=== Platformer ===
EDIT: Level is now ready to play.
* 2D sidescrolling platformer gameplay in the style of N (http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/)
* Collect powerups: blaster, walljump, nullifier and shield.
* Contend with emitters as well as custom enemies: floating mines and the formidable creeper laser.
Credits: The bomb script is directly from Virgil's credits level (and other scripts from there were helpful to look at). Character sprite was drawn by my lovely wife.
It's inventive, I will say that.
I don't know if I'm in love with the movement controls, as I feel like there's too much drift. But there's definitely promise here. Keep going.
Thanks for the feedback Mike. To reduce the drift a bit I increased friction on the ground and boost gravity when the player releases the jump key in the air (yes, very artificial, but it feels easier to control).
That's good news (for me at least). I look forward to a series a of delightful platformer maps. Even if you keep the ridiculously childish stick figure guy.
i love the concept, but i found it impossible to get up the long jump on the right after getting the wall jump tech. i think my keyboards response times are too slow, but still great work.
nice unit art too, sort of metroidish, but different, ahh the old days of 16bit gaming power! :D
I can't figure out how to reach the nullifier tech. I know that the Creeper slows you down, and I tried to use that to my advantage in jumping up there. But there's simply no way. And I made it to the tall room to the left with 3 Emitters in it, but I can't jump up the wall because Creeper impedes the wall jumping.
I tell a lie. I figured it out. But I wish two things: PZ's did something. And the Emitter area which looks like a Sideways T had some sort of platform which made jumping easier.
UPDATE: I made it to the final room. I can't seem to nullify the emitter there because it pumps out creeper too fast, and the purple guy keeps liking to shoot me. Even with a shield, I'm at a loss for something to do.
Ok, I have no idea how to jump up the |- like thing after the wall jump skill. I opened the ridge up there but can't jump up ==' Is there a trick to it or it's just my skills are too low?
I think we're gonna have to use small, sectioned screen shots.
Quote from: pawel345 on November 11, 2013, 07:39:30 AM
Ok, I have no idea how to jump up the |- like thing after the wall jump skill. I opened the ridge up there but can't jump up ==' Is there a trick to it or it's just my skills are too low?
Are you referring to this area? I found it pretty hard to jump up there.
If you refer to the T shaped area on the left you:
Spoiler
should place yourself in the opening in the wall, run to the right and jump up at the very edge, quickly change directions in mid-air, and wall jump your way upward. I won't pretend it's easy.
If you refer to the area with the Nullifier tech, you:
Spoiler
should be aware that Stew's jumping script has a small exploit, in that you can jump directly into angle/beveled edges of terrain and use the angle to jump very high. Begin at the lower right edge of the screenie and run to the right, jump upward and try to land near the top of the angle, then jump again instantly to propel yourself into the gap with the Nullifier tech inside.
Of course, if you want some other adivce, I'd be glad to help.
Yuup that's the area, i tried doing this a few times but it seems too hard for me XD well will try another time :P
I'll fiddle the sideways T part to make the jump a bit easier (btw how did you reach the second button in the top left area? The method I had in mind is also a difficult jump). I want to keep the pre-nullifer bit as is because
Spoiler
using ramps to boost jumps
is an intended game mechanic (maybe I can try to make it easier to pull off without changing the idea).
Speaking of which, am I the only one who has played N?
Mike, did you manage to destroy the last emitter? It's difficult but possible at the moment. I could reduce the emitter strength if it's too frustrating.
I figured that the info in your spoiler was intended. Well, an accident that you decided to use to your advantage, maybe. Still....
And, no I haven't managed to nullify that emitter. And it's really frustrating. i even
Spoiler
found my way up into the upper room and managed to leave the AC flood gates open, and I let the room below flood with AC (my game is going on 4 hours now, thanks to 4x time). Even with the room filled with AC, the emitter generates too quickly in tandem with the blaster to be able to nullify the thing.
Lemme know what you decide to do about it.
I've played N+, which is essentially the sequel to it...
On this, I got stuck on the part with the nullfier.
