My first ever comment - been collecting for a while. Sawiod is a great game for me with a bouncing saw - like the explosions and music - same as Last Galaxy Hero - But a Error Occurs when the "saw goes into the "magic transfer HOLES" and can end up looping from hole to hole and never returning to base line for hit or loss.
I also found the SLANT of the playing field a challenge to get used to in judging edge hits on the bat but the numerous life bonuses kept things even.

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Thank you for your feed back Robert

Except for some of the complaints (above) regarding the bat, We enjoyed the game after Downloading last February 19th (2011).

WhiteRabbit... can you tell us if this is a newer version since today's zipfile is 981,075 bytes (0.93 MB) bigger than the last one ???
I haven't finished downloading it yet (just-in-case).

Thanks again to the Developer & GAoTD.

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Sorry for the late reply Chris; needed to go to bed. I don't think there is any difference despite the disparity in sizes. I've looked at both versions (from this Feb and todays and cannot see any version numbers or difference; though I may be wrong. If there is still time I would suggest installing his to a different path to last Februarys just in case.

@15; Brian;
I download over WLAN without any problem. Had problem a month ago with failed activation but was solved by searching for my IE6 shortcut (even though I use Firefox!!!!) and telling Internet Explorer IE6 to work online instead of offline. I think browsing old emails in Outlook (using offline mode in Outlook) messed up everything, maybe. Odd though everything else on the net worked fine except for the GAOTD activation w/Failed to Connect. Maybe it uses a weird microsoft port or something affected by Internet Explorer????

@All; this is a worthwhile game and so far I've liked everything I've seen from Stars Ashes games. In fact some of their games are very addictive!!!!


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Thank you for your feedback Arthur

Sorry there was more than just a black screen. I tried launching it again and I heard a noise like a dialog box opened. So I managed to move the black screen low enough to see the box. It had this in it

Software__Vertexprocessing was not initialise!


It was worded just like that. Not quite proper English.

Not a clue what that means.


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Hi Joe, Vertex processing is something to do with your graphics. I would recommend that you ensure your windows platform is fully up to date as well as your direct X and graphics drivers. If your not sure what to do please go to the forums and post there. If none of the above work it could actually be your graphics chip/card thats at fault.

Check to see if the fan on the card isn't completely free of dust. This could cause your card to overheat and casue problems, but to be honest it sounds more like the software.

Before you do any of that please try the free version from Gametop. I've linked to it in my review @ #1, make sure you uncheck any boxes during the the installation wizard (if there are any).

I was hoping for 2 in a row but alas not to be.

Today's game just gave me a black screen when I launched it.

Maybe next week I can get 2 in a row to work. thanks anyway

Disappointed as last time. It's your run of the mill arkanoid game, without much in terms of innovation. There's an odd bug where playing at 640*480 would have your paddle crawl left. And as with everyone else, the paddle is pretty annoying. Sorry, no points for replacing the ball with a saw.

If I'm bored out of my mind one of these days, I might try to reverse engineer the mesh format. I remember that I started on it, but probably deleted the little bit of script that I wrote.

Thanks for the Game!!
Block Busters can be interesting
games! I thinM Kinda like puzzle
games more! Thanks again!!!

I picked this up the last time it was offered here and have been playing it since then. My only issue is with the bat. The hit detection for bats in games like these needs to ABSOLUTELY cover every visible part of the bat. It's like an unfinished thought imo. Why only cover only 98% of the top of the bat? It seems to me that it wouldn't take much to do the entire thing. The reason i bring this up is because when things start getting crazy in a game like this and you have several saws/balls going at once it may be difficult to get the bat underneath the ball/saw, so the remaining option is to hit the ball with the side of the bat, which only works sometimes for me when i play this game. I'd also like to see some control options. I play this on a laptop that has a touchpad mouse which makes any type of laser/firing bonus pretty much useless since i have to break contact with the touchpad to click. After a few months of playing i've gotten used to it. When i'm feeling like playing a game the reason i end up not playing this is because i need to hook up my mouse, and like i said it's my laptop so i don't always have my mouse available. The last thing i want to put out there is that i think it would be great if there was a trophy/achievements feature. IMO trophies/achievements give games like this a high replay value.

To any developers that might see this, please don't take this review the wrong way, I only mention these things because I really enjoy playing this. I love the fact that instead of balls, there are saws!


