PB1 more popular than PBO!!!

Hi again everyone!
It has been some time now since the last time I wrote. That is because I have been busy moving to a new apartment. I and my girlfriend now lives in Gothenburg, south of Sweden, while Staffan still lives in Stockholm (the capital). Anyway if you want to know more about me and my private life, then go visit my own homepage:

Marcus Homepage

If you rather want the latest news about Perfect Battle Online (PBO), then keep reading. As you already know if you have been following this blog, PBO 1.0b was released 2007-06-20 for the public. So far it is not near as popular as our first game Perfect Battle. In august there were around 300 downloads of PBO and incredible 3600 downloads of Perfect Battle (PB1). Consider then that Perfect Battle has been out since 2005 and is not (in our opinion) half as great as PBO. This is of course a small disapointment for us. We really expected PBO to surpass PB1 in no time at all. But as it look today PB1 stands firmly on the ground, while PBO has to fight to get any attention at all.

But were does all these downloads of PB1 comes from anyway? Well apperently a load of new downloads comes from a site in the middle east called "stuff". This site was in august responsible for around 2300 downloads! You can check it out for yourself if you want:

Stuff

Well hope you are all well out there and keeps downloading our games! Bye for now.

/Marcus

Graphics in PBO are Crap!?

Hi again everyone!
Here are as usual the latest news about Perfect Battle Online (PBO) - the great action/strategy game from Bit2logic. So what is new then?!
Well first of all we have got some positive and negative feedback. I start out with the negative.

Many people at the swedish computer games forum Loading has told us that the graphics in PBO looks like crap and asked us what kind of graphic designer we have anyway? Well, I admit that the graphics isn´t exactly state of the art. This is because neither I or Staffan are very good at making 3D models, and there are just the two of us working with the graphics (expect for the title image in the main menu that was made by my friend Christian Håkansson, please check out our credits section for details).

I personally think that the graphics in PBO is way better than the graphics in Perfect Battle (PB1). We have added light effects to the gold, shadows, new wall textures, new energybar and plenty of other small things to give the game a greater graphic apperance. Still, as "Fudgepuppy lvl2" told us at the Loading forum, "When was strategy about graphics anyway?"

Now to the positive feedback. When I was browsing the guestbook at my personal homepage Marcus Homepage, I found a post by John Louie, stating that he loves the music in Perfect Battle. I was really happy to read this since I am the one who made all the music in Perfect Battle (and most in PBO). Anyway John, I hope you take your time to play PBO as well, since the music in PBO are way better... in my opinion anyway.

Well that is all for now. Don´t forget to write in our forums and keep tell us what you think about our games.

/Marcus Lindmark

Don´t be shy, Play Online!

Hi again!
Perfect Battle Online (PBO) has been out a while when I´m writing this and some new suggestions are starting to show up at our forums. Keyar19 has suggested that the main tank in PBO is too hard to control because of the high speed and Keyar19 also misses the weapon store from Perfect Battle (PB1). Read all about it and our answers at the forums.

One of the new (and hopefully not too confusing) things with PBO is the flexibility added by our new game rules (read more in readme.txt). But I figured it might help somehow if I would explain the online rules more throughly one by one. Ok, here we go then...

First the basics. To play online, select "Play Network Game" in the main menu. Choose between LAN network (many computers connected together in a house) or play online through the Internet (against people all over the world). Then choose a cool name for yourself, like Crusher King or something like that. You can also choose between a normal game (shoot anyone you want) or team game (all the tanks with your color is in your team). Finally select a map to play and create a new game.

The game starts right away and all the players except yours is played by the computer. Then if a player joins the game (through LAN or Internet) they take over a tank at random played by the computer (like Mr Smith does in the movie Matrix with people. Matrix is by the way a great movie!)

The aim of the game is to destroy all the enemy bases or
to collect the highest score before the time runs out. This means that if you have NOT defeated all your opponents before the time runs out then the one who has the highest score will win. To get a high score you need to blow up enemy tanks and buildings. All the players score can be displayed by pressing the TAB key.

The buildings in the online game also acts a bit differently than you might be used to. Instead of exploding for good when you shoot at them they are replaced with a new factory/base but with your color. This is how it should be because when you have blown up a building then that means that you have conquered it.

