Moving Platforms!

Three pieces of news for Jack:

1) I have a memory leak the size of the titanic. Specifically, in the editor, probably in the gui stuff. I'll have to fun around with some duct tape to fix it later. And quickly. The editor has always gone blank after a little while. Thought it was a little bug. Until I checked the task-manager to find my little game had "borrowed" more then half of my RAM, and I was completely out. Really needs fixing.

2)
I HAVE MOVING PLATFORMS!
I can type a little string in, and a platform will follow the orders. For instance:

W 5 M 100 0 50 0 X 3 R 0 0 -50 0 X 4 R 100 0 50 0

would:

• Wait five second
• Move to (100, 0) at a velocity of (50, 0)
• Wait 3 seconds, then put another wait 3 seconds at the end of the queue
• Move to (0, 0) at a velocity of (-50, 0), and put an identical move at the end of the queue
• Wait 4 second , then put another wait 4 seconds at the end of the queue  
• Move to (100, 0) at a velocity of (50, 0) , and put an identical move at the end of the queue
• Wait 3 seconds...

Its a really simple script. The idea is that there are really 4 commands: Wait (w) , Move (m) , Wait and Repeat (x) and Move and Repeat (r). Wait and Move commands just disappear after running. The repeating versions add themselves to the end of the queue. So - if I wanted a platform to move between two platforms, then move back and repeat, I would use 2 move and repeat commands, and they would just keep moving.

In absolute fairness, they are not entirely coded. I need to now code the behaviour of the actors attached to the platforms (or touching them) so it is predictable.

3)
I'm considering setting a release date for an Alpha - giving me an absolute definitive time goal. I'm considering either the end of January, or midway through February. Problem is, whilst code is reaching completion (or at least approaching it slowly. I find it difficult to judge...), nothing else is - save for most of the design of the levels. And I'm really not sure how long it will take to use my crappy level editing tools to make my designed levels a reality. And I have no sound or music (or programming for such). And haven't programmed graphics beyond coded rectangles. May not need much work on graphics though - as I have done most of it (I think) in a blueprint style that will look similar to my last post, with a dock on the bottom with large, multicoloured, vector drawn, half top down buttons.

4*) 
Current code stats:

Files	75
Lines	6072
Statements	3549
% Branches	23
% Comments	3.1
Class Defs	34
Methods/Class	9.71
Avg Stmts/Method	6.6
Max Complexity	46
Max Depth	9+
Avg Depth	1.93
Avg Complexity	2.9
Functions	12

* I don't think it's really news. Hence not counted.

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Ideas for art style

I've been trying to work out what Jack should look like. Here is one idea:

A blueprint has the joint benefits of being simple to draw, and somewhat unique. I still don't know what the best way to implement switches etc would be. I could always do it as a blue print now, and make it more 16-bit pixelly later.

This is only an idea, which may or may not end up being implemented like this. But it honestly is an idea I like.

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Mighty Ascension of Jack Finished Design?

I think I've finished the design of the Mighty Ascension of Jack (the final level), though won't know for sure until it is made and playable. Furthermore, this is the last level that I will be designing for now unless any bolts of inspiration hit me, and my efforts now will be focussed on making these levels playable - including sound, graphics and most of all, programming. My design efforts will be largely limited to tweaking the design to better work with the code

The Mighty Ascension finishes now with a squish area with stop signs for timing, a small but elegant teleporter puzzle, a small life and a final subtle teleport. I don't know whether this will be fun or not, but I hope so. The whole bloomin thing, the level that is in scale, about 5 levels worth of level is reprinted below.

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The Mighty Ascension of Jack

Current status of the Mighty Ascension of Jack (Final Level)

I'm still working on the final level. You can see my latest work sitting on the top above the top red line.

I struggle with puzzle design... Maybe one or two parts to be added - but I do actually like the top bit.

Lets see what happens

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The Mighty Ascension of Jack

The Final Level So Far

I'm still working on the final level. I've started working on the next stage. I had a pretty cool idea of what I wanted, but I don't think that I have quite got what I wanted, and that it may not be as much fun as I'd like it to be at the moment.

I think I might need to redo it. I'll see if I can improve it more a bit later.

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The Mighty Ascension of Jack

Part of (the only designed part of) "The Mighty Ascension of Jack"

I'm playing with the idea of making a big final level for my "Jack is a Fool" thing. Now - it's still my intention that what I release will be only about half an hour long, and only a fairly short game from which I can figure out whether its fun, and probably release it as freeware. It won't have graphics that it would if I turned it into a longer commercial indie game. But anyway. I digress.

Big final level. Portal has a phenomenal final level. In it, you use all the puzzle solving techniques you've used throughout the rest of the game to be able to finish a big epic amalgamation of the puzzles. Something nice and final. I think the idea of ascending to the surface in Portal 2 is brilliant too, and feels good. So - I've been thinking of combining the few styles of puzzles I'm using into one big final level that will have hopefully interlinked puzzles, a couple of checkpoints and something that will hopefully feel like a satisfactory finish even if the game is somewhat short.

