Tongits

I contacted one of the authors of WinTongits about the corrupted zip file. They promptly responded and informed me that they uploaded a fresh WinTongits zip install file. I quickly downloaded the zip, installed the game and started playing.

I was very surprised to find out that it has a slightly better AI than my old open source Tongits game released in 2003. I was more surprised though when I realized that WinTongits was released in 2002 and I’ve never even heard of it until now (stumbled upon it while searching Google for images with the term “tongits”). I thought my Tongits was the first Tongits game and the first to have AI but it turned out I was wrong.

Another remarkable feature of WinTongits is its support for multiplayer over LAN.

WinTongits is quite good for a freeware Tongits game.

Tongits has been featured at Techathand.net, a blog about technology issues in the Philippines. So far this is the third tech blog that featured my game, I really hope more will follow. Yes Filipinos should unite and support each other.

Thanks to Dexter of Techathand.net for writing the article.

I just found out about another Tongits game created by a fellow Filipino, WinTongits. Unfortunately the zip file seems broken so I can’t really play the game. I’ll try to email the author later about this issue. The game is freeware though.

So far we are now 6 in the Tongits family:

• my Tongits (best so far in my biased opinion)
• my other Tongits which is free
• WinTongits
• online multiplayer Tongits
• Virtual Tongits (built on Java, inactive)
• and my J2ME Tongits which I temporarily stopped distributing while I work on a better version using Adobe® Flash® Lite™

If you also created a Tongits game please feel free to contact me about your game.

I came across an article detailing some of the ill effects of playing too much Tongits. I thought it’s just right to inform all the avid Tongits players out there about this sad issue. I’ve heard of tales where someone played Tongits in excess of 8 hours straight. I also recently received an email cursing and blaming me for his seemingly incurable addiction to the game. Maybe I should put up a disclaimer or something.

Yes Tongits is very addictive! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It feels good to know that Tongits is starting to get noticed in the blogosphere. Technogra.ph has this to say about the game:

An online tongits game (located at tongits.net), created by local developer Rico Zuniga, runs on Adobe AIR. Meaning that after it’s downloaded, it can be played despite the lack of internet connectivity. While we at Technograph are impressed by the game’s workable interface, AI, and graphics, we can’t help but wonder who’ll be willing to shell out $15 for a piece of Filipino gaming.

By “online tongits game”, the author probably meant Tongits found online, but not playable online. Although I am trying to work on the network play feature to be just that - be playable online. And the $15 is reserved for the really hard core and die hard Tongits fan, I just hope they really do exist.

I would like to give special mention to the font that I used in Tongits, OdaBallon, and thank you very much to its creator who did a great job. The font is free for use in both commercial and non-commercial projects. It is clean and legible and at the same time very stylish. This is one of the best comic style fonts that I’ve seen, with same aesthetic quality and appeal as the Blambot fonts. I wanted to use a free Blambot font for the game but I wasn’t sure If I can legally use it in a commercial game.

Download OdaBalloon

I would like to thank Abe Olandres for mentioning Tongits in his uberblog YugaTech! He also posted some of his thoughts and impressions on the game.

I used to be a gambling addict when I was a kid. I learned playing Pusoy when I was 7. Played professional mah jhong at 12. So when indie Pinoy game developer Rico Zuniga sent me a tip about this local game he developed, I spent over 3 hours playing tong-its.

…

I really have to say that beyond the intuitive drag-and-drop interface, I loved playing with the AI (artificial intelligence). It was very challenging (though after several dozen rounds, I kinda got to know how the two other players cook their strategy that I’ve been able to predict when they will draw). But you guys have to try this. Props to Rico for a job well done.

Thanks Abe!

A critical bug that incorrectly saves the current hitter has been fixed. Problems with autosaving have also been fixed.

Version 1.0.3 is now available for installation/download.

Finally after almost 2 months of hard work, version 1.0 of Tongits is finally out! I’ve decided to use the platform most familiar to me at this moment which is Adobe’s Flex/AIR. Though I’m not sure if this is feasible for a shareware game. Well we’re gonna find out soon enough.

The game is an improved version of my old opensource Tongits game. The old game lacked so many features and did not fully conform to the rules so I felt there was a big need to create a better game. But this time I thought it would be fair if I charge a small amount ($15.00) for the work I put in instead of releasing it as freeware/opensource like before. This would motivate me to continue working on and improving the game.

Download Tongits