A Miner Adventure

by Forum_account
A Miner Adventure
Use a pick-ax and bombs to dig tunnels and build scaffolding to traverse the caves. Be careful, you'll never know what kind of danger you'll find!
Alright, sounds good to me. Another thing I don't know if you know, is sometimes the game makes me walk east for no reason. Only for a short while, I get stuck. Then back to normal.

EDIT: To avoid a double post, I'll do this. I only have one thing to say, you should add a money display. Would be a lot better.
If you press tab in career mode the top bar will switch between the health/oxygen display and a money/inventory display.
Assuming you were headed for the Horror angle, you're definatly on the right track. The ambient sounds are all off putting enough to make you constantly expect something bad to happen, but it rarely really does, which I think is a bit of a shame in some ways.
The first time I experienced a cave-in on adventure mode, I litterally bricked myself, but later on I came to ignore it almost completely since there's rarely a time it actually causes any problems.
The Aliens sure did jump me too the first time I found one, and they continue to jump me still.

Maybe an Adventure Mode (H) could be implemented, where cave ins are FAR less frequent but FAR more lethal, and perhaps you could include some kind of boss like creature, which would be fairly large, create huge roars which could be heard far off, and would more likely be the kind of boss a player would run from, as opposed to trying to fight it. I'm sure that would creep me out.
Those are both things I'd like to add. I've been trying to think of ways to make cave ins more dangerous primarily for career mode so I can make them less frequent. I suppose I could apply that to adventure mode too, but I'll probably just make adventure mode cave ins scripted. Random cave ins rarely occur at bad times so they have little effect in adventure mode.

I'd also like to make an expanded adventure mode (it'd be completely separate from the current adventure mode) with more types of enemies. Bigger, boss type enemies would be included. The game started out in the horror direction but most of the updates have strayed, I would like to get back to the horror side of things.
Pros
* Lighting
* Water physics
* Pixel movement
* Existing Sounds
* Story/Progression
* Overall Simplicity
Complaints
* The interface is too heavily used in place of HUDs
* The anchors on the health and oxygen meters sends them way off the map in wide-screen resolutions
* The pickax animation is lame =P
* There seem to be very few actions that exist in this game, I think ALL of them should have sound effects, especially when taking damage
* When you go into the settings, there's no way to tell which settings are currently active
* Talking to NPCs is a bit fail. If they won't use on-screen text, then I'd prefer something like the computer pop-ups.
* There doesn't seem to be a way to heal?
* If you die on an elevator, there doesn't seem to be a way to call it back into a use-able position, leaving you stuck forever.
* The lava looks more like urine =P
* There appears to be no inventory screen, even though you're constantly collecting items?
* Though its probably a matter of opinion, I think enemies should die in 1 hit. It basically comes down to trapping them in a corner and smacking them over and over as it is now. And you can't seem to hit them when they're on top of you, which is kind of annoying.
* Bomb damage seems hax, I can get killed by these things on the opposite end of the screen from behind cover.
* The interaction icon over NPCs could be an A instead of an !, so you know what button to press.
* Doesn't save my adventure progress =(
* I may have somehow went backwards, but there seems to be a part of the adventure that forces you to fall 100 miles into lava/urine, losing almost all of your health, and your scaffolding?
Falacy wrote:
* There doesn't seem to be a way to heal?

There's a medic, he's the last guy in the last building.

* There appears to be no inventory screen, even though you're constantly collecting items?

Top right of the screen, might be related to your wide-screen issues, or do you mean literally the items you buy as opposed to the minerals and such?

* Bomb damage seems hax, I can get killed by these things on the opposite end of the screen from behind cover.

This doesn't happen to me, I can be about 5 paces away and behind cover and I won't take any damage.



Just Saiyan'.
El Wookie wrote:
There's a medic, he's the last guy in the last building.

lol So I can heal once when I get to the very end of the game?

Top right of the screen, might be related to your wide-screen issues, or do you mean literally the items you buy as opposed to the minerals and such?

Top right of the screen is only my oxygen display?
Falacy wrote:
Top right of the screen is only my oxygen display?

Press the Tab key to cycle trough the two HUDs.

Falacy wrote:
lol So I can heal once when I get to the very end of the game?

