Build 40: Guess what happens to replays

[weasel]

Build 40 is another big one! A lot of changes this time around; nothing completely game-changing but perhaps level-altering and replay-busting (as per usual).

I feel really bad anytime I bust up the replays, but it's better to do it now - before launch - than later.

In this episode we see some changes to the way the protonaut jumps, some graphical and physics changes on the projectile, and a whole slew of other minor issues. This is also the first version with a fully function "Pay now!" :10bux: link. But since everyone in beta currently has a beta account, nobody will see it. :)

I've started populating the in-game level list with some of the best levels I've seen recently. No guarantee any will stay there of course, mostly just placeholder work!

Huge changelog after the jump!

[weasel]

GAMEPLAY CHANGES:

Unfortunately even the slightest changes will ruin most replays... better now than after release!

- I had a microbug that made the 'naut run slightly (4%) faster when going RIGHT than LEFT. Woops. (You can now run just as fast to the left)
- Some wall-jump mechanic changes. Your first walljump in a chain can now be on either the left or right side; it is no longer limited to the direction of travel you started in. This restriction was originally put in place before wall-climbing existed, and it is kind of silly to keep it in now.
- The 'naut now has a flat bottom, which means it is easier to inch up to ledges. This necessitated some changes in the rest of the player structure, which should be fairly transparent to the users. You might see a few new behaviours - like barely sticking on a ledge if you don't quite make it - but it shouldn't affect gameplay too much.
- Player acceleration decreased a tiny amount to make edging up to ledges easier.
- Now when you are sliding down a wall, you will slide slightly slower (3% friction or so)
- Nitrogen's blast force falloff has been decreased, so it is now easier to AsplodeJump. Previously you had to be within a pixel or two before firing the projectile; now you can be several pixels away. The blast radius remains the same so should not affect levels.

Those changes should hopefully make Portgoose levels easier. :P

- Structural bonds are no longer affected by Nitrogen Explosions.
- The projectile now fires straight out of your gun, instead of perpindicular.
- The projectile now begins its life at the center of the player, instead of the tip of the gun. This will prevent shooting through walls.
- The projectile now spins more slowly as it travels through the air, giving a more realistic "arrow" type of arc.
- The projectile graphic now lines up properly with the projectile itself (it was a few degrees off, making it appear to 'bounce weird').
- After dying, the game will keep running for a second so you can see what happens
- After death, the players bits no longer interact with anything but the ground (no more collecting things with your dead body!)... This also makes crushing deaths and explosion deaths more interesting. :)

ART CHANGES:

- The "Mute" button now has room for the letter "E" in it. :)
- There is now a register button on the login form if you are unregistered (except everyone now has beta registration, so you won't see it)
- Placeholder tooltips on the menus. These will be greatly improved, don't worry.
- The Main Menu image now overlaps the toolbar a bit. I know it obscures Mute - workin on it :)

GENERAL CHANGES:

- Fixed a bug that was sucking up a bit too much CPU with the player physics model. Game should perform slightly better now.
- Made the Vote button not clickable after change
- Made Login/Register/Logout buttons not clickable if they are not available
- Removed mouse listeners from the main menu background to speed things up a micro amount

PAYMENT SYSTEM:

- Launched the first incarnation of the payment methods, hooked up via Paypal's IPN processor. It's all tested and I've received my first payment (from Aubrey), and I'm excited that it's working all right! All we need now is purchasable content and unregistered users (since by default, everyone who signs up now is registered) :3

TRACKING:

- I'm a big sucker for charts, graphs, and pies. I've set a few dozen Google Analytics hooks into the game that should help me troubleshoot where potential players are going wrong, what menus they have trouble with, why people leave, and when. Hopefully I'll get an idea of what parts of the game are troublesome to the most people!

OFFICIAL LEVELS:

- I've started populating the official level list. This isn't to say they are final or will even be included in the end product - I just wanted to start fleshing them out there. Here's what I have so far:

Trial 01:
Trial 02:
Trial 03:
Trial 04: 620 Mine Shaft (nice and easy)
Trial 05:
Trial 06:
Trial 07: 615 Descent (kinda crappy)
Trial 08:
Trial 09: 664 Shepherd (needs some work)
Trial 10:
Trial 11:
Trial 12:
Trial 13:
Trial 14: 641 Venture (needs some work on the last half)
Trial 15: 657 Overcomplicated (might need some tweaks)


TUTORIAL LEVELS:

- These are still under construction but are nearly final copies. Bold were updated in this release:

Tutorial 1: 585 Collecting and Jumping
Tutorial 2: 622 Firing
Tutorial 3: 586 Nitrogen
Tutorial 4: 623 Hydrogen
Tutorial 5: 634 Single Bonds
Tutorial 6: 633 Double bonds
Tutorial 7: 630 Ghost Bonds
Tutorial 8: 631 Carbon/Iron intro
Tutorial 9: 632 Wall-Jumping

[weasel]

:siren: Build 41 Updates: :siren:

- Fixed the version being behind the logo (in a quick post-update)
- Decreased friction to help you move up slopes (With your new square feet);
- Decreased acceleration a tiny amount to retain edging-to-ledges ability;
- Wiped replay database.

Things I'm watching out for:

- Player Responsiveness (does he feel more sluggish to you than before, or faster than before?)
- Edge-control (can you sneak up on the lip of a cliff as much as you'd like?)
- Hill climbing (can you go fast enough uphill? Is it too fast downhill?)

Let me know!

[portgoose]

Wow, I can't believe one of my levels actually made it into the level set for now o.O

I'll tweak some of the parts that need work now.