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Thanks for your feedback

9.I thought this might be a neat little distraction, at least until I ran it the first time. After playing it, then shutting it down, I found that all of my 232 desktop icons had been hopelessly scrambled.

It wasn't the game. A bird singinign in a tree just happned to tweet in C-sharap at the exact same time, creating a 'vacuum effect' that scrambled your icons. Very unfair of you to blame the game.

I think you should tweak the supplies (breaks) and background color pallete. The current colors are a bit too saturated for the futuristic theme and make it a little hard on the eye. Other than that, great game and idea. :)


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Thanks for the feedback

Thank you so much for the quick response. I've deleted and re-downloaded the game. I turned off my desktop calendar [Rainlendar2] and my Rocketdock. It is working.. woohoo... I get to play ! :)

GodBless

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That's good news, thanks for letting us know. :)

Installs and runs great on Win 7 Home Premium, even in windowed mode.

I am a very big fan of Arkanoid clones, and this one is pretty good. My only complaint is that thea paddle is too tall and takes up too much room at the bottom of the screen. The effective hit area is very small and precise and the 1.5" gap of dead space below the paddle puts a serious damper on "last minute" saves. The closer you can move the effective hit area to the bottom of the screen, the better.

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Agree with you on the paddle. Thanks for the feedback.

Easy enough for a game challenged guy like me, and still fun for the mrs. who is much more fast-paced than I. We do play this one a little more than a few of the others we have collected, so we are happy we grabbed it last time offered here- :)
* now, if there was just an on-demand slow everything down for a few seconds switch that could be slipstreamed into the package, we/I would be happy !!

Ok, having said earlier that I didn't find the game easy, I am now revising that opinion. Its good, but spoilt to my mind by the ridiculous number of extra lives the game gives you. I would say that I am far from an expert player (its debatable whether I'm even good!) yet I finished the whole game (on normal difficulty) with around 60 lives to spare, which for a mediocre player like me is just silly. I found the first few levels tricky at first, but once you get into it, you are bombarded with extra lives, which made it no challenge. I tried a few level on 'hard' but couldn't tell very much difference, to be honest.

Shame really, as its pretty good otherwise. My suggestion to improve it is to reduce the number of free lives by a factor of 10, which would then make it much more of a challenge and more of an achievement to win through to the end.

Oh, just one more suggestion: nothing really happens at the end and it would be better if the last level was at least significantly tougher than the others, or have a mega-boss ship that you have to destroy, or something like that, otherwise the feeling at the end is just, 'that's it?'?


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Thanks for your feedback. The boss idea is really good as is the number of lives thatare given. I'm wondering whether it's possible to change the number of extra lives via the games code?

Seems bit improved over last offer? Or is my 24" widescreen. Bat/mouse issue bites me too. Guess have to play a lot to get used to the sort of overshoot or lag in its movement. Maybe keyboard method or a mouse slider bar? Even on Easy (& no matter screen size) the bat just flips too fast or too slow. Granted, for some, that can introduce element of having to plan in advance where you want bat to be waiting in place on ball rebound. Yet that prevents ability to quickly avoid bad stuff, grab a far edge good thing, whip back to hit ball. Sheer movement back quickly often overshoots placement. Other variations of genre allow for tighter control.
As mentioned the guns shooting at you do add to fun. Win 7 x64 did not scramble desk icons. But I didn't have any open programs. Sometimes shooter games will screw up the open program (s) by resizing the open program after closing shooter. Usually that's with much older programs tho designed in dif era.
Thanks guys. 8.8 of 10 for fans. 5 of 10 for me over playability.


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Thanks for your feedback Beergas

I'm another who really likes this game!

And giving it away again reminds me I haven't played it for quite a while, so off to do that now. :)

oops forgot to mention that I have Vista 64 bit and the game does nothing except give me a white screen and says that files are bad...
Thanks.... *sigh I was so looking forward to play this one...

Help please.... I downloaded the game and it says all sound files is bad...then it says all menu files is bad... got white window..had to escape... now looking for an uninstall and it does not have any... What do I do ?? I think I gots a bad copy or something... Suggestions??


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Most giveaway games are free standing including today's game, which means you have to uninstall it by deleting the games folder.

