Dynomite Deluxe

Dynomite Deluxe is one of PopCap's first games, also known as Dynomite or Eggsucker.

Sub-Pages#

EggsuckerThe original version by Raptisoft Games before being purchased by Popcap to become Dynomite.

Partner.xml File#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Investigate the checksum system that partner.xml uses, and figure out if user-made changes can be made without tripping the system.

Present in almost every PopCap game is partner.xml. partner.xml allows PopCap, as well as PopCap's partners, to easily modify small details of the game without the need to recompile the game or access to the game's source code. This file has been edited numerous times through multiple partners and PopCap themselves, and later revisions of the game added more features to it. Also present is a checksum check, so not every user can make any changes they want. If the checksum fails, an error message appears, and the game either fails to boot up or boots up with default values, typically enabling the trial or registration system. Below is an attempt to list the features for partner.xml in Dynomite Deluxe. Since Dynomite Deluxe is a very early PopCap game, only the last version, 2.71, makes use of partner.xml.

Source Code File and Value Array Names#

Version 2.70 and above contains default.xml, which is used to modify or translate strings easily. It also reveals the file and value array names from the game's source code, which could be useful for reverse engineering.

Dynomite.cpp (gScoreNames)
DynomiteFossil.cpp (gFossilRoundNames, gFossilNames,ComboNames)
DynomitePanic.cpp
DynomiteStomped.cpp (gStompedRoundDescs)
DynomiteTimeTrial.cpp
EnterNameDialog.cpp
FossilDialog.cpp (gButtonName)
FossilizedApp.cpp
GetSaveNameDialog.cpp
HighScoreDialog.cpp
InchySmall.cpp
IntroScreen.cpp
Museum.cpp
OptionsDialog.cpp
PuzzleListWidget.cpp
ReadySetGo.cpp
RegisterDialog.cpp
SaveGameDialog.cpp
SideBar.cpp
TitleScreen.cpp
Tutor.cpp
UpsellDialog.cpp

Unused Music#

Unused patterns in the .it music files.

Patterns 77, 78, and 79 all go unused, relating to the Endless Puzzle theme.

Pattern 81. Maybe a testing theme.

Pattern 33 in the Omniphillia.it file.

Unused Text#

The usual proto-related text in most, if not all PopCap games from this era.

This product is intended only for authorized members of
the PopCap Beta program.  Any unauthorized distribution
should be reported to beta@popcap.com.
Password
Email Address
Name
Software\PopCap\Beta
PopCap Beta Login...
LoginWindow
Beta Validation failed! Check your internet connection and try again.
Error!
The password you supplied did not match this account.
Invalid Password!
Invalid Password
This PopCap Beta account has been disabled!
Account Disabled!
Account Disabled
Unable to locate a PopCap Beta account for the supplied user name.
Invalid User Name!
Invalid Username
This product has been removed from the PopCap Beta program.
Thanks for helping us test during the beta period!
Beta Discontinued
Internal Server Error! Try again later.
Server Error
A new version of this product is now available. Click OK to open a page to download it from.
Update Required!
Update Needed
Unable to parse Beta Validation results! Check your internet connection and try again
Validation Failed!
http://www.popcap.com/beta_validate.php?prod=
Abort
Validating Beta
ValidateWindow
www.popcap.com
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="demofile"; filename="popcap.dmo"
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="builddate"
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="buildnum"
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="version"
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="prod"
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="username"

Revisional Differences#

Version History

• 1.0 Initial release!
• 1.10 Fixed some crash bugs, and added the Lock Cursor option
• 1.20 Bug and cosmetic fixes, multiplied all scoring by 10, added 3 new Stomped levels (Hard difficulty).
• 1.55 Fixed Save-Game bug
• 2.00 Consolidation of small cosmetic changes into V2.0
• 2.01 Minor bug fix
• 2.70 Bug fixes, cosmetics
• 2.71 Enhancements

Unlike many PopCap games, especially later ones, PopCap attempted to write proper changelogs. It surprised them so much that the installer from 2011 changed everything to "Bug fixes". Why.

Game Icon#

1.00	2.70	60-Minutes

Originally, Dynomite Deluxe used the same icon as Eggsucker. In version 2.70, the game's icon was redrawn in higher quality (48px 32-bit compared to original 32px 8-bit). In the last revision of the 60-minute trial version, support for Windows Game Explorer was added, and the icon was redrawn again, up to 256px.

