The 1.2 update to Sit-Up Trio Simulator is now available. It took quite a bit of time to put this one together – it now has an almost complete set of graphics to choose from, going from before the yellow ticker was introduced, all the way through to the Bid Shopping chevron era, and some new studios.

Fixes

• Auction Setup – Fixed a bug which sometimes caused a random auction to generate with an impossible quantity.
• Auction – Fixed a bug which allowed time-out timer to be changed after time-out has begun.
• Auction – Fixed a bug which allowed the quantity arrow to sometimes show a negative number.
• Auction – Fixed a bug which prevented a choice auction from running with quantities greater than 499.
• Auction – Fixed a bug which prevented the time-out timer from closing a choice auction.
• Auction Graphics – Tweaks to the closing animations of collapsed graphics.
• Auction Graphics – Fixed an issue in the third Drop graphics set that caused incorrect spawning/reset animation when quantity is pulsing.
• Auction Graphics – Fixed an issue in the choice graphics that caused incorrect spawning animation when Christmas graphics are enabled.
• Auction Graphics – Race lights can now be triggered in the first Speed falling graphics without the need to plunge the price.

Improvements

• General – Application can now run in background without pausing.
• General – Music and sound effects volume sliders will now remember their positions when launching new auctions.
• Auction – Slight tweak to bidding behaviours.
• Auction Graphics – Graphics are now rendered in 3D space allowing for proper perspective when elements rotate (eg. when removing a variant in a choice auction).
• Auction Graphics – Can now spawn the time-out timer without starting it straight away in certain graphics sets.

New Features

• Auction Graphics – Can now hide prices and quantities on certain graphics sets.
• Auction Graphics – Can now show “quantity sold” on certain graphics sets.
• Auction Graphics – Several new graphics sets now included: Early bid-up rising (uses ‘best bidding’ in this version of the game), final generation arrow graphics (particle effects for these to come in a future update), and Bid Shopping chevron graphics.
• Studios – Six new studios included: Two bid, two drop and two speed.

Hope you enjoy! I’d also like to say a huge thanks to everyone who got in touch with help, music tracks, reference images, feedback and suggestions!

I’ve taken on board a lot of your comments, feedback and suggestions and put together an update for the game, with bug fixes, improvements and new features.

There’s also now a Mac version available. If running on Mac you may need to change some default keyboard shortcuts in the config window that opens on launch, due to the difference between Windows and Mac keyboards.

Here’s a list of changes in this version:

Fixes

• Auction – Fixed a bug which allowed a negative price after a megadrop.
• Auction – Fixed a bug which allowed a bidder to bid below the minimum bid when the auction reaches a high price.
• Auction – A p&p charge of £0 will now no longer cost the company £0 to post the item.
• Auction – Corrected the rising price bidding system to first come, first served.
• Auction Setup – Fixed postage charge and phone charge input boxes so they no longer allow more than two decimal places.
• Auction Setup – Fixed ‘bid from’ input so that it no longer allows a rising price of zero or less.
• Auction Graphics – Third bid rising graphics spawn animation redone as this was inaccurate before.
• Auction Graphics – Small tweaks to the first, second and third bid falling, and second speed falling graphics.
• Auction Graphics – Red clearance graphics animation redone for all graphics sets as this was inaccurate before.

Improvements

• Auction – Rising price auction bidding behaviour refinements.
• Auction – Megadrop bidding behaviour refinements.
• Auction Graphics – Can now run the megadrop sound/animation multiple times.
• Interface – Text brightened across all menus to improve readability.
• Studios – Compressed studio renders to help bring file size down.
• Auction Setup – Lot auto-fill will now no longer generate a quantity outside of the auction type limits.
• Auction Setup – Postage and packaging charge limit raised to £35.99.
• Audio – Can now restart the current music track at the press of a button.

New Features

• Auction – ‘Multiple Choice’ auctions are now supported.
• Auction – ‘Auction Time-Out’ is now supported – set the time limit and the auction will close when the timer reaches zero. There is also a score penalty if the auction closes with stock unsold.
• Auction – Bidders may now pre-bid on the web before the auction begins.
• Auction Graphics – Multiple DOGs in the top right of the output are now available.
• Auction Graphics – Can now collapse the auction arrows to the bottom of the screen.
• Auction Graphics – Particle effects are now available for bid, drop and speed pence graphics .sets
• Auction Graphics – Multiple elements can now pulse at the same time on certain graphics sets.
• Webcam support – Click the webcam button in the camera panel to display your webcam instead of the studios.
• General – Can now save up to 5 pre-set custom ticker texts to load when running an auction.
• General – Can now keep same control panel setup consistent across multiple auctions (ie. Christmas graphics stay on for next auction, or custom ticker text remains the same for next auction etc).

Anybody remember bid tv? I’ve probably left it too late to make this given that they’ve been shut down for a couple years now, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I remember a member of TVForum made a bid-up simulator about 10 years ago. It seemed quite popular at the time, so I thought it would be a good challenge to try and bring out a new game: Sit-Up Trio Simulator.

This is an interactive recreation of the TV auction channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv. You are able to run rising and falling price auctions, create your own custom lots, choose which studio and graphics set to use, and control the prices, camera angles, graphics elements and sound.

The game takes into account phone charges, postage and packaging costs, and bidder interest, and each phone call/bid placed by a viewer is simulated.

You are scored at the end of each auction (based on closing price and time taken), and your total profit is saved. As viewer and bidder interest is simulated, you may find some products are more popular than others, requiring lower prices to clear the auction etc.

Some features of the game:

• Accurate recreations of 14 graphics sets used throughout the channel’s history, with a full set of animations for each
• 8 different studios from the channel’s history to choose from
• Simulation of phone lines, and bidding/buying behaviour
• Some lots may be more popular with viewers than others
• Falling price and rising price, with options for 4 minute speed auctions
• Scoring system based on profit and auction duration
• Profits, p&p, call revenue and unit costs
• Create custom lots, or pick a random one from over 300 items sold on the channels
• Customisable keyboard shortcuts

If anybody would like to give it a go, you can download it here.