[weasel]

Wow, I can't believe one of my levels actually made it into the level set for now o.O

I'll tweak some of the parts that need work now.

You deserve it, truly excellent level. Most of the fixes I made in build 40/41 were a result of frustrations I had trying to beat your level, so it probably needs a lot of tweaking now. :)

[portgoose]

You deserve it, truly excellent level. Most of the fixes I made in build 40/41 were a result of frustrations I had trying to beat your level, so it probably needs a lot of tweaking now. :)

I think I fixed everything:
http://www.protonaut.net/?level=684

I had to tweak the "pressure plates" used to trigger the falling walls. I also removed the possibility of a damage jump for the first puzzle and made a damage boost necessary for the bonus carbons at the top.


I might change the first puzzle a bit in the future, but I go on vacation for a few days tomorrow.

[weasel]

I think I fixed everything:
http://www.protonaut.net/?level=684


I find it really, really, really hard to jump up the very first wall, even from on top of the knocked down square piece. :sigh:

[portgoose]

I find it really, really, really hard to jump up the very first wall, even from on top of the knocked down square piece. :sigh:

Hmmm, I see what you mean. I'll tweak that as soon as I get a chance. For now, just make sure that you are wall-jumping at the peak of your jump.

[weasel]

Hmmm, I see what you mean. I'll tweak that as soon as I get a chance. For now, just make sure that you are wall-jumping at the peak of your jump.

Update for B41: :siren:

Fixed that bug, did a quick :ninja: -update on it. No new version number, but now if you jump to the right you can jump as high as if you jumped straight up.

Old verison, I won't make it up; new version, I will: http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=8

The wall is still too tall though. I shouldn't have failed that first attempt...

[Azxs12]

Dang it!! I had replay 100!!!! http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=13 But when the hydrogen hits the floor the bonds come off.

Edit: I'm a meganaut??!! :woop::woop:

[weasel]

Dang it!! I had replay 100!!!! http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=13 But when the hydrogen hits the floor the bonds come off.

Edit: Im a meganaut??!! :woop::woop:

Yeah, if things hit the ground hard enough they will snap out of their sockets. It should be fairly rare and usually only occur when you have objects that are huge... I originally made it so the editor wouldn't let you build big things, but I figured people could use the glitches to their advantage. :)

Also: Where do you see the Meganaut indication?

I included "Meganaut" as a :10bux: user type on the forum but haven't implemented it yet.

[Azxs12]

Yeah, if things hit the ground hard enough they will snap out of their sockets. It should be fairly rare and usually only occur when you have objects that are huge... I originally made it so the editor wouldn't let you build big things, but I figured people could use the glitches to their advantage. :)

Also: Where do you see the Meganaut indication?

I included "Meganaut" as a :10bux: user type on the forum but haven't implemented it yet.

Click on user CP, then paid subscriptions and it says you can buy a Meganaut subscription for ten years.

[meteoro]

what is that? it isnt going to be forever like in FC?

[weasel]

I don't have anything setup right in the forum yet :) no worries guys.

[darkeagle]

It says ten YEARS. >.<

Also, I found a glitch: http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=19

[weasel]

It says ten YEARS. >.<

qft


Also, I found a glitch: http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=19

- Wiped replay database.

Replay 19 doesn't exist. :P

[darkeagle]

Yeah... About that... Um, well, I forgot to copy the replay ID and I thought it said 19. Guess I was wrong. Well, what I did, was that I shot a nitrogen next to me, blasted up into the air, and disappeared. Then it said I won, even though there were still elements next to me.

EDIT: Also, I noticed that suicide registers as a win. :P

[weasel]

Hm. Well if you find the replay, let me know.

Just FYI, you can't "lose" a tutorial level.

[darkeagle]

Okay... That solves it, then. I must've blown myself up. XD

[Linkzcap]

This super-downwards boost was just caused by the force of the explosion right? It's just weird because it kept pushing me down unlike an upward damage boost.

http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=30

Also, is there a way to solve if you don't die or win? Because I just came across a VERY strange glitch. I'll keep it out for a while to see if there is a way, but if I can't, this is what happened:

I was falling from a tall place downwards towards a Nitrogen, and I shot at same second I hit the Nirtogen. I died and the missle flew about the screen, but no message popped up saying I won or lost. Just a screen where I lay dead.


Also - Can't look at options because logo and stuff covers it...

[weasel]

This super-downwards boost was just caused by the force of the explosion right? It's just weird because it kept pushing me down unlike an upward damage boost.

http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=30

Uh, yeah. If you fling something really hard downwards it's going to go really fast downwards. It won't slow down (there's no speed cap for falling and no air resistence).


Also, is there a way to solve if you don't die or win? Because I just came across a VERY strange glitch. I'll keep it out for a while to see if there is a way

Suicide is a secret button put in a few patches ago: SHIFT \

[Linkzcap]

Not even suicide is working! :O

[weasel]

Hmm.... Sounds like you generated an error somehow and the game sorta crashed. Flash keeps it going when that happens so it's hard to tell, unless you have the debug flash player installed.

I'll have to keep an eye out for it myself.

[Linkzcap]

Ah-ha! I recreated, but still couldn't save.

On this level: http://www.protonaut.net/?level=527

Oh wow, I found out it had nothing to do with the missile OR the big fall. I still can't save it, but I'll try to get something close to it.

http://www.protonaut.net/?replay=31

Ok, when I am at the top of the bond that has the Nitrogen on the bottom of it, I slid down. Then I died but no message popped up.