No, I meant the last building at the very start.

Top right of the screen is only my oxygen display?

Hit tab!
El Wookie wrote:
No, I meant the last building at the very start.

So I have to go all the way back to the beginning to heal? And although that guy does seem to have a medic hat, he doesn't seem to actually heal me.

Hit tab!

lol Well those could/should be displayed at the same time, or at least explained.
Falacy wrote:
So I have to go all the way back to the beginning to heal? And although that guy does seem to have a medic hat, he doesn't seem to actually heal me.

You need to press A, if you are and nothing's happening, that's most likely a bug.

lol Well those could/should be displayed at the same time, or at least explained.

It is explained somewhere, I think it shows up on the ticker on the bottom at the start screen, but I agree it could be shown at the same time.

Falacy wrote:
El Wookie wrote:
There's a medic, he's the last guy in the last building.

lol So I can heal once when I get to the very end of the game?

You can only heal in career mode. The "last building" means "rightmost building".

Top right of the screen, might be related to your wide-screen issues, or do you mean literally the items you buy as opposed to the minerals and such?

Top right of the screen is only my oxygen display?

Pressing tab will cycle through the health/oxygen display and another display. The second display depends on game mode. In adventure mode, the second page shows what items you have.

As for bomb damage, I'm pretty sure its based only on distance. I can give you a more precise answer later, but five tiles should be far enough that you don't take much damage (probably none).

The interface is too heavily used in place of HUDs

I'd prefer to use screen objects but there was a BYOND bug that caused severe performance issues with them. Though finding a better way to anchor the top browser control would be fine too.

Doesn't save my adventure progress =(

It should save your inventory and last checkpoint.

I may have somehow went backwards, but there seems to be a part of the game that forces you to fall 100 miles into lava/urine, losing almost all of your health, and your scaffolding?

Yes, that's intentional. It was hard to make a platformer where you can build as much scaffolding as you need, so I created a point where you lose the scaffolding kit. The next chapter of the adventure mode will have scaffolding that works differently (it'll work like scaffolding does in the current survival mode) so it doesn't trivialize the platforming elements.

Though its probably a matter of opinion, I think enemies should die in 1 hit. It basically comes down to trapping them in a corner and smacking them over and over as it is now.

You can also use bombs, drown them, or trap them and bypass them. I could make it take fewer hits (i think it takes 5 now) but hitting them with your pick ax is the most crude method of killing them. If it only took one hit you'd have no reason to look for or use the more clever or dangerous methods.
Forum_account wrote:
It should save your inventory and last checkpoint.

It doesn't, unless there's some specific way to resume/load the game?

Yes, that's intentional. It was hard to make a platformer where you can build as much scaffolding as you need, so I created a point where you lose the scaffolding kit. The next chapter of the adventure mode will have scaffolding that works differently (it'll work like scaffolding does in the current survival mode) so it doesn't trivialize the platforming elements.

I haven't played survival mode, so I dunno how scaffolding works there, but just make it so you can only have X amount of scaffolds at a time? Where previous ones beyond that count automatically disappear.

If it only took one hit you'd have no reason to look for or use the more clever or dangerous methods.

I don't bother with that now, I just beat them across the screen and then smack them to death in the corner =P
If you really want to force that, you should make different colored ones immune to different things. Ones that can only be killed by bombs, or ones that can't be killed at all and have to be trapped. And ones that can jump/climb out of trap holes =P
Falacy wrote:
Forum_account wrote:
It should save your inventory and last checkpoint.

It doesn't, unless there's some specific way to resume/load the game?

You should have the option to load a game or start a new game from the main menu. Do you get any prompts from BYOND asking for access to a file? Try creating an adventure game, then press escape and return to the main menu. Did the game save?

I haven't played survival mode, so I dunno how scaffolding works there, but just make it so you can only have X amount of scaffolds at a time? Where previous ones beyond that count automatically disappear.

That's sort of how it works. The scaffolding exists for a limited time. It's also subject to gravity so you can't cross all gaps or climb all heights.

If you really want to force that, you should make different colored ones immune to different things. Ones that can only be killed by bombs, or ones that can't be killed at all and have to be trapped. And ones that can jump/climb out of trap holes =P

Before version 8, the purple ones were immune to bombs and you couldn't hit things with your pick ax so you had to drown them. People found this confusing, but that was probably because of the limited means to damage enemies. Some people probably didn't realize enemies could drown.