Try re-downloading it and reistalling to see if the game works. If it still fails to work, try the gametop version. If it continues not to work there could be a conflict with something you are running in the background. You could try turning off background programs one at a time, do a clean boot or use a program like Game Booster that enables you to turn off all unecessary windows background programs plus others of your choice. There's a button on the Game Booster GUI that enables you to switch everything back on once you're done with the game.

@9: The desktop icon scrambling is not the game's fault, but Windows' lame handling of the desktop. I've had mine scrambled who knows how many times. Not to be mean, but get over it, or organize, and don't blame the game for it.

---

I personally down-rate the game because its engine really isn't that interesting. But maybe it's time I should stop judging games based on its technical prowess and perhaps their unoriginality.

A program that cannot be installed via WLAN is completly useless!

tried to install, but connaot connect to Server.

Download deleted.

Waste of time

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Did you check to see if IE was offline? That's a common problem when the download won't activate.

sawoid video here http://www.youtube.com/user/erankrief51

Hmm - interesting take on a game-type that doesn't tend to be among my favourites. It's good enough for me to keep trying, but don't expect any record-breaking scores anytime soon..;-)

One thing that IS off-putting is its refusal to launch a new 'saw' immediately with my first mouse-click. I thought, at first, it might have been a feature of the type of game where (VERY) old 'Breakout' versions needed you to move the ball from its default position before you could launch it, but when I had to keep clicking twice on 'Continue' and to leave the high-score table, maybe it's something to do with the interface with my mouse? Obviously, if it IS, then there's almost no chance anything can be done as there are WAY too many potential combinations..:-$

But I'll check back later to see if anyone's got any ideas.

Upps.... Schreibfehler....
Das Spiel ist sehr gut und macht mir viel Spaß.


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google translate:

The game is very good and I really enjoy. (upps Schreibfehler means 'oops spelling error', GM reposted. (Deleted the first comment/Deleted den ersten Kommentar)

I too got this last time it was here and still play it off and on, it can be fun & hard depending on if I am tired or not. I am 54 and some of these type games are geared for younger people who have faster reactions but I do love it and thanks for bringing it back for others to try. Rae

#8 I forgot to mention I'm running Win 7 Ultimate, 64 bit.

I thought this might be a neat little distraction, at least until I ran it the first time. After playing it, then shutting it down, I found that all of my 232 desktop icons had been hopelessly scrambled. I re-installed a system backup and tried it again, with exactly the same results. Sorry, but this game gets a double "thumbs down" from me.

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Wow, 232 desktop icons.

Strange it didn't scramble my desktop icons. I also run Win ultimate 64 bit. There have already been several thousand downloads with no one complaining of the problem yet so it could be something to do with your system. (Just a suggestion).

I got this game during the last giveaway. It is fun! The paddle being a bit too forward is hard for a while, then you get used to it, and is no longer a problem, and adds to the challenge because reaction time is lessened! Setting the game to "difficult", doesnt seem any more challenging thant "easy" does. I play the game and accumulate as much as 200 lives before the last level. So, what I am saying, even if it becomes less challenging, it is still worthy of play. In short, I give this game a fun count of a 9 out of 10, and I am rather picky!

Sharp looking game but ditto the comments about the bat. Not sure how a developer could miss that.

As always, thanks Whiterabbit!

I have had this game since it was given away in July 2010, and have enjoyed it. While the paddle being so far forward does make it more difficult, I prefer that over the game being too easy. Sometimes difficulty with the movement will be off-putting, but it's better than a game that's so easy you beat it on the first go-round.
Overall I have kept it this long because I do enjoy Breakout type games and it's a good one to have around when you are looking for something to fill your free time.

FYI...TrendMicro Titanium 2012 reports this homepage as being dangerous.

-Mark

Suggestion on all games for Vista Window size not full screen, because screw up all other windows Internet Explorer was push upper left corner and shrink the windows size, includes other softwares too. After I exited the games, I have reset all windows to normal and put the right position of the windows. The software I have been using NVIDIA that set window sizes and others. My window is set 1920 x 1200 native PC.
One example Yahoo Instant Messenger window was push to the center of window, that was on the right of the window before game.

Very good breakout game. I don't find it either slow or easy, personally, guns shooting at you is a good touch and adds to difficulty. Agree with other comments that the 'deep paddle' makes judging the ball much more difficult that usual.

