The RPS Article from the Beginning of Last Year has me Thinking

[Spyder Z]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/30/why-creeper-worlds-decade-long-evolution-keeps-getting-harder/

So in the article they mention a "Slow Down" Mechanic that was poorly received in the videos so he's not planning on including it and it got me thinking. The Level Editor is a perfect place (And the "Extra Stages") for mechanics that don't make it into the story missions. I've heard that CW3's scripting language allowed for some Amazing things to be done (I haven't had the chance to dig into them yet, but I'm sure the hype is real). So it would be awesome if he included "Prototype" weapons and "Primal" Creeper elements that aren't tuned enough to include in the formal missions, but would be fun to play with outside of them. Even if they're horribly busted, it could still make for some interesting maps I'm sure. And if he was concerned that folks would have a poor experience with them, he could make it a filter option to include or not include maps with them.

Thoughts?

[GoodMorning]

Good idea, save for two things.

First, internal parts of the game may no longer be compatible with the old code, leading to crashes, or may have been upgraded progressively into new units.

Second, the "freeze" had to be engine-level, and has been taken out. RPL-ing is the only way to go, from here.

For what isn't affected by these, yes, it could be fun.

[Spyder Z]

Fair points. For things that aren't broken then. ;P And did he remove all potential for the freeze effect from the engine then? I was hoping it would stay accessible to map makers at the very least.

[Grabz]

The old Chronat was pretty cool, but scripting won't be enough to remake it. For us to be able to do it with scripting, KC would need to expose the ability to freeze individual cells into the API, then we would need some way to display to the player which cells are frozen, and after all that there is a new question on what to do with all the new enemy units - should they too become frozen, or should they act, if they spawn Creeper should it appear frozen or should it not be spawned at all...

I think the best thing to do is forget it happened. If you think about it, had KC never shown the old Chronat, nobody would ever have this idea. It is only that this concept periodically comes back is because KC decided to show us a cool thing he tried in the early days. So in the end, if he thinks it doesn't make for good gameplay, we should respect that, because making less videos is a much more sane alternative to keeping every experiment ever shown in the game.

All that said, if we could freeze cells by script, that might lead to some cool things. I've done a lot of cell based features in CW3 so I have some experience with the idea, I could end up using it. Only thing is that I don't know yet how difficult it will be to create a custom way to mark individual cells, to show the player they are special cells in some way.

EDIT: I thought about it more and pin fields basically freeze a cell, so it would be enough if fields ever make their way back.