If you are playing a online TEAM game and have destroyed and conqured a factory then it will also appear a text at your new factory stating that the factory now belongs to you. This happens because the gold that the small ships collects in team game is shared by all the members of your team, except of course for the ships produced in factories that you have conqured by yourself. In other words the more factories you conquer the more wealthy you get! =)

Ok that is all for now. Please keep on downloading our games! Bye.
/Marcus

Perfect Battle Online spreads at the web!

Hi everyone!
Perfect Battle Online 1.0b (PBO) is finally out and is already spreading. PBO has currently (2007-07-13) been downloaded more than 900 times from our homepage! It has also been awarded a 5 Star rating by the editors at Sofotex. There is already starting to pop up homepages (like PCindir) on languages other than english that links back to us.

This is however only the beginning... What we would like to see now are reviews, bug reports and map files created with our Map Editor. If you feel like writing a review please consider to post it to us. Either at our forums or directly by mail. We would be glad to publish all opinions, bad or good, about our games at our homepage. If you find a bug, please report it so that we can fix it for future versions of the game. If you feel creative, then try out our new map editor and create your own maps!

Okay now for something different. Check this out!
Video presentation of Perfect Battle Online

That is all for now. Have a great time playing our games! And if you like them you should consider donate a small amount to make us happy =) Donations can be made from Bit2logic.com.

By for now! /Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Battle Online 1.0 BETA is out!

This Beta version includes the new campaign Massive Invasion and most of the bugs in single player game has been fixed. However the Online features (LAN and Internet game) is NOT fully tested. Play online and through LAN network at your own risk. Please report all new bugs that you may encounter at our forums.

/Marcus

Ad comments removed from blog

Hi everyone!
Long time no see! I am back at this blog again with some news. First of all, Perfect Battle Online (PBO) is still under development, but is sadly delayed. We did not release it in 2006 as we claimed on our homepage. We will however release it sooner or later this year. Staffan is now working as a programmer full time and dosn´t have much time over for PBO. I on the other hand has been busy with work, skiing and with the remaking my own homepage at marcushome.se (that too coming soon).

Anyway the primary reason why I am writing here again is because I have removed all the ad comments that appeared on the blog. Around 20 in total. I have also reconfigured the blog so that only registred members can comment in the future. The blog also got a new layout. Hope you like it.

The end for now. /Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Updates!

After some time we are back with a new report on our progress with Perfect Battle Online (PBO). Staffan is still working hard with solving bugs and adding new features. Among them is new gamesettings, for example the possiblity to change the default tank weapon and also the new option multimap that allows the player to create random playlists for favorite map files. I too is busy working on the new campaign. I have almost finished writing down the new story for the briefings and will soon start doing the level design. I belive anyone who liked the old campaign will love this one. That is all for now!

/Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Battle Online 0.75 BETA is out!

Perfect Battle Online 0.75 BETA is out! This Beta version should correct the critical bug that made the game crash at some computers and also add new features to the game. You can download it for free until 2006-10-01. It is required to first register on our forum. Then go to the topic "For BETA testers" and follow the instructions. Please come back to our forum later to discuss what you think.

/Marcus

Laser Attack!

We are brave and back with our latest report. This time we went for a field trip to the nearest laser game in Stockholm to do some serious shooting!

A laser game is a sport similar to paintball, were you run around in an arena with your laser gun. The environment is a big indoor maze and the game is accompanied by music and theatrical fog. Staffan took the highest score, I only got an average score. Still it was an inspiring experience.

When we came back to Staffans place we started work right away with the bug that made the game crash in Perfect Battle Online 0.7 BETA. The problem was that the game works fine on both Staffans and mine computer. But for some reason it crashed at several occasions on our BETA testers computers. What we were able to find out was that the bug had something to do with the graphic effect "shadows". We could easily solve it by turning this effect off. However we would prefear to keep it. Therefore it would be better to solve the bug in some other way. And that is what we are working on right now!

See ya soon!
/Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Battle Online goes Shareware!

Finally it´s decided. We will release Perfect Battle Online (PBO) as shareware. Shareware is a marketing method for commercial software (like our game), whereby a trial version is distributed in advance and without payment - but is accompanied by a request for payment required to obtain the full version. This means that unlike our previous games we will ask payment for Perfect Battle Online.