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Thanks for your feedback Andy

This is a great looking game but it is rather difficult to control with only the mouse. I would have preferred a keyboard option. The position of the "bat" so far forward also makes it difficult to judge angles and get the "bat" under the saw. I have tried a couple of mice and two trackballs and does not seem to be much if any improvement to the control. I will try it a few more times but so far it looks like a game I will be removing.


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Thank you for your feedback Taranach

Sawoid was created by Stars Ashes, the developer who also created two other familiar breakouts called Egyptoid and Egyptoid 2, as well as a shooter called Incinerate. All have been given away previously and are now available for free via Gametop, as is today’s game. :). Sawoid was previously given away back in July 2010 where it received a positive 47% out of 213 votes with 35 comments then again earlier this year when it received a positive 72% of 350 votes with 45 comments all of which you can read HERE and HERE. You will need to click on the view all comments link to see all the comments. Don’t let the low number of positives put you off this game. It’s actually a well-made breakout with decent graphics, released about 2 years ago.

The download size is 14.5Mb which when installed expands to 25.2MB. The game unpacks to a dual setup and activation module and a read me file. There is no activation code required as it is automatically activated via the dual activation/setup module. The default installation path is:

C:\Games\Sawoid



There is no shortcut installed or a start menu shortcut. If you're not sure how to create the latter, there's a short tutorial available in the game discussion forums. You'll find it easily as it's in the stickies on the front page of the gaming forum.

The game works on Win XP Pro 32 bit, Vista Home Premium 64 bit and Home Basic 32 bit and Win 7 Pro and Ultimate 64 bit. (these are just the iterations that I personally have, the game should work on all versions)

Storyl>:

You volunteered to be assigned to the VIOLATOR ship. Your objective is to conduct a raid into enemy territory and destroy the troop supplies. For this particular long-term mission away from the supply ship, the scientists have developed Sawoid, a totally new type of armament not requiring resupplying! Nothing can stand the wrecking Sawoid; however, there is one shortcoming, Sawoid is hard to control!

Good luck, private!

reference accessed HERE 1st July 2010


The Gamel>

There’s not a lot you can say about a breakout/arkanoid that most community members won’t already know, so I’ll try and keep this short. I’ll describe the features I found in Sawoid before writing a brief conclusion to the game.

The most striking difference between Sawoid and most other breakouts is that Sawoid doesn’t have a ball; instead it has circular saws. You get three lives to start with, but can easily build these up to several lives as there are a generous number of bonus lives available. Otherwise it’s a typical 3D breakout with average looking graphics. The game has 20 bonuses that include ball and bat changers, additional lives, bombs, a magnet, armour, different types of cannon and four different types of Sawoids as well as a few other bonuses.

You can change the games resolution if needed to one of several choices via the options menu. There’s also the usual sound and music sliders, a windowed toggle and the ability to turn on improved lighting. I’ve posted a couple of screenshots to illustrate the difference between the advanced lighting and no lighting.

When you complete a level the level scrolls onto the next level as though you are in a ship. There are three difficulty settings. On medium I found the Sawoid was a little too slow for me unless I picked up the speed up bonus a couple of times. You’ll find gun emplacements, and moving ships that fire back at you. When you start a level your ship has 100% armour. If you get hit by the pulse cannons or missiles you’ll lose 5% of your armour by each hit. They fire dual cannons so this can result in a 10% loss depending where you are in relation to the incoming shots; however, there are armour bonuses that are quite common, though most armour bonuses give only 1% armour back.

Thankfully there are three or four different sizes of armour bonus available. There is a damage indicator to the bottom right of the playing area. Some of the gun emplacements and ships are protected from damage when hit from the front. To destroy these you need to use your guns or hit them from behind.

You don’t get unlimited ammo with the guns and lasers, so you need to use these sensibly. I counted about 30 shots, which is ample to do a significant amount of damage to the level in terms of destruction.





When you are left with only a few bricks they are automatically destroyed by powerful lasers. All bonuses apart from new lives are lost when you move on to a new level, though any damage to your ships armour is automatically repaired.

