Replace the "space" steel letter tile with the flat steel wall tile

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ncrecc
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Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:59 am

Replace the "space" steel letter tile with the flat steel wall tile

Post by ncrecc »

The steel space looks identical to a flat steel wall, and it's indestructible like a flat steel wall, so it should be identical to a flat steel wall... except that it's not. This leads to interactions that would seem weird to the player, like 1. androids refusing to clone it if it's not included among their clonable elements, even if they can clone identical-looking flat steel walls, and 2. gems not slipping off of it when the "slip down from certain flat walls" setting is ticked, even though those same gems will slip off of identical-looking flat steel walls.

Perhaps replace the steel space tile with the flat steel wall tile wherever it appears in the editor menu, then make the steel space accessible only as a user-defined element, like the Frankie Goes to Hollywood tiles are.
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Holger
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Re: Replace the "space" steel letter tile with the flat steel wall tile

Post by Holger »

Thank you for reporting this inconsistent behaviour in the level editor!

In fact, the real bug here is that the "steel_char_space" element looks the same as the "steelwall" element in the level editor, while the "char_space" element looks different than the normal "space" element. This is fixed now.

Of course it can also be seen as a problem than there are two elements that look the same, but behave differently while playing, but this is not really the problem here: Take a look at the normal "space" element on the one side, and the "invisible <whatever>" walls and "char_space" element on the other side, which also look the same, but behave differently (player cannot enter a tile that contains invisible wall or "char_space"). So this is fine from the game engine perspective.

But inside the level editor, such elements should be clearly distinguishable, without having to hover with the mouse over them with "Ctrl" key hold pressed down (or using the "pick drawing element" function) -- that's why the "char_space" element has a slightly blue color inside the level editor. A similar blue tone was not added to the "steel_char_space" (which was always there in the font artwork, but was never used in the level editor due to an element initialization bug).
ncrecc
Posts: 156
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:59 am

Re: Replace the "space" steel letter tile with the flat steel wall tile

Post by ncrecc »

Holger wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:35 pm Of course it can also be seen as a problem than there are two elements that look the same, but behave differently while playing, but this is not really the problem here: Take a look at the normal "space" element on the one side, and the "invisible <whatever>" walls and "char_space" element on the other side, which also look the same, but behave differently (player cannot enter a tile that contains invisible wall or "char_space"). So this is fine from the game engine perspective.
Actually, there is one thing that separates the char_space tiles from the invisible normal wall: it cannot be seen when a light switch is turned on or lenses are collected.
Image
So right now the steel space is, as far as I'm aware, the only tile in RnD that is functionally and graphically identical to another tile. I suppose you're right, though, it doesn't cause many problems in-game except slight ambiguity.
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