LineWalk: The Pixel Moving God (part 2)

ID:98032
 
Jul 4 2010, 11:02 am
Keywords: linewalk


This will almost certainly be the last demonstration released. I want to focus on creating a polished LineWalk game.


For the past few days I have been focusing on fixing the collision that was severely broken. To my knowledge, all runtimes and bugs have been removed. Fugsnarf suggested that I increase the tick_lag from zero to a half. The performance noticeably changed for the better.

I also worked on the game play for LineWalk, which is playable in this demonstration. Essentially, the player with the most points will be designated as the guide. The Guide's goal is to get as many Walkies, the other players, to the exit by drawing paths. I created 9 maps and tested each one with my brother, Lawlergasm, several times.

I am fairly happy with the current direction of LineWalk. But I am disappointed with the sluggishness of the mouse procedures in BYOND. Due to this, you are forced to slowly draw lines. I believe this issue would turnoff those who are not accustomed with BYOND, and perhaps those who are.

Now, if no bugs arise, I will polish the game, implement small features around the basic game play, and release a map editor.


These are the main developments in LineWalk since the last release:
- Corrected severe collision issues
- Adjusted the tick_lag
- 9 new maps
- The basic game play has been implemented
- The game can now be played alone or online

http://www.byond.com/games/CalusCoRPS/LineWalk
Jul 4 2010, 11:51 am
Slow mouse controls already turned me off from the game :/. It was just too frustrating with the small amount of time it takes for the lines to fade (maybe you could increase it a little?)
Jul 4 2010, 12:10 pm
Jeff8500 wrote:
Slow mouse controls already turned me off from the game :/.

The mouse controls are frustrating. I know there have been feature/bug reports that asked for the speed to be increased. Similar to how pixel movement is now faster online. But those request went ignored, if I recall.

It was just too frustrating with the small amount of time it takes for the lines to fade (maybe you could increase it a little?)

My brother and I believed that the time it took for the lines to disappear was perfect. I would not want the game to be extraordinarily easy where you could essentially draw a line to the end of the map and complete it.

There are also spots on the map in which you can 'rest'. So you do not necessarily have to finish the map without stopping.
Jul 4 2010, 12:12 pm
Hmm, I guess it depends on how many people are playing, in that case then. As one person, I was having a difficult time doing everything; maybe you could add a single player mode or something?
Jul 4 2010, 12:18 pm (Edited on Jul 5 2010, 3:44 am)
Jeff8500 wrote:
Hmm, I guess it depends on how many people are playing, in that case then. As one person, I was having a difficult time doing everything; maybe you could add a single player mode or something?

I noticed that the game actually ran faster on my server than downloading it and then playing alone.

I will look into increasing the time that the line is 'walkable' while there is only one person online.
Jul 5 2010, 4:15 pm
Neat concept. I had seen your other demo of this but can't seem to find it now. I remember the demo running a lot smoother, especially the line drawing. There seems to be a large delay when I start drawing a line. I don't remember that being the case in the other demo. Was this just a consequence of changing tick_lag?

To compensate for the slowness of the mouse procs, why not draw lines connecting the points the mouse passes through instead of just drawing individual points? It wouldn't help the initial delay I'm seeing, but it wouldn't hurt either.
Jul 5 2010, 4:18 pm
I really wish you handled the camera better. It's hard to see anything when all the tiles are crunched down into tiny blurry squares.
Jul 5 2010, 6:32 pm
Forum_account wrote:
Neat concept. I had seen your other demo of this but can't seem to find it now. I remember the demo running a lot smoother, especially the line drawing. There seems to be a large delay when I start drawing a line. I don't remember that being the case in the other demo. Was this just a consequence of changing tick_lag?

To compensate for the slowness of the mouse procs, why not draw lines connecting the points the mouse passes through instead of just drawing individual points? It wouldn't help the initial delay I'm seeing, but it wouldn't hurt either.

A line tool would be pretty awesome, I like this guy's idea.
Jul 6 2010, 3:07 am
It's cool.
Jul 6 2010, 5:33 am
Forum_account: The demo previously provided was released in 2008. The collision was broken and the game frequently crashed. The previous release was a lot faster. I may dig in the code, if I still have it, and 'steal' the line drawing procedure.

I also agree that a line tool would be great. I may have to release one more demonstration that provides such a tool.


SuperAntx: Are you sure you maximized the interface? I have not seen tiny blurry squares.
Jul 6 2010, 5:38 am
Jul 6 2010, 6:01 am
SuperAntx wrote:
Not all monitors are alike.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2036/linewalk.jpg

That does look horrible.

There is a reason why the camera is no longer focused on the character and scrolls along him as well. I want the players to see the possible routes they can take.

But, I would like to make the game compatible with all monitors. Do you have any suggestions?
Jul 6 2010, 6:06 am
Do what Kirby's Canvus Curse did, design levels around a constricted field of view. Half the fun should come from exploring!

I would also suggest tweaking the mouse behavior slightly. I noticed a lot of little gaps opening up when I moved my cursor around rapidly. Rather than waiting around for faster cursor response times to not be added you could do it yourself by tracking the draw sequence.

When you're filling in the little dots, keep track of when a gap forms. If there's a gap, draw a line from the last dot before the gap to the newest dot in the sequence.
Jul 6 2010, 6:24 am
SuperAntx wrote:
Do what Kirby's Canvus Curse did, design levels around a constricted field of view. Half the fun should come from exploring!

Seeing as the setting of the game is in a cave while the players are spelunkers, it would make more sense to constrict the FoV to allow exploration.


I would also suggest tweaking the mouse behavior slightly. I noticed a lot of little gaps opening up when I moved my cursor around rapidly. Rather than waiting around for faster cursor response times to not be added you could do it yourself by tracking the draw sequence.

When you're filling in the little dots, keep track of when a gap forms. If there's a gap, draw a line from the last dot before the gap to the newest dot in the sequence.

Yeah, I recognized faster cursor response times will not be worked on any time soon, if at all. My past feature suggestion status was changed to 'Need Discussion' months ago, yet no discussion occurs. Your auto-line suggestion is similar to Forum_Accounts'. I will unquestionably implement the feature.


Thanks for the suggestions!