OK, I made a few slight tweaks to the more difficult parts.
* Reduced friction and increased max horizontal speed to make aforementioned mechanic (in spoiler) easier.
* Walljumping is easier with increased vertical and decreased horizontal velocity.
* Extended the ledge at the sideways T.
* Decreased fire rate of final emitter and laser.
Note that you still need a strategy for the final emitter. Here's a hint (there may be other ways too).
Spoiler
If you stand on the nullifier, the laser will destroy it even with a shield. So jump just before the laser fires, and it will aim at you and miss the nullifier, while your shield protects it.
I was trying to do that. I guess my timing is just really crap. The few times I was able to [redacted], the emitter's creeper would flood in and destroy the nullifier. BUT I SHALL BE EVER VIGILANT.
Update: I've done it, on the old version of the map. Had to get my timing just right, and I had to be careful about jumping too high.
A great map, although I managed to finish only the new version :(
Here's another map... the emitters have a very punishing booby trap, but the player also gets a somewhat overpowered ability. If anyone wants to give some comments, I'll try to take them into consideration before uploading to colonial space.
(btw I know this is a zombie post, but there was also a guideline to have 1 thread per map maker, and I'm not sure which one trumps the other :P).
Quote from: stewbasic on April 27, 2014, 12:44:23 PM
Here's another map... the emitters have a very punishing booby trap, but the player also gets a somewhat overpowered ability. If anyone wants to give some comments, I'll try to take them into consideration before uploading to colonial space.
(btw I know this is a zombie post, but there was also a guideline to have 1 thread per map maker, and I'm not sure which one trumps the other :P).
player map threads should be free to be necro'd,l they should be for the players maps no matter the interval between posts ;)
giving it a go too! cheers dude 8)
I only have one complaint about the new map so far: Why give us a forge if there's no totems or Aether packs?
EDIT: I forgot about the runner nest. It's pointless because I nullify it before the digitalis has a chance to creep in.
Quote from: Gameboytm101 on April 29, 2014, 04:11:58 PM
I only have one complaint about the new map so far: Why give us a forge if there's no totems or Aether packs?
There are a few units which are of no use on this map (forge, ore mine, siphon). I guess there's no harm in disabling them.
Quote from: Gameboytm101 on April 29, 2014, 04:11:58 PM
EDIT: I forgot about the runner nest. It's pointless because I nullify it before the digitalis has a chance to creep in.
I actually added that to give a PZ and make things a bit easier (and it adds a bit of pressure to be quick at the start).
Quote from: stewbasic on April 29, 2014, 07:24:11 PM
Quote from: Gameboytm101 on April 29, 2014, 04:11:58 PM
I only have one complaint about the new map so far: Why give us a forge if there's no totems or Aether packs?
There are a few units which are of no use on this map (forge, ore mine, siphon). I guess there's no harm in disabling them.
Quote from: Gameboytm101 on April 29, 2014, 04:11:58 PM
EDIT: I forgot about the runner nest. It's pointless because I nullify it before the digitalis has a chance to creep in.
I actually added that to give a PZ and make things a bit easier (and it adds a bit of pressure to be quick at the start).
my only complaint is the lack of aether too, perhaps just 50 or so in a resource pack if you want limits, but energy storage upgrade is a bit of a must for me! :)
ps "no forge no fun" is a bit of a standing complaint in the threads, just a heads up! 8)
Quote from: teknotiss on April 30, 2014, 01:12:50 PM
my only complaint is the lack of aether too, perhaps just 50 or so in a resource pack if you want limits, but energy storage upgrade is a bit of a must for me! :)
ps "no forge no fun" is a bit of a standing complaint in the threads, just a heads up! 8)
I left it out because the booby traps will destroy the forge and any upgrades purchased. Though I guess it could still help initially? I could add it and warn about this in the opening conversation.
Also, Orbital Calldown is a bit too OP. Might want to add limits, like 10 per unit. If there's anything I learned while playing the first and third games... a squadron of blasters can take anything down.
A little off-topic, but a blaster squadron was how I beat Tucana while I was stuck in a stalemate while running a deficit I couldn't catch up to.
