Announcing DUOtrix

[SiN]

After many months of work, Caffeine Monster Software and Binary Zoo Studios are finally ready to reveal our first "official" collaboration: DUOtrix, for Xbox Live Community Games.

DUOtrix is DUOtris and then some. We've taken DUOtris, tuned the hell out of it, and added a bunch of new features. Apart from Arcade and Classic, there is also Puzzle mode which features 25 preset levels to solve. We've got 10 "interesting" Zoots. And we've got very psychedelic graphics that take full advantage of the Xbox360 hardware. But that was a given, wasn't it?

Hopefully, DUOtrix will be out for XBLCG on its launch day, November 19th. We are selling it for 400 Microsoft Points.

What is also rather awesome is that DUOtrix is heading to the PC completely free of charge. This isn't happening until much later though (mid-2009), so it's definitely worth getting DUOtrix for Xbox360 and experiencing it in glorious HD.

DUOtrix Site

Cheers,
Mo

EDIT:
Due to men in grey suits DUOtris+ is now called DUOtrix.  It's a better game than that other "tris" game anyway, so we wouldn't want them getting any free publicity off our name if we'd stuck with "tris" 
fog

[JDog053]

Thats great news ! So is the game fully completed ? How long have you both been secretly working together ? I think 400 points is a very reasonable price, which is about £2.50 if i'm correct. Do you need to have an Creators club membership to play it ?

All in all congratulations guys ! Hope the release goes smoothly.

[fog]

Thats great news ! So is the game fully completed ? How long have you both been secretly working together ? I think 400 points is a very reasonable price, which is about £2.50 if i'm correct. Do you need to have an Creators club membership to play it ?

All in all congratulations guys ! Hope the release goes smoothly.

When the new XBox dash is launched in a couple of weeks everyone can download and play XNA/Creators Club/Community Games.

The credit is pretty much all SiN's on this though.  I've only been around for design input and play testing....all the XNA code is his.

[donny]

The credit is pretty much all SiN's on this though.

lol, and the idea and original concept then?

also, no pc version?

[fog]

The credit is pretty much all SiN's on this though.

lol, and the idea and original concept then?

Well yeah I get credits for that

also, no pc version?

Yep you're stuck with the PC original until we release the new PC version.  Like SiN says, it will come, but I don't blame him wanting a bit of a break from DUOtris for a while.

[JDog053]

Whoa, SiN is a legend (as are you Fog). Its been about time a good puzzle game was released for the 360. My last favourite puzzle game as you know is Hexic. It will be fun playing another and supporting my favourite freeware (well, erm...not freeware any more...) company!

I can't wait to see this company jump in popularity, which it most assuradly will (its already really popular). With the added feature of your zoots, it will keep people playing and even give them a reason to come and visit this site along with Caffeine Monster Software. Heck, there might even be a Zoot guide written by fans...

The possibilities are endless !

Either way, i'm happy for the both of you, and i've been ranting and raving about you charging for your hard work. Aswell as great reviews (which I always give your games, much to your dismay) cash will also be an additional insentive to continue !

/endrant

All in all, excellent news and I should be downloading it either on the day, or when I return from Disneyland Paris.

[fog]

Thanks JDog.

It's the same old DUOtris but with some super new OTT psychedelic effects added, so if that sounds appealing I'm sure you'll love it. 

[JDog053]

Thanks JDog.

It's the same old DUOtris but with some super new OTT psychedelic effects added, so if that sounds appealing I'm sure you'll love it. 

Does it still have that power up which causes the controls to be reversed?

Its looking great, and the screen shots show a great deal of improvement (which is hard for an already crisp and clear game).

[SiN]

No, we decided that powerup was a bit shit.   All the other powerups have made a return though.

Mo

[JDog053]

No, we decided that powerup was a bit shit.   All the other powerups have made a return though.

Mo

Thats what I was wondering, since I remember you all saying you weren't too keen on it anyways.

Looking forward to it!

[fog]

No, we decided that powerup was a bit shit.   All the other powerups have made a return though.

Mo

Thats what I was wondering, since I remember you all saying you weren't too keen on it anyways.

Looking forward to it!

Yeah I coded the bloody thing and always hated it so god knows how it made it into the final game    No play testing from anyone other than me from what I remember so I can't even blame them

But I guess everyone has at least one game design decision they'll always regret.  Reverse controls is mine 

[PaulCunningham]

Looks rubbish - I much prefer DUOtrix.




(i.e. update your website Mo)

[fog]

Looks rubbish - I much prefer DUOtrix.




(i.e. update your website Mo)

Agreed 

[JDog053]

Have all of the ingame changes been made? So everything now says Duotrix instead of tris+ ? maybe they found DUOtris on BinaryZoo and they thought you were copying Lol.

[SiN]

DUOtrix has passed peer review and certification!   It will definitely be available on Xbox Live Community Games on November 19th. It is priced at 400 Microsoft Points.

And yes, I finally updated the Caffeine Monster website.

Have all of the ingame changes been made? So everything now says Duotrix instead of tris+ ? maybe they found DUOtris on BinaryZoo and they thought you were copying Lol.

Yep. We actually passed cert last week, but had to do it all again in order to rename the game. The issue is that, historically, The Tetris Company has cracked down on games which end in "tris", which was mentioned to us by a fellow developer during the peer review. We have no idea whether TTC would have sued us or not, but we decided to play it safe and call it DUOtrix anyway.

Cheers,
Mo