Misc.

Got a cool idea that should be in R'n'D? Let's hear it!

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CEEL

Misc.

Post by CEEL »

Consider these options for future versions.

---
Setup: Ask on ESC.
Should be separated in two different options at least.
- Level creator : 'Ask on SAVE' if changed level.
- General 'Ask on ESC' (Should also include exit game in main screen (or seperate..)).

Note on Level Creator.
If you press the exit button with the mouse, confirmation box appears
but if you press ESC only, no confirmation. Should be same.


Or scratch the above and always ask for save if level changed, whatever setup says.

---
Tape player.
A button or someway to quick (re)wind and takeover play like 5 sec before player KIA.
Maybe 'backspace'.

---
A fast option to set most compatible Emerald Mine options in creator
for all those elements in R&D engine (future).

---
Magic Wheel options that COULD be included for R&D engine.
- Initially activated. Robots attracted from start.
- Auto rotation with delay + random time.
Robots would attract alternatly to player and wheel giving them a more
unpredictable walk that way, harder to blowup etc.).Fun option.
If player touches these 'auto' wheels, no effect or (best) uses 'main time' but
returns to auto then. How several auto wheels would effect unknown to me..



CEEL
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Rockford4ever
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Misc.

Post by Rockford4ever »

Hey Ceel,
Seems like you really have some nice idea's there! ;)
Ask on ESC is already possible (check the options), and the "tape player" idea is a bit fifty-fifty...
It is a bit nice but it can be done a bit, with the save-and-load keys on tape recording. The deafults are F1 for save and F2 for load.
The EMC fast option thing is not required, because everything of the EMC elements is going to be RnD compatible in v3.2.0!
You do have a nice idea about the Magic wheel. That should be very useful indeed!
CEEL

Post by CEEL »

Hi Rocky,
Seen 'Ask of ESC' otherwise wouldn't ask for a fix for Save..
What I mean about EM compability quick option is that all strange options
you can set with a future R&D engine should be set off to be the most
compatible with the EM engine but still you would run under R&D engine.

That 5 sec FAST takeover option could have a problem if
your doing some dangerous move at the time of takeover,
but it's acceptable and not a high risk.

Adding another idea here too..which you all should've noted.
If you takeover play in a tape, the tape player stops recording.
Tape should continue record from the spot of takeover and
append to the old tape.
The spot COULD be marked where the player appended new tape in someway
to show it's a 'fake' appended tape if someone finds it disturbing..
But manipulating tapes,scores and speed is always possible so this can't be a stopper.

Pause key note:
If you change the Pause key from default 'Space' to let's say 'P',
you can't start levels by 'Space', cause this is tied to Pause 'P'.
'Space' should still be used to start level I think.


CEEL
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Rockford4ever
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Post by Rockford4ever »

I see... well, for the save and load, the keys are normally F1 and F2, but sadly it only works in tape record mode.
Press the small red button in the bottom right corner to record a tape.
Then, I think you can also do the 5 sec takeover can be done in tapes:
When playing a level and recording a tape for it, and then die, then replay the tape with the play button also in the bottom right corner 3 times and it will say "pause before end".
It will show you how you played the level very fast and at a certain moment before the end it will pause. Now press the record button again and now you can play, recording a tape!
and the pause key also can be changed in the setup somewhere. ;)
CEEL

Post by CEEL »

Hi Rocky again, that tape recording did really work..(Thought I tested all).
Now only in need of connecting it to 'backspace' and winding there as fast as possible.
(Should continue level and append recording without interaction).
The level should Pause though before but continue when you press ANY key (start steering).

I guess there's quite a lot actions recorded in level
so maybe much faster isn't possible either here,
but it's really slow for levels you play for 10 min.(Ok faster than real time..)
(I've noticed you can play it even faster with the left most tape button.)
As fast as possible winding should be used for backspace key.

Pause key note:
If you change the Pause key from default 'Space' to let's say 'P',
you can't start levels by 'Space', cause this is tied to Pause 'P'.
'Space' should still be used to start level I think.

Change the Pause in setup to 'P' and read the above again..and test it.


CEEL
CEEL

Post by CEEL »

Well, scrap this tape winding if it's slow.
The solution here seem to be an 'Auto save state' each 10 sec or something instead.
Should be best.
So you don't need saving all the time.
If it saves just before (<5 sec) KIA it should have another save 10 sec in store and use it instead.
'Backspace' to reload last auto save maybe.