And why is that? Well for one thing we seen a huge interest to download or old game Perfect Battle. In less than two years it has spread all over the world with hundreds of downloads every month (check out our news section for details). Since we think PBO is a much better game than Perfect Battle ever was it´s only fair that we get something in return for our hard work.

I know that some of you guys were hoping for yet another freeware game. Well I am sorry for your sake. However PBO won´t be that expensive. We were thinking to charge around 15-20 $ for the full version. Then keep in mind that it will be a demo version too - for free!

We could use some help from You however. What would make you want to buy our game? Is it for example more online resources like special weapons only for people who have paid the game fee. Or is it a bigger and more difficult campaign with more story. Is it extra music or maybe a ranking system were not all the ranks is availiable unless you have the full version of the game?

Please comment this post and tell us your opinion! And if you haven´t already sign our forum and begin to discuss there as well.

See ya soon!
/Marcus

Download Perfect Battle Online!

Perfect Battle Online 0.7 BETA is out! You can download it for free.
All you need to do is register on our forum. Then go to the topic "For BETA testers" and follow the instructions. Please come back
to our forum later to discuss what you think.

Take care!
/Marcus Lindmark

BETA version almost here!

Hi everyone!
It is finally decided! It will be a public BETA version of Perfect Battle Online (PBO)! We have even set a date for it: 2006-08-23! This is not a joke, but a real chance to try out Perfect Battle Online before everyone else gets to see it. This BETA version will include most game features except for the new campaign and some other minor features.

The BETA version will only be avaliable for a limited time period and from a special download location on the Internet. Therefore you need to mail us if you are interested to become a BETA tester. What we ask from you in return is your active participation in our forums (www.bit2logic.com/forum). We want you to tell us all about the bugs (errors in the game) that you might find while playing. We also want your suggestions and ideas how we can improve our game further.

Interested? Then mail to: staffan@bit2logic.com or marcus@bit2logic.com. Please be aware that BETA software is by definition, still in test mode, and as such presents a certain level of risk.

Hope to hear from you soon!

/Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Vacation

Enough is enough! Sometimes you just need a rest. Even computer nerds like us! =)
Staffan recently returned home from his vacation with his wife. I think they were hiking somewhere or something. I guess I have to ask him about it later.
Now it is my turn to take a break. I will be leaving soon to participate in Dragonbane - a huge international LARP project taking place in Älvdalen in the middle of Sweden. It will be quite something since they actually have made the effort to build a REAL Dragon, who can speak, see at night and breath fire! Come to think of it... maybe we could add a Dragon in Perfect Battle Online too... and while were at it, some demons, orcs and magical bunnies... sounds good!? No, just kidding of course! =) I wouldn´t like to have bunnies in Perfect Battle Online. If you want to know more about the Dragonbane project check out dragonbane.org Interesting reading! Anyway, since I will be gone for a while it might take a few weeks before the blog gets updated again. But by then I will have even more to write about!

Marcus Lindmark

Deadly music!

Well here we are again with a new post!! First of all I would like to thank everyone who has commented on this blog. We just love it when people write to us. Keep it coming! =) Okay enough with that, what is new? Well first of all Staffan has done a lot of programming on the teamplay mode of the game. Hopefully it will be fully working real soon. I on the other hand have composed an all new song for Sudden Death!

Sudden what?! Well let me explain. Usually when there isn´t any time left in the game an angry red sign appears all over the screen - stating that it is SUDDEN DEATH!. This means that everything in the game, tanks, turrets, towers even factories and bases, blows up with only one shot - from any weapon! We invented this game mode to be able to speed up the game a little bit, add more excitment and end a tiresome game more quickly. Now we take this game mode even further by making the music change. It is like when Super Mario gets a magical star (in the classic Nintendo game with the same name) the music changes and gets really fast. Well the same thing will happen in Sudden Death for Perfect Battle Online. That will be something alright! See ya soon!

/Marcus Lindmark

Make a sexy team... and win!

Eh... well forget about the sexy part... hrm... Anyway what' s new then?! Well the team play part actually is! Soon it will be possible to play Perfect Battle Online, together with your friends in teams with the same color and challenge them over the Internet. That will be cool! =) For example, Red against blue with
four players in each color/team.



This new game mode opens up for new possibilities, but also for new problems. One thing we discussed was how to share the resources between the team members and how the upgrades would work. For example if a red player wants to upgrade his ship factory, will then all of the team members gain this upgrade or only he/she? We are working on a solution and we have a few different ideas. But as always, suggestions are warmly welcome. Please comment this post if you come up with something.

