zelda word...
doodpants
There used to be a Tetris clone for Mac called Quinn. The web site for the game said: "Quinn is an implementation of a popular falling-blocks game which, according to the Tetris Company, must not be named here."
chromoblob
BRICK GAME
OnionBlender
Not to be confused with Brick Breaker. The other brick based clone.
nmz
Could be Arkanoid. Too generic.
zelphirkalt
Reminds me of "Brix".
dcuthbertson
Bricks of Dune is a silly name I just thought up. On second thought, it reminds me of sand art in glass jars, just more dynamic.
dylan604
Does a sand worm come out and clear a large section of the screen if you get a large enough combo?
trbleclef
It comes from above and gobbles you. Wait, that's SandFree.
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nurettin
Have you tried writing a Rubik's cube game? They hire professional law firms to go after you.
User23
Also "Magic 8 Ball" is an invocation that will summon Hasbro's lawyers from the nether realms.
quickthrower2
So all the otherwise easy to copy ideas that rely on the brand to make money. Makes sense.
programmarchy
Saw that one of my kids had a knock-off named Mystical Magic Orb and wondered if the ridiculous name was designed to work around trademark issues.
actionfromafar
It IS magic after all.
undefined
keyle
No, I didn't know that it was also a touchy one, thanks.
hsjqllzlfkf
Story time?
thomastjeffery
They could just wait until they get a complaint and change it then. There's no reason to just avoid the name outright.
sillysaurusx
A dmca counter claim takes at least 14 long days to respond with. In the meantime, your vitality will dry up.
Trademark infringement is a bit different, since there’s no analogue to the dmca process. But it’s pretty reasonable to want to avoid the hassle by just changing a few words.
(What is the expected litigation route for trademark claims anyway? Can they knock a project offline, or just send a strongly worded lawyer letter?)
ale42
> (What is the expected litigation route for trademark claims anyway? Can they knock a project offline, or just send a strongly worded lawyer letter?)
IANAL, but I would expect a cease-and-desist letter or the national equivalent depending on the country you're living in. Usually you have a short delay to remediate, or risk getting sued.
WatchDog
Any chance of macos support? I tried running the jar, but didn't get very far, the jar seems to include binaries macos binaries for both x86 and arm, but it didn't want to start.
ankitg12
Tried running with following JDK on mac, but don't see any screen after the initial few messages:
Setris-1.2_LINUX % java -version openjdk version "17.0.7" 2023-04-18 OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-17.0.7+7 (build 17.0.7+7) OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-17.0.7+7 (build 17.0.7+7, mixed mode, sharing)
Setris-1.2_LINUX % java -XstartOnFirstThread -jar setris-desktop-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar [30.05.23][12:16:41] Loading Assets [30.05.23][12:16:41] Done. [30.05.23][12:16:41] Starting UI Subsystem ^C% Setris-1.2_LINUX %
mslivo
It's not officially supported as I can't test it myself. It should work in theory but as far as I know it nobody got it to run yet.
Tepix
Perhaps someone can sponsor access to a macOS VM? Renting a Mac Mini M1 is $0.11 per hour at Scaleway.com (by the way, their launch video is hilarious https://youtu.be/jZJnrKjfA3s )
gitgud
That is the weirdest Saas company video I’ve ever seen…
t0ps0il
`java -XstartOnFirstThread -jar setris-desktop-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar`
I had to add the start on first thread flag to prevent errors and start a launch. I do get stuck after `Starting UI Subsystem` gets logged but I havent put any real effort into trying to debug that yet.
m_eiman
I get this when run with homebrew's openjdk (which is JDK 20, I think):
mikaeleiman@iMac ~/D/Setris-1.2_LINUX> java -XstartOnFirstThread -jar setris-desktop-1.0-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar
[LWJGL] [ThreadLocalUtil] Unsupported JNI version detected, this may result in a crash. Please inform LWJGL developers.
[30.05.23][11:52:12] Loading Assets
[30.05.23][11:52:12] Done.
[30.05.23][11:52:12] Starting UI Subsystem
[30.05.23][11:52:12] Done.
[30.05.23][11:52:12] 0 FPS | 260MB RAM | 8 Threads | Render: 13ms
mikaeleiman@iMac ~/D/Setris-1.2_LINUX>
Maybe related to the LWJGL warning?
DiscourseFan
I just have it running on an emulator on my machine, unfortunately.
mertens
* Got taken down ( https://itch.io/takedowns/2073998 ) and was subsequently republished as Sandtrix.
* Now also available as a web game on CrazyGames: https://www.crazygames.com/game/sandtrix
parpfish
looks cool, but it took a long time to realize that "rows" don't matter and "color" is what matters.
infinitedata
I misread and thought it said Sextris. Which makes me wonder how a Tetris flavor like that would look like!
sashk
This has been done long-long time ago - https://zxart.ee/eng/software/game/puzzle/sex-tetris-2/sex-t...
1m2r3a
You brought some forgotten memories for me. X-tetris was the real deal https://archive.org/details/xtetris
ugh123
Awesome! But why not Sandtris =P
parentheses
Nicely done. I don't think I've seen a redo of tetris that dropped so much that was still good.
cjsawyer
There’s also Not Tetris https://stabyourself.net/nottetris2/
personjerry
Also related, Hatetris which always gives you the worst piece: https://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html
pcthrowaway
I just went down a rabbit hole with this excellent blog post on using data structures, search algorithms, and maybe some machine learning to try to beat the previous world record of 66 lines: https://hallofdreams.org/posts/hatetris/
taneq
And, of course, Futilitris: https://tetris.wiki/Futilitris
chromoblob
Wow, that's really cool game. That feeling of mathematical difficulty when you're playing is very cool.
Unit520
Destructible Tetris blocks: https://unit520.net/deadtrees/
Silly physics fun in the browser, but not a complete game (yet).
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Super cool!
One thing that looks a bit off is that part of the physics engine runs in reverse -
When a piece touch the high part of a pile, the sand is going UP from the bottom of the valley to the top, instead of from the top DOWN to the bottom
When the process finishes the end result is the same, it's just a bit strange :)
Example in https://youtu.be/Hp4nV4EjLgM?t=133