I shall read your comments!

Have I not been responding to your thoughtful comments/suggestions on this blog? Rest assured, it's NOT because I don't care about you guys.

It turns out the email I had set for comment notifications was my old address, one that is no longer in active use. To remedy this, I've rerouted the comment alerts to my main email address, which I keep an eye on a daily basis. So from now on, I should be aware of your comments within a day or so. This means you can expect speedier responses from me than ever before!

So go ahead, bring on your comments. Your voice shall no longer be unheard!

Updates for the Masher Series

New updates for Button Masher (version 4.3), Keyboard Masher (version 4.4), and Mouse Swipe (version 1.1) have arrived. My intention here is to resolve several issues I've thought about over the past several months.

So what exactly has changed? Let's go through the release notes:

• Minor UI improvements
• The back arrow from the Select Mode screen has been moved to the top for better consistency.
• Hovering over the challenge links, back arrows, and restart buttons now change their colors. Each game uses a different color.
• The reset button is now colored red. Be careful with that button!
• Consecutive error messages with Custom mode will now blink at you. This helps you know that your new input is accepted, but you still get the same error.
• (Mouse Swipe only) I fiddled around with the blank margins to improve the game's center alignment. It's still not perfect, but it's better than before.
• Custom mode number handing improvements
• Inputted numbers will automatically round to the nearest nonzero decimal.
• If you enter 1 second, the header will now display "1 second" instead of "1 seconds."
• It turns out entering any custom time above 2,147,483.647 seconds will cause glitches (here's why). Because of this, I added a new "overflow" error message. No sane person would play any of these games for over 24.8 days straight anyway.
• "New Record!" no longer appears on the first playthrough. After all, it was redundant to see that message when you've never played the mode before.
• High scores are now hidden if the Save High Scores setting is off. The benefits are twofold. For one, you can tell more quickly whether or not you have that setting on. Also, if you don't want high scores, you probably wouldn't want to see that anyway, even if it doesn't save.
• The game now informs you when a reset is complete. No longer do you have to be confused whether or not your game actually did reset.
• Access the strategy guide from the help page. Need help? Use the guide. Self explanatory.
• (Keyboard Masher only) Fixes a bug that breaks the timer. The method to triggering the bug was fairly obscure, but it was still worth patching nonetheless.

And if that wasn't enough, this should get you: barring any major bugs, this is the final "classic" version of the Masher Series. That's right: the next update I have planned will be a massive one. At a minimum, there will be a new layout and rewrites to portions of the games. That's why I wanted to roll out these set of updates: to patch up any remaining holes from this era before transitioning to a brand new code base.

So I hope you enjoy today's release, and stay tuned here for news on the next gen Masher Series!

100th Blog Post: Escape a Tower Box Art

For a Psychology assignment, I chose to study the effects of video game box art and how it can persuade people to purchase games. To illustrate my research, I decided to take one of my own games, Escape a Tower, and draft potential box art for it. Below are the two covers, one which appeals more to Americans and the other to the Japanese.

Escape a Tower Box Art (US)                        Escape a Tower Box Art (JP)

 

The idea is that Americans prefer visual action in box art to better stimulate their brains, while the Japanese prefer artistic representations of games. That's why the US version features a more evocative kidnapper and a determined protagonist while the JP version puts the environment at center stage.

My class audience during my presentation looked attentive, which probably means these self-created images brought the point effectively. Coincidentally, they also serve as an excellent way to celebrate the 100th blog post on this site. Thank you guys for motivating me to reach this far!

The Mouse Swipe Strategy Guide

Time for the next strategy guide! If you've utilized my tips and tricks for Button Masher and Keyboard Masher, welcome back. And If you've ever felt like you've needed some extra swiping assistance, you've made it to the right place. So without further ado, here are the Mouse Swipe strategies straight from the game creator.

