ACWraith's Fooldom Come

Brigitte Dale is in the finals.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:16 GMT

I didn't realize the last Good Mood Gig election was just a primary. For the finals, there seems to be more of a focus on videos. That puts my concerns about not reading enough of Brigitte Dale's writing to rest. Tech Tree readers might want to submit their vote. Every person can vote once a day for the next 20 days or so.

Naka rules.

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:43:27 GMT

NakaTeleeli's 2000+ subscriber video didn't represent his work very well, but I posted it in Tech Tree just to offer a congratulations.

What really made me a fan was Let's Play Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the 7 Devils. It was informative and Naka was pleasant.

Under an alternate account, he is now playing the Bunny portion over again. However, this time he is doing it without gears, dashboots, or wall jump boots. (Plus, annotations instead of audio commentary.) He can't even move backwards without pulling off special tricks!

In Memory of My Memory of Old Man Murray

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:27:30 GMT

The blog for the final Idle Thumbs ~~podcast~~ podblast referenced a Gabriel Knight 3 puzzle made infamous by Old Man Murray. My nerd card got the better of me... I started looking for references to prove it was not honey that was used to stick the cat's fur on as a mustache. (Read the OMM page and be even more confused.)

During my search, I passed by the Wikipedia page for Old Man Murray and noticed two things:

The page has a "may not meet the general notability guideline" warning at the top. (BYOND can relate.)
A post from my blog is used as a reference.

I think Old Man Murray is indeed notable, but somehow I doubt my humble post of a few links is going to convince anyone.

Wrangle, Warp And Weep version 10

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:33:19 GMT

I just uploaded a new release of my arcade action game, Wrangle, Warp and Weep.

There were a lot of interface changes on the start screen.

Old => New
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I've been replacing grids with button groups lately in order to save choices in the skin. This time, it allowed me to move the satellite selection to the left without an annoying scrollbar.
All of the important stuff is in now the top-left part of the screen where English readers are likely to look. It's green and the rest is cryogenic blue.
The Top Ten section is now displayed with labels instead of a grid in order to stretch better. This removes the ability to place BYOND avatars, but I doubt anyone will care.
The Top Ten and Records sections are now in the same tab control. The last score is now the title of the Records tab for a handy comparison.
I added a tab for medals. Titles and descriptions are always displayed. Medal images are displayed for earned medals. The rest have a filler image.
I tried to remove as many words as I could and use icons so people won't feel they have to read.

The help file has been separated into tabs so players won't have to scroll for ages when searching. It now includes a table of controls to taunt the poor brain in a jar. You may have noticed a new option to cease launching satellites when tapping forward. This is because players can now launch with either the space bar or numpad 5. I also added QEZC and UOM. diagonals for WASD and IJKL controls respectively.

Some of the enemy graphics were updated. Voyeurs ignore a wrangler's shields so I tried to make it more obvious by giving them shields of their own. Meanwhile, Screamers can't harm a player directly so I made them transparent and less white.
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I unchecked the BYOND Membership bonus box on the hub entry. The lone avatar the skin displays probably isn't worth the Dream Seeker delay to players.

Happy Halloween

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:57:39 GMT

Here's a music video that didn't make it to Tech Tree. Enjoy. =)

Brigitte Dale could use a hand.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:48:45 GMT

I doubt she cares about not being posted in Tech Tree anymore, but Brigitte Dale has been knocked down to second place in the SAM-e "Good Mood Gig" Talent Search. The election is almost over and she could use some votes. Each household can vote once per day.

I tend to focus on Brigitte Dale's videos rather than her writing, but the good mood they put me in makes me think she could handle the job.

Of course, the reason I'm bringing up Miss Dale's plight on BYOND is probably because she mentioned Tech Tree at around 7:43 in her shout-out video. (I joked about saying something like "Tech Tree rules".)

Granted, that's probably not the best advertisement for her work. Please check out her other offerings and try to vote once per day until the talent search ends (which is soon).

Because I probably shouldn't post it Thursday...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:40:54 GMT

I've mentioned that I'm a fan of the Idle Thumbs "podblast" in Tech Tree a few times. Employment is soon to separate them so they've decided to stop recording. They're known to have created a few songs. They recently released an accompanying video for one of them. I figured I'd link to it because it could be their last.

Flesh and Drone updated.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:24:50 GMT

The most important change in my daemonic wargame, Flesh and Drone, might involve how daemons modify drones. Power is no longer infinitely increased by the blood spent on a drone type's auction. Instead, the total power of each drone type remains constant. Daemons can then redistribute that power so that the drones are stronger or weaker against different types.

Previously, the relative benefit of modifying a drone in the late stage of the game was quite small. More importantly, there was the threat of building up a drone type's power just to end up with the same 50% chance of killing a drone.

Now, the benefit of modifying a drone is unrestricted by time and a drone's success in battle is always being threatened. The value of modifying a drone type depends on summoned pieces and plans as it should.

I also focused on polishing the interface. For instance, I stopped using grids because I have a constant number of cells, I'm not outputting atoms, labels stretch better, and buttons require less explanation. I also redesigned the options displayed on the map to be more symbolic and removed the mouse click hints. (Other than spells, there's only one option that requires a right-click anyway.)

These pictures were taken from different matches so pardon the color differences and chat.

