Tomb Exploring With A Character - Of Sorts
Here's a concept for a slightly different way of playing Tomb Explorer. Suppose you actually have a "character" on the map. But you don't move that character around yourself. Rather, whenever you click on an interactive object, such as a door or a level, your character will attempt to, via pathfinding, walk his way over to the interactive object and use it. If the object can't be reached for some reason, he or she will let you know why.
The reason for this is that it gives a reference point to determine where the player is at any given time. Then, if a gate is closed (which currently isn't possible since there's no way to determine which side of the gate the player wants to be on), the player can be restricted to the side of the gate that their character is on.
It wouldn't change gameplay all that much since, end the end, you're still using the mouse for everything. But being able to close off areas after the player has accessed them would open up more puzzle possibilities.
Mind you, the "character" isn't necessarily something you'd have to wait around for while they casually meander over to the object you want to use. This is a single player game - the character can reach its destination in 0.2 seconds. Its mostly just a matter of using this character to let the game know where "you" are supposed to be.
Any thoughts?
The reason for this is that it gives a reference point to determine where the player is at any given time. Then, if a gate is closed (which currently isn't possible since there's no way to determine which side of the gate the player wants to be on), the player can be restricted to the side of the gate that their character is on.
It wouldn't change gameplay all that much since, end the end, you're still using the mouse for everything. But being able to close off areas after the player has accessed them would open up more puzzle possibilities.
Mind you, the "character" isn't necessarily something you'd have to wait around for while they casually meander over to the object you want to use. This is a single player game - the character can reach its destination in 0.2 seconds. Its mostly just a matter of using this character to let the game know where "you" are supposed to be.
Any thoughts?
Posted by Foomer on Monday, July 13, 2009 01:31PM
- 8 comments
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Keywords:
puzzle,
tomb,
character,
explorer
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#8 Tsfreaks:
I still prefer the dot trail idea so far. I'm not a big fan of stale fogofwar because of the way it makes you feel most of the time. Seeing other parts of the map are key to puzzles and to the "ohhhh... how do I get over there?" factor.
You can lay down a full trail of dots (foot prints) to the target location in a split second and have the character immediatly animate the needed action (such as open door).
I see the value in having a player represented icon but at the same time, I beleive that not having one is a part of the games charm.
ts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 03:59PM
#7 IainPeregrine:
Foomer wrote:
> After every interaction that changes the density of the terrain, the whole area level must be grayed out, and then revealed from the location that the player last interacted with.
One of my unfinished projects is a rough-like which has to tackle the same problem. Instead of continually greying out and then highlighting large areas, I keep track of which tiles are currently active and compare it to the new list of active tiles. I then grey out only the tiles which are in the old active list but not in the new active list. Similarly, I only have to highlight the tiles which are in the new active list but not in the old active list. It works quite nicely.
If you feel like the game would benefit from being anchored by a visible character, then just have the character teleport to an open (active) spot beside the object they clicked. The game isn't about managing movement, and having to be mindful of the slow movement of an extraneous token will detract from gameplay.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 01:51PM
(Edited on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 04:02PM)
#6 Foomer:
Well if that's all we're going for maybe I should just stick with the Merging The Gauntlet and Tomb Explorer idea, since it allows me to use more graphics and doesn't' restrict the map so much.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:46AM
#5 Lummox JR:
I much prefer the character idea since it anchors the game and helps connect you to it in a way beyond merely solving puzzles.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:40AM
#4 Foomer:
I suppose I could look into creating something like that where inaccessible areas are grayed out until you can access them again. It'd probably require programming a large chunk of the game though - not that that's a huge deal since the whole game was programmed in two days, but would require:
1. Must be possible to reveal tiles, like it does now.
2. Must be possible to gray tiles out when they are inaccessible.
3. Whenever a player changes stair levels, everything that was revealed on their previous level must be grayed out, and everything accessible on their new level will be revealed.
4. After every interaction that changes the density of the terrain, the whole area level must be grayed out, and then revealed from the location that the player last interacted with.
It seems doable, although I don't know if it would slow things down noticeably to be hiding and revealing terrain all the time.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:37AM
#3 IainPeregrine:
I like the idea of knowing where you are and having open/closed gate puzzles, but I don't like the idea of having a mob moving around. What I'd rather see is something similar to fog of war, only dealing with what is accessible instead of what is known.
Consider that you have three areas, A, B, and C. A player in area A can access area B or area C via different staircases, while area C can be accessed from area B (and vice versa) via a hallway with a gate. The gate is controlled by a lever in area B, and is initially closed. A player starting in area B would not be able to see into area C until they climb up the stairs to A and then down the other stair to C. The player now in C would see area B greyed out. Going back to B, they would now see area C greyed out, until they pulled the lever and opened the gate.
This could be achieved by keeping an invisible mob which is transported around whenever the player clicks (on a valid tile). Whenever an interactive tile is triggered an appropriate space filling algorithm would then be called to highlight the active area and grey out the rest.
Yay for overcomplicated explanations of simple concepts!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 05:55AM
#2 Lummox JR:
I like the character idea. It gives the game a sense of immersion.
Monday, July 13, 2009 02:38PM
#1 Tsfreaks:
How about a trail of dots (footsteps) leading to the final destination. When you pass a trap gate, the dots hold for a second while the gate slams down and then they continue. Perhaps the dots on the other side fade or quickly go away to show you the path has been cut off.
When the dots get to the final destination, you represent them with a static (waiting) dot or perhaps some other more interesting icon.
This saves you the trouble of animating an interesting character. It also allows you to fine tune the speed without worrying about walking animations. I personally love watching path finding automation via dots.
You could do a lines as well. When they click on an invalid location, draw a green line to the blocking thing (door), then draw a red line from the door to the users target. Something like this could be used as part of puzzles as well. An example might be to show a path leading through a secret passage way that the player didnt know about.
ts
Monday, July 13, 2009 01:48PM