I have a new map ready to play. As always, any feedback is appreciated, and I will take it into consideration before uploading to CS. Here is the description:
Play as the creeper! Here is my take on this often suggested idea. There are strict conditions on increasing creeper production, so it's all about making good use of what you've got.
Thanks Grayzzur for the spore tower flower image.
#CRPL
Quote from: stewbasic on June 28, 2014, 06:28:32 PM
Play as the creeper! Here is my take on this often suggested idea. There are strict conditions on increasing creeper production, so it's all about making good use of what you've got.
Gorram it, I was going to try making something like this... (granted, with some corrupted units and missiles and things as well, but that's not TOO much more work. I had a slightly different build method in mind, as well.)
Emitters and spore towers detect space for deselect, but not escape.
Oh, and a relatively minor bug: when you lose and auto-unpause-when-closing-conversation is enabled, closing the "mission fail" conversation will advance the game one frame, and display the conversation again. FOREVAAAAAAAAH.
And a bigger bug: it seems that the blue rings on totems support digitalis.
And if you select a spore tower, and then click on a button to deselect, its target gets set to the bottom right corner.
Potentially more bugs coming up... I've got to say though, this is a tough and fun puzzle.
With perseverance, skill, and copious amounts of editing, I have conquered the map!
Spoiler
(http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314419086/24C90F1226799197C8A85E487A48F8D45C2FE592/)
(http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314421532/C3DBC441613E9F6E2ABBA77B5837118E2AC1706E/)
(http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314426451/A34727EA7C6B49E02CD76CF224F9ABDF97239017/)
Fun, but a bit too hard - hence the complete destruction of the map through edit mode.
Quote from: planetfall on June 28, 2014, 07:11:53 PM
Emitters and spore towers detect space for deselect, but not escape.
Oh, and a relatively minor bug: when you lose and auto-unpause-when-closing-conversation is enabled, closing the "mission fail" conversation will advance the game one frame, and display the conversation again. FOREVAAAAAAAAH.
And a bigger bug: it seems that the blue rings on totems support digitalis.
And if you select a spore tower, and then click on a button to deselect, its target gets set to the bottom right corner.
Thanks for catching these. The digitalis problem is not actually the blue ring (there's no core there) but that every core on the map is supporting digitalis >.<. I just assumed the default was false...
Quote from: Asbestos on June 28, 2014, 10:03:31 PM
With perseverance, skill, and copious amounts of editing, I have conquered the map!
Spoiler
(http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314419086/24C90F1226799197C8A85E487A48F8D45C2FE592/)
(http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314421532/C3DBC441613E9F6E2ABBA77B5837118E2AC1706E/)
(http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/3298073806314426451/A34727EA7C6B49E02CD76CF224F9ABDF97239017/)
Was there any particular aspect or region of the map that was too hard? Too many Abraxis units? Emitters and towers not strong enough? Not enough PZs?
Well, I couldn't get past the very first bit because the twin Berthas kept completely erasing my progress.
Quote from: Asbestos on June 28, 2014, 11:58:14 PM
Well, I couldn't get past the very first bit because the twin Berthas kept completely erasing my progress.
Aw, I like the berthas :P. I guess I'll remove them if the consensus is against them. If you are interested in trying with a few hints, these might help:
Spoiler
* Keep emitters in burst or support mode unless you need to quickly kill a nullifier.
* Build digitalis whenever you can (this is a way to save your progress).
* Focus on a single target to destroy using the field.
What does support mode do?
Quote from: stewbasic on June 29, 2014, 12:23:21 AM
Quote from: Asbestos on June 28, 2014, 11:58:14 PM
Well, I couldn't get past the very first bit because the twin Berthas kept completely erasing my progress.
Aw, I like the berthas :P. I guess I'll remove them if the consensus is against them. If you are interested in trying with a few hints, these might help:
Spoiler
* Keep emitters in burst or support mode unless you need to quickly kill a nullifier.
* Build digitalis whenever you can (this is a way to save your progress).
* Focus on a single target to destroy using the field.