Comparison between no lighting and advanced lighting:

Imagesl>

You can see lots of images of Sawoid as a slideshow via the following link:
HERE




System Requirementsl>

Processer - Pentium 1.0 GHz or equivalent
System RAM - 128Mb
Direct3D compatible3D graphics card
32 MB Graphics RAM
Windows 98/ ME/ 2000/ XP/ Vista/ 7



Conclusionl>

I found the default speed of the Sawoid too slow, and therefore too easy to win. (though I have played a lot of breakouts regularly for years so could be considered an expert) However you can pick up speed ups which when set can increase the Sawoid speed to a more challenging level. However if you are a novice to this genre of games I’m sure the speed of the Sawoid is fine. :) I’m a little biased over this issue because arkanoids/breakouts are one of my favourite arcade genres. Another problem for me was the bat. It was mounted on two arms that took it a significant way into the level. You can see from the images posted that it protrudes about an eighth of the total depth of the playing arena. I rarely lose balls (or in this case saws) when playing breakouts but lost a significant number in this game despite me finding it easy. This occurred more often when the saws came at you in an acute angle as it was hard to judge where the saw was in relation to the bat. I would suggest the developer adds the ability to choose different sizes of bat at the beginning of the game to counter this problem or change the bat style altogether.


Compared to the 200 plus arkanoids/breakouts that I’ve owned over the many years that the first breakout was created by Taito Corps I’d give this one a 7 out of 10 for decent game play and graphics. It’s not the best, but is playable and better than most free breakouts that are available.


I have posted several images but Word press doesn't appear to be allowing them to be seen any longer. I have uploaded some images to my photobucket account so you can still see some images. I've also posted this review over in the forums where the images are visible. you can see that review HERE


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Similar Games available for freel>

You'll find loads of Arkanoid/breakouts HERE, HERE (Giveaway forums) and HERE (Caimans - 169 breakout games)


You can also download today’s game every day for free over at Gametop as well as several others such as A-Ball (which is also known as Nuclear Ball), Geometry Ball, Scaraball, Cosmoball plus others, though you will get your browser opening every time you shut the game down. Thankfully this is one of the games they have had for quite some time so there’s no tool bar or home page tick boxes to bother with, but just in case they've changed it since I last checked make sure when you are installing the game that you watch each step of the installation wizard.



You’ll also find 13 breakout titles over at MyPlayCity HERE, that now include several of Alawars breakouts such as all of the Strike Ball games (Strikeball, Strikeball 2 and Strikeball 3), as well as one of my early favorites called Actionball Deluxe and it's sequel Actionball 2; oh yeah and not forgetting the second Hyperballoid game, which in my opinion was a big improvement on the original despite the first one having a massive number of levels (over a thousand) with gorgeous graphics called (not surprisingly) Hyperballoid Complete Edition (or if you purchase it from Big fish Hyperballoid Gold edition) - the down side w.r.t. the original, was that even with the speed up power-ups, the ball used to go too slow for me, (however; GMMan did create a speed-up mod for me); there's also previous giveaways (though not Alawar games) such as Egypt Ball and Egyptian Ball as well as several others that you can download for free. I recommend all of the Alawar titles especially Hyperballoid 2 (Which has an editor for making more levels - there may be custom made levels to download via Alawars site, but I've not checked in some time) and the original Actionball Deluxe (the sequel also has upgradeable power-ups) and Strikeball 3 (The third in the series is similar to the earlier Magic Ball games {Magic Ball 2} but with better graphics and power ups that are also upgradeable, plus the game is slightly more challenging than any of the Magic Ball series (which for some reason Alawar decided to change the name from Magic Ball to Smashball Frenzy)). Unfortunately the best (IMO) arkanoid/breakouts such as Ricochet infinity, Acky's XP Breakout, Reaxxion and Shatter are not available for free via any of the free game sites apart from illegal ones. You can purchase Shatter from Steam for £6.99, though during the big sales over the summer and Christmas period and maybe thanksgiving you can get up to 75% off. Both Ricochet infinity and Acky's XP Breakout have editors and for the former thousands (literally well over 60 000) of downloadable levels for free. There are also free level packs for Acky's XP Breakout, but not to the same extent as Ricochet. you download the levels for ricochet directly from the game and can upload your own creation from the game as well (which probably explains why there are so many - all the levels are graded for game play, graphics etc and get a score of A to D with +'s and -'s (for example B+; though the best of the best are starred as well)