Version .95

[testtubegames]

Details pending. Sleep time now!

Short story:
-Changed a few levels just a bit
-Made the levers work better in the editor mode
-Added some easter eggs
-Found even more bugs.

There are still a few issues I'm trying to fix, but they aren't too major. I'll get on them Thursday (today)

[exfret]

-I don't get G-uitar
-The secret level is plain awesome. Just awesome.
-The level 29 glitch happened again. It shows that I completed it, but it won't allow me to move on to the next level.

[testtubegames]

-The level 29 glitch happened again. It shows that I completed it, but it won't allow me to move on to the next level.

Oooh, I was able to reproduce it. One step closer to fixing it. Thanks for finding that -- seems pretty major

[testtubegames]

Fixed that Level 29 bug, and glad I did. That was the tip of a level-unlock iceberg. Hopefully all better now.

Alright, now that I've caught my breath, a bit more detailed release notes

Version 0.95

Done:
-Tweaked level 34 to make it more challenging / appropriate for Act 3 (it was an early Act-2 level masquerading as a 'hard' level, pshaw!)
-Added in some Easter Eggs
-Improved the system for adding/removing objects from levers
-Shrunk the file size down below 7 MB
-Fixed it so the switch-box disappears once you collect a switch-activated star
-Sped up the transition-time between levels, so they'll load faster
-Fixed that level-29 bug exfret has been finding
-A slew of minor bug fixes

Left to do:
-Fix bugs you may find
-Get it sponsored, yo!

[exfret]

Is it here? Finally, may it be declared finished?

Edit: What about G-uitar? what does that even mean?

[exfret]

Just a few questions and stuff:

-Why are the about and 'level builder' buttons shaded out in the main menu?
-You only fixed the second lever glitch. Whenever I add something to a lever and place it down, it stops showing that what I'm making is attached to the lever, but it's still attached. Having it still be attached is a good thing, but the selecty-box thing on the lever that shows it's selected goes away, which is bad. Also, I <3 being able to add my invisible blocks easier, though it'll probably seem glitchy to new users. You might want to send adding invisible blocks back to the way it was so it seems more like a hidden way to 'outsmart' the person who made the game instead of a very strangely acting, glitchy-looking block.
-I just noticed a way you reworked levers. At first, I thought it was a glitch:

Also, levers work while in edit mode, or something glitchy like that. When I try deleting a block attached to a lever after cycling through the lever one time after adding the block, whenever I delete a block, the lever apparently places in back. Cycling to the point where it show the white outline behind the block you want to get rid of fixed this.

Now I've realized it isn't but I think it should make sense to allow people to destroy blocks that are still on, even if their lever isn't selected due to the counter-intuitivity and confusion of this that it might cause to new people playing this game. Just include an option to enable only deleting it if you've selected the lever it's attached to in the settings so that level-making is easier for the people who know why you'd have it this way.
-You don't happen to have a no-gravity easter egg, do you? If you do, pwease shoot me an email of how to get it, and if you don't get an no-gravity easter egg, or at least implement it as a feature. I mean, it's so awesome, but all you do is add an if statement checking to see if the no-gravity option is enabled wherever you add in gravity!
-Sadly, while playing with levers and trying to add buttons to them or at least them to themselves, the button-freezing-edit-mode glitch popped up again. I think this may be what caused this. I also got an extremely strong right-facing magnetic field even though I don't remember adding any right-facing buttons.
-Why haven't you changed back the collision code to what it was before? It was fine as it was.
-There's way too much lag when modifying a level with lots of blocks added to a lever. I mean, it's just adding blocks to the lever, what lag could possibly result from that?! AND, what lag would possibly result when all those blocks are already added to the lever. Nothing's modifying them. It's like those keys lagging Velocity Raptor in NORMAL mode. Anyways, unlike Velocity Raptor, it's a LOT of lag, and I'm running ~TES~ on a mac (just to say it isn't a slow computer or anything, but it doesn't have, like, top-of-the-notch or even top-of-the-middle-class-notch processing speed). The lag only comes after adding blocks or closing the tab window, but it doesn't hinder ~TES~'s movement or selecting blocks while in edit mode.
-Andy, do you still have the code that doesn't allow ~TES~ to spawn inside a block? I'm telling you, this causes problems. There is absolutely NO REASON to obstruct people from making ~TES~ start inside a block when they want him to. (I save bold, underline and italics and capitalization and huge size and font color and quotes and code all at the same time for

Code: Select all

HYPERBOLA LAND

[/color][/size][/u][/i][/b]). Also, you should stop background blocks, like torches, from getting destroyed when you place ~TES~ over them.
-Placing Shocktopus somewhere sometimes doesn't change his spawnpoint Edit: This was probably because a lever was selected without me noticing when I was trying this. You see how glitchy that lever glitch makes everything seem?
-I was just adding a super-ton-full of levers and the button-freezing-edit-mode glitch came, full with extremely right-facing charges and everything.