Don't remove the Berthas, if anything add more (and you can even time-delay /progress-delay them (every 10 minutes build another bertha/for every few enemy units (emitters/spore towers) build another bertha), because currently at my progress i don't feel them doing anything significant. Maybe even make some of them PZ Berthas.
I forgot to take earlier screenshots, but i took the middle-top PZ with the nearest emmiter to fully-supported burst + 1 Spore tower firing the closest possible on the hill (annoying PZ beams), then slowly made my way to the right, and circled around the base (i couldn't force my way trough the sprayers, so i attacked from left, top and right side of the top-right base).
The 3 modes the emitters have are:
1. 10x every 0.5 seconds
2. 400 every 20/x seconds (possible bug/intentional, you can't channel more than 10 emitters in burst mode (at least the text says 400 every 2 seconds, and can't go any faster))
3. Supports another emitter
(x=total number of channeled (this one+supports) emitters)
Great map, i'm enjoying it very much.
One thing that could make it even better, but i've got no idea how much codding that would take, is having the computer (Abraxis) build more berthas/air units/something to try to take back what land it/he lost, because after i took the third PZ, i wasn't in any danger of failing the mission. Also, how hard would it be to make additive emitters (if they aren't already coded), that instead of saying make this x amount of creeper, make it add x amount of creeper (if there was 30, and the emitter is 40, instead of making it 40, make it 70 (30+40)).
Note: I'm going to test the spore towers, and then see if i can suggest anything.
Maybe add the support to the spore towers too, either the amount of spores, or the time between them.
Btw, i'm using version 2.0 of CW3.
Edit: is the proportional (to the number of support emitters)) repulsion field on the emitters intentional?
I had trouble attacking the bottom half (too many damn PZ powered units in an up-hill battle), so i decided to attack with air-power, though it could only be effective in the middle section (where there were only 4 ordinary beam towers), and this is the initial result :)
Edit 2:it seems 9 reactors and a few collectors can't possibly power 5 PZ PC, 2 PZ Mortars, let alone another 6 PZ Beams to defend from 19 spores every 20 seconds (1-2 waves depleted the ammo, and the third broke trough) :D
Only 3 guys have finished the map? (15:15 GMT 29.06.2014) (stewbasic, Planetfall, and me)
Quote from: Asbestos on June 29, 2014, 12:34:24 AM
What does support mode do?
As DestinyAtlantis says, it strengthens the supported emitter by increasing the amount (in normal mode) or frequency (in burst mode). Actually there is one other significant effect I didn't mention (the help dialogue already felt too verbose): An emitter with x supporters gets a repulsive field of radius 8*sqrt(x) to help it cover more area.
Quote from: DestinyAtlantis on June 29, 2014, 09:12:48 AM
Don't remove the Berthas, if anything add more (and you can even time-delay /progress-delay them (every 10 minutes build another bertha/for every few enemy units (emitters/spore towers) build another bertha), because currently at my progress i don't feel them doing anything significant. Maybe even make some of them PZ Berthas.
I agree they aren't very noticeable after a while. Maybe I could make their charge rate proportional to the number of towers the player has. I'll see how other people feel about the difficulty.
Quote from: DestinyAtlantis on June 29, 2014, 09:12:48 AM
2. 400 every 20/x seconds (possible bug/intentional, you can't channel more than 10 emitters in burst mode (at least the text says 400 every 2 seconds, and can't go any faster))
It maxes at 400 every 0.5 seconds when x=40. But yeah, it goes down in jumps at the moment (interval is always a multiple of 0.5). I'll make it more continuous.
Quote from: DestinyAtlantis on June 29, 2014, 09:12:48 AM
Great map, i'm enjoying it very much.
One thing that could make it even better, but i've got no idea how much codding that would take, is having the computer (Abraxis) build more berthas/air units/something to try to take back what land it/he lost, because after i took the third PZ, i wasn't in any danger of failing the mission. Also, how hard would it be to make additive emitters (if they aren't already coded), that instead of saying make this x amount of creeper, make it add x amount of creeper (if there was 30, and the emitter is 40, instead of making it 40, make it 70 (30+40)).