I would like to create more types of enemies in the next adventure as well as new ways to kill them. Hopefully then it'll be more obvious that certain enemies are immune to certain things.
Forum_account wrote:
Try creating an adventure game, then press escape and return to the main menu. Did the game save?

Bugishly. I started a new game, returned to the main menu, it said it saved, so I loaded it (the load option wasn't appearing before). It loaded me to some random computer (which didn't even look like an actual checkpoint), near the furthest point I had reached earlier (though, I don't think I had actually reached that computer), instead of the beginning of the game where I had just saved, and I have no items.

People found this confusing

Just tell them straight out how to kill enemies...

EDIT: You should make those tips from the title screen scroll for the entire game
A hint in the tutorial and/or the help scroll on the main menu saying that some enemies are immune to certain deaths should suffice. It shouldn't be too obvious (well, perhaps something fish looking for something immune to drowning :p).
I think once there are more enemy types and more methods available to kill them it'll be evident that not all methods work on all enemies. I'd rather not come out and say it because I like that the existence of enemies is a surprise. I also want the player to figure out "blue ones can't drown, yellow ones can't be electrocuted" rather than remember it. I was even hesitant to make the pick ax usable as a weapon because it's a thoroughly non-intellectual way to kill enemies.

Edit:
Now that I'm not posting from my phone I'll address the rest of the concerns:

Falacy wrote:
The pickax animation is lame =P

I think it's the lack of mob animation that makes it lame, but I'm not very good at drawing animated mobs.

There seem to be very few actions that exist in this game, I think ALL of them should have sound effects, especially when taking damage

I could add sounds for drowning and falling damage. I don't think there's a sound for when enemies attack you. Is there anything else?

When you go into the settings, there's no way to tell which settings are currently active

Initially all players could access this menu so I didn't feel like synchronizing the display across all clients. I recently changed it so only one player is allowed to change the settings, so this'll be easier to add.

Talking to NPCs is a bit fail. If they won't use on-screen text, then I'd prefer something like the computer pop-ups.

I've always wanted to add on-screen text but I think it'll cause performance issues. People have reported severe performance issues (to the point that the game is unplayable) already, I don't need to make things worse. I'm not sure why BYOND struggles to redraw the screen 33 times per second, but for some people it does. NPC interaction is minimal enough that this isn't a high priority.

If you die on an elevator, there doesn't seem to be a way to call it back into a use-able position, leaving you stuck forever.

I have been meaning to add elevator call buttons. Maybe in the next update.

The lava looks more like urine =P

But more painful than urine, I hope.

Bomb damage seems hax, I can get killed by these things on the opposite end of the screen from behind cover.

Everything in the area that is covered by smoke will take damage, but the amount of damage is dependent on distance.

The interaction icon over NPCs could be an A instead of an !, so you know what button to press.

I guess nobody plays the tutorial.

You should make those tips from the title screen scroll for the entire game

I'd rather not leave it there at all times, but I could add the list of all the messages it shows to the help page (there are only 11 messages at the moment).
I just started a new single-player career game, played around for a few minutes then hit esc, loaded back into said career game and got flooded with this:

runtime error: Cannot modify null.icon_state.
proc name: set water (/turf/proc/set_water)
usr: Jotdaniel (/mob)
src: the flooded (64,58,7) (/turf/dirt/flooded)
call stack:
the flooded (64,58,7) (/turf/dirt/flooded): set water(18.5026, 0)
the flooded (64,58,7) (/turf/dirt/flooded): move water(4)
the flooded (64,58,7) (/turf/dirt/flooded): flow()
the flooded (64,58,7) (/turf/dirt/flooded): flow()


I hit esc again, without doing anything in the loaded game, then loaded back in again, no runtime errors this time around.



EDIT:

Loaded same game again and played, it appears if you do something that moves water, when you save and reload you get a runtime spam of the above message(each runtime only has different coords).
Thanks for the report. I should have an update posted today or tomorrow that fixes this issue and a few others.

Edit: The update has been posted, so you shouldn't get these runtime errors any more.
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