(Sorry about all the bolds and underlines and capitalizations and all. I just get a little charged up when it comes to ~TES~ )

[testtubegames]

-Why are the about and 'level builder' buttons shaded out in the main menu?

They are both darker colors, but only the level editor should be locked (and only until you have beaten level 1). Just to prevent newbies from accidentally clicking on it -- but I like the idea of showing people it's there, right on the main screen, since making levels is rad.

-You only fixed the second lever glitch. Whenever I add something to a lever and place it down, it stops showing that what I'm making is attached to the lever, but it's still attached. Having it still be attached is a good thing, but the selecty-box thing on the lever that shows it's selected goes away, which is bad. Also, I <3 being able to add my invisible blocks easier, though it'll probably seem glitchy to new users. You might want to send adding invisible blocks back to the way it was so it seems more like a hidden way to 'outsmart' the person who made the game instead of a very strangely acting, glitchy-looking block.

Yeah, it's not ideal right now. I'm having a dickens of a time fixing the levers while still keeping the invisible blocks -- since that's kind of a glitch already. I may have to resort to something a bit more drastic. Like... invisible blocks are completely gone. Except if you do something special to unlock them (a keycode or whatnot). That might be the best way.

Now I've realized it isn't but I think it should make sense to allow people to destroy blocks that are still on, even if their lever isn't selected

Okay, can do it that way.

You don't happen to have a no-gravity easter egg, do you?

Nah, turns out if you just remove gravity and leave everything else the same, the game gets really hard to use. There's no jumping anymore, for instance, since that relies on gravity so you touch the ground. Wall jumps work, but you'll just fling yourself up, and have no way of coming back down. I actually tried rigging up code for moving around in 0g, waaaay back in the day, but I scrapped it because, unless you're turning Shocktopus into a spaceship (thrusters in all directions), then you can't really get around. Though that would be a cool, different game.

Sadly, while playing with levers and trying to add buttons to them or at least them to themselves, the button-freezing-edit-mode glitch popped up again. I think this may be what caused this. I also got an extremely strong right-facing magnetic field even though I don't remember adding any right-facing buttons.

Huh, nice and specific. If I stop allowing the switches to add to switches... it sounds like this would fix this instance. Though it appears there's something deeper afoot, I'll try to track it down.

Why haven't you changed back the collision code to what it was before? It was fine as it was.

'cause you could stand in a spike block. Was (and feels like) a glitch. So I changed it.

There's way too much lag when modifying a level with lots of blocks added to a lever.

Yeah, in fixing the bug about what gets drawn when, at the moment the game uses a blunt instrument to get it working (refreshed EVERYTHING on switches). Wasn't sure how much lag that would cause-- I wasn't getting too much. But my test levels aren't quite as rad as yours! So I'll fix that lag.

Andy, do you still have the code that doesn't allow ~TES~ to spawn inside a block?

Yup. He can't spawn inside a block. I *can* change the torches and doors to stop interfering with him. But he's not going to spawn inside spikes or platforms... 'cause that would lead to tons of glitches.

Thanks as always for the feedback, man, -- you are a bug hunting *machine*!

[exfret]

They are both darker colors, but only the level editor should be locked (and only until you have beaten level 1). Just to prevent newbies from accidentally clicking on it -- but I like the idea of showing people it's there, right on the main screen, since making levels is rad.

But why'd you darken them? It results in an off-balance of the buttons. (They look strange that way). Or maybe not. It just seems little strange to me. I think it'd be better than having them all light, though.

Yeah, it's not ideal right now. I'm having a dickens of a time fixing the levers while still keeping the invisible blocks -- since that's kind of a glitch already. I may have to resort to something a bit more drastic. Like... invisible blocks are completely gone. Except if you do something special to unlock them (a keycode or whatnot). That might be the best way.