Thanks! Abraxis has a lot of room for improvement here but it's not easy. At the moment (you probably noticed) he just tries to rebuild lost units and nullifiers in specified locations. One thing I could fix is that he's slower to rebuild things when he's lost more units. Unfortunately I don't know if it's possible in CRPL to target air units or berthas (I guess I could make fake CRPL air units).
Abraxis on this map is about as dumb as creeper on a regular map, so it's a bit like how once you've secured a base on a regular map you're quite safe.
Additive emitters can definitely be made (in fact a regular map with emitters replaced by additive ones could be interesting). I made the emitters this way to mimic regular ones.
Nice map and great CRPL, but gets way too boring halfway. I quit after retaking the top half. In fact burst mode is far more effective than normal mode (if it are normal emitters that just set the creeper to a certain height). Spores feel pretty useless with all those PZ beams.
Quote from: J on June 29, 2014, 11:34:26 AM
Nice map and great CRPL, but gets way too boring halfway. I quit after retaking the top half. In fact burst mode is far more effective than normal mode (if it are normal emitters that just set the creeper to a certain height). Spores feel pretty useless with all those PZ beams.
Spores can be used to put digitalis in the void. Also, if you cripple the energy production so that beams can't refill quickly, spores become very useful for cutting networks.
Well, yeah, I was just searching for the nearest PZ. The 'enemy' base was still to big to think about crippling the energy production, so I didn't think of that. Had some fun anyways, so gj on that :)
There's four scores now. :D
Make that 5. :D
That was a fun map. The start was a bit difficult, but it's unbelievably fun to crush the bottom-right corner with a 450-intensity emitter after draining all of their energy by spamming spores.
Also, slight bug: spores are drawn over the custom menu
As in, drawn to fly towards it (which you can fix by pressing space before clicking the menu), or drawn as in actually drawn art-wise a layer above the custom menu?
They are drawn in a layer above the menu.
Here are 2 more suggestions, the latter also directed at virgil.
1. The ability to remove digitalis growth.
2. The ability to opaque the digitalis or make it completly invisible (if it's possible to change the alpha, making it 100% opaque also counts as invisible).
Thanks for all the comments!
Quote from: Lost in Nowhere on June 30, 2014, 10:59:56 AM
They are drawn in a layer above the menu.
I'll see if I can fix this with SetImagePositionZ (though it may be that spores always display above CRPL cores).
Quote from: DestinyAtlantis on June 30, 2014, 02:44:02 PM
Here are 2 more suggestions, the latter also directed at virgil.
1. The ability to remove digitalis growth.
2. The ability to opaque the digitalis or make it completly invisible (if it's possible to change the alpha, making it 100% opaque also counts as invisible).
I can certainly add the first. Out of curiosity, why would you want to do so? Digitalis only benefits you in this map. Probably can't do much about the second beyond what's in the visibility options in the top left.
Remember that creeper sticks to digitalis, making it hard for you to advance off it.
Yeah, normally the creeper is supposed to enter the void at 100+ but with digitalis and 150, it didn't give any indication of ever going into the void.
Edit: when did it become 500? Or am i just really stupid?
Quote from: DestinyAtlantis on July 01, 2014, 03:38:37 AM
Yeah, normally the creeper is supposed to enter the void at 100+ but with digitalis and 150, it didn't give any indication of ever going into the void.
Correction: Creeper enters the void at 500+, so of course it wouldn't at 150+
Unless it is set using CRPL to something different.
Quote from: Asbestos on June 30, 2014, 09:47:09 PM
Remember that creeper sticks to digitalis, making it hard for you to advance off it.
Ah fair enough. OK I will add the ability to remove it.
I think void has always been level 500. Keep in mind the digitalis can help you get into the void, because creeper flowing on live digitalis ignores terrain.
Digitalis 'decreases' the terrain level with 1. So you make a little sinkhole where you want the creeper to flow away from =)
Interesting map, but
Spore towers are useless for the most part because of the PZ-beams which cover almost the whole map.