So far, I've designed the grand total of what you can see above. In reality, it's about a third of the length as I'd like it to be, and currently has about 3 puzzles in it - linked by the big lift in the middle. I think, once I've finished designing it (at least to some level I'm remotely happy with), I'll call my "designs before programming" a day, and start working towards making them work.

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Teleporting Levels

I've been experimenting with an idea for a new mechanic - even though I haven't really done that much with the 'Stop' one. But I got bored with it - so we'll add more as inspiration strikes. My new puzzle mechanic is teleporters. You can see how they will work below:

The idea is that when he's in a teleporter, you'll see a 'ghost' of where he would come out. You push the button, and he will teleport to the other side, in the same direction and speed he went in as if nothing happened - just at a different place. So far, I've designed one Introduction to Mechanic level ("For science. You monster."), one easier puzzle ("Teleprompter") and a very suddenly more difficult level (I think) ("Tower of eternal telefrags"). I may do some more of them.

For science. You monster.

Teleprompter

Tower of eternal telefrags.

A notable limitation is that none of these levels incorporate any of the mechanics (other then being squashed) from earlier levels. I'm going to try to do a couple that particularly combine stop signs and teleporters. I also think that there needs to be a bit gentler of a transition to Tower of eternal telefrags - so adding another level there.

By my (admittedly baseless) estimate, the level designs will have about 21m of Gameplay time. When I actually program them, we'll see whether my estimates are close or way off. I'll probably stop the designing of levels (at least as my primary goal) when I reach about 30m - it should be long enough to discover whether it is fun or not. Either way, I should possibly avoid adding more mechanics, and see if I can make do with the 3 I already have. Though a fourth would be nice....


Count:
9 Actual Puzzles
3 Simple "Introduction to mechanic puzzles"
12 Total
None of them actually work in engine yet - all just designs.


Update 7:48PM
I've come up with a level that is a bit easier, and uses elements from all three groups of level - it's below. It uses bits of other levels just a bit. I think I need a couple more of these

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2 New Levels

First new level

Second new level

I've got two new level plans done. The first will work, the second may or may not be finishable; I'll verify in the next day or so. Which does mean one thing: I'm back on. Friday featured my last exam for the semester, so now I actually have some time to attempt to get the prototype of Jack out.

So - I'm back to trying to design enough puzzles to make me happy enough to make a prototype. Problem is - I have no idea how hard they will actually be to play. I know I'm struggling designing them as I have no experience in Puzzle design before.

We'll see.

Count:

7 Actual Puzzles

2 Simple "Introduction to mechanic puzzles"

9 Total

None of them actually work in engine yet - all just designs.

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[Non Games] Movember

Me, on the 30th of Movember. Hopefully.

I'm going to digress slightly off topic today and make a small request:

I'd really love for you to support me in Movember, and donate money for a pretty awesome cause, and for me to grow a pretty awesome moustache*.

If that was enough to convince you - please donate online at http://au.movember.com/mospace/807802

If not - here is the official spiel: 

Hi,

It’s Movember and time to focus on men’s health. To show my commitment, I’m donating my face to the cause by growing a moustache for the entire month of November, and need your support. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for prostate cancer male depression.

Why am I so passionate about men’s health?
*1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
*This year 20,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
*1 in 8 men will experience depression in their lifetime

I’m asking you to support my Movember campaign by making a donation by either:
*Donating online at: http://www.movember.com/m/807802
*Writing a cheque payable to ‘Movember,’ referencing my Registration ID: 807802 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 60, East Melbourne, VIC, 8002

Funds raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others. Through the Movember Foundation and its men’s health partners, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue – the national depression initiative, they are funding world class research, educational and support programs which would otherwise not be possible.

If you’d like to find out more about the type of work you’d be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programs We Fund section on the Movember website: http://au.movember.com/about

Thank you in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men’s health. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.  

So yeah - please?

http://au.movember.com/mospace/807802

* History will show I've tried in the past. And I've grown a bit of hair above my top lip. But I'll try! I'll spend my afternoons trying to push more hair out - and try not to look like Max Payne in his first games in the process!

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Temporary Hold of Proceedings

I'll be around, but not particularly productive with programming until at least next friday (The 11th) - Before then, I have a 2500 word case study on the Carbon Market due Friday (which will probably be made available on Scribd - potentially after further research), Competition law exam on the next Monday, Property law exam on Tuesday and a Civil Procedure exam on Friday. Its unlikely I'll be doing much other then work.

Meanwhile, however, I think after this date, I'll set a deadline to get the 'first taste' version of Jack is a Fool out - and see if it's fun enough to finish and sell.


Lachlan

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Designing moving mazes is difficult!

Today in an unrelated post, I heard it said that the poster hated blog posts that start with 'The Title Says It All' - after all, then there wouldn't need to be the rest of the post accompanying it. But still, as my title says, designing moving mazes is difficult!

For that matter, I'm finding designing puzzles difficult. I am finding it difficult to, without experience, judge the difficulty of the puzzles. What has taken me ages might indeed be a simple puzzle, and what I've been able to think was simple might be prohibitively difficult to actually solve as opposed to design.