If you need to make my invisible blocks disappear, that's okay. Just add them in as an easter egg. (Make it so you have to click on my name in the playtesters list). I was just being so defensive because I thought you didn't like them in the first place. Or, you could just place the current version in the gamefiles for me to play with and get rid of invisible blocks completely. I mean, I want my invisible blocks, but I don't want them to cause any possible bugs and glitches just because I'm an invisible block fanatic.

Okay, can do it that way.

Well, I mean, it's more intuitive, but it's more useful the other way... SUCH HARD DECISIONS!!

Nah, turns out if you just remove gravity and leave everything else the same, the game gets really hard to use. There's no jumping anymore, for instance, since that relies on gravity so you touch the ground. Wall jumps work, but you'll just fling yourself up, and have no way of coming back down. I actually tried rigging up code for moving around in 0g, waaaay back in the day, but I scrapped it because, unless you're turning Shocktopus into a spaceship (thrusters in all directions), then you can't really get around. Though that would be a cool, different game.

Shocktopus already moves left and right in midair. With that ability, there's plenty you could do with antigravity. Charge buttons would be a particularly powerful tool, allowing the player to turn 'on' and 'off' gravity with the press of a button (z). You could also make interesting levels where you have to navigate left and right while moving upwards to get to the end, and these are all ideas I just thought of off the top of my head. There's plenty of things you could do, but it's your call whether you think it would be worth the time. The main priority is getting it finished now anyways.

Huh, nice and specific. If I stop allowing the switches to add to switches... it sounds like this would fix this instance. Though it appears there's something deeper afoot, I'll try to track it down.

Yeah, I'd go with something deeper afoot. I mean, the right-facing charge field is strange in its own right (I'm itching to be able to actually close the edit window so I can see just how strong that field is), plus I don't remember actually adding any levers to levers (it doesn't really work). Something wrong is going on with the buttons and/or levers, and it may not just be my glitchy ways.

'cause you could stand in a spike block. Was (and feels like) a glitch. So I changed it.

Well, okay. I guess. It just seemed that it would be such a rare instance it was negligible, but I guess it isn't.

Yeah, in fixing the bug about what gets drawn when, at the moment the game uses a blunt instrument to get it working (refreshed EVERYTHING on switches). Wasn't sure how much lag that would cause-- I wasn't getting too much. But my test levels aren't quite as rad as yours! So I'll fix that lag.

The ONLY block you could see in my level was the switch, and it was still dragging seconds of lag to just close the edit box!!! (So what I filled my level with invisible blocks? You still couldn't see them!)

Yup. He can't spawn inside a block. I *can* change the torches and doors to stop interfering with him. But he's not going to spawn inside spikes or platforms... 'cause that would lead to tons of glitches.

If people want to place ~TES~ inside blocks, then they want glitches! I mean, unless those glitches crash their browser or freeze their computer (which they're not going to do), little glitches are something to laugh at or make fun of. Now, if there's a lot of those little glitches, then something appears 'glitchy', but if a glitch was brought on by what a user did, the glitches seem more like "Oh, so that's what happens when Shocktopus spawns inside a block, coool!" But, of course, that's just in my experience. User levels are supposed to be where people can stretch the limits of ~TES~ anyways, right?

Thanks as always for the feedback, man, -- you are a bug hunting *machine*!

Yeah, I find lots of invisible bugs. And blocks, mostly blocks, but sometimes bugs, too.

[exfret]

Just found another bug: Sometimes, when I die while charging, the charging noise goes on a little while. This happened when I was pressing the charge button really quickly.

[testtubegames]

Thanks for the thoughts, exfret. I'm *completely* with you that 'getting it done' is a priority that's getting louder and louder. And I think we're pretty much there - aside from bugs. I've actually started the hunt for sponsors. We can keep tweaking things of course, (and *of course* fix bugs), but there probably won't be any new big features. <Anti-gravity for the sequel?>

Just found another bug: Sometimes, when I die while charging, the charging noise goes on a little while. This happened when I was pressing the charge button really quickly.

Hmm... I'll check it out. I just noticed the same thing when I'd pause the game while charging. Probably an easy fix.

By the way, I updated the game with some fixes to the earlier bugs. So now:

-Deleting switch-activated tiles without needing to hit the switch
-No invisible tiles (for the moment at least)
-...and hence fewer glitches
-Smarter redraws of the switch-activated tiles... so you don't get tons of lag while drawing things
-Fixed some problems with the switch-activated stars... going back to your comment of stars not reappearing. That issue is solved, now.
-Torches and closed doors now don't interfere with Shocktopus. (Not retroactive, any old ones will behave as they always did... but new torches and doors will behave better)