Achievement Star Requirements

• Blue star - Beat one of the beat the creator scores.
• Green star - Beat every single beat the creator score.
• Bronze star - Reach 1000 swipes (Experienced Swiper).
• Silver star - Reach 5000 swipes (Stunning Swiper).
• Gold star - Become a prestigious swiper (10,000 swipes).

The green star overwrites the blue star, and the gold star overwrites the silver star, which overwrites the bronze star.

Tips and Tricks

• Use one hand. This should be self explanatory, but in case you thought you should use two hands because of Button Masher's two finger tactic, that logic does not work here.
• Relax your swipes. Some players think they should make the shortest swipes they can to reduce the total swiping area. The problem with this is that it tenses up their hand more quickly, sometimes causing them to miss the vertical line. So while it is important to make short swipes, you should make expand them to the point when your hand feels comfortable.
• Mouse or trackpad? Find the controller that works best for you and stick with it. Personally, I find the mouse easier to use, but your opinion could be different.
• Play fast-paced music in the background. I've noticed when I do this, it makes my hands want to shake to the rhythm, boosting my scores. Give it a try!
• Square Mode Tips - Relax your hand, especially in hard difficulty. The less tense your hand is, the more likely you'll be able to slide through the squares with ease.
• Triangle Mode Tips - Here's a little secret: the triangles are actually squares. Here's a screenshot of what I mean:
  
  
  As you can see, the orange area is all your cursor needs to hover at to score points. The triangle is just for decoration. Why did I make it like this? That's how the code works, and there isn't a way to restrict the hover spot to the triangle without some crazy scripting.
  So use this secret to your advantage. Instead of moving your cursor in a triangular fashion, make small circular movements near the center of the triangles. Once you get good at this, your cursor could never touch the left or right triangles ever again.
• Motion Mode Tips - My advice is similar to Square Mode: relax your hand. Stay focused on your target, and remember that the squares speed up every 10 seconds.

You can install KB3097877 now.

So Microsoft finally got their act together.

After reinstalling KB3097877, I can now confirm that my PowerPoint games are working again. Therefore, you SHOULD install the update now to get the latest security fixes.

Let's hope this fiasco never comes to us again.

*The above image was taken from Windows Update.

Don't install KB3097877 (Updated)

Has PowerPoint been crashing on you every time you try to open one of my games? That's because of a recent Windows Update, labelled KB3097877. Intended to be a security update for Windows Vista, 7, and 8, KB3097877 crashes not only PowerPoint but all supported versions of Outlook as well.

Until Microsoft gets their act together, please uninstall KB3097877 if you want to play my PowerPoint games. Here's how:

1. Open Windows Update.
2. In the bottom of the left side bar, click on Installed Updates.
3. On the top right search box labelled Search Installed Updates, type KB3097877.
4. Right click the update that shows up and select Uninstall.

To prevent KB3097877 from installing again, you'll need to hide the update. To do this, right click it in your list of updates to install and select Hide update.

If you don't see KB3097887 when searching for installed updates, that means it's not installed, and you should be able to open my PowerPoint games properly. If you're using OS X or Windows 10, you may disregard this entire post.

I'll update this post as soon as I get more information about the PowerPoint crashes. Let's hope Microsoft doesn't screw things up again.

UPDATE: Microsoft has fixed the crashing issues.

The Buttons are Fixed - I am Thinking of a Number v2.7.1

Some of you guys have expressed concerns about I am Thinking of a Number's redesign, particularly the new buttons. They looked jarring, too Button Masher like, and didn't suit the visual cues of the rest of the interface.

If you were one of those people, rest assured: I fixed the buttons. Here, take a look for yourself.

  

Did you notice the difference? Here's what I changed.

• The button font now resembles the rest of the game's interface.
• The button now has a gradient.*
• Because of the gradient, button clicking looks more realistic.

* If you use Internet Explorer 8/9, Firefox 1-3.5, Chrome 1-3, Safari 1-5.0, or Opera 9-11.50, you'll still see the old button colors.

This should do it guys. The new layout should look a lot more coherent now.

Click here to play!