But I'm actually struggling with this. Its a map I actually wanted to make - a maze that uses elevators to change the layout as you're going through it. What I've done is make a path, and then attempt to make a map that goes with it. I think the basic design is close - but it might be workable. I think I might try to make a timeline of it and see.

Hmmmm.... Lets see how workable this is

Update - 11.57 PM
I'm pretty sure it's solvable now. There's some changes from above. Questions are a) whether my thoughts that it is solvable is correct, b) whether it is practically solvable in the limited time and c) how difficult it actually is. We'll see once its coded up!

Count:
5 Actual Puzzles, 2 Simpler Introduction to mechanic Puzzles
Total 7 Puzzles

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An open letter to Cyanide Studio regarding Securom

I make no secret of the fact I detest SecuROM. I detest intrusive DRM, but I have a special deep loathing for install activation limited games that treat me like a thief. It is a sad thing when a pirated copy ends up being a better copy then the actual purchased product - and a terrible way to encourage people to purchase your product. Its like the masses of unskippable ads and anti-piracy messages at the start of DVDs - I just bought your damn DVD and you're telling me in an unskippable manner that I shouldn't pirate the said video? If I pirated the damn thing, then I could just watch it! I will probably write a more full post on it later.

I bought Blood Bowl on sale late last month. I've finally downloaded it and installed it to discover that it's installed the SecuROM malware on my computer, and will use all of 5 activations with minor changes in my hardware or when I need to reformat after a crash if I lack the forsight to uninstall it (and everything else like it) manually before my computer crashes. It royally pisses me off when I feel treated like a thief when I've purchased a product. I just sent this open letter to Cyanide studio to the only address on their site I could find - support@cyanide-studio.com . For what it's worth, I'm placing it in the public domain, so you are welcome to copy it when you feel ripped off by SecuROM or other anti-piracy measures, and so Cyanide have the opportunity to respond if they indeed care to.

To Whomsoever at Cyanide Studio this concerns,

I've just finally finished my Steam download and am really disappointed to find the inclusion of an install-limited version of Securom. I know that I should have seen it whilst purchasing the game - or more precisely, preventing me from purchasing the game, but now I feel really very ripped off, and just a little violated.

Given how secure SteamWorks as a non intrusive, account limited DRM is, are there any plans at all to release a DRM removal patch or switch it across to SteamWorks in the future? If not, could I please beg of you to consider it. Blood Bowl is past its peak of sales, and removal of the overly strict DRM in favour of a non-limited one (such as SteamWorks) could only possibly increase future sales - any quick search over the internet quickly reveals people unwilling to even buy the product at 80% off due to the limited activations of Securom.

As somebody who barely plays multiplayer games, I feel like I'm getting a worse quality product then if I pirated it. Which is really disappointing, because it looks like a fascinating game that I'm looking forward to playing - only, with my consistent reformats as a minor game developer myself, it looks like I won't be able to play it long. I understand that there is a de-activation/uninstallation tool, however I don't understand why it is necessary to treat me like a thief when I do the right thing and purchase your game. And I shouldn't have to do a full restart because I'm running some tools I use to develop that happen to be detected by SecuROM - your game isn't the only thing I use my system for.

I've seen various people state that you care about customer feedback - and I beg of you to consider this piece of it. Until you remove SecuROM, I won't be purchasing any more of your games - which is disappointing because you seem to have some original games. I'll simply have to go without.

Yours legally and legitimately

Lachlan Kingsford

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Jack is a Fool - Puzzle Progress - Update on Squish Time!

Turns out yesterday's puzzle wasn't necessarily solvable. I've adjusted the position of each of the platforms, and now it is.

I calculated new positions using a copy of Calc (basically as fancy pen and paper), starting with the final position and backtracked 5 positions.

Next puzzle!

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Jack is a Fool - Puzzle Progress

Just a brief update on progress of puzzles.

Turns out one of the puzzle ideas was if not bad, very difficult to execute (as in, fully design). It was an idea for a kind of moving maze. I'll wait until I can think about it more - but I still like the idea.

I've been working on another puzzle inspired by the valves puzzle (with the wheelburrow) in Grim Fandango though its turned out nothing like it. I'm trying to think of a simple thing that a couple of buttons could do to the moving platforms to make it a puzzling and solvable challenge to make them all align. I'm just not quite sure yet. The puzzle as stands is below - though may change totally.

I'll update when I've done just a little more.

---UPDATE - 11:03PM ---

I think I've made my puzzle. 

Please Click for the detail

The idea is that the platforms are going really fairly quickly and hence will squash jack unless they're put in the right order (maybe - 3 in line then 2 in line) - though this isn't so important. I can't test it yet anyway.

You put them in the right order with the Navy, Blue and Green buttons. The navy one pauses A C and E, the blue one B D & E and the green one A C & D. They each pause for everything else to make one quarter of the journey - I've marked out the distance with x.

Problem is - whilst I like the idea, I don't know how many moves (or indeed even if - though I stronly suspect so) it will take to be solved. So - I'll solve my puzzle tomorrow to be sure.

I like the idea of the level though - looks challenging.

Lachlan

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