CEEL
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Rockford4ever
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Location: Belgium

Post by Rockford4ever »

CEEL wrote:Hi Rocky again, that tape recording did really work..(Thought I tested all).
Now only in need of connecting it to 'backspace' and winding there as fast as possible.
(Should continue level and append recording without interaction).
The level should Pause though before but continue when you press ANY key (start steering).

I guess there's quite a lot actions recorded in level
so maybe much faster isn't possible either here,
but it's really slow for levels you play for 10 min.(Ok faster than real time..)
(I've noticed you can play it even faster with the left most tape button.)
As fast as possible winding should be used for backspace key.

Pause key note:
If you change the Pause key from default 'Space' to let's say 'P',
you can't start levels by 'Space', cause this is tied to Pause 'P'.
'Space' should still be used to start level I think.

Change the Pause in setup to 'P' and read the above again..and test it.


CEEL
Yep, I see the Pause idea; pretty nice. About the tapes, I think the fastest it can go is the same speed as "Warp Forward". Play a tape you recorded and press the left most tape button. But it could get better if you could configure the rewind keys and stuff...
CEEL
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Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 8:24 pm

Post by CEEL »

Ding! (Holger wakes up and rubs his eyes:))(Had almost forgotten this topic myself)

Sorry asking above for append tape already implemented...but that 'tape corruption'
in my system made it hard using the tape player other than ocassionally.
I usually don't save but it would be good sometime to be able to continue
and have an autosaved fast continue key if possible, however it's implemented.

Adding some rambling.
-Invulnerable player in Level Creator so you can test your stuff better.
Should behave like a 'walking indestructible wall' to the other elements.
Should use a hotkey on/off.('I' key maybe).(No CE please...I want a main function.)
Very useful.

Another quite useful thing in Level Creator would be some statistics
of total used objects/elements in levels, mainly gems, nuts but others as well
and amoeba speeds type and other for quick evaluation.
But put this in your low priority crap list for now.

Dynamite compability for R&D - EM
- Option, not effected by explosion, Only destructible by player (fuse).

Burning Dynamite R&D
- Option, countdown timer.(fuse length). OK, CE good here but add when out of ideas..


The 'setup.conf' file in 'My documents' R&D directory hangs on from ver. to ver.
Not sure how new versions handle this file, but
New option in setup:
- Reset ALL setup options to default. (or delete file would do it?)
So you don't need manually delete 'setup.conf'.
Also good when bug hunting when you need some standard setup.

I would also prefer having the files now stored in 'My documents'
moved to the main R&D directory instead if possible (option). (Low priority).

Low priority means if there's more important things to do like going back to sleep
it can be looked upon in some future versions if not futile:)

CEEL
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Holger
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Post by Holger »

> Ding! (Holger wakes up and rubs his eyes:))(Had almost forgotten this
> topic myself)

Sorry, haven't commented on this post yet...

Rockford4ever has already answered some of the questions or commented some things correctly...

> Sorry asking above for append tape already implemented...but that 'tape
> corruption' in my system made it hard using the tape player other than
> ocassionally.

Can you describe this? What does not work then, and how can I reproduce a potentially misbehaviour or bug?

> I usually don't save but it would be good sometime to be able to continue
> and have an autosaved fast continue key if possible, however it's
> implemented.

Not sure if I understand this right. There's already "quick save" and "quick load" on the F1 and F2 keys (can be changed in setup), which does exactly what you want, if I don't misunderstand you.

> Adding some rambling.
> -Invulnerable player in Level Creator so you can test your stuff better.
> Should behave like a 'walking indestructible wall' to the other elements.
> Should use a hotkey on/off.('I' key maybe).(No CE please...I want a main
> function.)
> Very useful.

That would be nice indeed. For now, you could place an additional shield with very long time for now (and I'll probably add the "unlimited shield when time set to zero" functionality as suggested by Darkon or Rockford4ever (sorry, not sure now and can't find the corresponding post)).

> Another quite useful thing in Level Creator would be some statistics
> of total used objects/elements in levels, mainly gems, nuts but others as
> well
> and amoeba speeds type and other for quick evaluation.