Old => New
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Here's the change log as posted in the game:

When modified, drone type stats now swap points instead of merely increasing.
The help file was updated with the above mechanical change, CSS changes, more concise language.
Players who can't modify drone types now have their turns ended automatically during the Modify phase.
The player limit is now displayed above the Join button.
Hosts and single players on unhosted instances are now greeted with a note locating server options.
Player options are now explained on the map with symbols instead of words.
The Drones tab is now a simple table with buttons for summoning selection.
The Bid tab now uses symbolic buttons and labels instead of a grid.
The Modify tab now uses a separate tab of symbolic buttons and labels for each drone type.
The Battle tab has been redesigned to explain the new HUD.
The last winner should no longer look smushed when the window is resized.
Various borders and colors were changed in the skin.
Various tab icons were changed. Sometimes the tab titles were removed.
The player logout timer was fixed.

Another GrimTunnel update.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:32:57 GMT

Hey, remember those audio additions I keep mentioning? I didn't work on them.

Remember that "push your luck" mechanic I've been wanting to add? Since I came up with the idea, I've placed my appreciation for the current mechanics in a purgatory once reserved for StarScurry... but I didn't change the gameplay either.

Instead, the latest version of GrimTunnel focuses on the interface. Again.

I recently made an attempt at a adding pictures to my Gamasutra version of Tech Tree and I didn't like what I saw. In fact, I hated it so much that I removed GrimTunnel from BYOND Strategy's featured list. There were notes everywhere telling people what to do and, rather than focusing on how to use the interface, I think I should have been focusing on why.

Here's the Shop & Create Room phase. The old version is on the left and the new version is on the right. (Pardon my bad editing of the text in the Chat area.) The relatively new slider controls came in handy.
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I now keep the grids blank until the player adds content. Here's how it looks after doing so.
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The Enter phase had roughly the same kind of changes. I'll skip the blank grid step.
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The Battle phase took a bit more.
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I've added messages to the battle grids so players will still have a clue of their chances even when they have no loot. However, there's currently a bug in the display that is driving me nuts. (Nothing is happening when I output to a cell and the cell should exist because I created it with winset() immediately before.) I decided to release anyway because the rest of the updates should be worth it. The sound and design updates I have planned should keep me coming back to the problem.

I also changed the options section so that class choices will be saved in the skin.
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Here's the full list of changes as presented in the game:

The class options interface was changed to a form which should save choices in the skin.
Each phase now has its purpose and goal embeded in its interface.
Some interface descriptions were updated.
Superfluous messages, purchase quantities and power sums have been removed from multiple grids.
The interface for trading exits and steps is now a simple slider instead of multiple buttons.
A slider is now used to adjust the amount of insurance bought instead of multiple links.
Insurance bought during a phase is now sold all at once instead of in increments.
Background images in labels are now tiled.
A default icon is supplied for non-BYOND members.
Purchase quantities now use x notation.
Fix: Loot with no minion type is now restricted to a 1-to-1 relationship with unarmed minions again.

Tech Tree Layout

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:52:20 GMT

This is an attempt at creating a new layout for Tech Tree on both BYOND Strategy and my Gamasutra blog. The news items are from the Tech Tree posted on 10/15/2009.

Developers are responsible for their own promotional tools. I'm not creating screenshots. I'm not clipping existing screenshots. If there are no screenshots, I'll try using a banner. If there is no banner, I may try the developer's avatar.

Tech Tree is a list of links about games in BYOND Strategy, a guild run by volunteers on a game/development portal and software engine called BYOND. Those curious about notes or YouTube videos I've cut out can view the original version.

On the hub's discussion page, Tayoko quelled rumors that he is unwilling to to work with Vermolius and Guyst_X on the team's competative defense game, Efencea. I asked for clarification and was told:

"I did stop working on efencea because I needed to make money, but it dosent mean I didn't enjoy working with verm for free."[sic]

A new version of Efencea is possible, but the team is working on something else right now.

I think Acebloke already found his answer, but he was asking players for a time to test the latest version of his empire-building game, Wargames 2. The currently implemented changes in Beta D can be found here. The remaining changes can be found in Acebloke's forum along with the plans for the next beta.

Oasiscircle's defense game, Turtle Towers, has been updated. The new Versions forum will help myself and others keep track of the differences. This week, changes were made to wizard upgrades, wave 70, bosses, lieutenants, unit flags, and money. New enemies were also added. Oasiscircle is responding to feedback so feel free to leave some in the Turtle Towers forum.

XodinBlood's god-worshiping game has been renamed Godship: Egyptian Majesties. The interface is now in a wider format and it appears cosmetic changes have been made to the map.

Masqurade submitted Useless to the guild this week, but I have no idea what it is. Apparently, players can earn a medal just for logging in. That's sad... I'm tempted to try it in my own projects.

Geldonyetich has not been making progress on his persistent RTS, Vehicle Wars. However, he was recently interviewed on the MMO blog, Grinding to Valhalla. BYOND isn't the focus, but it is mentioned. =)

The last version of the Sessions Guild died out when IainPeregrine became the first King of BYOND Strategy. However, he's bringing it back! The focus of the guild is on gathering players for games which are not persistent. In other words, the guild features alternatives to BYOND's glut of MORPGs. (Although forming a party for a quick romp is also an option.) IainPeregrine's blog still has some changes to make, but give the guild a try if you've been looking for people to play with. =)

The audio in my abstract competitive dungeon crawl, GrimTunnel, is still suffering from my procrastination. However, I have come up with an unimplemented design change. I've probably been inspired by reviews of Incan Gold.

I also finished designing the latest versions of the cards and stickers for my boardgame, Genetic Fork. Fortunately, I managed to avoid being tempted by the latest batch of pieces offered by The Game Crafter. The price reductions of some of the older pieces were a nice surprise though.