That' s all for now! /Marcus Lindmark

Perfect Soccer

Sweden was playing soccer against England. Staffan decided that it was more important to look at the soccer game on TV than to work on Perfect Battle Online (PBO). The result of the soccer game was 2 - 2, the result for PBO was zero... =(

Minimap is Maximum cool!

AAARRRGGHHH!! Two weeks late it is... for this blog... well well... as we say in Sweden, better late than never... Two weeks ago we didn' t do anything at all, so I jump ahead to last week. The new major breakthrough for Perfect Battle Online (PBO - the total awesome computer game that this blog is all about!) was the minimap. A minimap is a great invention (meant to help the player to keep track of her/his position on the map, by displaying a miniature map in the corner). We figured that this was something essential, with bigger scrolling maps. For my part I did some new music for the story scenes in the campaign, based on the music from Perfect Battle (yeah I know it is confusing... Perfect Battle = old game from 2005, Perfect Battle Online = our new game from year 2006!) Actually there is alot of remakes of my old music in PBO, but also many new never-before-heard songs! =) That' s all for now... keep reading our blog! /Marcus

Invisible bugs and crazy names!

Yo I am back... again... with another blog about our new computer game Perfect Battle Online (PBO). For the first time ever have we been working in day time. That' s right for once we didn' t bother to sit up late. Since it was a holiday both I and Staffan were free from work and what could be more fun than continue with our game!? Staffan finished the new hint function for the Map Maker. Also he hunted bugs that didn' t exist! The base suddenly stopped to shoot missiles. But it wasn' t any wrong with the code. The explanation was that Staffan had changed the sight of the bases to zero in the configuration file "GameSettings.txt" while testing new maps. The game acted perfect according to the settings, but Staffan thought it was a new bug! To edit the "GameSettings.txt" -file can be great if you easy want to change something in PBO, for example the speed of the bullets or the armor of the base. This works with or old game Perfect Battle aswell, but is more advanced in PBO. For example it is now possible to set different toughness of ships and buildings. While Staffan was bug hunting I drew some new icons and continued on the new Campaign. New names for the characters were discussed and we agreed that Bold-Gold maybe wasn' t such a funny name as I first thought. Or is it? Please comment or if you who reading this have a suggestion of your own on crazy characters for the game please let us know. We prefer if the name either is a rhyme like Attack-Jack or alitteration (same first letter) like Drunken Dilbert.

Sound card trouble!

Today Staffan had a visitor. A guy needed some help installing sound drivers for his computer. We were pretty much sure we would fix it in a few minutes - one hour later the stupid computer still didn' t want to play a single tune! It was then we decided it was time for some Perfect Battle Online. Today we wanted to add a new function for the Map Maker that allowed us to connect certain hints to specific rally points on the map. Staffan started to code right away and I started to draw some new icons for the Map Maker. Staffan had already made some serious progress when my icons were ready. Then I continued to work on the new campaign, with the introduction of an all new character. Well I could tell you more about him but that would spoil the fun wouldn't it...?! But don' t worry everything will be revealed sooner or later. Anyway... this were an productive day as always... and we took a big leap forward to the future.

Marcus Lindmark (2D-grafik, webmaster, music, level design)

More info: http://www.bit2logic.com

Whisky anyone?!

Once again I (Marcus) am back with a report on our progress with Perfect Battle Online! After playing some soccer and basket ball (Staffan won as usual) and eating some dinner, it was finally time. Time for not anything less than some... Whisky! Well actually we don 't usually drink when creating the game, but today was a special occasion. Anyway it really made the ideas flow when we finally started to work on the game. Staffan told me he got inspired last week of all my frustrated sighs when I was working with the mapmaker. Therefore he had fixed a whole bunch of bugs. It didn' t help much though, since fixing bugs usually generates new bugs in the process. So much time was spent on me creating a new campaign map, making new sighs, and Staffan trying to solve the new bugs that seemed to appear from nowhere. One of the more interesting ones was that the camera in the game started to follow the computer player instead of the human player. Really confusing while testing the new map. A new report coming next week. Same day same blog! See ya soon and keep playing our games, yeah! More info: www.bit2logic.com