It's already there! Just use the "Info" and "Config" tabs for each element.

> Dynamite compability for R&D - EM
> - Option, not effected by explosion, Only destructible by player (fuse).

I don't understand this. What does this mean?

> Burning Dynamite R&D
> - Option, countdown timer.(fuse length). OK, CE good here but add when
> out of ideas..

Would be possible (also if R'n'D and EM dynamite would be one element). The (small) problem here is that you also need to adjust the artwork for the burning dynamite if you change the time for the ignition...

> The 'setup.conf' file in 'My documents' R&D directory hangs on from ver.
> to ver.

Yep. So you can install new versions and don't lose your settings.

> Not sure how new versions handle this file, but

They just keep it and use it as it was set up in the last version.

> New option in setup:
> - Reset ALL setup options to default. (or delete file would do it?)

Deleting the file does just that, indeed! :-)

> So you don't need manually delete 'setup.conf'.
> Also good when bug hunting when you need some standard setup.

Yes, could be useful sometimes... Would be easy to implement.

> I would also prefer having the files now stored in 'My documents'
> moved to the main R&D directory instead if possible (option).

That's how it was solved in earlier versions. After enough people had accidently deleted their self-created level files when upgrading, I decided to store the user files in a different place. Optionally storing it in the main folder would of course be possible, but would then be needed to change after each upgrade (unless you manually copy the setup file from the old to the new directory).

BTW: A little suggestion: Maybe it's better to use a new, own topic for each new idea (or suggestion) with a self-explaining subject. Else it's hard to find specific ideas in all those posts, and to answer separately to different topics (which are now in one single thread).

Don't be afraid to create a lot of independent threads for all those different ideas and suggestions, I think it's easier to not miss things then. :-)
CEEL
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Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 8:24 pm

Post by CEEL »

Hi, here I go again..
Thought I had explained the 'tape corruption' in a topic (see)
As I mostly play multiplayer levels on LAN and when I tried to play
these on singleplayer, the extra players in the level showed up in the tape player.
I solved why.
Had setup several of the players to use the same key setup by some reason.
Using different key setup on all players solved it and one player only in tape.
You can test this by setting player one and two to same steering and play a
multiplayer level singleplayer only, then use tape player.


(I think I had a real tape corruption with some unexpected events the other day
but sadly saved over it, if I find one I'll send it in)


Autosave.
Yes I know the load/save but then you have to save a lot of times
and remember doing it If you play for a longer time.
More relaxing having autosave if ever needed and using another key
to this like 'backspace' (or you could use the default key for loading).
Anyway, it should work as follows:
-I haven't bothered/forgot saving.
-I die, I press 'backspace' and I'm ready to continue in a 'blink'
from where I got it even if I've played for a long time, if possible.

Level creator statistics,
Yes the tabs are there I just wanted one page with a quick survey
of how MANY of these objects are in the level.(Some of the more important objects and speeds)


Dynamite compability:
-Put some dynamite in a row in Creator
-Then blow one up in R&D engine and EM engine.
-R&D engine will blow up all in a chain reaction


Burning Dynamite artwork can have the fuse on fire as on start
and continue to burn down only when it has reached the original time (OK for me).
Could play its original drop sound when reached this time.

Could also burn down slowly overtime of course.


About the 'Setup.conf'
It's not so obvious where all different options/tapes and level infos are stored
especially if you're new to this game although I know it now.



Also checking if you have noticed from previous post above.

Note on Level Creator save.
If you press the exit button with the mouse, confirmation box appears
if you have changed the level.
But if you press ESC only, no confirmation.
Should ask for confirmation always if changed level even if 'ASK on ESC' off.


- Magic wheel options. See first post above.


- When wanting to play as close to EM engine but using the R&D engine.
Option to set all elements to be most compatible with Emerald Mine
when using the R&D engine.

---
Posting:
Yes I will try to post more seperate posts in the future if very different/many issues.
This thread is quite messy,


It was a couple of weeks ago this was posted originally and I thought it was forgotten
among the rest.
Answering posts is time consuming so I don't expect a fast answer.
(Answer the next day up to a week is OK for me dependent of time and complexity of the matter)
You could mark a thread read and under consideration somehow and answer at a later date
when time and you thought them over also.


CEEL
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