NiftyGUI and NullpoMino

In the past, many people have considered Nullpo to be something that isn't really a game, but is instead just an implementation of everything. A toolbox, if you will. I don't especially mind this, but I know that people aren't going to flock to play a toolbox, and so this time around we are making some heavy-duty improvements to the UI.

To start with, as I'd mentioned before, we are working on integrating a GUI library that will let us make everything look very nice compared to the old version. We're going to be able to have legitimate graphical widgets and fun things like that now, and it's going to be awesome. Right now we're still in the process of integrating it with the game itself, but we already have some basic work on that done. NEURO integration will be next, and I'm going to make sure that it's good so we can use the full power of the plugin system. Those of you with iPhones or Android devices might find the GUI in development to be somewhat familiar... In any case, it'll only be a matter of time before we can continue with functionality.

That is not to say that the framework is complete, because it's not even close (yet).

We still haven't implemented the updated rule system, which should allow greater flexibility in netplay without being unfair, and which will help hide a lot of the junk you don't want to see away if you aren't going to bother tweaking it. Hopefully this will help keep people interested, as even though I'd like to see people be able to understand the game at that level like the regulars, a lot of people just want to play Tetris.

On a tangentially related note, sometime recently, NullpoMino 7.5 passed 25,000 downloads on all platforms (over 20,000 of those were on Windows alone). I'd also like to congratulate Shuey for having viral NullpoMino videos which are now making it to Japanese TV shows. Things are looking good, folks.