A few months back, talk on the site ZuneBoards led to the discussion of a Tetris clone for the new Zune HD. Surprisingly, none had been made at that time. I was working on the Snakez final release, but decided to take a few months and convert the original Quatrix code into a version for the Zune HD, decked out with higher resolution graphics, better sound, cool touch controls, and an overall improvement over the original game. Now, the game is in its first beta form, and has been released to the public.
New Features:
Better graphics/Higher Resolutions
Touch Screen Controls
More Game Types
Better GUI
Media Library Integration
Perhaps the biggest new feature is the addition of a few more game types. The beta currently has three built in, including Infinity, which has infinite falling blocks, and you progress through increasingly difficult levels; Sprint, which tests your speed as you try to eliminate 30 rows in the fastest time; Race, where you are put to the ultimate time test, trying to eliminate as many rows as you can in under 4 minutes. Other game types currently being built are Utra, where you can get special bricks that alter the game play, and Impossible, which, instead of one falling brick, there are two.
Another key feature is the touch screen controls.
There are two different settings for Quatrix HD. One is the motion control, which detects interactive motions. These controls are: tap either side of the block to move it in that direction, tap the block to rotate, tap the bottom of the screen to accelerate the fall, and swipe downwards to insta-drop the block. The other setting places touchable buttons on the screen, which you can press to move the block around.Included in Quatrix HD is the improved Shockwave engine, which allows the game to access the Zune's media library. Shockwave is currently in CTP, and nowhere near its final stages. However, you can create temperary playlists from any song on your Zune, or select groups of songs from artists, albums, genres, or playlists stored in the media library.
While the beta is fairly extensive in terms of features, there are many things that are still works-in-progress. All of the libraries for the game are continually being updated. As mentioned before, more game types will be added, ultimately with the inclusion of multiplayer. Better graphics and sound are also in the works, as well as the general clean-up and glitch removal of the game.
Hope you enjoy Quatrix HD, and keep an eye out for the continual improved versions of the beta. I will submit updated versions of the game to the public about every two weeks, up until the final release of the game.