Title Screen#

February 17, 2002	April 8, 2003	March 8, 2007	January 14, 2008

Early versions of the game didn't have the name "Deluxe", which seems to be similar to Bejeweled.

Traditionally, installers from 2003 to 2006 used the old PopCap logo. For a brief period, the second revision of the logo was used, and in January 2008, the final logo was used, with some minor tweaks.

1.0 (Old Installer, Popcap, February 25, 2002)#

• The earliest known version of the game.
• The game is still named Dynomite which will remain until v2.70.
• Uses the first revision of the score system. Default high scores were taken into account for this, so 1st place is 7,000 points instead of 70,000.
• Even though points are different, beating the fossil challenge still gives 10,000 points.

1.20 (Old Installer, Popcap, March 17, 2002)#

• Uses the finalised score system. High scores were updated as well.
• Renamed the default puzzle Dynomite Default to DEFAULT.
• Added Lock Cursor During Play button in the options menu.
• Added a Check for Dynomite Game updates button in the options menu.
• 3 new stomped levels were added, as hinted by the official changelogs ("Ricochet", "The squeeze" and "Honeycomb").

2.01 (Old Installer, Popcap, May 1, 2002)#

• Added a new string YOU HAVE PLAYED %d TIME, fixing previous versions mentioning You have played 1 times.

2.70 (Old Installer, Popcap, May 23, 2003)#

• Now named Dynomite Deluxe instead of just Dynomite. Earlier partner versions already had the Deluxe branding.
• Removed version number from the window title.
• Implemented Default.xml, which is used to modify or translate strings easily.
• Removed fake loading.
• Corrected round 5's name Stalagcities to Stalactities
• The text strings for the difficulty settings easy normal and hard have been tweaked.
• The text string Let's play in the difficulty page is no longer in quotation marks.
• Unfocusing the game now pauses the game, but not the music.
• Minimising the game now mutes and pauses the game.
• Removed Lock Cursor During Play from the options menu.
• Initial removal support of the editor. The button is removed from the options menu, and one tutorial string is changed that referenced it. However, the code is intact, so it likely could be modified back.

2.71 (Installer, Popcap, July 8, 2003)#

• The last known compiled build of the game. Any other versions edit other parts of the game, such as Partner.xml and images, or use a DRM wrapper.
• You can no longer open the game multiple times.
• Implemented Partner.xml, which is used to make small changes to the game for partners and PopCap themselves.
• Implemented the Command-Line parameters, such as -version.
• Implemented a very early version of the debugging commands.
• Renamed Check for Dynamite Game updates to Check for Updates
• Completely removed support for the editor. All references to DYNEDIT are removed. You can still open already edited files, however, which is seen in the Level editor section.
• The build information using -version marks version 2.71 as build 3 dated Tuesday, July 8, 17:48:10, 2003

Partner Versions#

Partner versions are setups of the game distributed by other companies that have partnered with PopCap. These setups typically have a similar or special build of the game that utilises the partner.xml file to make minor adjustments to the game. Earlier partner versions, before partner.xml, implemented everything directly in the executable itself, and edited the image title for the company logo. Later partner versions, however, edited partner.xml to enable the Cobranded boolean flag, which enables the image cobrand on the title screen. Oddly, in PopCap's own version in Dynomite Deluxe 2.71 there's a cobrand image as well. However, it seems to be a placeholder image and unused.

v2.00z "zone.com"	v2.56s "shockwave.com"	v2.70 "Yahoo!"

Level Editor#

The game's level editor was inexplicably removed from version 2.70. Interestingly, if you copy the files of an earlier version with the level editor intact to an installation of version 2.71, create a level and go to a Stomped Puzzle, you are still asked what level you wish to play, though the level icons now use a broken palette.

Pre-2.70	2.70/2.71

Debugging Material#

Only present in 2.71, and in a very early state, pressing CTRL + ALT + D in-game will play the user's Asterisk sound to indicate that the debugging mode has been enabled. Afterwards, the game allows the player to access certain debugging features using various keybinds.

• F3 : Toggles whether to display the game's FPS or not.
• F8 : Toggles 3D Acceleration.
• F9 : Opens a message box telling the player various video-related statistics.
• F11 : Dumps all the game's images loaded in memory to a folder named _dump, which is located in the game's directory. It also automatically generates an HTML file named imagelist.html. The HTML file contains a list of the images dumped as well as their properties.

Internal Project Name#

The game is internally known as Fossilized¹.

References#