It would have been quite a bit more interesting if it also had runner's nests and also less frustrating on some of the harder parts.
Making it have all forge upgrades made it much more difficult because I couldn't trust what I knew from playing on abraxis' side (like the moment during the process of building a nullifier from which on it can't be destroyed anymore).
It took me extremely long to realise that I couldland spores on void to build digitalis, maybe you could hint to it somehow.
Besides this, a great map which I'd like to see more of, maybe I'll even try to create one myself (if you allow me to use your scripts, of course).
For me, spores helped bridge the top-left and top-right parts, helped me clear out the mountain range from all those pesky PCs and Mortars, and was 90% part of the destruction of the middle-bottom base ->separated the bottom-left Base (Reactors) from the bottom-right Base (Power-hungry, but well defended), so with enough pressure they ran out of power to power those PZ Beams and ........ After that it was a peace of cake to take the bottom-left base. (that island has too little ground defense, so when you take that PZ and make it an emitter...)
stewbasic, I'm playing around with your CreeperComeBack map in the hopes of making a different kind of challenge. I took your original map (downloaded from the other thread in CS) and completely changed the terrains but didn't alter any CRPL. When I tried playing it, the digital and field generators work but I can't create emitters and spore towers. When I select the emitter or spore from the build menu in the bottom, nothing happens.
I'm thinking a CRPL core must have gotten inadvertently deleted and I'm actually kinda pulling my hair out here trying to figure it out.
So... I see you've got all your scripts split up into different cores. Is there a way to get a list of all the cores in a map? Other than visually inspecting the terrain and trying to find all the invisible cores. I obviously am missing a core but I can't figure out which.
There should be a core with these three scripts:
Builder.crpl
EmitterBuilder.crpl
SporeBuilder.crpl
If you can't get it to work, feel free to post it here and I will try to get it in the right state. I set it up so that some cores create other cores if they don't exist for "convenience", but in retrospect it complicates things...
Quote from: stewbasic on September 03, 2014, 01:33:44 AM
I set it up so that some cores create other cores if they don't exist for "convenience", but in retrospect it complicates things...
I noticed that. I'm figuring this out bit by bit. I think a lot of people are thirsty for another PlayAsCreeper map, as am I, so this is time well spent for me. Thank you for the info and the offer to help. I'll let you know my progress.
In my attempt to create a map based on this, I copied the original map and edited it, but right at the start the 'unit lost, increasing bertha firerate' message dialog comes up and I haven't found what causes it yet. Where do I have to place which unit to make it happen later in the game or which core/script do I have to remove?
Quote from: J on September 03, 2014, 01:27:00 PM
In my attempt to create a map based on this, I copied the original map and edited it, but right at the start the 'unit lost, increasing bertha firerate' message dialog comes up and I haven't found what causes it yet. Where do I have to place which unit to make it happen later in the game or which core/script do I have to remove?
I assume this is after you press G to finalize the map? You should put your mouse over the "triggering unit" when you press G.
If you don't want that behavior (ie you want Abraxis to do his thing from the start) then edit GameFlow.crpl, remove all the GetUnitAttribute CONST_ISDESTROYED stuff and keep the part which activates Abraxis (maybe do it when GetGameTimeFrames eq(1), or whatever triggering logic you like). Let me know if you need more details (which I can't give right now because the script isn't in front of me :P).
That's the answer. I think if you hit 'G' with your mouse pointed at nothing, then it will trigger the event immediately when the game begins.
In the next map that I'm currently working on, I'm skipping that part (along with the show2 dialog) and just having Abraxis do his thing at the start.
Hey stewbasic, let's say (theoretically) that some dummy map maker (like myself) was working on a map based on the play as creeper crpl. Now let's say the same person did the whole "g" key thing to prepare the map but then accidentally saved the actual map and didn't have any other copies. Now when I (I mean he) loads that map in the projects area the core that has the g functionality is gone and he is stuck.
What would such a person do? Can this be undone easily, or should he start over again?
Strike my last. I figured it out. I just had to add a new core back with Temp.crpl added and reload the editor and all was well (I think)